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Apple lowers 13" Macbook Pro Retina prices

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Erasus said:
He can replace it with a 128GB SSD and it will still be cheaper and better speccd than the MB
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And it would still be an inferior laptop experience no matter how much he spends as long as he's running with a crap trackpad and an OS that doesn't know how to support a good trackpad in the first place. Have fun bringing as USB mouse wherever you go.
 
twofold said:
The Samsung Series 9 and the Lenovo Carbon X1, despite being ultrabooks, are the only Windows laptops comparable to the 13" Retina. Yes, the Retina MBP is 1lb heavier, and yes it's a quarter of an inch thicker, but it's impressive how little the difference is considering how much tech is inside the thing.

I think another reason why the two are being compared is that people still seem to harp on about how "overpriced" Macbooks are. Well, I don't think they are. Compared to the high end products available from other retailers, Macbooks are pretty well priced.
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No, if you have to have retina then there is nothing in the 13in market comparable.
 
Beerman462 said:
No, if you have to have retina then there is nothing in the 13in market comparable.
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Well, yeah. :P

I was just saying, even if you discount retina, it's hard enough trying to find stuff comparable to the Retina 13". Throw in the retina display and it is, as you said, impossible.
 
twofold said:
Well, yeah. :P

I was just saying, even if you discount retina, it's hard enough trying to find stuff comparable to the Retina 13". Throw in the retina display and it is, as you said, impossible.
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Minus the retina a 13in pro is very easily replaced. $1200 for a Samsung or Lenovo both a little lighter then the MBP and $1300 for a Sony Vaio T with an i7 and $256GB SSD although it is 4.4lbs.

I would imagine this is why the 13in models dropped in price. The competition really closed the gap.
 
Beerman462 said:
Minus the retina a 13in pro is very easily replaced. $1200 for a Samsung or Lenovo both a little lighter then the MBP and $1300 for a Sony Vaio T with an i7 and $256GB SSD although it is 4.4lbs.

I would imagine this is why the 13in models dropped in price. The competition really closed the gap.
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Personally, I don't think the Sonys and the Samsungs can compare simply because the trackpads are so much worse than the ones on the Macbook. And then you have stuff like the magsafe, the aluminium unibody, osx itself, and Apple's excellent customer service.
 
twofold said:
Personally, I don't think the Sonys and the Samsungs can compare simply because the trackpads are so much worse than the ones on the Macbook. And then you have stuff like the magsafe, the aluminium unibody, osx itself, and Apple's excellent customer service.
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That stuff goes both ways. The X1 carbon has a much better keyboard than the Macbook does, and personally I think carbon fiber is superior to the aluminum unibody in several respects. The port selection the Series 9 is significantly better. Then you have things like the Thinkpad Yoga or XPS 12 that integrate useful touchscreen features.

And don't get me started on the position of the left Ctrl key.
 
tokkun said:
That stuff goes both ways. The X1 carbon has a much better keyboard than the Macbook does, and personally I think carbon fiber is superior to the aluminum unibody in several respects. The port selection the Series 9 is significantly better. Then you have things like the Thinkpad Yoga or XPS 12 that integrate useful touchscreen features.

And don't get me started on the position of the left Ctrl key.
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I left out the X1 carbon since I think it's the only remotely comparable Windows laptop. If I was looking to move away from OSX, I'd be buying an X1 carbon for sure.

I disagree about carbon fiber, though. I used to own carbon fiber Vaios prior to switching to Macbooks and they felt pretty flimsy and cheap to me. I love how solid the unibody Macbooks feel.

I don't really care about touchscreens either since the Macbook trackpad is so good. I've got a bunch of custom gestures programmed that allow me to get around OSX really easily. I can see how a touchscreen would be useful for Windows, though.
 
twofold said:
Personally, I don't think the Sonys and the Samsungs can compare simply because the trackpads are so much worse than the ones on the Macbook. And then you have stuff like the magsafe, the aluminium unibody, osx itself, and Apple's excellent customer service.
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The bodies are all Magnesium alloy or magnesium/aluminum the trackpads at least the Sony and Samsung have had favourable reviews so I wouldn't say much worse. OSX isn't a plus for everyone. I'm pretty indifferent about magsafe and I've only had one interaction with Apple customer service and wasn't impressed. They seem to expect you to get an Apple care plan now if you want great service. They have their own stores which is a plus if you do need service.
 
twofold said:
I don't really care about touchscreens either since the Macbook trackpad is so good. I've got a bunch of custom gestures programmed that allow me to get around OSX really easily. I can see how a touchscreen would be useful for Windows, though.
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Putting a Yoga into tent mode is great for any sort of demonstration, like giving a presentation or showing people photographs.
 
So, guys, I went to the Apple store today on my lunch break after the MBA recommendations, and I was really shocked how responsive it was.

I have pretty much decided on buying a 13" MacBook Air. I am definitely bumping up to 8GB of Ram just to future proof it a bit. But, I am also considering going for the 2ghz i7 instead of the 1.8 ghz i5. It's a difference of $100 I think. Is it worth it? Does the i7 negatively impact battery life? Basically, I'd happily pay the extra $100 for a small boost without impacting battery life... but if it impacts battery life, then I'd rather the i5 + saving $100.

What do you think?

Basically, a specced out 13" MBA... 8 GB Ram, 256 SSD, 2ghz i7 is $1500. Or, save the $100. I also get a 10% discount for where I work + a $100 credit I have.

*edit*

About the discussion above:
- The Lenovo Yoga is a pretty impressive system. A guy at work got one for his mother, he's a techy, designer guy, more of an Apple-guy than anything, and he was pretty impressed. He said you go to use it using the pad, but then you just find yourself pointing and clicking on the touchscreen. I can't see myself doing that just yet, but he said it's great for every day browsing and regular desktop navigation.

- I hate Magsafe. I think it's a classic example of Apple hubris. Apple talks it up so much that people think it's an improvement when, IMO, it really isn't. Having had an old 17" MBP (non-uni) and then a relatively new 13" MBP (my old work computer, dont have it any longer), *everytime* I sat on my bed with my MBP between my legs/on my lap, the magsafe would pop off. Also in my 6 years of owning a MacBook, I have never once had the "OMG TRIPPED OVER THE WIRE" scenario that they say the magsafe is designed to prevent. yet, in that time, I have easily had 1,000 times when the magsafe popped off when I didn't want it to.
 
When it comes to laptops you get what you pay for...

I buy all my laptops used - high end models.
I have two laptops, both were very high end models years ago (Core 2 Duo's), and both work flawlessly and are still super solid now. (one HP and one Fujitsu), both were under $200 used.

Everyone I know who buys the latest $499 or less model needs a new one every 18 months, and that's with it sitting on a desk 24/7. Mine go all over the place.

I don't know about the MacBook Airs, but the MBP are solid. The regular MacBook's were pretty shady quality wise, and not worth anything approaching their costs, but they don't even make them any longer.
 
The Albatross said:
- I hate Magsafe. I think it's a classic example of Apple hubris. Apple talks it up so much that people think it's an improvement when, IMO, it really isn't. Having had an old 17" MBP (non-uni) and then a relatively new 13" MBP (my old work computer, dont have it any longer), *everytime* I sat on my bed with my MBP between my legs/on my lap, the magsafe would pop off. Also in my 6 years of owning a MacBook, I have never once had the "OMG TRIPPED OVER THE WIRE" scenario that they say the magsafe is designed to prevent. yet, in that time, I have easily had 1,000 times when the magsafe popped off when I didn't want it to.
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I have pretty much the opposite opinion on this.

My wife's MacBook Air would probably be in pieces if not for Magsafe considering how many times our dog has bolted across the room and yanked out the cord.
 
Zefah said:
I have pretty much the opposite opinion on this.

My wife's MacBook Air would probably be in pieces if not for Magsafe considering how many times our dog has bolted across the room and yanked out the cord.
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What are your thoughts on the i5 vs. i7 MBA's? Do you think the extra price ($200) is worth it? Any loss in battery life?
 
The Albatross said:
What are your thoughts on the i5 vs. i7 MBA's? Do you think the extra price ($200) is worth it? Any loss in battery life?
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I personally don't think there's enough of a performance difference between the i5 and i7 to justify the extra $200. I'm not sure of the impact on battery life.

I went with the 2012 13" i5 MBA with 8GB RAM and couldn't be happier.
 
Zefah said:
I have pretty much the opposite opinion on this.

My wife's MacBook Air would probably be in pieces if not for Magsafe considering how many times our dog has bolted across the room and yanked out the cord.
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I'm with you. Magsafe is one of those ideas that is great in concept and even better in execution.

Sure I've had it pop off a few times when I didn't want it to, but it has saved my laptop many times. Also, great to just get the power cable in vaguely the correct vicinity and have it snap on by itself.
 
RBH said:
I personally don't think there's enough of a performance difference between the i5 and i7 to justify the extra $200. I'm not sure of the impact on battery life.

I went with the 2012 13" i5 MBA with 8GB RAM and couldn't be happier.
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Yeah that's exactly the model I'm looking at. Do you have the 256gb or 128gb SDD?
 
I wonder if there would have been 7 pages if it were about some other company lowering the price of their laptops. Apple sure is lucky to be able to garner this much attention. People are not stupid, they will cross shop and compare, and come to the realization that Apple's products are worth the money. I'm a grad student at the University of Tsukuba, one of the leading universities in Japan, nearly everyone in my High Performance Computing lab, nearly all of my professors and nearly all the students in my lectures and seminars use MacBooks. It could be we are all brainwashed sheep, or it is just the die-hard, know-nothing, self-proclaimed computer nerds who are brainwashed.

Mairu said:
Not sure why you want a Pro at all then. I would definitely prefer the weight and battery life of the Air to the Pro for that kind of usage.
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I do the same with the occasional SSH and text editor, I still got a 15" Pro and would do so next time. I want something so unnecessarily powerful that it would be powerful when it is necessary, like 4 years in the future.
 
I had a Macbook Air (2012 model) for about 6 months, and did not care for it much. The main issue for me was the keyboard, which is quite shallow, even among ultrabooks. I am kind of a keyboard snob (I have multiple mechanical keyboards), so that was enough to be a deal-breaker for me.

The second big complaint was that it wasn't very comfortable to use on my lap. It would get pretty hot under what ought to be a light workload (just running as an SSH terminal to my work desktop). Well, it's not so much that it got hotter than other laptops, but rather because the bottom is aluminum, it is really good at conducting heat directly into your lap. I had to set a book on my lap and put the MBA on top the book.

My last complaint was the port selection - only two USB ports, no Ethernet, and the only display connection was miniDP via Thunderbolt. As a result, my laptop bag always carried a Thunderbolt-to-Dual-DVI adapter for my monitors (which cost $100 from Apple), a Thunderbolt-to-VGA adapter for when I needed to give presentations on older projectors, a Thunderbolt-to-HDMI adapter for newer projectors, a USB-to-Ethernet adapter, and a USB hub. As you can no doubt imagine, this negated much of the purpose of having a thin-and-light laptop.

I'll probably buy a new laptop within the next 6 months, and if I end up going back to Apple, it would be for the rMBP13 once the Haswell refresh happens. If the Samsung Series 7 Ultra ends up with a decent keyboard and trackpad, I'll probably get that instead.
 
The Albatross said:
What are your thoughts on the i5 vs. i7 MBA's? Do you think the extra price ($200) is worth it? Any loss in battery life?
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Everything I read when I was researching the 2011 models was that the processor upgrade wasn't worth it. It only showed very minor differences in performance in heavy lifting tests that the MacBook Air probably had no business performing in the first place.

I have no idea about the 2012 Ivy Bridge models, though.

edit: oh, you already bought it! Nice!
 
Is there an Ethernet port in the 2012 Macbook Pro (whatever they currently sell at Bestbuy)

Because I am currently hunting down a laptop. I refuse to use Windows 8, so I'm limited to pretty much the Apple line of laptops.
 
windowlurker said:
Is there an Ethernet port in the 2012 Macbook Pro (whatever they currently sell at Bestbuy)

Because I am currently hunting down a laptop. I refuse to use Windows 8, so I'm limited to pretty much the Apple line of laptops.
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Non-retina - yes. Retina - no, but there is a thunderbolt -> gigabit ethernet adapter for 29 dollars.
 
Well, I finally caved in and purchased my first Apple computer--the Macbook Pro Retina 13", with a 256 GB SSD. I'm pretty excited, and I'm posting from it right now. I purchased a Surface Pro last week and liked it considerably, but the 3.5-4 hour battery life was a deal breaker.

I also tried out the Lenovo Yoga--love the design, but Windows 8 is a pretty big turn off for me right now (I have it on my Asus G75VW gaming laptop, and I stick strictly to desktop mode).

Anyway, glad to be a part of the Mac cult, even though I have (and love) my Lumia 920. ;)
 
Chiggs said:
Well, I finally caved in and purchased my first Apple computer--the Macbook Pro Retina 13", with a 256 GB SSD. I'm pretty excited, and I'm posting from it right now. I purchased a Surface Pro last week and liked it considerably, but the 3.5-4 hour battery life was a deal breaker.

I also tried out the Lenovo Yoga--love the design, but Windows 8 is a pretty big turn off for me right now (I have it on my Asus G75VW gaming laptop, and I stick strictly to desktop mode).

Anyway, glad to be a part of the Mac cult, even though I have (and love) my Lumia 920. ;)
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What kind of battery life are you getting on the rMBP vs. the Surface Pro?

PS: Welcome.
 
TUSR said:
What kind of battery life are you getting on the rMBP vs. the Surface Pro?

PS: Welcome.
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It's about +3.5 hours for the rMBP. I was actually kind of sad to return the Surface because I liked it so much (hell, I even kept the Wedge mouse I purchased with it), but having to plug the thing in so often sort of defeated the purpose for me. I know some people are claiming to get 4-5 hours out of their Surface Pros, but that was not my experience--especially when working with Photoshop or PowerPoint while streaming music. It was closer to 3.5 hours.

Still, it's going to be a good product. I will most likely pick up the 2nd revision of the Pro when it hits later this year or whenever.
 
Chiggs said:
It's about +3.5 hours for the rMBP. I was actually kind of sad to return the Surface because I liked it so much (hell, I even kept the Wedge mouse I purchased with it), but having to plug the thing in so often sort of defeated the purpose for me. I know some people are claiming to get 4-5 hours out of their Surface Pros, but that was not my experience--especially when working with Photoshop or PowerPoint while streaming music. It was closer to 3.5 hours.

Still, it's going to be a good product. I will most likely pick up the 2nd revision of the Pro when it hits later this year or whenever.
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Depending on my usage with my 15" rMBP I get around 7hrs. Though I hate running the integrated graphics on it sometimes.

Pop over to the hardware thread once in a while and post your thoughts later. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=439032&page=146
 
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