I am always surprised that people are surprised that the Retina display makes so much difference.
I think it’s because they get used to their old, crappy displays and don’t realize that things could be much, much better. Sort of like when you get used to a dirty windshield and don’t notice it anymore until you wipe it clean.
My new 15″ MacBook has a “Retina” screen, which I labeled a good “solution to a #firstworldproblem”. Now that I’ve had the Retina-vs-not difference shoved in my face, I realize it’s more dramatic than you might think.
Other than the SSD I started using, the Retina iPad and MacBook Pro I’ve been using has been the single best upgrade I’ve done in my computing life. And I’ve been on the receiving end up upgrades or doing them myself for 33 years now, so I have just a bit of experience (yep, started using a computer when I was four.)
I can read nearly twice as fast on my iPad as I can on my still very-good Cinema Display. And really, my Cinema Display doesn’t look very good all next to the MacBook RD or the iPad.
When 4K monitors get just slightly more mature, I will be buying one no question. It will improve my computing life immensely.