The New Macbook

[K12beano]

audi321 said:

Yes but my point is that almost every 'new' product Apple has brought out has been in such demand that you can't get one for months (every iphone release, watch, etc) and they command such a premium above the RRP, yet this macbook has been available virtually instantly at a discount.

Really?

Not my experience.

I've had two new-model iPhones, straight after launch (well a few weeks, but not months), and last year watched Costco stocking the 5K Mac for several weeks before I jumped on one.

I agree that sometimes the demand is (hyped?) higher than supply...... and plenty of people seem to order two and put one on Fleabay if there's a sniff of that happening. But it's not a "real" problem.

[audi321]

K12beano said:

Really?

Not my experience.

I've had two new-model iPhones, straight after launch (well a few weeks, but not months), and last year watched Costco stocking the 5K Mac for several weeks before I jumped on one.

I agree that sometimes the demand is (hyped?) higher than supply...... and plenty of people seem to order two and put one on Fleabay if there's a sniff of that happening. But it's not a "real" problem.

Every iphone I can remember has been unavailable for weeks, the watch was months wait.

[leglessAlex]

audi321 said:

Every iphone I can remember has been unavailable for weeks, the watch was months wait.

Weeks isn't months though is it? There's always a bit on unavailability at launch with iPhones as they pretty much have to release them every September and they are usually in massive demand. The watch was a long wait but they did say it would be a long wait, they said they wouldn't have enough of them and that's how it happened.

That's only two products, the laptops, desktops, iPads and iPods are rarely in such short supply.

[Bodo]

Last December, my 2011 macbook air screen developed a fault. I decided to not replace immediately, since I expected a new generation in January, after CES.

I needed to wait a bit longer, and saw that the retina macbook was announced, which I quite liked. I don't need many connectors; and imo, a laptop has to be portable, so the low weight is attractive.

I have awaited the initial sales date, and the first benchmarks of the retina, but then decided to buy an air again. Reasons that put me off:
- price is higher than expected
- no docking station included, no adapter available that fulfills my requirements
- available adapters very expensive
- performance in benchmark on level of 2011 macbook air.

To conclude, the retina would have cost me 160% of the air, and would need replacement earlier (due to less performance).

[Bikerjon]

After using one for most of a day this week I've slightly changed my opinion on these machines. If you can live with no ports and don't need to do anything heavy duty like video editing then it could be a decent buy. The biggest thing for me is the keyboard - you really do need to try it first as I suspect some people will hate it. I actually found myself typing a bit faster than normal but there's not much cushion! Screen is great, no noise and doesn't get hot. It doesn't "feel" slow in normal use either.

No idea why they are being offered slightly cheaper on ebay but I suspect the general public hasn't quite made up their mind up with these machines yet. I'm not surprised as they sit awkwardly between the air and the pro. If the air ever gets a retina screen then it will be even more difficult to justify.

[tim0409]

Bikerjon said:

After using one for most of a day this week I've slightly changed my opinion on these machines. If you can live with no ports and don't need to do anything heavy duty like video editing then it could be a decent buy. The biggest thing for me is the keyboard - you really do need to try it first as I suspect some people will hate it. I actually found myself typing a bit faster than normal but there's not much cushion! Screen is great, no noise and doesn't get hot. It doesn't "feel" slow in normal use either.

No idea why they are being offered slightly cheaper on ebay but I suspect the general public hasn't quite made up their mind up with these machines yet. I'm not surprised as they sit awkwardly between the air and the pro. If the air ever gets a retina screen then it will be even more difficult to justify.

I would agree with that. Last year when I was in the US I couldn't decided between the 11 and 13 MBA and ended up getting both as there was a sale on, and combined with a US EDU discount they came in at £400 and £430. The 13" is a lovely machine but I loved the form of the 11" so ended up selling the 13. I had hoped Apple would release an 11/13 with retina so the decision to buy the new rMB is a difficult one - I was in the Apple Store last week and played with it and it is a beautiful machine and where it really scores over the MBA is the screen which is lovely. I wouldn't class myself as a power user so it would be fine for me, but unless I can get a deal when I'm in the US next month I will stick with the MBA.

[z4RRSchris]

had a play in apple. Far too expensive but they are a lovely bit of kit.

[RikonLondon]

How are people getting on with their 12" MacBooks? Im seriously thinking of getting one as I move further from using my laptop other than for catching up on emails.

[Mr Trophy]

Chaps

Sorry to bump this thread.

I bought a MacBook pro last year and it doesn't have HDMI slot. I've looked on the apple website to buy some sort of adapter, but can't see anything standing out.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

[megaphone]

Mr Trophy said:

Chaps

Sorry to bump this thread.

I bought a MacBook pro last year and it doesn't have HDMI slot. I've looked on the apple website to buy some sort of adapter, but can't see anything standing out.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

You need something like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/DisplayPort-Thunderbolt-Ad...

But check your MB has a Thunderbolt connection, it should if it's a year old.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202079

Edited by megaphone on Friday 4th September 10:58

[Mr Trophy]

megaphone said:

Mr Trophy said:

Chaps

Sorry to bump this thread.

I bought a MacBook pro last year and it doesn't have HDMI slot. I've looked on the apple website to buy some sort of adapter, but can't see anything standing out.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

You need something like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/DisplayPort-Thunderbolt-Ad...

But check your MB has a Thunderbolt connection, it should if it's a year old.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202079

Edited by megaphone on Friday 4th September 10:58

Thank you, do apple not sell this??

[Ynox]

They probably do. Take a look on their website?

That said, I've used Neet adapters for years. Using one now in fact. They work.

[audi321]

Has anyone who has got one of these machines used it for video editing at all? Just wondering how bad they are? I mean are they totally unusable or just slow or not too bad at all?

Video editing must be the most processor intensive work that a machine can be asked to do?

[Blown2CV]

audi321 said:

Has anyone who has got one of these machines used it for video editing at all? Just wondering how bad they are? I mean are they totally unusable or just slow or not too bad at all?

Video editing must be the most processor intensive work that a machine can be asked to do?

it's definitely not the type of user it's marketed at. Same goes for the MBA. I'd be pretty sure it would struggle.

[bimjim]

audi321 said:

Has anyone who has got one of these machines used it for video editing at all? Just wondering how bad they are? I mean are they totally unusable or just slow or not too bad at all?

Video editing must be the most processor intensive work that a machine can be asked to do?

I had one for a few months and used it for graphic work with Adobe CC, nothing as taxing as video though... Performance was actually pretty good, better than I expected anyway.

[audi321]

bimjim said:

audi321 said:

Has anyone who has got one of these machines used it for video editing at all? Just wondering how bad they are? I mean are they totally unusable or just slow or not too bad at all?

Video editing must be the most processor intensive work that a machine can be asked to do?

I had one for a few months and used it for graphic work with Adobe CC, nothing as taxing as video though... Performance was actually pretty good, better than I expected anyway.

Well, to try it out I've bought one from ebay today for £850. That's not the basic one either, but the 512gb SSD and 1.2ghz processor in pristine new condition apparently (£1300 new last month!). So I'll test it out next week and report back with my tests. If it's ste it can go on gumtree for the same money.

[bimjim]

audi321 said:

Well, to try it out I've bought one from ebay today for £850. That's not the basic one either, but the 512gb SSD and 1.2ghz processor in pristine new condition apparently (£1300 new last month!). So I'll test it out next week and report back with my tests. If it's ste it can go on gumtree for the same money.

Mine was the base spec one. Running the Cinebench graphics benchmark I got 18fps vs 24fps from a 2014 13" MBP Retina.

They are nice but I didn't get on with the overall size, which is personal preference, or the keyboard with almost zero travel. The lack of ports could sometimes be a pain too.

[audi321]

bimjim said:

Mine was the base spec one. Running the Cinebench graphics benchmark I got 18fps vs 24fps from a 2014 13" MBP Retina.

They are nice but I didn't get on with the overall size, which is personal preference, or the keyboard with almost zero travel. The lack of ports could sometimes be a pain too.

I'd not seen that Cinebench thing before......so ran it on my 2011 MBP and got 39fps! Seems a bit odd that it got so much more than your 2014 MBP?

[RikonLondon]

I bought one and weirdly after a week I found myself picking up my MBP Retina again. Not sure if it is now too small for a blokes hands or I just have familiarity with the MBP Retina.

[bimjim]

audi321 said:

I'd not seen that Cinebench thing before......so ran it on my 2011 MBP and got 39fps! Seems a bit odd that it got so much more than your 2014 MBP?

It's probably a 15" with discrete graphics, rather than the built in Intel graphics in the Retina and Retina Pro.