Possible Macbook Pro 13 Retina (October 2012)

Interesting.

So who's going to buy one?

I imagine it'll be incredibly popular as the 15" version with its 4~ weeks of backorder/production.

 

I would probably buy one, providing it has a discreet GPU. I presume it will be a few 100 cheaper than the 15" version...

 

Anybody thinking of a 13" MBP with IVB and GT 640M 1G-D5?

Let's bring the power of gaming into the 13" mac

 

I would definitely buy a 13" RMBP if it had the same feature set as the 15" model, maybe start at 128GB SSD instead (though I would upgrade to the 256GB model). That would be the only thing that could pull me out of my current mid-2011 13" MBA but it would have to offer a quad-core CPU, discreet GPU, two thunderbolt ports, the same 7 hour battery life, and have a starting cost of $1500 ($1800 for a 256GB SSD model).

I do like the quote from the website though and how "according to one insider" actually turns out to be an "analyst." Their opinion, not something from an insider (though I take those with a heft grain of salt too), is about as valid as anyone else's. More click bait for ad revenue.

 

The base 15" RMBP starts with a 256GB SSD, there's simply no reason for the potential base 13" model to ship with a 128GB SSD! Not when you are expected to pay the premium price it will carry...

256GB as a minimum!

 

I'd consider one if there was a matte screen option. Otherwise, prolly not.

 

Low yield and great assembly difficulty? No.

They only released the 15'' MBP Retina because of product differentiation. People who are too horny on the retina display will go ahead and buy this machine, despite the fact the 13'' suits them better. Apple is also testing the water with this machine. To update their full line of laptops with retina display at one time isn't smart business.

It's natural to update the 13'' by Fall. Latest to get retina display will be the MacBook Air.

Anyone with a brain can be an 'analyst'.

 

you all know it will only be an Intel HD 4000 .... no GPU.

 

So since you have a brain tell us about the specs? who is producing the screen? what are the specs? Since there is no production issues you should know the suppliers, and guess what? there is only one guy in town that makes a 13'' high res screen.

I do hope that they come with a dgpu in it.

 

I recently bought an iPad (the newest one; Apple needs to reconsider their naming strategy), and found the Retina display it has is outstanding. For this reason, I'm considering upgrading to the MBP+R (going to a Core-i7 is the other reason for me too). If the 13" model gets some +R lovin', I'd jump on it as well.

 

Running retina resolution must be like running furmark for the HD 4000 lol

 

actually, the software is the one lagging behind, seriously a quad ivy cant run high res? the HD 4000 is good enough for gaming at low res, it supports 4k screens. If there was a problem with the HD 4000 running that res, my HD 3000 shouldnt be able to run a 2560*1440 res.

 

Yeah I would love a 13" rMBP - tried to talk myself into a 13" air for easy portability but really liked the screen on the 15" so I am trying to wait for the 13". I agree many will buy the 15" not being able to wait. Something lighter would suit me much better.

Here's hoping for a dGpu ...

 

13-Inch Retina MacBook Pro Shows Up in Benchmarks - Mac Rumors

Apple's 13-Inch Retina MacBook Pro to Launch 'Before October'? - Mac Rumors

 

Ah so it's the drivers :V

I really hope apple allows Nvidia/AMD/Intel to develop their own drivers for the mac, it would really boost gaming performance and bring some developers to port games to the mac I hope.

On topic: I really wish the machine would run a 640M or at least a 620M (what the zenbook prime uses), it would be a blast having a 13" ultrathin with an awesome screen and a dGPU

 

That makes a lot of sense. They roll out the 15" to poke developers that it's important to update their apps, so that the most important ones are done before the 13" is out.

I've been collecting a list of apps that do/don't work well with retina, and there are some rather important ones that are hurting for an update. Some of my main day-to-day apps look far worse on the MBPR than on a non-retina computer.

So I welcome the new retina computers across the line that will push these vendors to hurry up and update.

 

nope it aint the drivers, but the code on the apps itself.

 

They already could if they wanted to. Apple doesn't make drivers because they are controlling, but because they need drivers.

Apples drivers are very problematic... there are many issues with drivers.

 

^ This

/10char

 

Im aware that the drivers from apple are not from the same quality, and sincerely thats one of the points that they recruited senior guys from amd and nvidia, at least thats what I think.

If we can see how they perform under windows or linux we can rest this driver or software doubt. I hardly believe its the hardware itself, there is simply no reason that a quad couldnt handle facebook

 

they have been hiring some AMD and Nvidia people from what I read. Over the last couple of years their drivers have improved tremendously, so I have good hope for the future. The problems comes down to the fact they pretty much only update the drivers for the latest OS, so a lot of times people have to upgrade the whole OS to get fixed drivers.

 

A 13" retina would be amazing... Personally though, why would you guys PREFER for it to have a graphics card? 13" to me sounds portable, graphics card sounds not. Besides, why would you play video games on a 13" laptop when you could just build a desktop for around $800 and play every game on ultra settings without worry. This may sound biased because I am a PC gamer, but gaming on a Mac is a bit... weird. It's nearly impossible to play games using a touch pad, so if you bring a mouse, it'll already infringe on the device's portable status.

 

And that's not a valid criticism considering the same charge can be leveled against any number of Windows-based machines.

 

If they get rid of optical drive, anything is possible. In fact, why does the normal Pro "13 still have a dumb optical drive? They could of axed it to make room for a Quadcore with lowest TDP, and maybe a discrete GPU (GT 640m???).

 

It's not about being able to game on a 13" notebook. However, it is about being able to effectively drive not only a built-in high resolution display but a secondary high resolution display without experiencing hiccups. The HD 4000 might be able to take care of things if enough attention has been put into its drivers. However, I highly doubt that is the case so greater hardware would be required.

Not only that but a dedicated GPU would be able to provide better Photoshop performance (something a high resolution display was made for). People aren't expecting to be able to play Crysis 2 on a 13" notebook from anyone. That isn't the sole purpose of a GPU though.

 

not everyone cares about maxed res and ultra settings... to many people it makes no difference if your running low settings or maxed settings... why pay $800 and all the hassle of building and taking care of a gaming computer when you can pay $0 extra and use your Mac? (Or for some people whatever price they can get Windows for)

 

I never knew that they usually updated the drivers when churning out another OS.

Good and terrible to know

I do use a mouse when in windows, and only there.

I dont use desktops anymore since 2006, I have only used one in my latest work, where 8 screens setups are needed. And I still used my mbp there.

The HD 3000 would never be able to support that amount of screens, those are 24'' monitors with 1080p res.

Aside that I still game occasionally, currently undergoing a withdraw since Im on vacation at the beach and I refuse to game.

The vaio s13 is indeed lighter than the mbp 13 and still packs a 640m LE, along a blu ray drive, if apple removes the ODD and enlarge the battery, still using the same design cues from the RMBP, I hope and believe that they can put a low end gpu in there.

However I would wait and see how things fare with haswell and its gpu, to see if they are still going to keep it. After all the HD 4000 is competent, people are still hoping for another big leap in performance, anand says that it should dominate the middle range gpu.

Thats why despite the great improvement that the 650m made, the difference between it and the 680m is just borderline absurd. And Im using the RMBP 650m in the comparison since at stock its still a little bit faster than the 660m.

One thing that I do hope is that the RMBP 17 launches with a more interesting gpu (consequently a more potent cooling solution), I dont believe that they are going to do away with that size as of yet, despite the sales.

 

not exactly what I'm saying. Yes you usually get a new driver with a new OS but they do graphics drivers updates at other times as well. What I'm saying is that they do not make these updates for older OSes. So say there some bug in some drivers that affect most AMD GPUs on 10.5 -10.7 (newest currently)... Apple will fix this and only release an updated driver with the fix for 10.7, so the bug will never get fixed for people on 10.5 and 10.6. Same with improvements, etc... they stop doing graphics driver updates for any OS except the most current.

 

Looked up the vaio s13 just now and I liked everything about it until I saw "1366x768", yuk! But everything else about looks great.

I sure hope that Apple puts a 640m in there ^^

No dGPU in the 13" was always a big turn off for me since I favour mobility with some occasional on-the-go gaming.

 

sorry, I had a few beers today. but for apple it makes sense

The s13 can be had with the 1600*900 screen.

I disliked the build quality of last year model, I would check out one personally before buying it

 

If what you read is true and it increases the quality of drivers on the system, that would be a deciding factor in me purchasing a Macbook Pro for my next laptop. I just wish Bootcamp had better driver support, as I still need Windows for a variety of reasons. Sure, I could use a VM, but I really don't want to take the performance hit...

 

It probably shouldn't be a deciding factor... maybe let it be a deciding factor in your NEXT next laptop, when the results of this labor finally (maybe) come to pass.

 

Have you tested running a VM on the rMBP or new MBA with 8GB of RAM?

 

The s13 can be had with 1600 only if you choose the dGpu adding another 100€ to the price. I think this kind of beahaviour from sony is nonsense.

 

In hindsight, and after reading several of you guy's replies, my original comment was a bit, if not very, shortsighted. I was only really thinking of gaming because I don't work with photoshop or anything like that, not professionally anyways, so that is a very valid reason for a GPU on the theorized rMBP 13".