2880x1800 "Retina" MacBook Pro's in Q2 2012... supposedly

[§k¥¥ |{£øúÐz]

Originally Posted by kwiksilver

The new 3rd generation iPad has a resolution of 2048x1536 - Starting Cost: $499

The new retina 15" Macbook Pro has a resolution of 2880x1800 - Starting cost: $2199

The "regular" 15" Macbook Pro which has a mechanical hdd, and a resolution of 1440x900 - Starting cost $1799

Here's one that will get you thinking though. If you configure the non retina macbook pro 15" with a 256GB SSD and 8gb to have the same specs as the retina 15" it actually costs $200 more than the retina version. #WTFApple

But technically the non retina MBP you can swap your own ram out since it's not soldered in, and same with the ssd since it's not proprietary like in the retina one. Maybe they're charging you a convenience fee lol /joke

[WordMasterRice]

Originally Posted by kwiksilver

The new 3rd generation iPad has a resolution of 2048x1536 - Starting Cost: $499

The new retina 15" Macbook Pro has a resolution of 2880x1800 - Starting cost: $2199

The "regular" 15" Macbook Pro which has a mechanical hdd, and a resolution of 1440x900 - Starting cost $1799

Here's one that will get you thinking though. If you configure the non retina macbook pro 15" with a 256GB SSD and 8gb to have the same specs as the retina 15" it actually costs $200 more than the retina version. #WTFApple

Hah it doesn't surprise me. I would never purchase upgrades on a machine from apple if given the choice. I always get the lowest config with the integrated components that I want then buy my own drive/ram.

[Slizzo]

Apple has always gouged on the upgrades for all their systems. Cheap items like extra memory they generally will charge you 2x to 3x the cost of the parts.

[kwiksilver]

Originally Posted by Slizzo

Apple has always gouged on the upgrades for all their systems. Cheap items like extra memory they generally will charge you 2x to 3x the cost of the parts.

This is very true, I call it apple tax. Which is why I ordered my MBP 15" with 4gb of ram and then went to newegg and got a 16GB kit (2x8gb) and put it in myself.

[Nagoshi]

Originally Posted by Slizzo

Apple has always gouged on the upgrades for all their systems. Cheap items like extra memory they generally will charge you 2x to 3x the cost of the parts.

While it's pretty bad on the Apple side of things, it's the same everywhere else. Alienware anyone?

[§k¥¥ |{£øúÐz]

Yup. Apple deserves more praise for their skill in marketing than their skill in innovating. (which isn't to say their innovations are bad, they're excellent, I'm just saying that they're REALLY good at marketing. when you can pass excon mobile selling computers and phones.... GODLIKE)

[kwiksilver]

Originally Posted by §k¥¥ |{£øúÐz

Yup. Apple deserves more praise for their skill in marketing than their skill in innovating. (which isn't to say their innovations are bad, they're excellent, I'm just saying that they're REALLY good at marketing. when you can pass excon mobile selling computers and phones.... GODLIKE)

Oh I know, look how practically every tech site nearly crashes during a liveblog of WWDC or any other apple release. Whether the company is moral or not, they know how to sell products.

[§k¥¥ |{£øúÐz]

well I just bought one. worth every penny. plus, with $200 student discount, you can't argue that $2k is that bad of a price considering it's an ivy bridge cpu, 8gb ram, gt650 nvidia gpu, 250gb ssd, 2880x1800 screen, aluminum unibody, etc etc. setting up dual boot so i can boot to windows for gaming, and boot to osx for everything else.

[kwiksilver]

I got mine yesterday for work.
2.3ghz quad with HT, 16gb ram, gt 650, 256gb ssd, and that amazing 2880x1800 display. I am actually running it at 2880x1800 to see if I can use it like that. I think the 1920x1200 is perfect for the 15" screen.

I really wish the ethernet was integrated. This thunderbolt to ethernet adapter is a bit cumbersome. I also wish there were more thunderbolt accessories.

[§k¥¥ |{£øúÐz]

Originally Posted by kwiksilver

I got mine yesterday for work.
2.3ghz quad with HT, 16gb ram, gt 650, 256gb ssd, and that amazing 2880x1800 display. I am actually running it at 2880x1800 to see if I can use it like that. I think the 1920x1200 is perfect for the 15" screen.

I really wish the ethernet was integrated. This thunderbolt to ethernet adapter is a bit cumbersome. I also wish there were more thunderbolt accessories.

i installed win7 ultimate so i can do gaming, and run it at the full 2880x1800 resolution but i turned the windows 7 UI scaling to 200% and it looks about the same as OSX, with a few little quirks here and there. i'm sure win8 fixes scaling issues.

EDIT: i should probabyl mention that I dual boot lol, i use osx for most things but put win7 on there so i can do the gaming. (have steam for mac but most games aren't ported yet)

[AruisDante]

I also bit the bullet and got one, and I pretty much love it. Just got the base spec with student discount. It puts any other laptop I've owned to shame. I'm very pleased that I made the switch to the dark side, which is something I honestly never thought I'd do- Quite literally within the last year I said I'd own a Mac computer when Hell froze over. But that screen... that glorious, glorious screen. I don't care that I can't upgrade the RAM... by the time I'll actually NEED more than 8GB in a laptop, I'll want a new laptop anyway. And I don't care that I can't (practically) upgrade the storage. I stream most things now anyway, and have a file server for the things I don't, so 256GB is plenty for me. Honestly, it's pretty much the perfect laptop for every one of my use-cases save note-taking. Hopefully the WinRT surface will have a Wacom, if it does I'll own it on launch day.

[§k¥¥ |{£øúÐz]

Originally Posted by AruisDante

I also bit the bullet and got one, and I pretty much love it. Just got the base spec with student discount. It puts any other laptop I've owned to shame. I'm very pleased that I made the switch to the dark side, which is something I honestly never thought I'd do- Quite literally within the last year I said I'd own a Mac computer when Hell froze over. But that screen... that glorious, glorious screen. I don't care that I can't upgrade the RAM... by the time I'll actually NEED more than 8GB in a laptop, I'll want a new laptop anyway. And I don't care that I can't (practically) upgrade the storage. I stream most things now anyway, and have a file server for the things I don't, so 256GB is plenty for me. Honestly, it's pretty much the perfect laptop for every one of my use-cases save note-taking. Hopefully the WinRT surface will have a Wacom, if it does I'll own it on launch day.

if the proprietary ssd is the same as the macbook air, or similar, you'll be able to upgrade it in a short amount of time. they're proprietary but you can buy the proprietary ones online and install them yourself. (at least you have been able to with the airs for some time now, I'm assuming it's the same deal with the mbp)

[AruisDante]

They aren't the same, but OWC already makes a replacement. The reason I phrased it as 'practically' was that because it's a custom job, it's not affected by market price for SSD's nearly as much as there are only one or two companies that will make them. It's very expensive to do. Not to mention it's a physically PITA to do due to the design of the computer. It's cheaper just to buy very fast external storage for anything that would need more than 256GB.

[§k¥¥ |{£øúÐz]

Originally Posted by AruisDante

They aren't the same, but OWC already makes a replacement. The reason I phrased it as 'practically' was that because it's a custom job, it's not affected by market price for SSD's nearly as much as there are only one or two companies that will make them. It's very expensive to do. Not to mention it's a physically PITA to do due to the design of the computer. It's cheaper just to buy very fast external storage for anything that would need more than 256GB.

yeah i figured thunderbolt enclosures paired with an SSD would fill the gap apple left with non upgradable storage.