Engadget Retina Macbook Pro Review | Hacker News Reader

Engadget Retina Macbook Pro Review

engadget.com

14 pointsNick5a127 comments

The one thing that would make me buy this machine is the screen. But in apples usual "we know better than you" attitude they don't allow you to run the os at native resolution without scaleing. This is a huge deal breaker for me and is the one thing that is turning me off this machine.

Are you _really_ sure you'd want that (I think my eyes wouldn't like it)? You can run it at 1920x1200 though.

I might not. But at least give me the option to.

why clutter the UI with completely useless options? If someone accidentally set it, they might not even be able to see to undo it.

> why clutter the UI with completely useless options?

A dropdown box does not clutter things. Seriously. It would take 10% of the space of the current weird graphics, and the new one actually frightens me: how is it going to handle setting the resolution of external displays or overhead projectors?

"A dropdown box does not clutter things. Seriously." — things an Apple engineer would never say

There are other reasons to dislike or otherwise not use dropboxes: they're technical, they're textual, they're not really intuitive and when there is a high amount of data they're unusable.

But clutter is not one of them when you replace it with a combination of two radio buttons and 5 fucking huge buttons, which altogether take about 4 times the surface of the corresponding open dropdown.

I'd put $20 on there being a hack within a week to let you "go native". We'll see.

While we're there, we may as well add the 453 non-native resolutions that nobody in their right might ever wants to use. Oh yeah, that would be Windows.

You wouldn't be able to even read the text.

Scaling is really needed at this point. Primarily due to the size of the screen. If the screen was larger then allowing the native resolution wouldn't be a problem. But at the current screen size (15") you would have a really hard time reading text.

There are images out there of each of the hiDPI resolutions including the 1920 resolution. On my 1920x1200 resolution 23" cinema display it is readable. But even I squint a bit at text on this display and it's 23". I can't even imagine trying to use that resolution at 15".

Sorry, but Apple's "we know better than you" attitude is spot on with this particular thing.

I've been an Apple user for years and bought my first Mac (PowerBook G4) about 10 years ago. My main computer is a Mac Pro (2006) and is in dire need of replacement. I'm pretty peeved that the Mac Pros are not on the upgrade list this week. But I will not argue with them about this particular choice in not allowing native resolution on the new MBP Retina display.

Native resolution on that display would be next to impossible to view easily.

What I'm wondering about is how that Retina screen handles in Boot Camp Windows. I haven't seen any reviews that discuss that, and that's going to make or break things for me.

As for me - I'm waiting for a non-Apple laptop that can fit this screen, it's 1.6:1. (I'm writing this on a 1080p 15" thinkpad with a swapped screen)

Wow, that was fast! Great review (considering the short timespan). Seems like a great machine. But, beeing used to a Macbook Air, I don't want anything more heavy. I better avoid seeing that screen...

The screen's OK, once you get used to it, it'll stop feeling like a big deal, the extra pound and a half is something you'll feel every day.

How long have you been using the new MBP?

I've not seen the display in person. But some initial take aways are this:

People kept saying that the iPad's Retina display wasn't worth it and that they couldn't see the difference. Then quickly proclaimed after a week or more of usage that they cannot fathom going back to the iPad 1 or 2 display.

I suspect the same is true of the new MBP display. While it may seem "ok" now. Give yourself time with it and you'll have a hard time going back to anything else.

My experience with the iPad 3 is kind of the opposite. Initially, I was floored by how great the display looked (for text, especially), but now, I hardly notice it. That being said, I haven't really spent enough time with previous iPads to compare. I strongly prefer reading on the iPad over reading on the crappy monitor I have at home, but the beauty of the text is only part of the reason for that.

I think this is sort of similar to what I was explaining.

I was mostly talking about the detractors, but those that do like the display aren't exactly different in the end.

If I were a betting man, I'd say you would probably compare the old iPad to your crappy monitor. Perhaps not as crappy in terms of colors, but in terms of reading text.

It was reading text and technical PDF files that really made me purchase the new iPad. It's such a drastic upgrade in this department that I can't imagine ever going back to the iPad 1 that I gave to my mother.

I don't understand the WHOLE 1.5lb complaining.. Since when are men(and ladies) such wimps. If you want a strong machine, be a bit stronger yourself.

LOL wut.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one thinking this.

To be honest here. I carried a 5.5lbs PowerBook G4 around to college for a couple years. I hated it. I'm not a big guy by any stretch of the imagination (5'7", 120lbs) but as soon as I added books, paper, folders of hand outs and homework to the list of things I was carrying.. I really wanted the laptop to be lighter.

My last year of college was spent carrying a 2010 Air around with me instead of the PowerBook and it was a signficiant difference in weight.

You just have to realize that a laptop isn't the only thing people carry around. So 4.6lbs isn't a big deal, but when you add it all up then the number starts to increase. Extra savings is beneficial.

Try holding one up to read at night while lying down.

Or try taking pictures/movie on the device for extended periods.

1.5 lbs is a lot for one arm to keep held in place all the time. The tablet form factor makes it inviting, but the weight makes you feel it.

I bought one the day they came out, I really just needed a faster machine with more hard drive space. I currently use an AIR with 120gb SSD and I have to constantly keep deleting files to free HD space. The 4GB of ram I have also wasn't cutting it. So I went with the 500gb SSD and 16GB of ram in the Retina MBP. Expensive, yes, but I think it is a great machine and I spend 40+ hours a week on the thing and run my businesses through it so it's an expensive I'm willing to make.

I also do a lot of design work so the Retina display seems like it will be worth it.

The only thing I wasnt sure about was that it will be heavier and seem larger than my air, but 80% of the time it sits on my desk anyway... We'll see what happens when it gets here next week!

Seems the anti-glare/glare issue has been turned into some kind of compromise. I don't think I'll be able to get this.

Not really a compromise. Glossy vs. matte is a function of whether the front glass of the LCD has an anti-glare coating on it.

There is no front glass on the Retina MBP LCD. Apple removed it to save weight.

Apple: So innovative, they solve problems they weren't even trying to solve.

the review says almost nothing about apple's claim that they've reduced glare by 75%. considering there's no matte option, this is a crucial point i need answered before considering one. otherwise i may need to go with the old heavier model (w/ matte screen of course).

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