Apple 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro unveiled (October 2012)

Looks like another slew of major product updates and even some brand new products (128gb ssd+ 3tb hdd fusion drive whoza!!) from the company that stopped innovating or trying; all a month after the release of the iPhone5.
 
cerebus said:
Looks like another slew of major product updates and even some brand new products (128gb ssd+ 3tb hdd fusion drive whoza!!) from the company that stopped innovating or trying; all a month after the release of the iPhone5.
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What is innovative in their line? Hybrid drives have been done before.
 
Abe said:
What is innovative in their line? Hybrid drives have been done before.
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I'm willing to say this is probably the highest resolution screen you can find for a 13" notebook. I totally want one!
 
ebendl said:
I'm willing to say this is probably the highest resolution screen you can find for a 13" notebook.
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Looks like it but how is that innovative? There are already 10" tablets/transformers with that sort of PPI and bigger MBP's with that sort of PPI so it was only a matter of time before it happened to the 13". You are also going to pay R18k odd for a 13" laptop which sounds pretty ludicrous to me.

The usual power creep has occurred with most models faster than before but that is also nothing special. I don't like the iPad mini, it's too expensive and too wide for me. They will probably sell lots of those too but also nothing innovative.

There are lots of upgrades but not a lot of wow factor for me. 5mm iMac looks nice but the two big problems I see with it are the i5 and you are now completely dependent on Apple for anything. No tweaking for yourself (RAM, HD, etc). It looks a bit like a large iPad on a stand and it's pretty pricy for what you get.

Scratch that. On second looks the new iMac doesn't look very special.
 
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I don't care how innovative it is - the fact is, we've been using the same basic screen resolutions (1024x768, 1200x768 and similar) for the last 10 years. Apple is pushing this beyond - and bringing it down from their "top of the line 15-inch" model to a more mainstream 13" model.

Yes, it is expensive (and I'll probably wait a year or two before I buy), but my hope is that this will push the industry forward towards higher resolution screens.

I must say, the iPad mini is a dud for me and Apple playing catchup. And the price is NOT right - it is too expensive compared to the 7" Android tablets.
 
A 13inch MBP with retina display, although not worth upgrading for, will force the competition to also up their display resolution. Competition is always good.

And while retina is a buzzword right now, and attracts a premium, in a year or so it should be standard on all models. There will of course be people who will buy this product. I for one am perfectly happy with my 2010 i7 15 inch MBP and 3rd Gen iPad.
 
You can only get so much "eye candy" and the whole retina thing-a-mob becomes frivolous,otherwise great industrial design from Apple and would make the ultimate accessory at my local wi-fi enabled cafe.I take Dell XPS 13 with window 8 ecosystem for my needs thank you.
 
I'm just happy my 13" is only a year old because it would be hard not to want this one. This leaves me plenty of time to convince myself I don't need the missing optical drive and firewire ports.
 
siraman said:
You can only get so much "eye candy" and the whole retina thing-a-mob becomes frivolous,otherwise great industrial design from Apple and would make the ultimate accessory at my local wi-fi enabled cafe.I take Dell XPS 13 with window 8 ecosystem for my needs thank you.
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Nah, I would say the days of Apple being the playground of hipsters in coffee-shops are gone. Too mainstream. But hey, at least your 10-year-old-resolution 1024x768 screen won't have too much eye candy to distract you from your latte/watching out for Apple users.
 
No, no, no! Now the loudmouth 10% of the population ([-]idiots and posers[/-] [-]mActards[/-] aPple [-]fanbois[/-] users) will convince the makers of decent computers that we all want these high pixel densities. Anyone that's used a tiny screen with this sort of resolution will tell you it sucks. I'm fine with idiots and posers being fleeced by the eVil eMpire, but why must normal users suffer from aPple [-]marketing gimmicks[/-] "innovations".
 
Drunkard #1 said:
No, no, no! Now the loudmouth 10% of the population ([-]idiots and posers[/-] [-]mActards[/-] aPple [-]fanbois[/-] users) will convince the makers of decent computers that we all want these high pixel densities. Anyone that's used a tiny screen with this sort of resolution will tell you it sucks. I'm fine with idiots and posers being fleeced by the eVil eMpire, but why must normal users suffer from aPple [-]marketing gimmicks[/-] "innovations".
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I don't think I've ever heard of someone say the iPad's retina screen sucks.
 
bwana said:
I don't think I've ever heard of someone say the iPad's retina screen sucks.
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I've used a Dell laptop with a high res screen, and it sucked. I went into an aPple store and looked at the retina mAcbook, cracked open Excel (And left it open to scare hipsters) and the interpolation sucked worse than the Dell's tiny cells. Some people will like these screens (GIS, CAD, photographers), but for most people a normal screen in the 120ppi range without interpolation is best (or a small screen at WXGA if it's not your primary machine).

Problem is, the media uses mAcs, so the ****storm of articles unthinkingly praising these displays is going to cause normal computer makers to inflict them on normal users, who don't need/want them.
 
Drunkard #1 said:
I've used a Dell laptop with a high res screen, and it sucked. I went into an aPple store and looked at the retina mAcbook, cracked open Excel (And left it open to scare hipsters) and the interpolation sucked worse than the Dell's tiny cells. Some people will like these screens (GIS, CAD, photographers), but for most people a normal screen in the 120ppi range without interpolation is best (or a small screen at WXGA if it's not your primary machine).

Problem is, the media uses mAcs, so the ****storm of articles unthinkingly praising these displays is going to cause normal computer makers to inflict them on normal users, who don't need/want them.
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So you used a non-retinaised app and it didn't look as good as it could have - there's a shocker.
 
bwana said:
So you used a non-retinaised app and it didn't look as good as it could have - there's a shocker.
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Yes, I tested one of the most popular applications on earth, and aPple's marketing gimmick make it worse. How many applications have been "retinaised"? How many benefit? I don't see any benefit to having 32x32 pixel icons instead of 16x16 pixel ones. And yet the interface, price and hardware cost remains. Like I said, fine for people who need it (they know who they are); painful for everyone else.
 
Abe said:
What is innovative in their line? Hybrid drives have been done before.
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Yes with a 4gb flash used as a cache, they have. But a full 128gb ssd with a 3tb? Nobody has been that ambitious. It's highly innovative.
 
Drunkard #1 said:
Yes, I tested one of the most popular applications on earth, and aPple's marketing gimmick make it worse. How many applications have been "retinaised"? How many benefit? I don't see any benefit to having 32x32 pixel icons instead of 16x16 pixel ones. And yet the interface, price and hardware cost remains. Like I said, fine for people who need it (they know who they are); painful for everyone else.
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I'm not sure when you looked at the retina macbook but since Microsoft has updated Office to support retina displays it might not be an issue any more. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2742588
 
As it becomes more mainstream, more apps will upgrade and it will look better. Office for Mac has already been updated.

Why do you type in cAmel caSe? Your Dell's keyboard broken? :)

Edit: bwana beat me to it
 
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