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[Ninja Dom]

I know I am asking a question in a thread dedicated to Mac, but is it definitely worth the extra money over a PC-based laptop? Also, does the Retina display allow for excellent viewing of 2K videos? I doubt 4k works out since I believe the Retina is lower than 4K.

I'm not using a Retina Mac, I'm using a 27" iMac (non-Retina) with a 2560 x 1440 screen res.

1440p and 2K videos work absolutely fine with no problem at all.

Here is a nice video for you to try and test,

Project Cars Launch Trailer, 1440p, 30fps, 1.2GB download. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8yFZHrqKI3jSjhxVFd0dTlVeUE/view

Anybody know of any other great sources for 1440p video? Pref at 60fps? I'm guessing download sizes will be huge though.

 

[Lkr]

Don't leave me hanging!!

The suspense is killing me.

Hahahaha oh my god how did this happen?
The keyboard is too cramped for my massive hands. Keyboard also isn't clicky enough but that is my own quirky standard

 

[NinjaCatfish]

I'm not using a Retina Mac, I'm using a 27" iMac (non-Retina) with a 2560 x 1440 screen res.

1440p and 2K videos work absolutely fine with no problem at all.

Here is a nice video for you to try and test,

Project Cars Launch Trailer, 1440p, 30fps, 1.2GB download. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8yFZHrqKI3jSjhxVFd0dTlVeUE/view

Anybody know of any other great sources for 1440p video? Pref at 60fps? I'm guessing download sizes will be huge though.

I get a lot of YouTube video coming in at 1440p, some people uploading in 4K at the moment. Try MKBHD's channel, or LinusTechTips, I'm sure that most of their recent stuff has been in 4K.

 

[mrkgoo]

Got a chance to play with the new MacBooks.

I think they're incredible. I love nearly everything about them.

I will say I don't really like usb c, but partially because I think things like the MagSafe is a genius idea, and I do like thunderbolt.

I think the port will get damaged easily plugging in power so often in and out.

I also hate the absence of any charging indicator. That said I was a big fan of the sleep light and other indicators on the laptops.

 

[Crazymoogle]

I also hate the absence of any charging indicator. That said I was a big fan of the sleep light and other indicators on the laptops.

Well, there is one charging indicator, kind of - the system (I guess the trackpad?) vibrates briefly when you plug it in, like any iOS device would. So at least there's that...

 

[Granadier]

Just picked up the new Logitech MX Master and mah gawd this mouse is amazing.

The pads on the bottom feel like they are made out of clouds. This things just glides across surfaces like it's on a sheet of ice.

And the thumb button has customizable gesture support, so I don't have to rely on the touch pad for desktop/full screen switching or mission control, etc.

I'm in love.

 

[Ninja Dom]

You know, these MacBook's look so cool that I'd love to pick one up. Gonna have a look on eBay and see if I can get one cheap.

13" Late Late 2006, 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo (MA701LL/A). They look awesome.

 

[kennah]

You know, these MacBook's look so cool that I'd love to pick one up. Gonna have a look on eBay and see if I can get one cheap.

13" Late Late 2006, 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo (MA701LL/A). They look awesome.

Had that exact model day 1. Lasted me 7 years.

 

[Fuchsdh]

Had that exact model day 1. Lasted me 7 years.

Haha, so you spent the extra $200 for the privilege of 80GB and a black color option?

 

[kennah]

Haha, so you spent the extra $200 for the privilege of 80GB and a black color option?

Actually I didn't!

I ordered a Core Duo one at just the right time, and my shipment got delayed by a week so they upgraded me to this one for free.

 

[CrudeDiatribe]

They look awesome.

Slow as balls even with an SSD. Battery is terrible. Plastic quality is dogshit: cracks just by looking at it. Worst laptop that Apple ever made.

 

[The Real Abed]

You know, these MacBook's look so cool that I'd love to pick one up. Gonna have a look on eBay and see if I can get one cheap.

13" Late Late 2006, 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo (MA701LL/A). They look awesome.

I had a white one. It lasted 2 years. Completely fell apart every single aspect of the machine. The fans broke. The processor constantly overheated. It formed the cracks in the top case. It got to the point it would overheat just playing a video and the fans would come on loudly but not fast enough so it would get too hot and would shut off. It took forever to wait for the 2010 MBP to be released so I could replace it. That was a great day.

Nice looking machine. But a piece of shit for me.

 

[serversurfer]

You know, these MacBook's look so cool that I'd love to pick one up. Gonna have a look on eBay and see if I can get one cheap.

13" Late Late 2006, 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo (MA701LL/A). They look awesome.

Ha! That's exactly what I just replaced with a mid-2012 MBP!

I could probably sell you mine, if you want, but it needs a new battery and it could use a new power adapter too. Has 4GB and a 250GB(?) HDD installed though.

 

[mrkgoo]

I had a white one. It lasted 2 years. Completely fell apart every single aspect of the machine. The fans broke. The processor constantly overheated. It formed the cracks in the top case. It got to the point it would overheat just playing a video and the fans would come on loudly but not fast enough so it would get too hot and would shut off. It took forever to wait for the 2010 MBP to be released so I could replace it. That was a great day.

Nice looking machine. But a piece of shit for me.

Yeah it's kind of touch and go for every model per person actually.

My wife has one, early 2008.

Still running now Snow Leopaed with a 500GB and 6GB ram. Just bought a new battery.

 

[The Real Abed]

Yeah it's kind of touch and go for every model per person actually.

My wife has one, early 2008.

Still running now Snow Leopaed with a 500GB and 6GB ram. Just bought a new battery.

I loved the machine until it started with the symptoms. I should have known what was coming as soon as it shut off while watching a QuickTime video without warning.

It was already past warranty by that point though and I didn't get AppleCare. So I couldn't do anything. (I had already replaced the topcase once on literally the last day of warranty.)

Thankfully none of my machines since have had problems. My 2010 MBP, 2011 Air, 2012 Air and 2013 rMBP. Nor my 2010 mini or 2013 iMac. Well, okay, my 2012 Air has a bad battery but it's not my problem anymore. I gave the machine to my brother. Also it was probably my fault as I used to leave it in the car during the summer while at work. Probably overheated it.

Man, I own a lot of Macs. Even if a few of them have new owners.

 

[Ninja Dom]

I had a white MacBook, Core2Duo, 4GB Ram, I think it was a 2007 year model. It did me very well. Had to trade it in back in 2010 when Steam launched on OS X. It couldn't run Team Fortress 2.

I was always aware of that black model. I even looked into case mods but they wouldn't have got the keyboard, trackpad and trackpad buttons to match. 😕

 

[Magypsy]

Yeah, even though it was a slight bump with some hardware tweaks, it's still to early. I'd expect November at earliest. Or at least fall. That was the standard time for the past few years for the new Retina Pros.

The real question is will the new MacBook eventually find its own cycle at the same time or will it be with the Air? Or will they all end up just being updated at once yearly at a special MacBook event? No one knows. Apple changes schedules all the time. The best you can do is go based on the previous time.

I'd get it now. Because if they updated the 13" again this early, I'd eat my Year of Luigi hat.

Or just wait for November if you want Skylake. (Which will hopefully be in them)

November will be too late for me to profit from my student discount, so I'll get one ASAP .

Thanks!

 

[Fuchsdh]

Man, I own a lot of Macs. Even if a few of them have new owners.

You should see the number of old Macs people have over at the MacRumors forums. Guys there have dozens of pre-Intel models in addition to whatever machines they're using as primaries these days.

As for me, I've got my 5,1 Mac Pro I swapped processors on; my 2011 Mac mini I'm now using at work as a Mac supplement to my HP Z840; my 2014 13" rMBP; and an OG iMac G4 and a Mirror Drive Doors 2002 model PowerMac G4, both of which I'm tinkering with and going to use as nostalgia machines for my old OS 8 and 9 games (Sheepsaver has gotten a little more janky with Yosemite and I'm afraid it's not going to be a valid method of quality emulation much longer.) All told that means I own or have owned a total of seven models, though my parents were longtime Mac users so I grew up with a Mac IIci playing Spectre, Oregon Trail, Asterax, and Bolo.

 

[Lkr]

You know, these MacBook's look so cool that I'd love to pick one up. Gonna have a look on eBay and see if I can get one cheap.

13" Late Late 2006, 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo (MA701LL/A). They look awesome.

shit i remember when these first launched and damn it has almost been 10 years


so i know apple says nothing can be user replaced on rMBP. is this entirely true or is there a way i could replace the SSD? i figure there has to be a way for apple to replace a dead drive for me if it ever broke.
what is the iris pro 6100 really capable of? haven't installed anything graphically intense on here whatsoever. i know i can easily run league of legends and hearthstone but is there anything demanding i could get away with? my old windows laptop had a core i7 sandy bridge and a radeon hd 6770m that got decent performance in games for a 2011 mid range system.
what is the trick to increasing allow repeat characters? i do like that if i hold down 'u', i get options for foreign symbols, but i want the ability to just lay down on a key and have it repeat forever. backspace is also too slow for my liking

 

[Fuchsdh]

shit i remember when these first launched and damn it has almost been 10 years


so i know apple says nothing can be user replaced on rMBP. is this entirely true or is there a way i could replace the SSD? i figure there has to be a way for apple to replace a dead drive for me if it ever broke.
what is the iris pro 6100 really capable of? haven't installed anything graphically intense on here whatsoever. i know i can easily run league of legends and hearthstone but is there anything demanding i could get away with? my old windows laptop had a core i7 sandy bridge and a radeon hd 6770m that got decent performance in games for a 2011 mid range system.
what is the trick to increasing allow repeat characters? i do like that if i hold down 'u', i get options for foreign symbols, but i want the ability to just lay down on a key and have it repeat forever. backspace is also too slow for my liking

As long as you've got the pentalobe screwdrivers handy, it's fairly trivial to crack open the rMBP and access the PCIe SSD. However, as of now OWC is basically the only game in town selling compatible modules, and officially they don't sell modules that support 2014 or 2015 MBPs (however people have mentioned swapping Mac Pro modules into MBP and getting them to operate at 4x PCIe speeds even before the newest revision updated the MBP's standard flash to those speeds, so I'd wager if you really wanted to upgrade it now you could.)

As to graphics—are you referring to Intel Iris 6100, or Intel Iris Pro 6200? There's a sizable jump in performance (the Iris Pro is only available on the quad-core models IIRC, and hasn't made it to Mac's notebooks yet as the chips haven't arrived.)

With the 6100, as long as you're willing to run at sub 1080p resolutions, you'll get playable framerates from graphically-demanding games releasing now, but the frame rates will drop precipitously cranking things higher. Having a discrete mobile graphics card would still be better, but sadly Apple doesn't offer a BTO option for the 13" models.

 

[vatstep]

You know, these MacBook's look so cool that I'd love to pick one up. Gonna have a look on eBay and see if I can get one cheap.

13" Late Late 2006, 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo (MA701LL/A). They look awesome.

I just replaced my mid-2007 MB with a 13" 2015 rMBP. Still works, but it's pretty damn sluggish. I had upgraded it to 2GB RAM and installed Snow Leopard, and swapped out the crappy, bulging battery, but it was solid otherwise.

The black looked so much better than that chintzy white plastic, but I couldn't justify the ridiculous price increase.

 

[deim0s]

Is there a reason to pick up the non-retina MBP (2012) nowadays?

 

[Fuchsdh]

Is there a reason to pick up the non-retina MBP (2012) nowadays?

If you like paying too much money for outdated tech, and really think being able to upgrade said outdated tech is important to you, then yes.

Otherwise I have been consistently surprised it's hung around this long. Thought it'd be gone in 2014, and here we are, coming up on four revisions of the rMBP.

 

[Ke0]

If you like paying too much money for outdated tech, and really think being able to upgrade said outdated tech is important to you, then yes.

Otherwise I have been consistently surprised it's hung around this long. Thought it'd be gone in 2014, and here we are, coming up on four revisions of the rMBP.

Only Apple can sell you 2012 hardware in 2015 and charge you $1,100. Pay premium price for 3 year old hardware, then turn around and spend another $200-300 upgrading it. Makes no sense to me at all.

 

[Granadier]

Is there a reason to pick up the non-retina MBP (2012) nowadays?

If you value upgradability, and don't mind a lower res main screen, then there's no reason not to look at them.

I wouldn't recommend buying one directly form Apple though. If you want something new, then Retina is the way to go.

 

[serversurfer]

Is there a reason to pick up the non-retina MBP (2012) nowadays?

I got one (MacBookPro9,1) for $1100 from the refurb store recently and I'm quite pleased with it. It's got 4GB of RAM, so the same as the 2006 MB it replaced, and a 500GB HDD. I preferred this form factor to the newer models because I can bump the RAM to 16GB later for $100, and I can also build a 2+0.25TB Fusion drive in to it for a couple hundred more.

Only Apple can sell you 2012 hardware in 2015 and charge you $1,100. Pay premium price for 3 year old hardware, then turn around and spend another $200-300 upgrading it. Makes no sense to me at all.

So, $1400, tops. Apart from moving the primary storage from SATA to PCIe, what are the significant performance improvements offered by the current, $2000 model? Seems like for $600 less, I'll have local storage that's half the speed but quintuple the capacity. In a few years, I could likely double the capacity again for another $80-$100. With 16GB on board, once the system is warmed up, I shouldn't need to hit the disk very often, so its capacity is more important to me than its performance, especially since it's a portable device and also my primary. It doesn't matter how fast my access to inaccessible data is.

Edit: Also, mine has a 512MB 650M. Isn't that better than the Iris Pro in the $2000 book?

I wouldn't recommend buying one directly form Apple though. If you want something new, then Retina is the way to go.

Why is that? I was looking at Cowboom before I got my refurb from Apple, and by the time you added a 1-yr service plan from CB, the price was practically the same, and an Apple refurb is effectively new, so for the same price, why wouldn't I take that over used? I can even add AppleCare to mine, which wouldn't be an option with a used book.

You know they don't sell the 2012 model new anymore, right? It's just refurbs as they become available. Where do you recommend buying instead?

 

[kennah]

You're talking about 15 inch. They're talking about the 13" non retina pro.

The 15 inch non retina is great value if you can get one.

 

[serversurfer]

Ohhhh.

 

[deim0s]

yes the 13" non-retina. A friend of mine is worried about the battery/flash storage - generally the non-upgradable stance Apple is on. My argument is that its old and Apple might stop supporting it within the year once the 15" inch comes out. With his budget tight and his concerns of the new tech, i'm telling him to consider the Mac Mini as well.

 

[Granadier]

Why is that? I was looking at Cowboom before I got my refurb from Apple, and by the time you added a 1-yr service plan from CB, the price was practically the same, and an Apple refurb is effectively new, so for the same price, why wouldn't I take that over used? I can even add AppleCare to mine, which wouldn't be an option with a used book.

You know they don't sell the 2012 model new anymore, right? It's just refurbs as they become available. Where do you recommend buying instead?

Hmm, my post must have been misunderstood.

If you are going for a 13" model then sure, the refurb is a great choice. But Apple no longer sells non-retina 15" refurbs.

You're talking about 15 inch. They're talking about the 13" non retina pro.

The 15 inch non retina is great value if you can get one.

Yes.
Source: I'm posting on my max spec 15" that I got for $1300 with 12 cycles.

 

[SliChillax]

I currently have a 2009 13inch Macbook and it's falling apart. The battery doesn't even last an hour, fans keep spinning like crazy even though I've cleaned it many times inside and it's incredibly slow. It already has a few dents because it has made me too angry some times, I seriously cannot wait to upgrade it. When is the next update expected?

 

[kennah]

I currently have a 2009 13inch Macbook and it's falling apart. The battery doesn't even last an hour, fans keep spinning like crazy even though I've cleaned it many times inside and it's incredibly slow. It already has a few dents because it has made me too angry some times, I seriously cannot wait to upgrade it. When is the next update expected?

Look at the macrumors buyers guide.

Technically the MacBook was just updated in March.

 

[SliChillax]

Look at the macrumors buyers guide.

Technically the MacBook was just updated in March.

It was just the 13 inch version. I need a new laptop when uni starts in October so I'll end up waiting anyway.

 

[serversurfer]

Hmm, my post must have been misunderstood.

If you are going for a 13" model then sure, the refurb is a great choice. But Apple no longer sells non-retina 15" refurbs.

Yes.
Source: I'm posting on my max spec 15" that I got for $1300 with 12 cycles.

Maybe they're rare these days, but I got mine a couple of weeks ago for $1100. (base spec)

I currently have 4 cycles on the battery.

 

[Granadier]

Maybe they're rare these days, but I got mine a couple of weeks ago for $1100. (base spec)

I currently have 4 cycles on the battery.

The top spec ones seem to be rarer based on my time took searching for one.

But it's good to know that the models are still available!

 

[Fantastical]

Grrrr... something's fucked up with my Macbook Pro 2012. I thought it was the hard drive, but it's not. I get a "no" symbol (circle with diagonal line through it). First I thought it may be the Mac partition, but my Linux partition was fucked too. Then I thought it was the hard drive, switched out the hard drive and I tried to erase it but it always hangs on some step.

 

[ShadowKingpin]

I just got offered a nice discount on my rMBP from a close friend. If this discount is really nice, then I may move up to the 15" for future film and photography work, but if not, then the 13" is more than enough.

 

[CrudeDiatribe]

[...] I'm now using at work as a Mac supplement to my HP Z840

There's a guy on YouTube that put OS X on a Z840. I found it while putting it on a Z230. Seriously considering using it instead of my 2010 Mini at work and turning that into a server.

Then I thought it was the hard drive, switched out the hard drive and I tried to erase it but it always hangs on some step.

13"? Could easily be the HDD cable. Find the right part on iFixit.

 

[Pegosaurus]

Hey GAF, I'm considering buying a retina macbook pro to replace my dying acer laptop. I have a couple questions for you, though. I'm wondering if there's any chance that the 13" would be updated again this year? I remember reading another thread and seeing somebody mention this was a possibility, and I don't know the history of updates in the macbook pro line so I wanted to double check. Second, I've used OS X before, but I've primarily used windows all my life. For people who made that kind of switch how long did it take to get used to OS X as your primary OS? I like what I've used of it, but I'm still somewhat reluctant.

Anyway, the two computers I'm debating buying right now are the HP Spectre x360 and the 13" rMBP. I wish I could find some comparisons between the machines, but I couldn't find much on google. Thanks for any help

 

[infiniteloop]

I think if the 13 MBPr gets updated again this year it'll be in October. I imagine that is when they'll release 10.11 and maybe a new 15 inch retina.

 

[Furyous]

I think if the 13 MBPr gets updated again this year it'll be in October. I imagine that is when they'll release 10.11 and maybe a new 15 inch retina.

I'm struggling to see what they'd improve upon besides a dedicated GPU and a faster processor. I want a new one but can't see the use for it.

 

[Stat!]

I have a early 2010 MacBook Pro. 4GB or Ram, 512 gb of hard drive space, 2.66 Ghz i7.

Debating on upgrading but not sure if I should go with a Macbook Air (but no retina screen) or going for the rMBP. Im not sure if 128gb is too low or if I should go with more RAM.

Maybe I just scrap that idea and run a clean fresh install?

 

[Pegosaurus]

I'm struggling to see what they'd improve upon besides a dedicated GPU and a faster processor. I want a new one but can't see the use for it.

usb type c port included maybe?

I don't know if it would be worth it for me to wait though

 

[Ke0]

Waiting for the next refresh is an endless game, because when that refresh comes another will be a year out...do you wait for that one or do you pull the trigger? Gonna wait for that one? Okay well another refresh is coming...do you wait for that one or pull the trigger?

Hey GAF, I'm considering buying a retina macbook pro to replace my dying acer laptop. I have a couple questions for you, though. I'm wondering if there's any chance that the 13" would be updated again this year? I remember reading another thread and seeing somebody mention this was a possibility, and I don't know the history of updates in the macbook pro line so I wanted to double check. Second, I've used OS X before, but I've primarily used windows all my life. For people who made that kind of switch how long did it take to get used to OS X as your primary OS? I like what I've used of it, but I'm still somewhat reluctant.

Anyway, the two computers I'm debating buying right now are the HP Spectre x360 and the 13" rMBP. I wish I could find some comparisons between the machines, but I couldn't find much on google. Thanks for any help

I doubt they're going to refresh the 13" again this year. Buying one now is a really safe bet. 15" on the other hand...wait.

 

[lupin23rd]

Is there any way to erase a system without having the original install discs for old Macs?

I've got an iBook G4 (Leopard), iMac G5 (Panther), and MacBook (Snow Leopard) and can't find discs for any of them - want to just wipe them and sell them.

Seems like I can buy a Snow Leopard disc, but it won't run on the older machines, and I'd have to go to eBay (or torrents, ugh) for the others.

 

[CrudeDiatribe]

Pull the disks and hook them up to a $15 USB to SATA/IDE adaptor.

 

[infiniteloop]

Is there any way to erase a system without having the original install discs for old Macs?

I've got an iBook G4 (Leopard), iMac G5 (Panther), and MacBook (Snow Leopard) and can't find discs for any of them - want to just wipe them and sell them.

Seems like I can buy a Snow Leopard disc, but it won't run on the older machines, and I'd have to go to eBay (or torrents, ugh) for the others.

Get a FireWire cable, put them in Target Disk Mode and wipe them from another Mac.

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH10725?locale=en_US

 

[Fuchsdh]

I have a early 2010 MacBook Pro. 4GB or Ram, 512 gb of hard drive space, 2.66 Ghz i7.

Debating on upgrading but not sure if I should go with a Macbook Air (but no retina screen) or going for the rMBP. Im not sure if 128gb is too low or if I should go with more RAM.

Maybe I just scrap that idea and run a clean fresh install?

You can upgrade the RAM on your machine fairly easily as well, so I'd say doing a clean install and boosting your RAM would probably do a lot to improve your experience.

 

[Stat!]

You can upgrade the RAM on your machine fairly easily as well, so I'd say doing a clean install and boosting your RAM would probably do a lot to improve your experience.

Thanks for the advice. Is it super easy to upgrade myself? Will do. Should I install Yosemite as well then? What RAM should I go with? The thing is, my battery is basically lasting 2 hours at this point - maximum.

I have some money from Apple but might want to sell my MacBook as well (though its well used and missing some of the rubber pads on the bottom).

 

[Fuchsdh]

Thanks for the advice. Is it super easy to upgrade myself? Will do. Should I install Yosemite as well then? What RAM should I go with? The thing is, my battery is basically lasting 2 hours at this point - maximum.

I have some money from Apple but might want to sell my MacBook as well (though its well used and missing some of the rubber pads on the bottom).

Replacement batteries are fairly easy to be had. Replacement of RAM depends on the model, but for a 2010 model, for instance, all you have to do is remove some Phillips screws and crack the case: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2010+RAM+Replacement/3032

Yosemite is definitely a bit slower on older models, so unless an app you want is Yosemite-only I think it's very much a personal decision. Things like Handoff, etc. require newer hardware than your computer anyhow.

As you say, all this is irrelevant if you decide to get a new model. I'd say you wouldn't see much raw performance increases, but they do have generally longer-lasting batteries and are much thinner and lighter, so those might be worth just getting a new computer at this point. Your 2010 is probably worth a surprising amount of change via something like eBay.