Upgrade to Retina or stay with Anti-Glare?!?

[PWS]

hey guys,


i'm currently using a early 2011 mbp with anti-glare display...
started thinking about an upgrade some weeks ago, since i don't need the fw800 port anymore.
performance wise my current machine isn't that bad (cto: 2,3ghz i7, 8gb ram, 256 ssd, 1gb gpu) however theres always
some room left for an upgrade

going for the latest 2.6ghz anti glare mbp appears quite expensive, compared to a new retina mbp.
used mid2012 mbp's are pretty rare and still quite expensive, compared to the retinas.

my question is: how does the display work for a photographer? is the glare anoying? what will come in future?
will there be matte high-resolutuion displays? from what i've seen in stores the colors/contrast on the retinas
appear much mor saturated and contrasty, which i dont like... however i have to say that i've never seen a
calibrated/adjusted one.

what are your experiences?


thanks!

[Craig Lamson]

I don't have one but I was really impressed with the antiglare coating on the new 15 retinas in the store.  My wife has a 13 retina, feb 2013 model, and the coating is quite good on hers as well.

[Czornyj]

Retina has well linearised IPS panel with efficient anti glare layer, OCF (Optical Compensation Film) that reduces black leaking, larger gamut, good uniformity and stunning resolution. It's way better than mediocre matte TN panel in 2011 MBP, so display wise I wouldn't hesitate for 5 seconds.

[digitaldog]

I don't do color critical work on the Retina display, the Macbook Pro is hooked up to an NEC SpectraView PA272W. When I'm using the laptop display (on location and such) I absolutely LOVE the Retina. As said, the resolution is stunning. Before I purchased I played with both options and zooming in using the Mac controls, the differences were night and day.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Perhaps this is not relevant to your situation, but my new generation 27" iMac has drastically better glare control than older generations of iMacs.

[PWS]

well... it seems as if the +++ are on the retinas side
i have to admit that the situations i had a look at some retinas were quite extreme.
either bright shopping windows or large light sources right behind me.

i always had the impression though, that the matte high-res displays were more neutral in
saturation and contrasts. guess this is pretty much adjustable with an colorimeter.

one question remains... better to wait for broadwell chips, or not?

[george2787]

one question remains... better to wait for broadwell chips, or not?

When talking about computers the standard is not to buy unless you need to upgrade, so if you are fine with your current laptop wait "as long as you can", you'll get more storage, faster processor and GPU and if you are lucky the option to pack it with 32 GB of RAM and future proof it a little more.

[PWS]

okay... i think it makes sense to wait untill the new chips arrive.
thanks four your suggestions!

[Andrew David]

I too am looking at a new Macbook for university, both as a mobile editing machine for my photography unit, and as a general 'on the go' laptop.

My philosophy though is that a computer is only useful to you when it is computing, it's not much use if it doesn't exist. And while more may seem better, unless you're working on extremely high resolution 16-bit PSD files with dozens of layers and masks, or doing very intensive post-production on high resolution video or audio, the current crop of Macbooks are more than sufficient. Also worth keeping in mind is that the general word among technology sites is that the Broadwell series processors have been constantly delayed, and won't be available to manufacturers until the end of this year, with high volume not expected until early next year. A new generation of Macs may well be announced in September or October, but don't expect to be able to run out and buy one. And even if you could, would a new Macbook really do anything that the current generation cannot do?

 

[Ligament]

Two recent things in the Macbook world that made a HUGE impression upon me:

1. SDDs.
2. Retina display.

They both are now indispensable. I would be VERY unhappy leaving either. In the macbook pro retina I have both options and love it.

I use an NEC spectra view monitor for color critical work.