Bharat SainiLast Updated on January 10, 2014 by Bharat Saini
Apple has stopped the production of 17-inch MacBook Pro and the company has replaced this ultra-premium tier with MacBook Pro 15-inch with Retina Display. Its body is as thin as the MacBook Air. All the latest models of MacBook Pro use Intel’s new Ivy Bridge chipset and Nvidia Kepler GPUs. It is powered by a 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor and 8GB of RAM. It is available at $2,199. But is it a worthy device? Let’s find out more about the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch with retina display.
Hardware/Design
Aside from the screen, the most amazing feat is how light and small the MacBook Pro 15-inch with Retina Display is. As compared to the previous versions of the 15-inch MacBook Pro, the latest model is 25% lighter at 4.46 pounds against 5.6 pounds, and it has 27% less volumetric footprint. It measures 14.13 x 9.73 x 0.71 inches and weighs 4.46lbs. It features some familiar elements, including speaker grilles to the right and left, 720p FaceTime HD camera, large multitouch trackpad, and full backlit chiclet keyboard.
Both the trackpad and keyboard feel the same as the previous models of MacBook Pro, and both of them are responsive and clicky. There are ports on both sides of the machine, including USB 3.0 ports on each side. On the left there is the new MagSafe 2 adapter, a headphone jack and two Thunderbolt ports. There is a HDMI output, a USB 3.0, and the SDXC slot on the right side of the device. HDMI is great for both audio and video. There is no Firewire, Ethernet port and an optical drive.
Display
The 15.4-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display features the screen resolution of 2880 x 1800 and pixel density of 220ppi. Aside from the impressive display, the 178-degree viewing angle is excellent. You are able to view the screen from anywhere unless you are seeing at the edge. The text is clear at very extreme vertical and horizontal viewing angles.
Performance
The basic model of the MacBook Pro comes with a 2.3GHz quad-core i7 processor, 256GB flash storage and 8GB of RAM, and the higher-end model features a 2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7, 512GB flash storage and 8GB of RAM. Both of them are good in their own aspect. Both machines also feature an Intel HD Graphics 4000 integrated graphics card along with the powerful Nvidia GeForce GT 650M GPU with automatic graphics switching and 1 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory.
At the GeekBench 32-bit test, the higher-end model scored 11,965 points, and the basic model scored 11,049 points. The 2.6GHz Core i7 processor and 8GB of RAM let you enjoy full 2880 x 1800 experience without any problem. At maxed out settings and full resolution, it jumped between 15 to 20 fps.
Battery Life
Apple’s products are known to offer good battery life. There is a built-in 95 watt-hour lithium polymer battery inside the MacBook Pro with Retina Display. It is the biggest ever in the portable lineup of Apple. Apple boasts the battery life of 7 hours with Wi-Fi connection. This is good for a laptop but only average for the lineup of Apple.
