Haswell and 16gb option is a must before it can be considered a good investment.

I still see the macbook air as the best laptop (price/performance/quality) one can buy... it only needs an IPS display and even better battery life.

I noticed the MacBook Pro Retina panel is quite a bit thicker than the MacBook Air's panel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton 

I noticed the MacBook Pro Retina panel is quite a bit thicker than the MacBook Air's panel.

It's because it includes a sheet of glass, which the Air does not. 

I'm still trying to understand where the weight difference comes from, between this and the Air. Where is the extra pound from?

Either way my 2011 Air is still serving me fine. Was flirting with the idea of upgrading to this, but I'll wait till the next revision. Can't justify that price.

Beautiful system but the negatives vastly outweigh the positives in this version for me.  No dedicated GPU, no Quad Core, 8gb max plus the significant price difference over the 13" MBP.  

No performance increase over the 13" MBP other than SSD standard but as most of us know who read this site you can pick up a 128gb SSD drive for <$80 now and put it in a 13" MBP in about 10 minutes.

I wanted a 15" rMBP in a 13" package, this isn't it.

Pass. 

Apple's first to market with a few technologies like Retina that will soon be commodified and available at much lower prices, and it certainly needs more power-sipping electronics, e.g., Haswell and more stuffed into the form factor, plus more powerful graphics (and CPU) processing to make it truly compelling.  At least for those who don't have to buy one now and have specific demands for what it can do compared to the Air.

What I was expecting though after the 15 (or maybe even a bit less).  The 13" Air certainly seems a better value in 2012 if it meets your user case.  I really don't take my notebook out much any more for the moment, and the new Mac Mini and my old, but totally satisfactory to me 1600x1200 desktop monitor are feeling like a decent price/performance choice to get me through the next year to 18 months.  Especially supplemented by a tablet for being out and about and not needing anything heavyweight (in power and apps) on those sojourns. 

The 13" MBP is reputed to be Apple's top seller, no?  (or is it the Air, I forget) But if it is, while I can sell Apple selling enough to make it a viable product, I can't imagine this one will be such a huger seller at these prices.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slurpy 

 

It's because it includes a sheet of glass, which the Air does not. 

 

I'm still trying to understand where the weight difference comes from, between this and the Air. Where is the extra pound from?

 

Either way my 2011 Air is still serving me fine. Was flirting with the idea of upgrading to this, but I'll wait till the next revision. Can't justify that price.

Battery battery battery.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigpics 

Pass. 

 

Apple's first to market with a few technologies like Retina that will soon be commodified and available at much lower prices, and it certainly needs more power-sipping electronics, e.g., Haswell and more stuffed into the form factor, plus more powerful graphics (and CPU) processing to make it truly compelling.  At least for those who don't have to buy one now and have specific demands for what it can do compared to the Air.

What I was expecting though after the 15 (or maybe even a bit less).  The 13" Air certainly seems a better value in 2012 if it meets your user case.  I really don't take my notebook out much any more for the moment, and the new Mac Mini and my old, but totally satisfactory to me 1600x1200 desktop monitor are feeling like a decent price/performance choice to get me through the next year to 18 months.  Especially supplemented by a tablet for being out and about and not needing anything heavyweight (in power and apps) on those sojourns. 

The 13" MBP is reputed to be Apple's top seller, no?  (or is it the Air, I forget) But if it is, while I can sell Apple selling enough to make it a viable product, I can't imagine this one will be such a huger seller at these prices.
 

I believe that this one is a true beta tester for them. Since it's a 13" and it will sell (you can bet on it..), prices for some kwy components will come down, engineering will be perfected and before you know it, regular 13" and 15" models will disappear, and retina models prices will come down (400$, maybe). Only retina models and macbook air will be sold in 2014. Wanna bet?

I put a lot of thought into this, and fondled one the other night at the Apple store for a good half hour, but I decided to pass and just get an SSD for my 2009 13" MBP.

While I loved the screen and the size/weight, that price is ridiculous.

Here's hoping things improve with the 2013 revision.

Ordered one yesterday. Can't wait. If you use it for work and can afford it - yes, this is an amazing laptop, almost THE perfect laptop for me.

Though for any other circumstance I'm not so sure, as ignoring any of it's industrial design innovations and looking just at its specs - yes this is a very expensive machine for what you get.

I returned my MBP 13 Retina today to the apple store for a refund. It is a true machine of compromise. It runs hot compared to my MBA 13 even browsing simple webpages (too hot for your lap) and its noticeably heavier and bulkier. For that you get the same performance as the MBA and you're paying a whole lot extra. If it had quad core and a dedicated GPU I could justify the extra cost, weight and heat. But it does not. This article makes a big assumption stating that they didn't have room in the machine, when only a few days ago did we look at the iFixit comparison noting all the 'void/empty space ' inside the machine. Really disappointed with Apple on this one, this machine is basically a rip off.