My first week with my rMBP, and my thoughts on the purchase

I purchased the entry level rMBP and have had it a bit, and felt like I should share what I think about it so far...

I am a web programer/designer, and I also like to play games. I immediately put bootcamp on, and split the hard drive in half, and put windows 7 on the bootcamp partition.

1st off, after reading all of the reviews, I had many concerns about the machine before it even came in. The scaling quality, the cooling system, the lack of hard drive space, non retina ready apps, etc. to name a few.

After using it a week, I can say that some of this, well alot of this is really being blown out of proportion...

The only thing really bothering me right now, is using the apps that are not retina ready.. Using the scaled modes does not bother me one bit as long as the app is retina ready... (I have never been able to run a non native rez on a laptop until now.... Currently I am running the best for retina setting most of the time, and switch to high rez only when I am doing a layout in photoshop.)

Surprisingly on the windows side, IE actually looks the best by default.... It appears to be already retina aware like safari. Windows chrome, firefox and even windows safari look like dirt..

A lot of the control panel areas in windows are pretty bad also... Like the screens where you change resolution and such.

I have been running windows and games at 1680x1050, and it looks amazing... Almost native... I really feel like windows 8 will fix the control panel screens that are not retina ready, so it should work out just fine in the end.

I did install parallels 7 in osx, so that it would use my bootcamp partition as the image, and it seemed to mess up my drivers. You have been warned. I had to format to get everything working again.. Some apps would not launch, mouse went haywire in some games, etc.

In windows using the dedicated gpu for browsing, the bottom is only slightly warm. Using the intergated in osx makes the bottom hardly warm at all..

During gaming, it does get hot, but not as hot as my thinkpad did... Skyrim looks amazing... So does everquest 2.... Both are as smooth as butter.

The machine opens Photoshop in 2-3 seconds, boots in under 20 seconds. Both windows and macos use up about 20 gigs by default, but they are at 30 gigs by the time I add my CS5 and browsers.

In osx, I installed the program that lets me pick what gpu to use so chrome would stop kicking my dedicated gpu into gear just to run flash. That seems to help keep things cool. I also installed a program to keep my machine from going to sleep when I close the lid. That way I can download games and updates and such in clam shell mode..

I did notice, the screen vents do open quite a bit when the machine is closed... I would say 1/2 open...

To deal with the limited hard drive space, I have a file server at home that serves my movies up to my apple tv. Media stays off my laptop... Also, web work that is over a year old goes there. That server also has daily backups to backblaze, which is unlimited for only $5 per month. (2.5 terabyte worth of hard drive space.)

I use steam, so all of my games progress is saved to the cloud, so its no big deal if I can only have 5 or 6 on bootcamp at a time.

I put this machine next to a 2011 macbook pro, and the glare reduction is dramatic... I also believe it is more durable and attractive when compared to the matt options of the 2011. (Never cared for the silver border.)

I would make the purchase again!

Hope that helps!

 

Also, I have noticed 2 kinds of people that see the screen. Some can't see the difference, and some see a massive difference. It is usually the graphics artists that can tell a huge difference, and the spreadsheet people that do not see the value.

One of the best ways to show off the screen, is to open launch pad..

All of the icons in launchpad have native hi rez sizes and are very colorful. When you do this side by side with a 2011, one looks very pixelated and one vector smooth when side by side.

It does little good to compare SD content on an SD screen vs an HD screen. It is still SD content...

 

If anyone wants to see a native screenshot of how a CS5 app looks being non retina aware, here you go!

http://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=346447&d=1341352232

 

Classic line. Frickin bean counters.

 

its Apple... thats what usually happens. Everyone expect everything to be perfect, and if its only 99% perfect instead of 100% then 'ITS THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!'

 

I don't think thats a problem. My experience with the Internet is if something is worth buying there are a million complaints (e.g. Apple products, Diablo 3 etc) and if its not worth it, people don't even bother to talk about it. People complain about a product (in general) because they like it, and have flaws that prevent the product from being perfect.

 

What settings/resolution do you play Skyrim at?

 

1680x1050 maxed out is what I had it at and it was 60 fps type smooth. Have not fraps it yet though. I will post back here when I have the chance.

 

Part of what you're saying I agree with wholeheartedly but the problem here is (other than obvious defects) many times "flaws" are in the eye of the beholder and what a person perceives as a flaw is due to the type of workflow they have that may not necessarily work with what they are trying to do. Doesn't make something a flaw though.

Honestly I get frustrated in reading posts on the web like, "Apple messed this up and this is the way it SHOULD have been done...and such and such as if Apple's own employees somehow just didn't notice their own mistakes."

My take is, Apple has hundreds of engineers creating their OS, thousands of employees that can give feedback directly to the source since they work for the source so if these flaws are really "flaws" then somebody at Apple should be able to see them right away vs. a small few on the internet.

 

Can you take some temperature readings after playing Skyrim for awhile?
(an hour or so+)

GPU and CPU would be the most interesting.

 

I can. I just don't know what programs I can trust.

 

trust the force

 

You had 60 fps playing Skyrim? Was it gameplay that had you fighting multiple monsters on screen and did you use mods? Also did you run bootcamp or parallel?

 

I'm more interested in Crysis 2 temps

 

Honestly, I've heard a friend notice it even hits mid 80's hot running the macbook on non-hard surfaces (i.e. on bed etc) doing basic tasks (videos etc. non-gaming).

 

Wouldn't that be expected?

 

it would. You are insulating an aluminum block with something hot inside, not to mention blocking the side vents.

aside that apple fan policy is notoriously slow to engage

 

Assuming testing Skyrim or Crysis (in Windows)

CPUID HWMonitor
CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

Nvidia Inspector
(google it)

MSI Afterburner
(google it)

Note please, from other threads the GPU does fine, even overclocked...
Its the CPU which is getting to 100 degrees+ Celsius.

Note the program is just spitting out what the sensors are giving you.

ANY reading over 100C (especially sustained) is danger zone.

ANY reading over 105C (even peak) is probably damaging your hardware. (Ivy bridge processors should start throttling a degree or two BEFORE 105C) Note that the processor will protect itself (by downclocking!), but other components in your laptop may very well be at risk.

 

I like the retina macbook its a nice piece of hardware. its certainly what alot of people are selling all their stuff to be able to purchase. I like how text looks on it, very crisp in certain situations. I may pick one up once it hits refurbished section. I picked up an 2012 air instead and im very happy about it. it will keep me satisfied until things come down some.

 

Ok guys. I had a bit of time to do some skyrim testing. I did not have my mouse with me, so I appologize for the bad trackpad jerkyness, but I was able to download fraps and verify I was getting 60 frames per second in high quality at 1680x1050. 8x aa and 8x af.

Here is a youtube video I had fraps record of me taking out a few villagers in whiterun. (Got a few kill cams also.)

Skyrim on entry level Retina Macbook Pro (rMBP) with FRAPS - YouTube

 

Wow I'm shocked that the base model of the Macbook Pro Retina could play Skyrim at 60 FPS, so there's no need spending the extra money to get the higher end model. Would you suggest buying the extra memory for the base model so when someone use Bootcamp they can split the memory where each operating system would get 8GB?

 

Boot Camp is not a VM, it doesn't run at the same time as OS X, so it uses all your available RAM. So if your system has 8GB of RAM, Windows will also have access to 8GB of RAM while Boot Camped. Also, the higher end model makes no difference in gaming since the only performance upgrade is the CPU and the GPU will bottleneck performance long before the CPU does.

@OP: So you run Skyrim at high, not max? It don't see a difference in quality between the two so it doesn't really matter to me, I just wanted to check.

 

Yeah, that is what it suggested also. I am guessing its the difference between 99% quality jpg and an uncompressed file?

Looks like youtube removed my fraps overlay...

 

Interesting... My computer came unplugged, and it dropped from 60 frames to 31 frames per second. Seems that it auto clocks down on battery power...

 

That's how it should be.

 

It doesn't downclock itself on battery. The battery is physically incapable of providing the ~150-200W-ish requirements of the rMBP.

In fact, I'm willing to bet, if you're going full steam with HD everything and maxed brightness, you'd probably see your battery level DROP even when PLUGGED IN.

 

@ Bill Nye

Your battery level does indeed drop when you run the CPU and GPU at full blast. Tested it out on my RMBP.

 

For my needs i prefer that over a larger brick.

 

Most of the OEMs are throttling quad core processors on battery. I am not sure what Apple is doing, but it wouldn't be unusual if they did.

 

Had a chance to load up modern warfare 3 today. Was getting 60-90 frames per second on high with shadows on and 4x aa at 1680x1050.

Also, as I have had the machine, I have noticed it comes unplugged way to easily! I can deal with it though, just annoying.

The keys do get a bit hot time to time, but not the whole time. Probably in the time when the fans are about to kick on but have not yet. This may can be solved with a program to increase fan speeds in advance as you start your gaming or encoding session.

 

I was playing "the Witcher" last night. The heat was not a problem from a user's perspective, but I was awfully concerned about how hot the metal at the base of the display was becoming. I would hate to see display damage from the heat.

 

Odd... I have noticed more hot air going behind my display than in front of... I wonder if you have the screen titled back more than I do?

Would that change the direction of the air flow?

 

I thought the air flowed out the sides.

 

That is to help intake I think... I have never felt anything blow out there.

 

Nope. Those are sub woofer slits.

 

thought they were credit card readers, to speed up your itunes purchases

 

are people joking around?

The slits on the side are air intake, and it vents out in the screen hinge area.

 

Ok, ok, uncle!

That would explain why the base of the screen gets hot, then.

 

way to derail a thread

 

Here's some incredibly nice pictures of the retina version:

2880x1800 at Apple Store - MacRumors Forums

I thought it was a picture of an iMac screen at first until I scrolled down and saw the keyboard due to the resolution.

 

So does mine with a 7200RPM drive.

I think people complain because you are paying hundreds more for a low end IPS display which will be used at 1440 x 900 anyway, and you don't even cover the sRGB color space. It's being marketed to photographers and it's actually useless to serious photographers. Not worth talking about the rest of the hardware because there it falls behind even more.

The display may look pretty and bright, but it's not accurate and it's not all that great compared to what you can get for less. I think people complaining about this ( I being one of them ) are 100% right.

Call it what it is, an expensive facebook/twitter appliance not suitable for professional work. For $1200 it would be a good deal, as it is, well you know.... it's mostly for delusional people. Kind of like 18" Alienware, $5000 + , the fastest hardware and all that, but then they throw in a crappy screen, so what good is it, even if it runs everything at 999FPS it still looks sub par even for a $1500 machine.

I don't know who designs these things and makes these decisions, but apparently we have a lot of stupid people in what's supposed to be a nerd/smart people industry. 90%+ gamut, matte or glossy, bright, high contrast screens are readily available for just a $100-$200 more, why not use them? Everything you stick into a machine leads to one thing, a picture on a screen, screen is the most important part, period. Seriously people, get a grip and at least offer some options.

 

Are you trying to say your 7200RPM spinning hard disk is as fast at opening programs and booting as my retina ssd? And that the screen on a retina is crap? Are you on crack?

I am not a stupid person, and the machine fits my needs very well.

If only apple could afford technical and business advisors of your caliber...

 

really? ... your HDD is just as fast as a SSD... thats magic..

Also the Retina MBP screen is 99% sRGB.... and runs at 2880x1800, even if it scales apps that will be too small to make it look like 1440x900 (by default), you can scale it differently, or even run a non-scaled 2880x1800 if you want.

 

Don't feed the trolls.

 

I know.. I just feel bad for the sheep that read their spew and think its steak.

 

Anyone can add an SSD... There isn't really a "retina" SSD, its just one feature that was added. Note that you'd pretty much expect any laptop in that price range to have an SSD.

If he's implying that a 7200rpm hard disk is as good in response time and transfer rate as an SSD, well then he simply doesn't understand the benefits of a SSD.

The screen he has a point on though.
He is looking for a professional-grade screen. The retina screen has high resolution, but in all other ways is not that impressive when compared with other screens in this price range.

The color gamut and accuracy has actually DECREASED from last year's MBP.
AnandTech - The next-gen MacBook Pro with Retina Display Review

The retina screen is actually 67% Adobe color gamut as compared to 74% from last years model and the 84% and higher of the Razer and other professional-grade screens of this price range.

Is the retina screen a bad screen? Not at all. It is just fine for mainstream uses. However, its not the end-all-be-all and most certainly does not qualify for the moniker "pro". This is mostly because professionals, and especially graphics professionals will want to look elsewhere.

 

It is very shady to say the color gamut and accuracy has decreased, when in fact it only decreased in Adobe color gamut, and not sRGB, which is is much greater demand due to being the color space of the Internet.. Even most scanners and printers have sRGB in mind..

sRGB coverage is greatly increased, so for the majority of users, the color accuracy is much better than last year..

Does a print shop still need to use an external monitor calibrated with their printers? Yes. But most already do that.

Not to mention the contrast, viewing angle, and black level advances which have also greatly improved over last year.

 

Everything that isn't anecdotal that I have read suggests to me that the screen is excellent. Graphics professionals are not storming to the razer blade because it has a slightly higher color gamut when looking at adobe's RGB model.

You also have to keep in mind that sRGB is the standard for 32 bit RGB color. Although extending those 32 bits to cover a wider range gets you coverage of a wider range, it also reduces the precision of color selection (you still only have 8 bits per channel). This can cause artifacts (banding) that are at least as undesirable as clipping extremely saturated colors.

I think most professionals with 8 bit/channel monitors would prefer sRGB coverage of their monitor. If you had 10 bits / channel or more, aRGB is probably better. The reality is that adobe RGB is not unilaterally better given 8 bit RGB. At best, you'd have to make an argument for it.

 

I think part of the issue is that many complaining about the rMBP screen were hoping it would be the answer to their gamut requirements and color accuracy desires, filling not only the global standard sRGB space but also allowing for calibrated color work in a significant portion of the abodeRGB space. And at this price point I can see why people may expect that - I'd love for it to have higher gamut, but not because I actually need it for anything. I shoot 99% of my work in sRGB because I upload images to the internet and send my photos to friends who aren't printing them professionally. If I'm doing landscapes and printing them myself, okay, maybe I'll switch to adobeRGB to see how higher gamut in greens and cyans look. I have no illusions about the rMBP being my platform for color correction on those images though. Would it be nice if I could? Sure. But that's not what it's meant for.

The price is the sticking point, I get that, but the rMBP is a mainstream 15" desktop replacement, not a professional desktop publishing workflow dream machine. Asking it to be one smacks of sour grapes.

 

If we are only dealing with sRGB, how much better off do you really think you are with a retina screen as compared to someone with a $1300-1400machine with a 95% 1080p screen?

Having now played with a retina screen, I have to say I was not all that impressed. It most certainly IS better than the average screen, but I can think of 1080p screens that are nearly as good and some of which I actually liked better under most situations.

I also think the sticking point is the price range we are talking about and the level of machine we expect for that price range.