I know we have other topics discussing the new MacBook Pros in general, but I wanted to sort of tangent off the discussion of the retina display macbook pros vs the non retina....

I have yet to upgrade my circa 2008 laptop. I try to get at least 3 years out of a machine and I always think long and hard before buying anything that is a major purchase. I am due this year for a new laptop and I had, initially, decided to stay away from the retina.

My thoughts out loud....The new retina machines are starting to temp me more and more - and running the numbers I can configure a non retina for about the same price as the retina by the time I install my own SSD etc. - of course a second internal etc etc. but we are still not that far off in the grand scheme esp considering I plan to get 3 years out of my next laptop.

It's really the lightweight and awesome high res screen that might send me over the edge. What are the issues I might encounter should I go this route. And what sort of major leaps forward in this technology might we expect in the next iteration (as in "retina v 2.0" in 12 months? )

TIA

Greg,

You might get some useful information on Retina in this blog by Matt.

http://www.mattkloskowski.com/feed/

Thanks Bob! The next question is where can one get one like now? LOL I would get one with 16GB RAM and 512GB before my next big trip (in exactly 2 weeks) - I have not seen them in stock anywhere and apple says 2-3 weeks - I guess I can wait

I managed to find one by going to actual Apple Stores. There are three not far from me and I happened to be in their area.

Thanks Scott - and do you love it?

A wedding photographer friend of mine just got one a few weeks ago and really likes it. He came from the 17MBP with SSD, etc. Very quick machine and great display. He is a major gear geek however:). Good so far.

Thanks for the feedback so far. I now have one on order - (I know that was fast..) the only ones to be found in stock right now would be the 8GB version (according to Apple) I wanted the 16GB and ordered from Apple direct - if I don't like it I'll send it back I'll send some feedback when it arrives (probably after my latest trip unfortunately). Still would like to hear other's feedback of course.

Aside from what has been discussed regarding the lack of fine details in the other thread, there are quite a few reports about ghosting issues. Adobe is going to update only CS6 for retinas and that 'sometime later this year.' You are probably aware that RAM is not upgradeable. Maximum screen brightness is about 20% lower than the previous model.

I went through the same deliberations and went with the non retina

More I/o options
16 Gb ram
Two 480 gig ssd's
Fastest processor and non-glare screen

Two many early glitches with the retina model, most notably all the third party software display routines will need to be upgraded to get the maximum performance. I had an early thunderbolt mbp and it was over a year before useful peripherals were available.

Just my 2cents

Mike

Mike:

Two corrections:

1. 16GB of RAM is available - that's what I ordered (and the price was roughly what I would pay to upgrade the non retina to 16GB) and don't see the need to upgrade beyond that.

2. The processor is identical to what is available in the non retina.

As for the 2 additional IO options (firewire and ethernet) they do not interest me in the least. USB 3.0 is way more usable, available and stable than firewire and Ethernet is not something I use on a laptop (but I could if I wanted to with a $29 dongle)

With USB 3 and (hopefully) thunderbolt drives coming down the pike the second internal also becomes somewhat less important for me - and while I would miss it I'm happier about shaving a full pound off of the weight instead!

Like I said, if I have issues I will send it back and exchange it - I have options - and I will keep folks posted on how things go.

Yes, I am very happy with it. I use Aperture for images, and it is simply stunning to look at. I was using a 13" Macbook Air previously for road trips and found it difficult to judge IQ well. On this retina machine it's a whole new game.

I just received an email from Apple that my new Laptop will ship sooner than initially expected. It indicated "2-3 weeks" when I initially placed the order and this morning's email now indicates "1-2 weeks". Let's see, 1 week has gone by so how it this not the exact same time frame as initially indicated? LOL

If you can wait a bit longer it will ship even sooner

It has shipped and will be here Monday - straight from China!

I bet it's got Mountain Lion on it...

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

It's an unknown thing since it was just released yesterday. Personally I'm not a big fan of Lion/Mountain Lion as it represents the iOSing of OS-X but I guess we'll just have to get used to it. I definitely prefer Snow Leopard or Win 7 though over the Lions.