MacBook Pro with Retina Display ME866ZP/A

So I got myself an early Christmas present last year. I actually got myself and ex bf matching iPhone 5s 64GB Gold in that same month - but that's not the gift I'm talking about :D 

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I've never been addicted so much to Apple until 2009. Way back, I used to raise my brows to Apple fanatics and criticize the exclusivity of their preferred brand. I didn't see much use for an iPod then, I thought iPhones were tacky and absurdly priced, supported by equally absurd consumers willing to pay sky high for a phone. And then the most absurd product yet known to man: the iPad. What on earth was Apple thinking when it created the iPad?!? A more compact computer that had no computing power than running applications that work so-so on the performance department??!! I didn't see the point of iPad's existence before. It was merely an oversized iPod touch back then.. It was year 2009 when I finally joined the bandwagon and gave up my preconceived notion about the brand. Bought an iPhone 4, half curious of what the hype was all about and half daring myself to see and try the product. From then on, I was a believer. Apple products were built to perfection that I could not, for the life of me, criticize, even a single feature! I've never realized how much I was missing on touch screen until I used iPhone. From that time onwards, there existed just two types of touch screen phones in my vocabulary: one is iPhone and the other one is "oThers" (get it?? LOL) The responsiveness, ease of use, the speed - they never deteriorate in time, as compared to their other counterparts! Sorry Samsung, you had your chance with Note and the other Galaxy models but you just can't beat iPhone in a lot of ways. Yes, you're fairly fast at first, but Apple has something that you don't have: consistency in performance, for when your system's been filled with data (photos, videos, messages, music), the speed of the phone is lost whereas iPhone remains fast, unbeaten.

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Going back to the early Christmas present I got, since I'm so in love with Apple, I finally decided to give MacBook Pro a chance. The main problem of a MacBook for me then was the weight. I was not willing to carry around a computer the weight of a boulder on my shoulders or on my back. I knew I was missing a lot, I even considered buying a MacBook Air but I'd rather buy an iPad than that one. MacBook Air was (and still is) just a pricier version of the iPad. For me, 'twas Pro or nothing. Then news came to me that the new model was released, with retina display and packs a lighter weight! I checked it out in a Mac store and I was in love. I was torn between getting the 15" and the 13" but I finally reconciled the three most important features for me: weight, computing speed and battery power - so I chose the Php 92,990 ($ 1,799) Macbook Pro 13" with 2.6 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz, 8gb 1600MHz memory, 512GB PCIe-based flash storage, Intel Iris Graphics and Built-in battery that lasts up to 9 hours. I was in love at first use.

My writer alter ego usually comes in late at night but I don't have problems turning the light on in our room because of its well illuminated keypad (reminder: MacBook Pro newbie here!) This is my personal notebook but I'm also using a laptop running on Microsoft for work, so I know both worlds. I don't have problems switching to and from MacBook though at times I torture my Lenovo's trackpad by using the gestures I use on my Macbook, wondering what went wrong before I realize that I have to use the right click button of the trackpad and not the 2-finger touch..

I love that the MacBook is easy to use especially in video editing and photo editing (note: I haven't acquired Photoshop and Editing Softwares yet, though you're most welcome to comment on which Video Editing Software goes fine with the MacBook Pro). I'm just using iMovie and iPhoto, but it's good enough for me, I'm not into the video editing business anyway - though it will be nice if I do. The other softwares that come with it (Pages, Numbers, Keynote, etc) made it all the more competent, with a saving feature to tailor fit your preferred type of document (e.g. Word, Excel, PPT). If you're not satisfied with the built in apps, you can download Open Office for Mac anyway. It resembles Microsoft Applications, just a tad different. For those interested to get Open Office for Mac, here's where to get it: http://www.openoffice.org/porting/mac/ If you still long for the usual Microsoft Word / Excel / Powerpoint due to familiarity, you can get it from http://www.microsoft.com/mac

Bringing the MacBook Pro is not a problem for me during travel because it doesn't pack that much weight as its predecessors. It can stand long hours of waiting on the airport and some surfing late at night. The keyboard is really soft touch, I have no problems typing away in synch with my handful of thoughts and comments about things. I also love that I have Viber on my desktop, in synch with my iPhone :) At least I don't miss messages from friends while working on my stuff.

There are still a few drawbacks though... (nobody's perfect!) Airdrop doesn't work for MacBook - iPhone, it may work MacBook - MacBook or iPhone - iPhone but not MacBook - iPhone (arrgghhh). But it can connect iTunes to iPhone via wifi. MacBook Pro doesn't have the built in disc reader anymore, but that's probably moving forward into the future.. just as how we moved from floppy discs to cds to dvds. There's portable hard drive now and my external DVD writer works with it anyway..

I know I still have a lot to discover do with my new toy. It's been 7 months but I'm still in love. :) Apple haters, try to buy one product at least. You will understand why. Marketing is one thing, product quality is another and I believe Apple beats others in the latter in more ways than one. ;-)

For more info about specifications etc., checkout this site: http://store.apple.com/ph/buy-mac/macbook-pro


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Update:

It's September 2014. It's been a while that I've been using the MacBook Pro but I'm still totally, overly, truly, madly and deeply in love with it. :) Updated my iPhone 5s with iOS 8 already and it still communicates seamlessly with my MacBook Pro. I heard Apple will be releasing the OS X Yosemite next month. I really hope it will work seamlessly with the current hardware build of my toy. Knowing Apple, I just have to sit back worry-free and watch in awe how these geniuses work with technology at the tips of their fingers. I have but one wish though, that Airdrop may work across platforms..