Sorry, the rMBP is any less powerful than the MBP?
No? How many steps forward have they taken in the latest series of products, both hardware and software? Latest processors, graphics, efficiency, SSD performance and yes, resolution.
Please read the
review I quoted above.
Well it is a symbol in a sense. It says that I've got taste, I enjoy an excellent product and that I'm prepared to pay for it - and I am. A $1000 Facebook machine? Um, no.
I am talking about things that most people don't take into consideration. I might have worded it a little wrong, and for that I apologize. What I meant to say was this. Let me give you a brief background.
Back in the day, my cousin, who is a music producer, used exclusively Logic Pro. He had the 17" MacBook Pro, because of the screen real estate. He was able to have many things open in Logic because of the size of the screen, making it easier for him to produce. Right about the time when he was about to upgrade to a newer 17", it was discontinued. Many, and I mean MANY, people where ticked off when this model was discontinued. People needed the screen size. They needed to run multiple things at once on one screen. People don't always have the luxury of hooking up their computer to an external monitor.
In addition, how are you going to burn CD's efficiently? The retina does not have a built in drive, and having an external drive is a hassle for many.
People just don't classify these new computers as Pro anymore.
The older MBPs where basically a portable version of the Mac Pro tower. The reason people on here love them so much is that the RAM is upgradable, as well as the CD drive can be taken out for more HD space.
With the retina, that luxury is not there. It still is powerful, but wonderfully useless. Why do you need that high of a resolution? Unless you are editing 2.7k Cinema video, or are a professional photographer, that screen is useless. It does nothing but strain your eyes quicker. THAT is a FACT! Also, without a dedicated graphics card, like the 650M in the now extinct 15" MBP, how are programs going to run? A little choppy? The Iris is nothing but a glorified Intel graphics 4000 card. Look at he benchmarks.
Even if you are a photo/video guru, the retina is still useless. Spending that much money on a notebook, should be going towards the MacPro itself.
What are you going to to with a $1200+ rMBP when the battery is no longer able to be charged? What are you going to do with a $1200 rMBP when the RAM is fried? What about the CPU? GPU? Things don't last mate, they simply do not. I would much rather have the opportunity to have a solid machine, that after 2-3 years I can replace the battery for an affordable price.
What are you going to do when the retina has some problems? What are the tons of people with retinas going to do when they encounter a minor problem? If the audio jack is messed up you have to pay a Boatoad of money just to get that fixed. On top of that, there is no protective glass for the screen, and it is remarkably thin, which after some time, something will happen to it. Somebody might hit your bag at Starbucks at an awkward angle, you never now.
All I am trying to say is that the non retina MBP was a very very functional computer for many, and many are now having to switch to other platforms, because they need to. They cant afford to pay a third of the retail price, just to fix a minor problem. With a standard MBP it could be fixed at a lower cost.
My cousin had to switch to PC, to use FL Studio 10 at the time. He had to learn a whole new software, just so he could start making money again.
It's not just specs that make a computer what it is mate, it is what you use that computer for, that make it valuable.
R.I.P. MBP
Do you understand?