MacBook Pro Retina for Gaming

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Hey Guys,

I'm currently a Windows user who is heavily tempted to convert over to a MacBook early next year but would love some advice from other current users and converts like myself!

First off I'd like to start off by saying that I have done countless forum and Google searches in the hope of getting a definitive answer to my question but every post/review I've read and seen seems to rate the MacBook Pro Retina as a capable gaming machine but by no stretch amazing.

I haven't been an avid PC Gamer for years since I chopped in my old desktop for quite a weak laptop and am by no means looking to get back into heavy gaming but I do like occasionally playing games such as League of Legends, Counter Strike, WoW, Diablo III, Skyrim etc

The reason that I am currently seeking an upgrade of my current laptop is that its over 4 years old, cannot handle any games at all or have multiple windows open at once and lags/freezes performing everyday tasks. I want my next system to be a jack of all trades master of none.. I'd like to use it for casual gaming, photo and video editing as well as general use and everytime I see a MacBook whether it be in an Apple store, at a friends place or in a movie I cant help but think how amazing they look and based on reviews how great they run too.

My worry is that for the spec that I'd like to get on a MacBook Pro Retina, I could equally get a custom built gaming laptop that spec wise would be much much stronger yet at the end of the day would still be a Windows and while would be good for gaming wouldn't be as great for everything else + is always going to be more likely to get viruses/adware etc;

While I really would love to make the jump over to Apple my only fears are that I don't want to pay out £££ for a MacBook Pro Retina and regret it later down the line if it cant handle casual gaming like a Windows or isn't great with photo / video editing and general use.

Any advice from MacBook Gamers / Converts from Windows would be much appreciated. The machine would be used for every day tasks but it would be great if it could handle casual gaming as well - I've seen a handful of reviews but some advice from you guys would be awesome :)

Thanks a lot!
 

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Any particular reason you've got your sights set on the Retina MacBook Pro in particular? I ask because it costs a lot more than the standard MacBook Pro, while having a lot of significant deficiencies relative to the standard model. For example, the memory is soldered fast and non-upgradeable, it uses a proprietary SSD and the battery is epoxied in place. In short, it's designed from the factory to be disposable.

Compared to the standard MacBook Pro, it's just a smidge thinner and lighter and lacks an optical drive. Seems like a lot of sacrifice for a super-high-res screen that is mostly useless unless you're running applications specifically designed for it (few of which exist at this point) - while everything else is pixel-doubled, blown up and fuzzy.

As you might rightly infer, I don't care for the machine based on principal, so yes, I'm a bit biased - I'm sure others here will feel differently, but for my money, I'd be looking at the "real" MacBook Pro... not the super-sized MacBook Air ;)
 
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If your going for the new 2012 MacBook pro with retna display these should be a solid gaming performer, with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 and price wise to get a pc laptop with the same kind of graphics specs is going to be fairly close . The dell xps with the same video card is going to run you about 2,300 US
 

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As you might rightly infer, I don't care for the machine based on principal, so yes, I'm a bit biased - I'm sure others here will feel differently, but for my money, I'd be looking at the "real" MacBook Pro... not the super-sized MacBook Air

+1 and I'll go one step further.... The Retina (both 13" and 15") in my opinion are a waste of money for the everyday Mac user.
 
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+1 and I'll go one step further.... The Retina (both 13" and 15") in my opinion are a waste of money for the everyday Mac user.

They're mighty pretty though :D
 

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They're mighty pretty though :D

That they are. Like all other Apple machines and devices they're designed to be attractive. Another example are the new iMacs - especially the 21.5". Slim and trim, looks great, but for all practical purposes, a throw away machine. Another waste of money in my humble opinion.
 
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Thanks for the responses so far guys; I was initially considering the MacBook Pro without the Retina Display which from what I gather can be repaired and upgraded 10x easier however the base specs don't seem to match up to the Retina.

From the reviews that I've read and seen it states that if you get both a MacBook Pro and MacBook Pro Retina with almost identical specs that the Retina will come out on top in terms of general performance and especially gaming.

Is there any truth in this? The size of the machine doesn't bother me too much and it would be nice to have the Optical Drive as part of the machine instead of having to buy it additionally but I just want to make sure I get my first MacBook purchase right the 1st time around :)

Do any of you guys game with the Retina / Original MacBook?
 
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From what I've read I would think your summation is correct. I'll let you know more when my rMCB 15 arrives next week :D (but I'm no gamer).
 
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That they are. Like all other Apple machines and devices they're designed to be attractive. Another example are the new iMacs - especially the 21.5". Slim and trim, looks great, but for all practical purposes, a throw away machine. Another waste of money in my humble opinion.

What makes you say this, is it because everything is glued/stuck to the machine so you cant change it or just because the Retina is too advanced for general use / gaming?
 

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Non-upgradeable. And yes, the teardown is a nightmare. Like I said, it's just my opinion. Apple will no doubt sell tons of Retina machines and 21.5" iMacs. ;D
 

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That they are. Like all other Apple machines and devices they're designed to be attractive. Another example are the new iMacs - especially the 21.5". Slim and trim, looks great, but for all practical purposes, a throw away machine. Another waste of money in my humble opinion.

I get that with Apple, function always follows form, but these machines take it to a whole new level - completely forgetting that at the end of the day, this is supposed to be a tool. Now, we're throwing out useful functionality completely for the sake of gaining a few useless millimeters of thinness (particularly on a desktop that will rarely, if ever, be carried).
 

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From the reviews that I've read and seen it states that if you get both a MacBook Pro and MacBook Pro Retina with almost identical specs that the Retina will come out on top in terms of general performance and especially gaming.

I don't see how that would be true with identical specs - especially since the Retina MacBook Pro is pushing around a whole lot more pixels. Pound-for-pound, the standard MacBook Pro should be faster. Maybe they're comparing an SSD-only Retina MacBook Pro with a standard HDD equipped MacBook Pro.


Is there any truth in this? The size of the machine doesn't bother me too much and it would be nice to have the Optical Drive as part of the machine instead of having to buy it additionally but I just want to make sure I get my first MacBook purchase right the 1st time around :)

Do any of you guys game with the Retina / Original MacBook?

Well, to be honest, gaming sucks on a laptop - the formfactor just doesn't lend itself well to gaming. So, if that's a priority, you may want to rethink the formfactor. You can build a pretty ripping gaming rig for that kind of money - and it will be consistently upgradeable.

The Retina MacBook Pro is the antithesis of a gaming machine. It's not that it's 'more difficult' to upgrade, it's next to impossible. Again, the RAM is soldered fast, so the configuration you buy, is the configuration you'll always have. Same goes for the CPU and GPU (though this is true of the standard MacBook Pro as well). What's worse is that the SSD is semi-proprietary - it doesn't even match the design of the MacBook Air - and so there are currently no upgrades available.

Need more space internally? Too bad! You're stuck because Apple would rather have you recycle the machine and spend out another $2K every other year, unless some third party starts making model-specific upgrades. And of course, since that's a boutique part, you can pretty much expect double the price of a standard 2.5" SSD. Worse, is that since Apple now has a track record of redesigning their proprietary formfactor, 3rd parties like OWC will be less likely to spend the engineering and manufacturing dollars on these boutique parts.

So, if by some miracle the rose-colored fanboy press is correct (which I have my doubts about), I would trade a couple of FPS in the odd event I'd choose to game on my laptop (which I almost never do), rather than compromise on a disposable, ill-conceived, but very pretty Retina MacBook Pro.
 
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Thanks for the response cwa107, the thing is that I don't really want to get a desktop again although I know they are stronger and better for gaming I want something that is still portable, that can handle games as well as being good for general everyday use.

I want a system that is good for gaming but by no means for that to be the systems only purpose, I'm quite into my movie and picture editing and have always used software on a Windows and I would love to eventually try my hand at music production;

It's becoming quite hard to make the decision on which system to go far as I gather that Mac's are better for music production as well as video and photo editing but Windows systems are better for gaming; I want something that can do each of these things equally as well.

Music Production wise I've heard a lot of the top artists / producers use Apple systems but cant be sure
 

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Music Production wise I've heard a lot of the top artists / producers use Apple systems but cant be sure

The Mac Pro is usually the system of choice for music production. Tim Scott has promised a refresh for 2013 but the Mac Pro is an expensive investment and definitely geared toward the professional.
 

cwa107


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It's becoming quite hard to make the decision on which system to go far as I gather that Mac's are better for music production as well as video and photo editing but Windows systems are better for gaming; I want something that can do each of these things equally as well.

Better? That's a tough one. There's great software packages available for both platforms. Are Macs preferred in "creative" circles? Yes - but that has a lot more to do with how the systems were traditionally marketed since their infancy, more so than technical capability.
 
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The MBPr definitely has the specs and hardware to run games, the gaming support may be lacking on the OSX side, depending on your game of choice... Booting to a Windows Partition would probably be ideal if that is the platform that supports your chosen games... If the sole purpose for the machine is for gaming, I would agree with my old friends (hi CWA and chscag!!) you're money may be better spent elsewhere.

I have (am typing from) a 15" MBPr... It is absolutely wonderful in my opinion. I carry (in hand, backpack, or sleeve) my laptop with me everywhere I go, and notice a significant difference in the weight and bulk vs my previous MBP, even though the differences seem slight on paper.

Having a SSD has been a major improvement vs my previous MBP as well.

Resolution... movies are fantastic on it, glare is highly eliminated, and my favorite part is the additional screen real estate when using SetResX.app ( I have good eyesight (not to be confused w/ iSight) and use 2048 x 1280 at all times.

As my old (not a reference to your ages, but to how long it's been:) ) friends have said in other words. Depending on your situation, your money may be better spent elsewhere.

Rest assured though, it is a simply amazing device! I spent a ton of moeny on it and have zero regrets whatsoever.. YMMV
 

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The MBPr definitely has the specs and hardware to run games, the gaming support may be lacking on the OSX side, depending on your game of choice... Booting to a Windows Partition would probably be ideal if that is the platform that supports your chosen games... If the sole purpose for the machine is for gaming, I would agree with my old friends (hi CWA and chscag!!) you're money may be better spent elsewhere.

It's about time you showed up around here again, RiDE! Don't you find the rMBP to be a bit 'childy'? :D
 
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It's about time you showed up around here again, RiDE! Don't you find the rMBP to be a bit 'childy'? :D

How dare you!!!!

LOL!!!!! Good to "see" you!
 
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Thank you everyone for the responses! :)

So just to summarise;

MacBook Pro Retina

-Quite expensive considering what you are going to get + all of the parts are going to be glued onto the system which makes upgrading impossible.
-Very good for creative, music and media professionals although most software still needs to be upgraded to work with retina properly.
-Beautiful machine, sleek design, very quick yet while it can handle gaming its by no means brilliant for it.

Windows Laptops

-Better value for money + fully upgradable.
-Better for gaming.
-Equivalent software available for music production, photo editing and video editing.

Would you all agree the above is correct?

To clarify I dont want to go for a desktop as I still need something thats portable so that I can take it with me abroad and on trips and I also want something that can handle gaming but also is good for video and photo editing as well as music production - should I assume considering all of this that customising a Windows laptop would be my best bet and better value for money considering the above?

Thanks again guys, been a great help! :)
 

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should I assume considering all of this that customising a Windows laptop would be my best bet and better value for money considering the above?

I've been around the circle on doing just that. It's surprising how much a high quality Windows notebook will cost after customizing it. I recently priced out several top of the line Sony Vaio machines. After customizing, the price difference between the Sony and MBP (not Retina) was about $300 less for the Sony. Pretty much the same for Dell. (I'm not a big fan of Lenavo or Alienware notebooks.)

You need to make the price comparisons yourself. Go to the Sony, Dell, Acer, or whatever web sites and choose, customize.
 

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