Why I'm not going to wait for a 13 inch Retina MacBook Pro

Rumor has it (isn't Mr/Ms Rumor a reliable source?) that a 13 inch Retina Macbook Pro will be announced by Apple on September 12, along with the long-awaited iPhone 5 and probably other goodies.

I've used a 13 inch MacBook Pro for over three years. Love it!

At least I did, until the 15 inch Retina MacBook Pro was released. Since, I've bounced back and forth about what Apple laptop should replace my aged current one.

On the day of the release I blogged, "New Retina MacBook Pro or MacBook Air? Laptop lust will decide." At that point I was debating between the 15 inch Retina and 13 inch Air models.

A few days later I was thinking, "Reasons to choose a basic MacBook Pro over the Retina." I could get a solid state drive in a basic new MacBook Pro and also still have a built-in DVD drive, which I use fairly frequently.

But a few days after that I wrote "How I'm talking myself into buying a Retina MacBook Pro."

So I've been all over the Apple laptop map, comparing specs, reading reviews, and looking at the new Apple offerings in the Bridgeport Village Apple Store several times.

Eventually the big question for me came down to a choice between the 15 inch and anticipated 13 inch Retina MacBook Pros. I couldn't decide whether the bigger screen real estate in the 15 inch outweighed the lighter weight and smaller form factor in a 13 inch Retina laptop.

When I played with a 15 inch'er in the Apple Store, it just seemed so big. I wasn't sure whether it would fit as comfortably in my compact BBP Industries backpack that I like a lot. But the BBP specs say it will hold a 15 inch Apple laptop just fine.

Here's what has sold me on not waiting for a 13 inch Retina MacBook Pro.

I'd like a bigger screen. And the 15 inch Retina weighs 4.46 pounds, almost exactly the same as the 4.5 pound 13 inch MacBook Pro that I've been happily hauling around for three-plus years. And when I calculated the size of each, it turns out that the volume of the 15 inch Retina MacBook Pro (97.6 cubic inches) is smaller than the volume of my 13 inch regular MacBook Pro (108.5 cubic inches).

The reason: the Retina laptop is just .71 inches thick, while the old MacBook Pro is .95 inches thick.

So if I get a 15 inch Retina MacBook Pro, actually I'll have 11 cubic inches more space in my backpack's laptop compartment -- seemingly plenty of room to put a portable SuperDrive and Ethernet connector when I need to carry around those gadgets.

Given that screen size has become my major purchase criterion, I don't see any need to learn how the anticipated 13 inch Retina MacBook Pro will be configured. Aside from being cheaper, I doubt it will have any technological plus'es over the 15 inch Retina MacBook Pro, other than being smaller and lighter (for those who consider that a plus).

I might change my mind again, of course.

For now, though, I'm strongly leaning toward bringing a 15 inch'er into my life. (But I'm somewhat concerned about reports of Retina screen problems; only with LG displays, though; guess I could demand a Samsung display if I buy the laptop at an Apple store). 

Comments

[David Bruce]

At first I was drawn to the MBPr 15 because of the screen, because I want to replace my six year old Dell with another worthy, photography-friendly laptop that has a dedicated GPU and a decent screen that I don't have to prop to just the right angle to see colors properly. The problem for me is the price, because it's just too high for my budget.

Then the rumors of the MBPr 13 caught my attention, and it sounded like a dream come true. I've been biding my time until the announcement comes from Cupertino. The problem for me here is the realization that my Inspiron 6400 is a 15" laptop that I sometimes struggle between zooming in and out of images for editing, as it is, because I'm in my 40s and am bad about wearing my progressive lenses.

So, like you, I may yet talk myself into the 15, despite having to make payments on it. If it lasts six years like my Dell, it will have been worth it. I'm not especially optimistic about the lifetime of the MBPr, because it's the least repairable of the MacBook Pros to hit the market ever.

In the next few months, I'll mull the choices over, and who knows, maybe another option will have hit the market by then.