Topic: Macbook Pros with Retina Display

[ren]

I've never really used Apple products except the scroll-wheel iPods but these retina display (forgive the stupid marketing term) Macbooks are tempting.

2880x1800 on a 15.4" laptop. That's a higher resolution than the trusty old Dell 2405 I've been using for a good 7 or 8 years.

Unless a Windows laptop gets close to that in the next few months, I might just bite the bullet. If people get Windows 8 to make good use of the giant, multi-touch trackpads, even better. The only real thing tying me to Windows was Excel and now that I'm not in school anymore it won't be that big of a deal.

[idolminds]

I dont really see the point of having such a high res on a small screen.

[Pugnate]

This looks amazing to me.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/11/wwdc-2012-the-new-15-inch-retina-display-macbook-pro?utm_campaign=ign+main+twitter&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

[ren]

I dont really see the point of having such a high res on a small screen.

I thought that as well when they announced the 'retina' display iPhone and iPad but after seeing the screens in person, I'm converted.

[gpw11]

Yeah, I find it makes a pretty big difference to the eye. Well, at least on the iPhone/iPod.

You can also roll with Excel for mac, I believe, although my experience through work is that it's not quite as good.  Worst case scenario - dual boot.

The only downsides to Macbooks are the price...and goddamn Apple.  Uh, sorry, still kind of amazed about their "Single Incident Support" fee system.

[scottws]

Excel for Mac 2011 is pretty similar to Excel 2010, but it does not support add-ins and has very limited macro support.

Apple has something called AppleCare that you can buy that gets you better support, but it is pretty expensive.

[gpw11]

Excel for Mac 2011 is pretty similar to Excel 2010, but it does not support add-ins and has very limited macro support.

Apple has something called AppleCare that you can buy that gets you better support, but it is pretty expensive.

Yeah, I had a hard time believing that it would be any worse really, but maybe it's only older versions on Mac?  Or (more likely) that older versions on Mac aren't quite as compatible with newer ones on Windows.   I've had to reformat and fix a lot of the templates I've made for people. I wouldn't consider it a deal breaker by any means though, even at it's worst.

As for AppleCare, fuck them.  I can understand it on the iPhone to a point, but it's pretty ridiculous. You kind of have to see the iOS games thread to see what I'm talking about, but I bought an iPod Touch 4g like a week ago.  Nike+ doesn't work, and it's a common issue. So, I tried to get a hold of Apple to be like "what the fuck?  Are you fixing this or am I returning it and buying a Garmin watch?"  They wanted me to pay $30 to talk to someone on the phone, specifically because I didn't buy Apple Care.  Like, I'm not even making a warrenty claim or anything here, at most asking for a support ticket and the website wants $30 before I get a phone number.


*There's a chance that I may have been in the wrong place, although I doubt it because I thought about it and went through twice.

[Cools!]

The retina display is a nice addition, just don't need that high of a resolution (I'd be fine with just 1080p on a laptop). Other than that, meh, don't care. Apple laptops aren't as reliable as they used to be in my opinion (my old PowerBook still works, but the MacBook Pro is dead already. And they've been neglecting the desktop Macs for years now both in terms of hardware and software. It's probably just a matter of time before they retire Mac OS X and change it completely to iOS. I've been saying this for years, but if I wasn't involved with photo or video, I would have long switched to using a Linux box full time.

Regarding Apple Care: you can add it at any time within 1 year of purchase to extend the support for another 2 years. Never got it for any of my computers. All problems I've had have been just after 3 years so it wouldn't have mattered.

[gpw11]

Yeah, I'm kind of mouthing off about Apple's support policy here without knowing anything about it except a.)it seems fucking ridiculous to charge for support on a brand new product (note, that the problem I'm experiencing probably isn't Apple's fault, it's probably Nike's. Apple just wanted to charge me to ask a rep about it) and b.)Their support under Apple care is apparently pretty amazing.

And I think they just announced today that their new version of OS X is taking even more of a que from iOS, so you're probably right.

[scottws]

Yeah Apple support is pretty epically bad.  I remember when I was having issues with the QuickTime plugin on Windows.  No amount of uninstalling/reinstalling was fixing the issue.  I tried to get support for it, but there was only community support and community support for Apple products is the worst I've ever seen.  Imagine a bunch of Apple fanboys that all have the attitude "Apple products just work!" and have no idea on how to actually fix anything on any system. Now imagine they are trying to give you system-level advice on Windows.

The short story is that it was almost a complete waste of my time.  I say almost because the suggestions I got were hilarious.  I mean the people that even bothered to try to help rather than say "get a Mac" threw out troubleshooting that would have zero impact on the issue and in some cases was actually harmful to the system.

As for AppleCare, my support ends this October.  I really need to take my laptop in because I'm having a lot of trouble with the MagSafe power connector.  Most of the time I connect it, the light won't come on and it won't charge the battery even though the laptop detects the power connection.  I have to reseat the connection several times to get it to work.

As far as the original topic goes, I wonder how much theses things are going to cost.  A base MacBook Pro 13" is already a fortune with the relatively low-res screen it comes with.

[ren]

It's pretty expensive. $1829 for a 15" MBP and $2229 for the retina version. That's in Canada so the US is probably a couple hundred dollars cheaper.

[gpw11]

Apple Support - yeah, fuck them.  The community support was bad and basically ended up being some people just saying its anyone but Apple's fault, and three of us saying.  I want to sync my runs...is this ever going to work?

Apple or Nike, you advertise the feature, you put pressure on whoever's fault it is when your user's can't.

Retina Display: That's like a price difference of another (not so great, but capable) laptop. Wow.