Apple cuts MacBook Pro price, updates processors

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  • 2

    zichi

    Good news for Apple customers. Along with the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro is one of the best laptops on the market. Which other company has managed to get a retina display into a laptop?

  • 0

    LostinNagoya

    I want to buy a new Macbook Air, but I can't decide between a MB Air and an iPad with a detachable cover/keyboard I saw in Amazon. Some people reviewed they won't return to laptops anymore after using the iPad with a keyboard.

    http://www.amazon.com/Luvvitt®-GRAVITY-Thinnest-Lightest-Keyboard/dp/B009268NWK/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&qid=1360802306&sr=8-26&keywords=ipad+logitech+keyboard

  • -1

    basroil

    Apple Inc. said Wednesday that the MacBook Pro with “Retina” display and 128 gigabytes of flash memory will now cost $1,499

    Cutting prices mid-season without explaining anything is usually apple's way of saying the product was a massive failure. The so called "retina" display isn't even all that great, suffering from increased memory use and decreased battery life. Hell, you can't even use all those pixels unless you install third party apps, make everything tiny, or use windows on it. By default it's just a pathetic 1440x900 resolution, and most reviews state that it's no better than a 1600x900 screen with ClearType. Specs and all wise, the Macbook air 13 is still a better buy than the MBP13

  • -2

    basroil

    LostinNagoyaFeb. 14, 2013 - 09:40AM JST

    I want to buy a new Macbook Air, but I can't decide between a MB Air and an iPad

    If you do anything but surf the internet and play horrible mini-games, MBA is far better. Don't bother with keyboards for ipad, the difference in performance between the two is a factor of about 20, yet only half the battery life.

  • 0

    zichi

    @LostinNagoya,

    personally, I've stopped using my mac and windows laptops. I changed to a Mac mini server and iPads. I have an iPad2 in a keyboard case (battery life 10 hours and there's an extra battery in the keyboard giving me another 5 hours) and an iPad3 without a keyboard case and use an Apple bluetooth keyboard with that one.(battery life 10 hours) I won't be buying another laptop.

    I can see some professionals and people on the move would still need a laptop. I think an important point between the Air and the Pro, the Air is only available with SSD's while the Pro is available with normal hard drives. The Macbook Pro is also available without a retina display.

    There are professionals, including photographers using an iPad instead of a laptop. The battery life of the iPads out preforms the laptops, and especially the Surface Pro tablet which is less than 5 hours if you don't play games and video's.

    If you can, go to an Apple store and spend sometime using all the laptops. I wouldn't take the advice of anyone who hasn't even used the hardware.

    I'm also reluctant to buy a new laptop, Apple and many of the Windows too, its becoming impossible to update/replace the RAM. hard drive, and battery. I know there's no point opening my iPads, but that's common with all tablets.

    The iFixit people stripped down the Surface Pro, easy to break it on the way, and gave it 1 out of 10 for repairability.

    The 11" 128GB Air is $1100, the 13" 500GB Pro $1200, so there's not much in it with the money. If you use the laptop mostly on the go, then the Air is better. If your laptop spends more than 50% of the time on a desk then I would go with the Pro.

    You should also think about mac mini or mac mini server and and iPad, especially if you already have a good monitor. I also like having both OS X on my server, and iOS on my iPads. Both are quite different.

  • -3

    basroil

    I wonder, why the hell would anyone bring up the surface pro? I get the feeling some fans are really desperately jealous of it or something...

    That said, it would be able to do everything the ipad does and macbook air does for less, and with same battery life as the macbook air! (in windows)

  • 1

    LostinNagoya

    Zichi, thanks for the insight. It was very helpful.

  • 0

    zichi

    @LostinNagoya, You're welcome!

  • 1

    zichi

    @LostinNagoya,

    Of course, the 128GB iPad is the only true tablet with a drive that size and you get more than 120GB of disk space for personal files. 128GB disk and retina display makes it very appealing to many new people.

  • -1

    badsey3

    I like tablets, but the smaller 7" ones seem to be perfect. Not so great holding a 10" tablet while laying down.

    http://www.amazon.com/Luvvitt®-GRAVITY-Thinnest-Lightest-Keyboard/dp/B009268NWK/ref=sr126?ie=UTF8&qid=1360802306&sr=8-26&keywords=ipad+logitech+keyboard

    I would rather go with a charging base and a wireless keyboard (turn your tablet to a computer when home). If you are are doing alot of typing that keyboard may be too weak (get a Logitech or a brand name like Apple). Many cases will hold your tablet vertical.

  • -2

    LostinNagoya

    @badsey: can you name one or two that hold it vertically and are really good? I made a search, but there are so many in the market it's hard to pick up one.

  • -3

    basroil

    http://www.zdnet.com/surface-pro-versus-macbook-air-whos-being-dishonest-with-storage-space-7000011009/

    Ouch, MBP really should come with 256GB disk at the price it's asking for, you only get 92GB free compared to the Surface Pro's 97GB (after transferring recovery partition to an external drive).

  • 0

    wipeout

    Interesting screw-the-customer language quoted in that link posted by Basroil: "The Solid State Drive capacity stated in the product specification may be higher than what is reported by Mac OS X."

    Not that much of this matters when people are happy to limit themselves to HDDs of 256 GB or less in the first place. What decade is this?

  • 0

    lostrune2

    Ha! My gaming laptop still out-roars those though, heheheh.

  • -4

    basroil

    wipeoutFeb. 14, 2013 - 07:27PM JST

    Not that much of this matters when people are happy to limit themselves to HDDs of 256 GB or less in the first place.

    At least with real portable computers (including the macbook pro ) you have the option of stuffing a few sd cards in your case and even install programs on them. Personally I have a 256gb drive in my desktop... along with 7.5TB in extra disk space

  • 1

    wanderlust

    Get the MBAir maxed out with memory, and use what you save from the MBPro to add a 27" Cinema Display to it. That's a great combination. I've 4 similar configurations in my office, and for working outside, just take the MBAir with you. Probably 10~15 seconds to connect and disconnect. For really heavy work, a Mac Pro maxed out with 64GB RAM and 16TB of disk space is a nice package!

  • 0

    JeffLee

    The iFixit people stripped down the Surface Pro, easy to break it on the way, and gave it 1 out of 10 for repairability.

    Yep, and the Apple iPad Mini got a 2. These greedy corporations want us to use their products for a couple of years then toss them in the garbage or on an industrial waste barge headed for the slums of Bangladesh, so that child laborers can pick through the toxic junk, just so we consumers are forced to buy new ones, over and over and over again.

    "Repair ist verboten." And I love how their CSR materials parrot on about "sustainability."

  • 0

    badsey3

    http://www.techspot.com/review/604-ipad-keyboard-folio-roundup/

    These new "folios" are quite different = changes a tablet into a laptop. For people that really need a keyboard on the go it makes sense, but still want that tablet. People and keyboards are a picky subject -I would always buy quality and a name brand especially if you expect to type alot. I prefer the older 80's Mac keyboards (IIci, IIfx, SE stuff) -the keys are curved a bit. Amazon has the best feedback and NewEgg has great geek feedback.

    I have the HP TouchPad (WebOS), Touchstone (very slick wireless charger) and wireless keyboard (still in the box). I don't even use it since I feel it is to heavy (same size as iPad 1) = I want a bigger iPhone. Could put Android on it (TouchPad) but too lazy and bought a HTC EvoV 4G (Android) instead ($150 no contract).

    I feel the iPad is the better choice for tablet over Android, better apps and way more accessories (only a few models/sizes compared to Android tablets). Could get a refurb, but since the battery is not easily replaceable you may want the warranty (lithium batteries only last 2-3 yrs) http://www.cowboom.com/search/results.cfm?keywords=ipad (refurb iPads <$200)

    My original thoughts on these tablets were to take the tablet with you, then when home put in on the charger and/or treat it as a standard computer while on the charger. The HP TouchPad was cleared out by HP for $49/$99 in a firesale eBay frenzy (i paid more) -tried to get one that eBay night, but I had a few million geeks bidding against me probably with fiber-optic internet connections.

  • -3

    basroil

    JeffLeeFeb. 15, 2013 - 06:47AM JST

    The iFixit people stripped down the Surface Pro, easy to break it on the way, and gave it 1 out of 10 for repairability.

    Yep, and the Apple iPad Mini got a 2.

    And the only reason for that is that iFixit went easy on Apple. For some reason they are ridiculously insistent on not having fused glass panels, even though that very panel is the reason why you won't need to replace it as often. Nobody actually is going to take something like the Surface apart for any reason other than to replace the SSD with a 512gb version, and even those will be far and few, most will just opt to bring a microSDXC card or a USB3.0 external drive.

    badsey3Feb. 15, 2013 - 10:03AM JST

    http://www.techspot.com/review/604-ipad-keyboard-folio-roundup/

    These new "folios" are quite different = changes a tablet into a laptop.

    False, all it does is change a tablet into a tablet with a keyboard. When it can run real productivity software and laptop grade programs, then you can try to say that, but when's the last time you used office on one? What about a simple thing called your file explorer that lets you view what the hell you have in the machine? What about the ability to run presentations without strange adapters that don't even work properly? It's a solid no to each and every one of those.

  • -2

    badsey3

    http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-bluetooth-keyboard?utm_medium=afl&utm_campaign=227502&utm_source=rvs (GroupOn folio deal)

    A tablet can do most things a laptop can do if not better = there is an App for that.

    http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/7/3612422/microsoft-office-mobile-ipad-iphone-android-screenshots

    -even Microsoft seems to be giving into the Pads.

  • -6

    basroil

    http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Pro-with-Retina-Display-Teardown/9462/1#.T9iyafG5Pbo

    Looks like anyone that complains about a 1/10 score should take their retina display laptop to the back yard and put it down! No wonder they are taking $200 off the price of the 13in, ifixit doesn't even have ratings low enough for this hunk of junk, everything is horrible and not a single redeaming feature (like removable ssd or glass protecting the LCD screen)

  • 1

    LostinNagoya

    It doesn't matter if MBs have a thing less or a thing more than other devices in the market. People want them because they're good at what they do. I really don't care if you can better see an ant in your friend's shoulder in, say, a MS tablet display. Because it may be good at that, but the overall experience with MS is clumsy. That is the main point that makes me not even joke about spending money on a Surface. Waste of money, and time.

  • -3

    basroil

    Odd, I've seen OSX crash a few dozen times a day when W8 hasn't kernel panic'ed on me yet....

  • -2

    zichi

    some microfloppers are just mothers of invention...

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