I'm thinking about purchasing a Macbook Pro with Retina display versus a Macbook Air. Does anyone here have a Macbook Pro with Retina? If so, could you tell me how it's worked or not worked for you? My 7-year old HP laptop has finally reached its limit of frustration with me, so if I purchase the Macbook, it'll be the first Apple computer I've ever owned.

Also, is the Apple Care Protection Plan worth getting?

Thoughts?

[Edited 2/24/14 8:26am]

I've worked with PC's and Macs, but only buy Macs for my home studio. The reason I go a "pro" is because I do a lot of video and audio work and also like the port connections. Otherwise a regular Macbook is good enough.

I've got my eye on the new Mac Pro (looks like an ashtray), because of it's video processing ability (I'll be toying around with 4K RAW video soon). I also like Final Cut Pro both old and new versions.

If I ever get around to buying another laptop, I might go with Apple.

ALL you guys need to consider Linux. You'll save a TON of money. On hardware as well as software.

I just bought a MacBook Pro Retina 13" a couple of weeks ago, and I'm loving it so far, especially the screen, which is terrific. I had the same dilemma of whether to go for this one or the MacBook Air, and very nearly went the other way. The screen's not as sharp on the Air, but, tbh, that's still fine for everyday work, and that model offers much better battery life and a little less weight to make up for that; so it's probably a little better if you plan on taking it around with you a lot (although the Pro Retina 13" is only slightly heavier). My friend has an Air, and it's also a light, well-built machine that's very comfortable to work on.

Both are pretty painful on the wallet, but my thinking was that, pound for pound, the Retina one seemed to offer slightly more 'bang for your buck' - and my thinking was if I was going to have to buy something that whacked a big hole out of my bank balance, I wanted it to be something I could happily sit ogling like Gollum with the ring. Plus, I got the education discount, which took the edge off the cost a bit. There's no way around the fact that Apple are kinda overpriced when there's a lot of other choices out there in the PC market. For me, I'd just got used to my old Mac and couldn't be arsed to change.

Good comparison that might help:

deebee said:

I just bought a MacBook Pro Retina 13" a couple of weeks ago, and I'm loving it so far, especially the screen, which is terrific. I had the same dilemma of whether to go for this one or the MacBook Air, and very nearly went the other way. The screen's not as sharp on the Air, but, tbh, that's still fine for everyday work, and that model offers much better battery life and a little less weight to make up for that; so it's probably a little better if you plan on taking it around with you a lot (although the Pro Retina 13" is only slightly heavier). My friend has an Air, and it's also a light, well-built machine that's very comfortable to work on.

Both are pretty painful on the wallet, but my thinking was that, pound for pound, the Retina one seemed to offer slightly more 'bang for your buck' - and my thinking was if I was going to have to buy something that whacked a big hole out of my bank balance, I wanted it to be something I could happily sit ogling like Gollum with the ring. Plus, I got the education discount, which took the edge off the cost a bit. There's no way around the fact that Apple are kinda overpriced when there's a lot of other choices out there in the PC market. For me, I'd just got used to my old Mac and couldn't be arsed to change.

Good comparison that might help:

Yeah that's my thought process on this as well that I would get more for my money going with the MacBook Pro as opposed to the MacBook Air. I've used the MacBook Air for my job (and fell in love with it), which initially is what got me thinking of wanting one of my own, but then looking at pricing and what you get, I'm leaning towards getting the MacBook Pro. I need a personal laptop this go round with 8GB of memory...so if I was to get the Air, I would have to add that on for an additional cost, but if I get the Pro, I can get the one that has 8GB memory already built in the price along with other added features that don't require add ons.

Thanks for posting the vid too, it was very helpful.

Also, did you purchase the Apple Care Protection plan when you bought your MacBook Pro?

[Edited 2/25/14 6:30am]

missfee said:

deebee said:

I just bought a MacBook Pro Retina 13" a couple of weeks ago, and I'm loving it so far, especially the screen, which is terrific. I had the same dilemma of whether to go for this one or the MacBook Air, and very nearly went the other way. The screen's not as sharp on the Air, but, tbh, that's still fine for everyday work, and that model offers much better battery life and a little less weight to make up for that; so it's probably a little better if you plan on taking it around with you a lot (although the Pro Retina 13" is only slightly heavier). My friend has an Air, and it's also a light, well-built machine that's very comfortable to work on.

Both are pretty painful on the wallet, but my thinking was that, pound for pound, the Retina one seemed to offer slightly more 'bang for your buck' - and my thinking was if I was going to have to buy something that whacked a big hole out of my bank balance, I wanted it to be something I could happily sit ogling like Gollum with the ring. Plus, I got the education discount, which took the edge off the cost a bit. There's no way around the fact that Apple are kinda overpriced when there's a lot of other choices out there in the PC market. For me, I'd just got used to my old Mac and couldn't be arsed to change.

Good comparison that might help:

Yeah that's my thought process on this as well that I would get more for my money going with the MacBook Pro as opposed to the MacBook Air. I've used the MacBook Air for my job (and fell in love with it), which initially is what got me thinking of wanting one of my own, but then looking at pricing and what you get, I'm leaning towards getting the MacBook Pro. I need a personal laptop this go round with 8GB of memory...so if I was to get the Air, I would have to add that on for an additional cost, but if I get the Pro, I can get the one that has 8GB memory already built in the price along with other added features that don't require add ons.

Thanks for posting the vid too, it was very helpful.

Also, did you purchase the Apple Care Protection plan when you bought your MacBook Pro?

[Edited 2/25/14 6:30am]

There's some quirk in the UK whereby you get three years free if you order through the Education Store on the Apple site, so I was fortunate to benefit from that. I probably would have ended up buying it at some point before the standard year-long warranty ran out, though, tbh, which you're able to do any time within that first year. I'm sure I also read somewhere that they offer discounts during these Black Friday-type sales.

My only criticism of the comp itself is the sharp front edge, which can be a bit uncomfortable if you're typing a lot while using it at certain angles on your lap - e.g. sitting on the sofa with your legs stretched out so that the front edge is higher than the back and the metalic edge rubs your wrists where they naturally rest. Any other position it's fine, though, so it wasn't a dealbreaker for me - and i even bought some little soft pads off Amazon, just in case I had to do a long typing session and it got to be a problem. You get a 14-day trial period, in any case, so if you get one and decide you're not happy with it, it's easy enough to send it back.