Richard,

I have had the RMBP since June 12th with the following specs:

Processor 2.6 GHz I7
Memory 16GB
512 Flash Memory

Please note if you do not upgrade from 8 to 16GB ram when purchasing you will be out of luck for increasing Ram as it is part of the mother board.

Had an issue with the USB 3 not being recognized. Was only connecting as USB 2. However I had posted this issue via the Apple Forum and actually Apple picked up on it and I received a phone call from Apple. They worked with me to resolve this issue and after a number tests the problem was resolved. Apple even followed up a couple times to make sure the problem was resolved.

Since then I have purchased an IOGEAR’s SuperSpeed USB 3.0 4-Port Hub which works great. It allows me to have 4 USB 3 drives connected. Also picked up a Kingston USB 3 Media Reader which also works great. Also have the Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter which allowed me to use the NitroAV 8 Port Hub for my Firewire 800 Drives. Have four of those connected as of now. All mount and work just fine.

Now I am coming from a MacBook Pro 2.66 (June 2009) 8GB DDR Ram so this is a hug upgrade for when it comes to speed.

The only items I have on my system in most cases are just the software (programs) I keep all images on external hard drives. Currently I use both Aperture 3.3.2 and Lightroom 4.2RC. I did have a WD Thunderbolt Duo drive, however I returned it and for the time being just using the USB 3 external hard drives. One of them I have is the Seagate Backup Plus 3TB. I am getting an average of 173 Read/Write for speed.

Aperture is already optimized for the RMBP and I have received word that Photoshop and Lightroom will be optimized soon.

One thing for sure the RMBP does not come cheap especially if you add the extra ram and larger flash memory. However for me it was well worth it.

I am sure Joseph will be doing his review soon and will have some good input.

Stu