Following the Apple hoo-ha on Monday, I checked out the new MacBook ‘Retina’ model at an Apple Store. Noticeable things: it’s lighter but not as astoundingly light as an ‘Air’, it’s blazing fast (full reboot in 15-20 seconds), the screen is indeed crisp and lovely for text and photos which just about jump out of the screen if they are taken in bright light with strong contrast, but look completely ordinary with more typical shots. The case is precisely machined, there’s a bit of a sharp edge on the screen, which is half the thickness of a normal MB Pro. Annoyingly the power button has been made into a keyboard button and the return key made smaller as a result. I kept bashing the delete key instead which is now above it, or something like that.

Doing a price comparison using this spec: 2.6GHz processor, 8Gb RAM, 512Gb SSD

Standard MB Pro: £2,519

Retina MB Pro: £2,364 (including optional extra outboard DVD drive)

Apple must think these things through, as a result for less money you’d get a machine which is much faster, a bit lighter and has a way better screen. I’ve nearly persuaded myself, until I realise that it won’t make more productive, and will leave a fair sized hole in my wallet. Anyone else got thoughts on this? My disappointment was they didn’t make a 15″ Macbook Air, cheaper than a full fat MB Pro, without the Retina screen.

Oh and another bummer, Apple released a new maps app, and forgive me for choking, but my iPhone 4 is apparently unworthy of their turn-by-turn navigation feature, and the 3D flyover feature. The iPhone 4 being obsolete within a year is quite annoying, and we do know that TomTom runs perfectly on an iPhone 4, so what magic property is it missing? A load of pants in my opinion.