

My experience going from 17" MBP to 15" rMBP for programming - TallboyOne
http://pineapple.io/discussion/retina-mbp-for-design

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jws
Just a further extreme datapoint: I just went from a 13" MBA to an 11" and am
not missing the extra pixels at all, for terminal based web development. I
keep the terminals, browsers, and virtual machines running the servers in full
screen mode and just flick between them. Oddly, it's easier than clicking or
cycling around the windows on a full sized desktop.

The smaller pixel size and my no longer young eyes conspire to make it a poor
man's retina display. (Not completely, the retinas are still better, but I am
less distracted by pixel edges than I was on the 13, but I couldn't by next
June's machine last weekend.)

I'm still desktop bound for Xcode work, but the 13" didn't do it for me there
either.

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nileshk
I was also not sure whether the 15" retina display would be as good as the 17"
1920x1200 display. I now use my 15" Retina in scaled 1920x1200 equivalent most
of the time when I'm doing programming work (when I'm not at my desk using a
large external monitor), and it's actually better than the 17" in that mode --
due to the way they did scaling, fonts and widgets render with more detail.

That said, there are situations where the 15" Retina 1920x1200 scaled is not
as good as the 17": When I am sitting in bed (or maybe a couch), and the
display is further away than it would be if I were sitting on a desk. In that
situation it's not ideal, because the fonts become harder to see. But there
are two potential solutions to that: If the app I am using supports zooming,
just zoom the content (e.g. web browsers all do this) OR switch to the best-
for-retina 1440x900 equivalent. I usually use best-for-retina when I'm not
doing programming. But, I still have my 17" MBP, and it is my designated
programming in bed laptop.

One of my favorite things about the Retina display is that I can _arbitrarily
choose resolutions_ without any perceived decrease in quality. This is
something we had with CRTs, and didn't really have with LCDs until now.

Another potential downside: Apps that don't support the retina display look
pretty terrible. They look best in scaled 1920x1200, but still not that great.
The only app I use that doesn't support the retina display is Ableton Live
(and it's entire UI is vector-based and can scale via a zoom setting, so you
think it wouldn't be hard).

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chaz
I was originally concerned that switching up to 1920x1200 was going to show
artifacts from subpixel rendering, but that's not the case at all. Text still
looks very crisp. Highly recommended.

2D scrolling isn't great at the highest resolution on the original rMBP. Tons
of pixels to move around. I assume the new graphics in the latest rev improved
this.

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TallboyOne
Yes definitely. I opted for 16gb and the top CPU, but I have yet to see any
choppy scrolling or anything of that sort.

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ratsimihah
You can also use it at its native 2880x1800 resolution.
[http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/vi9yf/set_your_retina...](http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/vi9yf/set_your_retina_macbook_pros_resolution_to/)

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TallboyOne
Very cool, thanks. I wonder how this differs from the scaled option.

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klinquist
The "best" scaled option gives you a virtual resolution of 1440px wide. Slide
to the right and you get 1680px and 1920px.

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ratsimihah
1920 _1200 is good for everyday use. 2880_ 1800 is usable in the short-term,
when lots of real estate is needed and no external monitor is available.

1440*900, imho, shouldn't be allowed on such a screen. It seems like a huge
waste.

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adambrod
+1 I also had an experience much like this when switching from 17 to 15 rMBP.
Now the only problem is the Cinema Display looks like shit now :)

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lclemente
I quite like pupil: [http://pupil.io/](http://pupil.io/)

It allows you to change the resolution (zoom) from the menu bar.

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dbtc
I use gfx status [http://gfx.io/](http://gfx.io/) for this.

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rMBP
I think you're confusing the two.

gfxCardStatus only shows which graphics card is active.

Pupil only allows you to change screen resolutions.

They complement each other, but have no overlapping features.

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TallboyOne
Lol at your username. How appropriate.

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rMBP
Stop talking to your computer and get back to work!

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lelf
> _A power button that is a key on the keyboard_

Wait. Why this is great?

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TallboyOne
I just like it more than the other power button, feels more natural. The other
one you had to kind of push hard, as if it were 'stuck'

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blinkingled
On the other hand I've now accidentally pushed the keyboard integrated power
button several times on my Air instead of pushing the Delete key.

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officialjunk
does it bother anyone that the optical drive is no longer present in the rMBP
models? i know i very rarely use my optical drive, but for some reason i feel
like i would miss it. haha.

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rsynnott
The only Mac that still has an optical drive is the inexplicably still
available (it's more expensive than a MBA, and worse in most ways) 13" non-
retina MBP. You can get a USB DVD drive for practically nothing, though.

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rrhyne
Ditched my 15" for a 13" rMBP with similar results as OP.

