MBP Non Retina 13" or MBP Retina 13"?

Here are my opinions regarding the MBP and Retina MBP (rMBP).

If you want the flexibility of upgrading your RAM and internal storage, you may want to consider the MBP (non-Retina). It also has a built in optical drive. So, you can buy a stock MBP then upgrade the RAM and/or storage later.

The Retina has a very nice display and less glare, but you cannot upgrade the RAM. It's soldered onto the mainboard. The flash storage CAN be upgraded by using 3rd party vendors such as Macsales.com (OWC). So, you will need to figure out what you need RAM-wise when buying an rMBP. If you need an optical drive, you would have to purchase it separately (e.g. SuperDrive).

The 13" MBP and rMBP use the i5 dual-core processors. No difference, in my opinion. The different speeds (2.7GHz, 2.9GHz) over the stock of 2.5GHz will gain you very little noticible performance.

For your editing, I would think either is fine, but the Retina would be "prettier". 🙂

Lanny Danu wrote:

I don't know which one I should buy. I will do so many editing videos on my mac...

What keg55 said, but can you edit videos on a 1280x800 pixel resolution screen?

The real advantage of the rMBP is that the highest "scaled" resolution available is 1680x1050. The native resolution is 2560x1600, which, if used, makes everything on the screen pretty small. But there is an extension in the App Store called Eye-Friendly which gives access to resolutions above 1680x1050 and below the native resolution. I'm not certain of the choices on the 13" rMBP (I use it on a 15") but I believe you can also get at least 1920x1200 and 2048x1280 as well as the full native resolution. At least on the 15", the screen is so crisp that if your eyes are up to it, the higher resolutions are eminently usable. And you can switch back and forth among them with a keystroke.