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Analysis of the new MacBook Pro with Retina display

Honza Dvorsky
24

When Phil Shiller finished introducing all the improvements to Apple's current line of laptops, the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, and said, "Hold on, I'll make room for another one over there," many of us were expecting another piece of groundbreaking hardware. It became the MacBook Pro (MBP) of the new generation with Retina display.

The same amazing display found on the iPhone 4S and the new iPad has also made it to the MacBook. After singing his praises, Shiller showed us a video in which Jony Ive describes the new design of fans to reduce the noise of this new machine.

[youtube id=Neff9scaCCI width=”600″ height=”350″]

So you can certainly see the lengths Apple's designers and engineers went to when they wanted to reinvent the Macintosh. But what is the new MacBook Pro with Retina display like in practice? That's what we tried to find out.

Why buy it?

As Anand Lal Shimpi of AnandTech.com writes, the new MacBook Pro is likely to be a draw for all types of users. The best display in the world for those who stare at their laptop all day. Less thickness and weight for those who travel a lot but still need quad core performance. And a non-negligible improvement of the graphics chip and the speed of the main memory by using flash technology instead of classic hard disks. Most potential users will be attracted by more than one of these advantages.

Comparison of MacBook Pro versions

So Apple presented an upgrade to the existing MacBook Pro line and a brand new MacBook Pro of the next generation. In the case of a 15" diagonal, you have a choice of two slightly different computers, the differences of which are indicated in the following table.

15” MacBook Pro (June 2012)

15" MacBook Pro with Retina display

Dimensions

36,4x24,9x2,41 cm

35,89x24,71x1,8 cm

Weight

2.56 kg

2.02 kg

CPU

Core i7-3615QM

Core i7-3720QM

Core i7-3615QM

L3 Cache

6 MB

Base CPU clock

2,3 GHz

2,6 GHz

2,3 GHz

Maximum CPU turbo

3,3 GHz

3,6 GHz

3,3 GHz

GPU

Intel HD 4000 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M

GPU Memory

512MB GDDR5

1GB GDDR5

Operation memory

4GB DDR3-1600

8GB DDR3-1600

8GB DDR3L-1600

Main memory

500GB 5400RPM HDD

750GB 5400RPM HDD

256 GB SSD

Optical mechanics

Year

Year

Ne

Display diagonal

15,4 inches (41,66 cm)

Display resolution

1440 × 900

2880 × 1800

Number of Thunderbolt ports

1

2

Number of USB ports

2 × USB 3.0

Additional ports

1x FireWire 800, 1x Audio Line In, 1x Audio Line Out, SDXC reader, Kensington Lock port

SDXC reader, HDMI output, headphone output

Battery capacity

77,5 Wh

95 Wh

US price (excluding VAT)

USD 1 (CZK 799)

USD 2 (CZK 199)

USD 2 (CZK 199)

Price of the Czech Republic (with VAT)

48 490 $

58 490 $

58 490 $

As you can see, the new generation MBP costs the same basic equipment as the current MBP with slightly more powerful internals. I think it won't be too difficult for most future MBP owners to choose, as the new MBP's display alone is reason enough to upgrade. So we will see how the existing MBP series will sell in the 15″ diagonal next to its much more attractive twin.

Different resolutions

Anand also had a chance to try out the new option to redraw content for certain resolutions on the new MBP. Although this new laptop natively uses a resolution of 2880 x 1800 pixels, it can also simulate a resolution of 1440 x 900 pixels, in which all the elements on the screen are physically the same size, only much sharper thanks to four times the number of pixels on the same surface. For those who want to use more space at the expense of a smaller window size, there are resolutions of 1680 x 1050 pixels, suitable for example for movies, and 1920 x 1200 pixels, which is better for work. But here it's more about everyone's personal preferences. That's why Anand mentioned the advantage in the speed of switching between these resolutions, which one can get used to doing on a regular basis without it being too slow for them.

Different display technologies

In the original MacBook Pro computers (with glossy displays), Apple uses classic LCD displays, where two glass plates are covered by a third one, which at the same time covers the screen and smoothes it in relation to the edges of the notebook. This cover is absent from the matte MBPs and MacBook Air series, instead the LCD is just attached to the sides and partially covered by the edge of the metal cover. This configuration was also used by the new generation of MBP, where the outer layer of the display has a larger area, which partially fulfills the function of a cover glass as in the case of glossy screens, but does not bring so much unwanted reflection. It even achieves almost as good reflective properties as the matte screens that you can already pay extra for in the MBP series. In addition, Apple used the so-called IPS technology (In-Plane Switching) in the computer screen for the first time, which the displays of all new iOS devices have.

Contrast

Anand also describes the unprecedented sharpness of colors and excellent contrast in his first impressions. In addition to increasing the number of pixels, Apple also worked on the depth of black and white colors to create a display with the second best contrast on the market. This and the already mentioned IPS technology contribute to much wider viewing angles and an overall better enjoyment of colors.

Apps and Retina display?

Since Apple controls the creation of both hardware and software, it has an advantage in the speed of adapting its applications for a brand new screen. All the core applications of the Mac OS X Lion operating system have been adapted for the transition, and today you can use Mail, Safari, iPhoto, iMovie and of course the entire system in crystal clear resolution. Anand provides a comparison of the already new Safari and the not yet adapted Google Chrome on the Retina display. Here is a clear reason why any developer should modify their app if they want to retain users.

However, it shouldn't be a problem for OS X application developers to upgrade in a quick time. As with iOS and the transition to Retina resolution, it will usually be enough to add images with the extension @2x and four times the size, the operating system will already choose them by itself. More work probably awaits game developers, which may not be as flexible. However, most of the most popular games like Diablo III and Portal 2 already count on different screen resolutions, so we will hope for a quick response from other developers as well.

Accidentally discovered differences

After a day, Anand was able to discover certain differences that one might not immediately recognize and he himself discovered them mainly thanks to the fact that he had the original MBP series to compare.

1. Better function of the SD card slot. It looks like it works for more cards than its predecessor for the first time.
2. The keys won't allow as much denting as before. Either it is an increased stiffness or a reduced height of the keys.
3. Although it's more convenient to travel with than its non-Retina predecessor, it's still not as practical in a bag as the MacBook Air.

Most of these observations are gathered after only about a day's use, more differences will certainly appear as time goes on. However, so far it seems that Apple has invested enough time in testing, given that no major errors or differences have yet appeared. Of course, it will depend on the reaction of the masses of users who will receive the new Retina MacBook Pro in the mail in the coming weeks. So we will continue to monitor everything.

Source: AnandTech.com
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