Bought rMBP yesterday. what do I need to know?

harsaphes

Supreme [H]ardness
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Aug 29, 2005
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Hey all. Yesterday I bought a rMBP. This is my first Apple computer. I ran through the tutorials on the Apple site and its pretty straight forward. Any hints or tips from you users?
 
Download and install QuickRes. It'll give you access to the full native resolution of your retina MBP. It's a great utility. I usually keep my 13" retina at 1920x1200 unless I need massive screen real estate. Then, I switch to 2560x1600 for the full Monty.

http://www.quickresapp.com

It's well worth the $5.00 price.
 
cmd-space opens up the spotlight menu like the windows key opens the start menu. I probably use that more than anything
 
Why use that app? You can use the native resolution of the display by going to "system preferences" then "displays". Chose scaled and pick the resolution you want.
 
Look into Geektools to get some on screen data on your system.

Setup Timemachine sooner than later. Extremely helpful in any event of system failure and restoring. The sooner you start, the more timeline shots you'll have to pick from.

Enjoy!
 
Why use that app? You can use the native resolution of the display by going to "system preferences" then "displays". Chose scaled and pick the resolution you want.
Where exactly can you choose a specific resolution? You can click on an icon that says More Space, but there's nothing that offers a choice of resolutions, at least not on my rMBP.
 
Why use that app? You can use the native resolution of the display by going to "system preferences" then "displays". Chose scaled and pick the resolution you want.
They intentionally cap the max at 1920x1200. This is because on a 15" Retina for example, 2880x1800 native would be microscopic.
 
if you're really interested in that kind of thing, here's a free app called Retina Display Menu
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/87351306/RDM.tar.gz

There are other apps but they cost money. I have tried them all at one point in time before finally realizing that I never had a need for them.
 
Wether you treat you laptops with great respect (and keep them spotless) like I do (my 2012 rMBP still only has one scratch on the back of the LCD and I have no idea where it came from), or like my son... trash it with food all over your hands or accidentally ripping off keys while you are playing games (NO, he does not have a MBP... I would have to break him if he trashed it), get the Apple Care + protection plan. Yeah, its $399 or something like that, but if you have an accident or need tech support after a year it will be well worth it.

Get an external drive about 2x to 3x the size of your internal drive for Time Machine backups, and back up at least twice a week. There have been no cause for concern on my rMBP so far, but things happen.

If you have to get it repaired try to take it to an Apple store, even if it's an hour drive one way. My closest is 45min. Much faster turnaround time than shipping it somewhere, and you can talk to the tech and give them more info that way. And you get to browse the store! Just don't expect service while you wait. I had to leave mine for two days to get both fans replaced (they made noise and wouldn't spool up when it got hot). I just got to browse the store twice in one week... ;)

Other than that you won't have much trouble with learning the OS. Its pretty strait forward. I had no trouble, and I was a Windows/PC guy from 1993-2012, when I got my first Mac. My very first Apple product was an iPhone 3Gs in 2009. The switch was easy and I haven't looked back.
 
Wether you treat you laptops with great respect (and keep them spotless) like I do (my 2012 rMBP still only has one scratch on the back of the LCD and I have no idea where it came from), or like my son... trash it with food all over your hands or accidentally ripping off keys while you are playing games (NO, he does not have a MBP... I would have to break him if he trashed it), get the Apple Care + protection plan. Yeah, its $399 or something like that, but if you have an accident or need tech support after a year it will be well worth it.

Small correction, Applecare for the computers does not cover accidental damage (drops, dents, liquid, etc) but it will cover any manufacture defects that happen within three years as well as one battery replacement if it is consumed (failed is always covered under applecare). Yes its expensive. But any major part that needs to be replaced costs more than applecare. If you go online and order applecare via the student discount portal you can get it cheaper and they dont verify if youre a student or not from the website.
 
Yeah it's basically covered up to a year without so anytime leading up to that I can buy my Apple Care.
 
AppleCare doesn't cover batteries. They tell you that but if you have a battery that is not holding a charge then it'll be counted as normal wear and tear. If it's defective they'll replace it, but that requires their diagnostics indicating that it's defective, not just refusing to hold a charge.

That said, I have had a battery replaced on my rMBP under AppleCare but that was because the trackpad was defective and everything is glued together apparently. I've tried it six different ways to Sunday under all kinds of conditions otherwise and always no joy.
 
I just had a Retina with a 'doesn't hold charge' battery that they replaced under warranty. They didn't even do initial diagnostics, they just watched it lose 5% in the span of 20 minutes sitting at the Genius Bar and they took it for service. Replaced the entire top panel. $0.
 
point being not to buy AppleCare with the expectation that it'll cover batteries unless they are determined to be defective. It could go either way, up to the Genius' discretion, and I've seen denials more often than approvals.
 
thanks everyone. I'm really like it a lot. The backlit keyboard is great. The system is really easy to learn. Just figuring out all the track pad gestures. Sweet device.
 
If you're interested in the gestures, I suggest checking out bettertouchtools
 
Your rmbp has a 50% chance to have a screen that is susceptible to ghosting.
 
AppleCare doesn't cover batteries. They tell you that but if you have a battery that is not holding a charge then it'll be counted as normal wear and tear. If it's defective they'll replace it, but that requires their diagnostics indicating that it's defective, not just refusing to hold a charge.

That said, I have had a battery replaced on my rMBP under AppleCare but that was because the trackpad was defective and everything is glued together apparently. I've tried it six different ways to Sunday under all kinds of conditions otherwise and always no joy.
I would just point them to their own documentation. It states it is designed for 1000 cycles and to retain 80% charge, if your battery only has 500 cycles and is only holding 50% or less charge then by their own site it is not living up to manufacturer standards and should be replaced under apple care. You may have to argue it with them, but its pretty clear they saying the battery should last for a while.

Having worked for applecare it all matters how you phrase something, for example if someone says they spilled some water on the back case of an iphone but they know it didn't get inside and now they need their phone replaced 4 or 5 months after that happened it would automatically be accidental damage issue because setting up a repair asks if water has ever come in contact with the phone and if so then it forces you to charge them the OOW cost. Best way to answer that is "to my knowledge water has never entered the phone", best way to get a battery replaced is to show them their stated specs on how long it should last and then show that yours isn't living up to that. They can't argue that at all, if nothing else ask for T2, the first level advisers have power to grant pretty much nothing. I wouldn't trust the tools stating it's not defective, I saw many iphones that would only last 15 min on a complete charge and pass the internal battery test and be only a year old, the battery shouldn't deplete that much in a year.
 
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Get the Applecare plan from Amazon, its cheaper there. You can get it before your first year ends so you don't have to get it now, but DO get it. It may save you hundreds of dollars in the future, and even if you never need to use it, it will also increase the resale value so it will almost pay for itself if you sell it down the line while still under the coverage.
 
Every time I've been in the market, B&H has always had the best deals on Applecare.
 
Every time I've been in the market, B&H has always had the best deals on Applecare.
That's always been the place I see it the least expensive.

I get an edu discount and I still bought my AppleCare there because it was either the same or less expensive than directly from the Apple Store.
 
Get a squaretrade warranty, 300 bucks for 3 years, includes accidental as well! I purchased one just yesterday for my new mbp 15. Have squaretrade for my Note 4 and my wifes iphone 6 plus also, 99 dollars for 2 years, includes accidental.
 
I'm just throwing this out there because I just woke up and dont want to think about it. The great thing about Apple care is you can just walk into the store and have a problem fixed, which is covered of course. But still. Walking in has an advantage over shipping something.
 
I'm just throwing this out there because I just woke up and dont want to think about it. The great thing about Apple care is you can just walk into the store and have a problem fixed, which is covered of course. But still. Walking in has an advantage over shipping something.

Yeah, I think the difference between getting AppleCare and SquareTrade is whether or not you tend toward being more of a klutz/accident prone. You can't beat Apple cust service, but Apple cust svc will not save you from yourself ;-)
 
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