Considering replacing my White MB with something newer.
Im worried about moving to Retina. While it will allow me to make sure that my apps play nice on retina , how will I know they look Ok on older machines?
Is it worth having a retina machine on a 13inch display with Xojo?
(portability and price, since you ask…)
Are the current Air models up to the speed of a 2010 2.4Ghz Dual core MB with SSD and 8Gb?
Jeff,
If you use something like Sam Rowland’s Retina Kit from the Ohanaware website - you can provide images for both Retina and non-Retina, and the appropriate image will be automatically displayed.
That way - you can be assured that your apps will look fine on both machines.
I hope I have understood your question correctly 
Sam is extremely helpful, and provides excellent customer service.
[quote=94303:@Jeff Tullin]
Are the current Air models up to the speed of a 2010 2.4Ghz Dual core MB with SSD and 8Gb?[/quote]
Get a MBP with a big SSD (768 or 1Tb if you can), retina and 16gb ram
They’re not bricks like older models - but they are not really upgradeable at all once you buy them - so deck it out
Mine I run with it’s built in screen + 2 x 27" external monitors
My last MBP lasted me nearly 6 years (and is still going in my daughters hands I just really wanted the new one) so its worth the $
I’d be surprised if it’s possible to buy non-retina Mac laptops for much longer.
Go Retina and keep your old MBP for testing on a classic screen
I’d recommend a retina macbook pro plus an external monitor (non-retina). Like this one can also test how ones programs behave when being moved from one screen to the other.
For instance, when I start an app with a FTC textcontrol on it on a retina display and then I move it to the non-retina, then its contents will no longer display correctly.
Things like this can only be discovered with the suggested setup. If finances allow it, then I would absolutely do what Norman is suggesting. I think this is the best solution for building and testing with Xojo today.
I purchased a 13" i7 MacBook Air a couple of years ago (my third Mac laptop) and have been very satisfied with its performance. It’s not Retina of course.
For a new Mac, I would go with retina, too.
And put in as much SSD and RAM as you can pay for.
Well, I bought one.
I was expecting some pain to make my app acceptable on Retina, given all the discussion about ‘ugly’ menus, text and bitmaps.
Frankly, I could have saved my money.
My apps compiled in Xojo2014 and 2013 without any plist tweaks or swapping images look fine to me.
Perhaps Im less picky than other people, but the menus are sharp.
If I look really hard I can see that text on buttons may not be quite as sharp, but I have to look really hard.
I’m not expecting any angry requests for refunds any time soon based on this.
Hey ho. 
[quote=118281:@Jeff Tullin]Well, I bought one.
I was expecting some pain to make my app acceptable on Retina, given all the discussion about ‘ugly’ menus, text and bitmaps.
Frankly, I could have saved my money.
My apps compiled in Xojo2014 and 2013 without any plist tweaks or swapping images look fine to me.
Perhaps Im less picky than other people, but the menus are sharp.
If I look really hard I can see that text on buttons may not be quite as sharp, but I have to look really hard.
I’m not expecting any angry requests for refunds any time soon based on this.
Hey ho. ;)[/quote]
There’s a huge diff. between retina and non-retina apps on a retina screen, you just need to look closer!
I created a post here http://www.bixue.se/aeon-timer-och-retina-skarmar/ that shows the difference.
Turn on Max OS X zoom and zoom in a little on your app and you’ll see it
Thats my point… if I have to turn on zoom and look at a magnified version to see the real difference, then I don’t think we can call it a HUGE difference.
Just a difference.
It will be almost subconscious for some people.
Maybe I dodged a bullet by using icons that aren’t meant to look photo realistic in the first place, or a Mac toolbar like the one in your screen shots (I use KillerToolbar instead: Xojo doesn’t keep up with OSX toolbars very well, and Apple changes what it considers to be standard every often… just compare the Finder toolbar with the Safari toolbar: they are very different, and neither resembles your screenshots
So I don’t try to chase that UI any more.)
My Mid 2009 13" MacBook Pro got an upgrade two years ago with 1 TB SSD and 8 GB RAM and is still a decent Office and Developing mashine today. But when using Final Cut Pro the lack of CPU power is more than obviously.
This Fall I am switching to a new 15" Macbook Pro Retina model when the new OS X arrived. As Norman already metioned: Always buy an Apple product in full-equipped-state, later on you will bite yourself when not.
Thats amusing.
Im sure most of us can recall developing on a 486 50Mhz Windows machine with 512Mb ram and not finding new machines much of an improvement.
Maybe its a perception thing, but the faster the hardware gets the more sluggish they make the OS?
Update on the Retina thing:
I added the post build script to add the RetinaEnabled setting to the plist file.
The slightly smudgy button and listbox text is now sharp.
My toolbar icons which were designed fairly small actually seem to have benefited from the scaling.
All my other images were overlarge and scaled down anyway, so they are looking a little bit better.
I can easily see the difference between Retina and non-Retina apps on my computer. But then again, every time I go over my parents house, somehow their Flat screen TV gets switched back to “auto-motion plus” (aka soap opera effect) every time, and they say they can’t tell the difference. But it drives me bonkers, so I switch it back for them, and they say, “Son, I can’t tell the difference, but if you are happy, then we are happy!”
I bought a MacBook Pro 15" retina some months ago, but I think I prefer my old MacBook Pro 17" (non retina) that I gave to my daughter.
I didn’t fall in love of retina screen.
Really? I could not do without. If I switch to my Mac 27" monitor everything is just blurry.
Ones you are used to the sharp Retina display it is very hard to go back.
[quote=118402:@Christoph De Vocht]Really? I could not do without. If I switch to my Mac 27" monitor everything is just blurry.
Ones you are used to the sharp Retina display it is very hard to go back.
[/quote]
When you get older everything small and close starts to look blurry, retina or not!
I have a Retina MacBook Pro. I could never go back to a non-Retina screen.
I do think that Retina is something you get used to but the difference is very noticeable when you move back.
Is the Retina screen glossy or matte? I have eye strain problems with Glossy screens (I have a MBP 15 with matte display and a BenQ 27" matte too).