Newest MacBook Pro Retina is here!

Does the 15" version blow you? Why is it so much more expensive?
 
They come with configurable 1Tb of flash storage. Amazing. And amazingly expensive.
 
Iris Pro is only available on the quad cores, TDP is too high for the dual core U variants.

I know, I was pointing that out to the OP. The lack of a "higher end" iGPU makes the 13" much, much less desirable.
 
I know, I was pointing that out to the OP. The lack of a "higher end" iGPU makes the 13" much, much less desirable.

It still has the 5100, 1.1 GHz if you get the i5-4258U or 1.2 GHz if you get the i5-4288U or i7-4558U, that's the best GPU any 13" macbook has ever had.
 
2600 for discrete graphics in the 15"

I'm glad I got the 650M. I guess when its time for me to get the next one...yikes.
 
I'm happy the 13" Retina has a 16GB RAM option. Well, sort of. We have a huge base of 15" Pro users at my client, and once they find out new employees are getting the 13" Retina.. OOPS I DROPPED MY MAC CAN I GET A NEW ONE flooding my inbox.
 
It still has the 5100, 1.1 GHz if you get the i5-4258U or 1.2 GHz if you get the i5-4288U or i7-4558U, that's the best GPU any 13" macbook has ever had.
This. I want a good road warrior laptop, not a gaming or video editing machine.
 
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2600 for discrete graphics in the 15"

I'm glad I got the 650M. I guess when its time for me to get the next one...yikes.
Yeah I had to do a double take when the tech specs showed only the top-tier MBP having a discrete GPU. Did a quick config in the store and the the base CPU/RAM/SSD of the 15" MBP with the GT 750m puts it at the same price as the 2nd tier 15" MBP with the same upgrades.
 
I wonder if the 13inch mbpR is easly upgradable.. Might be cheaper if i can slap my own ram and spare ssd in.
 
I wonder if the 13inch mbpR is easly upgradable.. Might be cheaper if i can slap my own ram and spare ssd in.

OWC is supposedly working on an SSD upgrade, but you can bet it won't be cheap. The ram is soldiered, so buy it with however much you need.
 
As a non power user. Next time I upgrade my computer I am going air. I have a MBP now because I was able to upgrade the memory and drive myself.

For me the specs on the air are compelling. Only thing missing is that lovely screen. Hopefully it will be an option when I am ready to update.
 
As a non power user. Next time I upgrade my computer I am going air. I have a MBP now because I was able to upgrade the memory and drive myself.

For me the specs on the air are compelling. Only thing missing is that lovely screen. Hopefully it will be an option when I am ready to update.

Well once GPUs move to 20nm (next year) they will likely add a retina macbook air.

The issue with retina is that it uses a bit of GPU power which isn't very good on the air.
 
Well once GPUs move to 20nm (next year) they will likely add a retina macbook air.

The issue with retina is that it uses a bit of GPU power which isn't very good on the air.

The GPU on the current Air is better than the previous Retina Pro 13" that was just upgraded yesterday. If the HD 4000 was good enough to drive a Retina display, how can you say the HD 5000 isn't?

The lack of a Retina Air is more about battery life and differentiating the Air product line from the Pro line. A Retina Air will be here eventually, but it's not Intel that Apple is waiting on.
 
I know, I was pointing that out to the OP. The lack of a "higher end" iGPU makes the 13" much, much less desirable.

why would you need more GPU power, it isnt mean to be a gaming machine...

it is sexy to see a 13" with a high res screen, i would buy one just for that!

Friend just showed me this one from Lenovo..

Up to 4th Generation Intel Core™ i7 processor
Up to Windows 8.1 Pro
13.3" QHD+ (3200 x 1800) multitouch
display, 16:9 widescreen
Up to 9 hours battery life
Ultra light - 1.39kg (3.1 lbs)
Ultra thin - just 15.5mm (0.61") thick

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/landingpage/yoga/?iPromoID=Yoga2campaign&
 
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The GPU on the current Air is better than the previous Retina Pro 13" that was just upgraded yesterday. If the HD 4000 was good enough to drive a Retina display, how can you say the HD 5000 isn't?

The lack of a Retina Air is more about battery life and differentiating the Air product line from the Pro line. A Retina Air will be here eventually, but it's not Intel that Apple is waiting on.

Its not that the GPU can't drive a retina display its that the GPU would use too much power doing it.

The air is designed for the best battery life.
 
I thought the issue was more trying to push a back light through a high pixel density display more then the GPU. I agree it would take more GPU power to run though.
 
Does this use Thunderbolt 2.0? Considering the new Mac Pro have it, I'm wondering if this is the time that external GPU will finally take off due to 2x the bandwidth.
 
I just picked up my new 13" MBP Retina from the Apple store. This little thing's a beauty!! I'm actually on the way to catch a flight, so can't put it to any real use until I get to Vegas, later tonight. I'll post pics/comments when I get some time over the weekend... or more likely when I return home on Monday. I'll be in Vegas, after all. ;)
 
Is anybody else having issues with the keyboard and/or trackpad completely freezing? Apparently a lot of people are posting on the Apple Support Communities forum, complaining about this, and that a hard reset is the only way to fix the issue.

Owners of Late 2013 Retina MacBook Pros Reporting Keyboard and Trackpad Freezes, Boot Camp Install Issues

A growing number of Late 2013 Retina MacBook Pro owners in Apple Support Communities forum threads are reporting various problems with both the 13 and 15-inch models of the laptop, including lockups with the keyboard and trackpad on the 13-inch version, as well as difficulties installing Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 through Apple's Boot Camp utility on both models.

According to users in a support thread spanning over 14 pages, the trackpad and the keyboard on the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro are reportedly locking up at random during use, with a hard reset through the machine's power button appearing to be the only present solution to the problem.

Full MacRumors Article

I've been planning to upgrade to a new 13 inch, but I think I'll wait a little bit.
 
Is anybody else having issues with the keyboard and/or trackpad completely freezing? Apparently a lot of people are posting on the Apple Support Communities forum, complaining about this, and that a hard reset is the only way to fix the issue.



I've been planning to upgrade to a new 13 inch, but I think I'll wait a little bit.

I picked one up. Got the high end (but not with the 1tb sad), having no issues at all. One hiccup installing windows for my games but that was because the windows installer is a bitch and doesn't like any external storage plugged in.
 
Is anybody else having issues with the keyboard and/or trackpad completely freezing? Apparently a lot of people are posting on the Apple Support Communities forum, complaining about this, and that a hard reset is the only way to fix the issue.

I've been planning to upgrade to a new 13 inch, but I think I'll wait a little bit.
No trouble with my new 13" retina. It's a great laptop, but I just scored a new contract that'll involve a lot of video simulation design. I'm gonna need more GPU power than the Iris can muster. I have zero interest in spending $2600 on the 15" 750M, so will return my 13" and buy a refurb 15" 650M. The price is roughly the same, about $1700. I'll miss the portability, but need the beefier CPU/GPU.
 
No trouble with my new 13" retina. It's a great laptop, but I just scored a new contract that'll involve a lot of video simulation design. I'm gonna need more GPU power than the Iris can muster. I have zero interest in spending $2600 on the 15" 750M, so will return my 13" and buy a refurb 15" 650M. The price is roughly the same, about $1700. I'll miss the portability, but need the beefier CPU/GPU.

Iris Pro in the base 15" MBPr not going to be good enough either?
 
In some things yes

It may be cheaper, but worse battery life, slower ssd and last gen cpu and no thunderbolt 2.


None of these machines will be showing off their "amazing" battery life performing the workload this person specified. That battery life is contingent on the use case of light to medium workloads where the CPU performs a task and goes back to a low power state quickly. When used as I just described my 2.7 GHz MBP13 actually had better battery life than the MBA's and i5 MBP13 because it could switch states quickly. However, when stressed all that goes out the window for any computing device. (My use case was for contract work that required VMs.)

"Slower ssd..last gen cpu, etc.." are valid point if you're just running a check list to feel good about your shiny new MBP. (i.e. A personal computer.) Otherwise, for his specific workload and "purpose", I agree with his/her decision.

Reality is, this person has a specific use case where the new machines don't cut it except for the absolutely most expensive option.
 
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None of these machines will be showing off their "amazing" battery life performing the workload this person specified. That battery life is contingent on the use case of light to medium workloads where the CPU performs a task and goes back to a low power state quickly. When used as I just described my 2.7 GHz MBP13 actually had better battery life than the MBA's and i5 MBP13 because it could switch states quickly. However, when stressed all that goes out the window for any computing device. (My use case was for contract work that required VMs.)

"Slower ssd..last gen cpu, etc.." are valid point if you're just running a check list to feel good about your shiny new MBP. (i.e. A personal computer.) Otherwise, for his specific workload and "purpose", I agree with his/her decision.

Reality is, this person has a specific use case where the new machines don't cut it except for the absolutely most expensive option.

He said he needs a "beefier CPU/GPU", not the specific use case.

The Iris Pro bests the 650M in many compute cases: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6993/intel-iris-pro-5200-graphics-review-core-i74950hq-tested/17

The other points are where the newer MBPr has advantages. Are you really trying to claim that when stressed, the older Ivy Bridge with a discrete GPU is going to have the same battery life as a Haswell without discrete GPU?
 
He said he needs a "beefier CPU/GPU", not the specific use case.

The Iris Pro bests the 650M in many compute cases: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6993/intel-iris-pro-5200-graphics-review-core-i74950hq-tested/17

The other points are where the newer MBPr has advantages. Are you really trying to claim that when stressed, the older Ivy Bridge with a discrete GPU is going to have the same battery life as a Haswell without discrete GPU?


He mentions in a post just a bit before that on the same page. Geeze how "combative." (And assertive..)

Anyways, first and foremost picking benchmarks at random (because that's what you did) doesn't really establish anything since we don't know what this person is running. Nevermind that those benchmarks are from a demo board on a different platform in a different setting (it's not an Apple machine nor OSX.)

Why does it matter?

First, Apple is very aggressive when it comes to keeping thermals under control. This will factor in performance. Just like the iGPU in the MBA won't perform the same as an MBP with the same iGPU.

Second, you can't directly compare performance (not yet anyway) because under OSX the Intel GPUs just may not perform the same. Take quick sync for example. Best feature you can't use on an MBP. (Notice missing quick sync benchmarks from the MBPs on that link?)

I'll speak for myself (as a programer) in that taking advantage of Intel GPU features in general on OSX pretty much blows sometimes. Apple locks down access to certain features (quick sync is a great example) and/or restricts others.

Based on those two points he/she is probably much better off with the 650M especially if that machine has a higher clocked CPU. (Support wise by long shot, I mean this is Nvidia after all.) Haswell is faster, but not fast enough to make up for a clock speed.

Again, based on what he/she has posted.

As for battery, sure buddy, you go ahead and argue the difference is worth while. They're not the same (never said otherwise), but they're not that big when stressing these machines out. Actually think about that one for a moment, are you really going to running taxing simulations on these things on the battery? (i.e. not plugged in?) Again, unless he/she clarifies this. When I say taxing, I mean 1-3 hours worth of processing per task.
 
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He mentions in a post just a bit before that on the same page. Geeze how "combative." (And assertive..)

Mentions what, that he's using it for "a lot of video simulation design" and that he "need(s) the beefier CPU/GPU"

That's all we have to go on. Considering he and I had already discussed the gpu options on the 13" earlier in the thread and at the time he thought it would work, I was interested in why the Iris Pro wouldn't work for the new usage case.

Anyways, first and foremost picking benchmarks at random (because that's what you did) doesn't really establish anything since we don't know what this person is running. Nevermind that those benchmarks are from a demo board on a different platform in a different setting (it's not an Apple machine nor OSX.)

Why does it matter?

First, Apple is very aggressive when it comes to keeping thermals under control. This will factor in performance. Just like the iGPU in the MBA won't perform the same as an MBP with the same iGPU.

Second, you can't directly compare performance (not yet anyway) because under OSX the Intel GPUs just may not perform the same. Take quick sync for example. Best feature you can't use on an MBP. (Notice missing quick sync benchmarks from the MBPs on that link?)

I'll speak for myself (as a programer) in that taking advantage of Intel GPU features in general on OSX pretty much blows sometimes. Apple locks down access to certain features (quick sync is a great example) and/or restricts others.

Based on those two points he/she is probably much better off with the 650M especially if that machine has a higher clocked CPU. Haswell is faster, but not fast enough to make up for a clock speed.

Again, based on what he/she has posted.

Right, based on what he has posted, which is why I said "In some things yes" to the "650M > Iris Pro." So until we know the exact usage, we have no idea which one will perform better.

As for battery, sure buddy, you go ahead and argue the difference is worth while. They're not the same (never said otherwise), but they're not that big when stressing these machines out. Actually think about that one for a moment, are you really going to running taxing simulations on these things on the battery? (i.e. not plugged in?) Again, unless he/she clarifies this. When I say taxing, I mean 1-3 hours worth of processing per task.

Again, it all depends on the usage scenarios, but you're the one harping about how it won't have amazing battery life for the workload specified. Then you state that the "reality is, this person has a specific use case where the new machines don't cut it except for the absolutely most expensive option." Even though you admit you have no idea what the exact usage is... :rolleyes:
 
Wow, quite a debate I inadvertently kicked off. To clarify, the 13" was intended as my road warrior laptop for writing, editing, internet, e-mail/text, etc. I never game on my laptops, which are my designated work machines.

This new video sim gig literally fell in my lap while in Vegas, over the weekend. The software to churn out these sims is very CPU/GPU intensive. I've never been able to get consistently good performance with integrated graphics; just lots of churning and slowdowns. Now, maybe Iris is different, but I'll be in crunch mode for this contract. I just feel better going with a platform that's always worked very well for me. Oh, and battery life is largely irrelevant because I'll be on AC power 95% of the time when working.

To be honest, I'm also considering the new Thinkpad W540. It looks like a helluva mobile workstation. However, it won't be available until mid-late November and, once you go MBP, it's hard to go back to heavy bricks like PC workstation laptops.

Anyway, hope this clears up a few things. :)
 
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What is the battery life really supposed to be like on the 15"? It says 8 hours but on mine the only thing I'm using is nxclient (remote desktop program) and its dropping like 15% in 30 min. Thats about 3.5 hours, quite a bit less than 8 hours.
 
*harp* *harp* *harp*
... but you're the one harping about how it won't have amazing battery life for the workload specified. *harp* *harp* .. :rolleyes:


You're the only one here (out of us) going into "hold on, I must absolutely prove someone wrong on the internet" mode. You posted random benchmarks to make it seem like something is an absolute truth about the new rMBP with the Iris Pro GPU which is misleading. I responded to your post for that reason. I have some idea just based on what he posted which I believe was/is a specific use case and I posted based on that.

I really don't care about anything else nor do I get any high on getting in on some forum duels. But lets get one thing clear, you are the combative one. I'm not putting anyone down, no reason for that. Now if you believe there is further things to discuss or any misunderstanding, my pm box is empty. :)


Wow, quite a debate I inadvertently kicked off. To clarify, the 13" was intended as my road warrior laptop for writing, editing, internet, e-mail/text, etc. I never game on my laptops, which are my designated work machines.

This new video sim gig literally fell in my lap while in Vegas, over the weekend. The software to churn out these sims is very CPU/GPU intensive. I've never been able to get consistently good performance with integrated graphics; just lots of churning and slowdowns. Now, maybe Iris is different, but I'll be in crunch mode for this contract. I just feel better going with a platform that's always worked very well for me. Oh, and battery life is largely irrelevent because I'll be on AC power 95% of the time when working.

To be honest, I'm also considering the new Thinkpad W540. It looks like a helluva mobile workstation. However, it won't be available until mid-late November and, once you go MBP, it's hard to go back to heavy bricks like PC workstation laptops.

Anyway, hope this clears up a few things. :)

I wouldn't pay much attention to it. I'm certainly not responding to it in here any longer..

Now yes, based on what you posted before I was able to come to that fact about your usage for the machine. (Running intensive task plugged in. Just makes sense.)

As I posted before, I agree with your decision. Iris Pro is too much of a gamble at this point and from dealing with Intel iGPUs in Macs (Sandy Bridge) I wouldn't touch Iris Pro. At least for contract work I would go with something proven solid not something brand new. (Have to get paid..)

Random tidbit, I remember reading something from Anandtech about the top end 6970M (which ever the top GPU option was at that time) was actually faster than the 650M if you could keep it from throttling and left the machine plugged in. Just an example of how things behave differently under a mac. Which is why I'm skeptical of anything not running on a Mac to get an idea of what it would be like on a Mac.

Ugh, I dislike those workstation bricks...
 
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Wow, quite a debate I inadvertently kicked off. To clarify, the 13" was intended as my road warrior laptop for writing, editing, internet, e-mail/text, etc. I never game on my laptops, which are my designated work machines.

This new video sim gig literally fell in my lap while in Vegas, over the weekend. The software to churn out these sims is very CPU/GPU intensive. I've never been able to get consistently good performance with integrated graphics; just lots of churning and slowdowns. Now, maybe Iris is different, but I'll be in crunch mode for this contract. I just feel better going with a platform that's always worked very well for me. Oh, and battery life is largely irrelevant because I'll be on AC power 95% of the time when working.

To be honest, I'm also considering the new Thinkpad W540. It looks like a helluva mobile workstation. However, it won't be available until mid-late November and, once you go MBP, it's hard to go back to heavy bricks like PC workstation laptops.

Anyway, hope this clears up a few things. :)

Makes sense, thanks for providing some clarity. :)

What is the battery life really supposed to be like on the 15"? It says 8 hours but on mine the only thing I'm using is nxclient (remote desktop program) and its dropping like 15% in 30 min. Thats about 3.5 hours, quite a bit less than 8 hours.

They claim 8 hours but that's with their standard battery life test, but hey, you can watch 8 hours of iTunes movies.

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/201...sors-Faster-Graphics-Longer-Battery-Life.html

The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display delivers up to eight hours of battery life, one hour more than the previous generation, and up to eight hours of iTunes movie playback.**

**The Wireless Web protocol testing was conducted by Apple in October 2013 using preproduction MacBook Pro with Retina display configurations. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings. For more information visit www.apple.com/macbook-pro/features-retina/.

You're the only one here (out of us) going into "hold on, I must absolutely prove someone wrong on the internet" mode. You posted random benchmarks to make it seem like something is an absolute truth about the new rMBP with the Iris Pro GPU which is misleading. I responded to your post for that reason. I have some idea just based on what he posted which I believe was/is a specific use case and I posted based on that.

I really don't care about anything else nor do I get any high on getting in on some forum duels. But lets get one thing clear, you are the combative one. I'm not putting anyone down, no reason for that. Now if you believe there is further things to discuss or any misunderstanding, my pm box is empty. :)

You responded to me, not the other way around. I responded with compute benchmarks that show the Iris Pro performs as well or better in certain compute situations after you claimed that the 650M was better for his specific use case. Thank you for the offer of discussing it over PM, but I'm good, have a nice day.
 
Quad core, discrete GPU, bigger display.

Don't forget it also has 512GB PCIe SSD. I've seen a benchmark from one and it's over 700MB read and writes.

As a side note now they just need to release a thunderbolt to 10gbe adapter because neither 802.11ac or gbe will even make the drive sweat. A thunderbolt NAS unit would be the best bet to really test out a file transfer on.
 
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