RANT: 'MBPR' is false advertising. This is a 'MBAR'

[sekker]

I've been using a new 15" MBPR for several months now. (Mostly) love the screen and longer battery life, and USB3 is a very nice and useful update.

However, this machine is NOT a 'Pro', at least as I consider what should be in a high-end laptop. Lots of lost features:

1) Today's truly sad deficiency is the lack of audio input. Sorry, but this machine should not need a USB device for audio in. I used my original Intel MacBook Pro (6 years old, running SL) to capture the audio file I needed.

2) No ethernet port. Sorry, I've been using the TB to ethernet adapter for several months. The 'lock' on the ethernet connector is MUCH more reliable than the official Apple TB connector. All I have to do is bump the connector, then it loses connection as it doesn't have as good a connection. Sorry, TB is not as nice a connector as many other ports Apple removed ethernet or FW800, or even as good as USB.

3) No FW ports. Once you use the TB port for ethernet, and the second TB port for my Pro monitor, I don't have a third TB port for my TB to FW adapter. Arrg. Having to use my institutional wireless for Internet? That's like being told to use a modem. I exaggerate, but not by much.

4) Glossiness of the screen is not as bad as my super-gloss iMac or iPad, but it's still pretty terrible to use in certain lighting conditions. A real Pro machine should have a viable matte option, IMHO.

5) No upgrade options for RAM, the Magsafe2 connector is not as good as Magsafe I, etc. But you knew all that already.

Some of these problems will presumably have real solutions when the Belkin TB hub ships. (The Apple TB monitor is a non-starter; reliability is poor, screen is super-glossy, USB2 only output. But it's only a partial solution, and not one where you want to have to carry it with you if you were using this as a real Pro machine. This really is a 15" retina MacBook Air, not a Pro.

For those on the fence - MBP vs this Retina machine - consider the value of the retina display versus all of the lost features. If Apple had offered a 2012 MB PRO model with a retina display option, I would have purchased that instead.

Ok, end of rant.

[decay]

i tend to agree with your assessment.

a 3rd TB port would be better, and a better locking connector even better.

[Mr645]

I would agree. Due to the lack up ports and upgrdability of the iMac, the laptops and the over priced Mac Pro's over the last couple of years, my photography studio has moved from a 10 Mac business down to 4 or 5 Macs and 15 PC's

[sekker]

Mr645 wrote:
I would agree. Due to the lack up ports and upgrdability of the iMac, the laptops and the over priced Mac Pro's over the last couple of years, my photography studio has moved from a 10 Mac business down to 4 or 5 Macs and 15 PC's

We installed several PCs last year and just use our Macs to Remote Access that hardware. Not a very elegant solution, but it gets us going while we wait true Pro options from Apple.

[hal]

Apple's obsession with thin and light has taken them to places that I will not go...

The macbook pro line is pretty damned nice. I just can't understand why they don't have a retina option...

[Speedy]

I just bought a MacBook Pro for my sister who wanted an internal drive. She bought new and didn't want to spring for the extra $200 for a refurb MBPR and external drive. She is happy with the extra ports which she will use inspite of the extra weight and lesser display. Who wants to transport a hub and converters?

[sekker]

Some other observations:

1) Battery life is good, and all Apple needs to do is update the Motherboard with 2013 chips to make this really last close to 6+ hours.

2) Battery charges surprisingly quickly.

3) This machine runs cool and quiet (fans really ARE all but silent).

Some things that are gone now:

4) No IR remote (good thing, there's no Front Row software in ML anyway).

5) No external battery charge indicator. This is something I DO miss. I have to log in to know whether I'm fully charged.

[DP]

I'll keep my 2.53 C2D 15" MBP for awhile I guess... Even on this machine tho the USB ports are too close together. I got a BT mouse for it because I couldn't have a dongle in the port and then plug in a flash drive.

[St. Bernard]

Not necessarily agreeing/disagreeing with any of the views here, but Apple still sells MBPs that fits your needs, sekker -- minus the retina display of course:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/sh...acbook_pro

[sekker]

St. Bernard wrote:
Not necessarily agreeing/disagreeing with any of the views here, but Apple still sells MBPs that fits your needs, sekker -- minus the retina display of course:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/sh...acbook_pro

I know, and I seriously considered that instead of this machine.

I guess I'm not making my point well. One of the reason I went with this machine was because it came with a 'Pro' monicker. I was worried about other issues like repairability. I would NEVER have thought that this supposedly media generation and editing machine wouldn't have audio input.

Can you imagine if Apple 'reimagines' the Mac 'Pro' next year and tries to sell an updated mac mini box with new graphics and no expansion capabilities (i.e. just one storage drive)? "Thunderbolt is all you need!"

Again, the right label - and one that no one would dispute - would have been a 'MBAR'.