- Conclusion Get the lowdown
- Features How it compares
- Performance Real world benchmarks
- Differences Technical showdown
- Reviews Word on the street
- Competition Others to consider
- Discussion Answers and opinions
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display
- 15.4"
- 2.3 GHz Quad core
- 8 GB DDR3-1866
- 256 GB SSD
#1 in Apple laptops
Released June, 2012
Rated 78% by by The Verge (Nov, 2012)Think about it this way: where the Retina "best" setting fits each pixel of a 1280 x 800 image perfectly onto four pixels of a 2560 x 1600 screen, each pixel of a 1440 x 900 image fits imperfectly onto 3.6 pixels of the display, so it’s a little bit blurrier.
Conclusion Check out the Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display
First reviewed June, 2012
Features Key features of the Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display
2.3 GHz
Rated 84% by by c|net (Jun, 2012)Its resolution is 2,880x1,800 pixels, providing a level of detail never seen on a laptop before.
screen size
15.4"
17.3"
14"
Macbook Pro with Retina Display by Frank-Hanna (Jan, 2013)The Video card is also a Major bonus, the degree of technology they have invested in this area if commendable, you can run the most demanding games in relative ease, all in such a small package with such a beautiful display, its like peanut better meets jam all over again.
Macbook Pro with Retina Display by J.-SwartzendruberYou have the option to scale the display to various sizes that mirror what other (smaller) resolutions might look like - such as 1400x900, 1680x1050, 1900x1200.
screen resolution
Macbook Pro with Retina Display by The Verge (Jun, 2012)Its 5.18 million pixels is quadruple the resolution of last-generation’s baseline 1440 x 900 MacBook Pro, and even a huge leap over the previous "high-res" option at 1680 x 1050.
Macbook Pro with Retina Display by The Verge (Nov, 2012)And while web browsers like Chrome and Safari have been updated for the Retina display, the web itself is still catching up: you’ll notice blurry low-res images everywhere, and sites like Facebook and YouTube that mix Retina-enhanced text and icons with standard assets look fairly messy.
cpu speed
| 0 GHz | 2.4 GHz | 3 GHz |
Macbook Pro with Retina Display by RossRichard (Jul, 2012)I gave my boyfriend my 2011 MacBook pro with a OCZ 256g SSD Octane 4 with the intel i5 2.4 GHz I think my other computer worked better however I loved my other computer so... I still give it 4.5 the screen's amazing.
Macbook Pro with Retina Display by W.-Costa--a.k.a.--BC (Jun, 2012)While the 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo is nothing special by today's standards, this machine is still plenty fast enough for what I want to do with it, so I wasn't considering replacing it for at least another year.
processor
Macbook Pro with Retina Display by c|net (Jun, 2012)At a starting price of $2,199, the Retina MacBook Pro is in a different tier of product than other recently spec-bumped Airs and Pros, but it also offers a mix of design and features that can't be duplicated in other Mac laptops: a quad-core processor in a body that's svelte (but not quite ultrabook-thin), discrete graphics, a super high-res display, and - new to any MacBook - HDMI.
Macbook Pro with Retina Display by Dr.-Gershom-Martin (Sep, 2012)In return, you get not just the display but a quad-core CPU and a GPU that can handle all of the above and more.
memory
| 0 GB | 3 GB  | 8 GB |
Macbook Pro with Retina Display by John-S.-Dean--JohnAt least the basest model has 8GB of RAM to start...So from a pure laptop perspective, this one was a hit they shot right out of the park.
Macbook Pro with Retina Display by TrustedReviews (Jul, 2012)Either way, it’s backed by 8GB of RAM, which we feel is an excellent base-line for a laptop this powerful – and one that’s not upgradeable.
Performance Real world tests of Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display
battery life
7 hour
4.5 hour
9 hour
Macbook Pro with Retina Display by AK529I decided to try this one out because of its superior build quality, better battery life, amazing screen, great apple support and how light and thin it is.
Macbook Pro with Retina Display by Gary-Little--Gary (Jul, 2012)At this point, with only about 4 hours of usage, I am a very happy camper.
Our analysis How does it stack up against its top 10 competitors
pros
-
0.1 ms (SSD) -
2880 x 1800 -
220 ppi -
DDR3-1866 -
Jun, 2012 -
the screen is large enough to display 1080p video without scaling -
7 hour -
2,020 g -
18 mm -
8 GB -
24 Mbit/s (Bluetooth v4.0) -
572 MB/s (USB 3.0)
cons
-
0 -
256 GB -
15.4" -
0 -
can't connect to high definition displays
Reviews Word on the street
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 | Rated by 69 users at amazon.com Rated 20% by by P-Murdoch--originalformat (Jan, 2013) Rated 100% by by J.-Bronson (Jul, 2012) |
Screen
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display 15.4", 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 90% by by The Verge (Jun, 2012)By default, we were mirroring our own display (which subsequently letterboxed the laptop screen into a 16:9 aspect ratio), but it can also work as an independent second display with its own color profile.
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display 15.4", 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by SMurray (Sep, 2012)I travel a lot and watching movies/tv shows while on flights with the retina display is amazing.
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display 15.4", 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 90% by by The Verge (Jun, 2012)The MacBook Pro with Retina display is already a decent value in its first generation — for an Apple computer, anyhow — and as with the MacBook Air, we expect later generations will become more compelling in price.
Resolution
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display 15.4", 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by Tim (Jun, 2012)I use to love my old mac's screen, but now I just find myself starring at the pixels that I have been made aware of.
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display 15.4", 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB SSD | by LaptopMag (Oct, 2012)At full screen, you can see a lot more detail without having to zoom in, a boon for photo editors as well as video editors.
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display 15.4", 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 80% by by TrustedReviews (Jan, 2013)The MacBook Pro 13-inch with Retina is essentially a smaller version of the 15-inch Retina MacBook, and that’s no bad thing.
Storage
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display 15.4", 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by Indendentwa (Jul, 2012)I assembled my computer from scratch with I7 2600K Sandy bridge, ASUS P8P67 deluxe board, 16 GB RAM running at 1866 Mhz, 256 GB of RAID 0 SSD (OWC pro 6G), AMD 6850 graphic card, 4TB worth of data hard drive RAID 0 on Marvell controller 6G.
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display 15.4", 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by SG (Jun, 2012)Apple has forced me to give up DVD drive, I use DVD about once a month primarily to import digital copy dvd that comes bundled with blu-ray movies.
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display 15.4", 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by Dr.-Gershom-Martin (Sep, 2012)This isn't just a function of data transfer rates but of the heads on a physical hard drive not being able to be in more than one place at a time: so with multiple concurrent data requests, performance of a single HD drops like a stone while that of an SSD doesn't.
Body
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display 15.4", 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 80% by by J.-SwartzendruberThe laptop is gorgeous and meticulously constructed, I'm a huge fan of the aluminum case and the black monitor bezel, black keyboard, and sleek design.
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display 15.4", 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by Davey-Williams--davey-williamsAnd my designers tell me that this is the first MacBook they can design on in terms of display correctness - previous models didn't really live up to their standards for that, and they'd have to double-check designs on their desktops.
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display 15.4", 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by Paul-R.-Thomas--Paul-R.It's construction is superb, not a wobbly-bit in the whole system, it's just solid, truly solid.
Ports
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display 15.4", 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by Sam-Park (Jun, 2012)Both USB 3 and Thunderbolt are faster.
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display 15.4", 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 100% by by BaymateYou may need: minDisplayPort -VGA adaptor (for LCD projector), miniDisplayPort - DVI adaptor (for older Apple Cinema Display); MagSafe to MagSafe 2 adaptor (to use old power source); Thunderbolt Gigabit Ethernet adaptor (for Ethernet); Apple USB superdrive (for CD/DVD); AppleCare (You just bought a very expensive computer).
Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display 15.4", 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB SSD | Rated 80% by by TrustedReviews (Jan, 2013)We’d happily watch a light movie on the 13-inch Retina, though anything more dramatic will still want some headphones.
Competition What else you should consider
 | 2 | Apple MacBook Pro 7th Gen Has an accelerometer MacBook Pro 7th Gen vs Macbook Pro with Retina Display |
 | 3 | Apple MacBook Pro 9th Gen 4-way tie: Fast Bluetooth MacBook Pro 9th Gen vs Macbook Pro with Retina Display |
 | 5 | ASUS ZENBOOK UX31A Fastest processor ASUS ZENBOOK UX31A vs Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display |
 | 6 | HP ENVY 15-3040NR Longest battery life HP ENVY 15-3040NR vs Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display |
New duel?
Let the battle continue or dare to compare.
Editions Editions of the Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display
| Price | Edition | Resolution | Internal storage | PPI | Manufacturer code | Compare | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | | 2560 x 1600 | 128 GB | 232 ppi | Unknown | | ||||
 | | 2560 x 1600 | 768 GB | 232 ppi | Unknown | | ||||
 | | 2880 x 1800 | 256 GB | 220 ppi | MC975LL/A | | ||||
 | | 2880 x 1800 | 512 GB | 220 ppi | MC976LL/A | | ||||
Popular Questions
October 2, 2012
Webcam image on Macbook Pro Retina
I don't usually use my MacBook Pro Retina and I recently found out that the webcam OS flips (mirrors) the image. Is there anything I can do to resolve this?
Beginner I
1
Answers 