The search for an ideal Macbook that fits our needs is a tricky process. Although the options available are definitely simpler than those choosing a Windows Ultrabook (with confusing number of models, form factors, specs and prices), just choosing between Macbook Air, Macbook Pro and Macbook Pro with Retina Display can take more considerations that we originally expected.
After some research and testings in Apple store, I found that 11″ is too small, the screen size is not comfortable for long hours of work. 15″ is a good size if Macbook is my primary computer, but it is not the case. I already have a desktop Mac and looking for Macbook for portability. I decided that 13″ is the right size for me. Now the next problem is choosing between 3 models of 13″: Macbook Air 13″. Macbook Pro 13″ and Macbook Pro with Retina Display 13″.
First comparison was weight. Macbook Air 13″ (mid 2012) weights 1.35 kg, Macbook Pro (mid 2012) weighs 2.06 kg and Macbook Pro with Retina Display 13″ (early 2013) weighs 1.62 kg. Yes we can get the weight comparison from Apple website, but reading weight written in numbers is a lot different than actually holding the products. Immediately I could rule out Macbook Pro 13″ since it’s too heavy for my preference. I have not used any optical disc media for more than 2 years, and I don’t think I will need it in the near future.
A lot of people are having trouble choosing between Macbook Air 13″ and Macbook Pro with Retina Display 13″. I had the same dilemma. When rMBP 13’s price tag was still $1699, the decision was a lot easier since the $500 difference in price could get us a new iPad. Now that Apple has reduced the price of rMBP13 on Feb 13, 2013 to $1499, rMBP seems to make a lot more sense. Since I was considering to upgrade to 8GB RAM if I choose Macbook Air, another $200 will get me a rMBP base model with already 8GB RAM.
If you read reviews on rMBP, most of them will highlight the Retina Display screen as the main selling point. And I did a side by side comparison between MBA and rMBP to see how the screens are actually look like. Yes, the screen is different. But is it worth the extra $200?
I ended up choosing rMBP 13″ because of the processor comparison. 1.8 GHz vs 2.5 GHz does seem like a significant difference, not because of the screen. At that time, I simply considered the Retina Display screen as a nice extra. Without a doubt, Retina Display screen will become a future standard for Apple computers and having one with the standard would hopefully help me to sell the Macbook with better price when I need to upgrade someday. That’s what I thought.
The packaging of rMBP is very Apple-like. Nice and sleek. Booting time is less than 3 seconds. As usual we need to answer few setting dialogs before we can start using a Macbook. Normal people will go straight away to use their new laptop, but I went straight to install fresh copy of Mountain Lion on it. Isn’t the brand new unit already fresh installed? Maybe. But I like having the feeling that I know what to do when someday I need to troubleshoot a computer. And doing a fresh installation immediately is how I usually do it.
Soon I realized that my Mountain Lion installation USB does not work with rMBP 13″. Instead of installing from USB, I was forced to download Mountain Lion from the Internet. Took me about 2 hours to download the OS, then the installation itself only take few minutes.
The first thing I install in rMBP is a small app to detect image retention. After reading hundreds of people posting about image retention problem in Apple support forum, I wanted to know immediately how bad is the issue. The detection app does showed that my screen has image retention problem. After running the checkerboard for 10 minutes, then switch to gray, I can still see the checkerboard for about 2 minutes. I was seriously considering to complaint about the issue, just like those angry people in the forums. But then I gave myself some time to think clearer. I decided to try using my rMBP in normal usage. After few hours playing around, I actually did not see any image retention problem. Yes the screen might be less-than-perfect. But normal everyday usage will not have the problem, so what is the big deal? Less likely I will ever leave my screen for more than 5 minutes displaying one still image. Either the screen will go off first, of the system will go on standby first, depending on our setting on power management.
I also tried to reproduce the problem using an excel file. I leave the screen to display one of my work-related excel file for 10 minutes, then switch to another excel file I had prepared before. No retention. So I can’t even reproduce the problem unless it’s checkerboard image, then switched to grey. Making it even less important issue. Who will need to display checkerboard image for 10 minutes in day-to-day use anyway?
After deciding that image retention is not something I need to worry about, I started to install some basic software in rMBP. Now that I have settled down in using this Macbook, I began to notice how beautiful the screen is.
Internet browsing in Retina Display screen is a mixed feeling. Texts look stunning. But not all websites already optimized for Retina Display’s HiDPI. So some sites look better than the others. Now that some Windows computers are already offering HiDPI, I guess it’s only a matter of time before we can see more Internet sites upgrading themselves to the new standard.
Photoshop in Retina Display is simply a great experience. But Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac looked very ugly (and pixelated) the first time I used it. Yes, I usually never bothered to update my Microsoft Office to the latest version. Did some quick search and find out that I need to update my copy of Microsoft Office to the latest version to get Retina Display support. Luckily, the updates can be downloaded from Microsoft site, for free. After the update, Microsoft Office does look a lot better as texts now look retina-quality and Microsoft already updated most of its icons to retina-size. Notice that I wrote “most of” there, not all. As I write this review, I can still find some icons and menus in Office 2011 not optimized to Retina Display yet (though most of frequently used icons are already upgraded).
The following review is written after more than a week of frequent usage:
rMBP can be slightly warm when we perform some heavy tasks. But in my experience, it never reach the point of uncomfortable. I tested to attach a hard case to protect my rMBP and it does not increase the temperature (maybe a little, but not noticeable). Using it in clamshell mode is also ok for “normal” activities like watching movie or doing PowerPoint presentation. It might gets warmer if we do intensive tasks like Photoshop or browsing websites with Flash, but I don’t usually do those tasks in clamshell mode, so it’s not a problem. I like the fact that rMBP has a built-in HDMI port, something we don’t see in Macbook Air so far.
Battery life is reasonably good. Normal use with work-related activities easily get me around 5-6 hours with WiFi on, bluetooth off.
Keyboard backlight is nice and adjustable. Trackpad is very responsive. Waking up from sleep takes 1 second, almost instantly.
rMBP has 2 sleep modes. It enters normal sleep mode as soon as we close the lid, then goes into deep sleep mode after 1 hour of normal sleep. In deep sleep mode, it saves all current information into a temporary file, then actually goes “completely off” to save battery. One thing to mention, if rMBP has anything attached to its ports (USB devices, SD card, or even bluetooth mouse connected), it will prevent it to go to “deep sleep mode”. If you have USB devices or SD card you would like to insert-and-forget, I suggest to do a proper shutdown by the end of each day. Shutdown only takes about 2 seconds and booting only takes less than 3 seconds. Not a painful waiting process.
If there is a downside of using rMBP, after using rMBP for 3 days, I began to notice that my desktop computer’s display is very ugly. We never actually notice those pixels before. But after having our eyes spoiled by Retina Display screen, you will quickly notice pixelated texts in our normal monitors. And that’s bad. Really bad for me. Now I am starting to understand all the huge reaction about Retina Display screen (or HiDPI display in general). It IS a huge different in our computing experience. But not everyone will catch the difference only by looking at demo units in stores.
Simply put, rMBP is a very good computing device. It’s still a bit expensive, but the new price tag is already so much better than its initial price.
How about the disk storage capacity which is only 128-256GB ?
Tes that one is ssd buat if we have to use external disk which mostly is not SSD hows the experience in comparison?
Have you tried playing some heavy 3D Graphics games on it?
I always wondered how the mbp will perfom with heavy graphics games as it just using integrated GPU yet can do HD video editing and the ads says it can also used for gaming (need for speed, diablo is few games on the ads)
My rMBP is fully functional for day-to-day activities now with 66GB free space out of 128 GB storage.
SSD makes the OS loads and responds very quickly, this is what matters. For external files like music, movies, or even Word documents, the super access time provided by SSD makes no difference, hence putting it in external drive or SD card will not change the performance much.
For gaming, I’m no longer heavy gamer, so I can’t tell you. But I can say that H.264 10-bit movies, which will not play in any hardware multimedia player because it requires heavy GPU processing, plays very smooth in rMBP.
Thanks for the answer..
Will ask apple representative in the store for better confirmation about the gaming capability..
But you doeschange my mind,
Previously i was thinking aboutbuying the highest specsfor mbp without retina but now i’m thinking about that retina display
*it does look really nice on ipad and iphone..
There have been three separate designs of the MacBook: the original model used a combination of polycarbonate and fiberglass casing that was modeled after the iBook G4. The second type, introduced in October 2008 alongside the 15-inch MacBook Pro, used a similar unibody aluminum casing to the 15-inch Pro, and was updated and rebranded as the 13-inch MacBook Pro at the 2009 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2009.
Lovely review, I’m curious to know how it’s working for you now?
All good, I would say. I’ve been doing a lot of productive work on it, and so far my rMBP can do all my frequent tasks really fast.