• Hardware

  • Laptop Available in Lebanon | 1000$~1500$ Budget | Advice

Off-topic:
Sorry for hijacking the topic.

I have a desktop(win/linux), two laptops(win/linux), tablet(android), phone(android).
So here's my story:

I was thinking of buying a macbook pro, I've never tried apple product before so it's just about curiosity.
I've read a lot of discussion about macbook pro..
What I've concluded (or at least what I've read the most) is that a macbook pro is expensive because of the following:

1- Aluminum chassis.
2- "Retina"
3- Trackpad
4- Battery life.

So I got a few questions for people who used/use mac (please no hate or whatsoever I don't want comment to be deleted or open a war for worthless shit)

1- Is it true that Retina is kinda "unique" ? (A friend of mine told me color balance on a mac are nothing like a regular pc)
2- Is it true that the UI/UX design of its is the best? What about the battery?
3- For dev: Is learning "swift" got some benefits in the Lebanese Market? (I know most of company use cross-platform framework though)

Finally: I am not asking to make a decision between Regular PC/MAC. I already have a lots of win/linux/android machines. It's just if it's worth paying extra money for my curiosity.
The Macbook Pro is expensive, because like all other Apple products, it's an Apple product. You pay for quality, longevity, and unmatched support. Battery and display are definitely the best thing about this machine, in addition to the new trackpad with haptic feedback is just lovely. However if you already have all the machines you need (and you do), don't drop $2k on a Macbook. If you decide on it though make sure you wait for the new models.
@Salloum Thanks for your answer,
To be honest I don't like to get the newest stuff when it comes to technology. I prefer to wait for review and stuff like that..
Which sometimes ends up in an infinite loop.. Let's wait for X or wait here's Y!
I got an offer for the Macbook Pro MF840 for 1450USD(new) and a used M101 for about 650$
Now I don't really like buying used stuff... especially notebook.

Now I got another two question:
Firstly:
However if you already have all the machines you need (and you do), don't drop $2k on a Macbook.
Why is that?

Secondly, Like I've mentioned, I don't like getting new model when they're launched.. I am sure the different in performance won't be that great..
But do you think the older item (like the MF840) 's price may go down? (200USD down is not a big deal but I'll be really pissed off if say the MF840 will be sold for like 1k$ a few month from now -even though i doubt, an M101 new is about 1k$)
4 days later
I havent really checked the models you posted @scorz, but usually if you want to buy a mac and benefit from performance then you would have to pay alot as the cheapest macbook pro costs 1k and performance not wise.
@Madruk

I got the Macbook Pro MF840 (now I am replying using it)
I was wowed by its display. I've seen a lot of setups and displays before but none was like it (especially the colours)
I've already start coding in it (wrote something using Cocoa framework that read from two text field and calculate the sum yay!)
Coming from a Linux/Window background, Xcode is looking kinda weird. (I've spend literally two hours trying to figure out how to add a click event to a button)
OSX is not bad.. I can say that basically it's a unix-like OS with a wonderful GUI.
What I didn't like is something called "System Integrity Protection"
Even with root there is some directory you can't write to it (/bin -- /usr/bin ...)
Well finally, to get back to the topic I've hijacked..
I wouldn't advise anyone to get a macbook UNLESS he has everything he need and want to throw away some money and experience something new. Because for about 1500$ you can get a lot of stuff, tech or not.
Yes macbooks are known for there gorgeous display.....i didnt know that you cant right to some directories with root thats kind off weird and not fair, i would like to wright anywhere i want but maybe this is good to protect the laptop from noobies playing around in the directories......Yup OSX is known for its simplicity too.....checked the model its a dual core i5 with weak gpu, costs alot for a poor performance but its build quality is very neet and decent....this week im planning on getting a lenovo y700 for 1.5k too, very excited to upgrade from my old dying core duo lappy as i never had a notebook/pc with such performance, quality, awesomness as the y700
You're right about the hardware, but it does the job for me. Of course I ain't playing AAA games on it nor do some video rendering.
For programming it's more than enough (since I am just learning now, hence no huge project that need more than 8gb ram and a dual-core i5) Booting is super fast obviously (ssd)

Now to be honest, what made me happy the most is "GarageBand".
I've tried connecting my digital piano on too many laptop before - including my lenovo thinkpad- to produce some music(using FL-Studio on window) but I always faced lag (when i press a key on the piano it needs like 1 second or so i can hear it)
But on this machine it works like a charm, I am not really sure why though.