Well, the announcement hubbub is done, unless you’re still at WWDC. If you find yourself still lusting after Apple’s new Retina MacBook Pro, you may want to take a moment and read some of the bigger and better reviews from around the web.
Here’s a round-up of some of the better reviews we’ve come across (with a brief snippet attached for your convenience). We’d love to review one of these ourselves, but the funds just aren’t in the budget, to be honest. Going around spending money on ALL the Apple gear would break us pretty quickly. Two cheers for independent publishers!
Table of Contents
Macworld (link)
That evolution is natural. But then there’s the X factor, the introduction of a high-DPI display to the Mac for the first time. Developers will need to update their Mac apps to take advantage of Retina mode. And it’ll be interesting to see how users—especially those in creative jobs such as working with photos and video—take advantage of all that screen resolution. Apple’s been promising a high-resolution Mac interface for years now, but with the new MacBook Pro the future is finally here.
New York Times (link)
How does the new laptop fare on the Ultimate Laptop Wish List? Extremely well. It tops the charts on screen, keyboard, sound, start-up time, looks, battery life and fast/thin/light. It can have copious memory (up to 16 gigabytes) and storage, for a handsome fee … Inexpensive? Not even close. But as with cars, homes and partners, you can’t have everything. Professionals, commence your scrounging.
Engadget (link)
So, then, is this a laptop that’s creating its own new product category? Not exactly. This is a laptop that stands poised to kill an existing one, one that Apple has dominated. The new Pro is good enough to make the old Pro (even the updated version) look and feel obsolete. It pushes and redefines the category, raising the bar higher than even its brethren can jump. If you can afford the premium and aren’t set on a 13-inch model there’s no reason to buy any Pro other than this Pro.
The Verge (link)
But back to this particular machine: should you buy the new MacBook Pro with Retina display over the standard Pro? Like we said above, it really comes down to whether or not you value solid-state storage over traditional HDD or the value of a higher-resolution display. For us, it’s the Retina display for sure — the only way we’d recommend a standard 15-inch Pro right now is if you have a strict sub-$1,800 budget or really value the extra HDD storage space or DVDs.
Time (link)
It’s the most refined, advanced PC that Apple has produced to date. And it’s a safe bet that the ideas it exhibits will be reflected in future models from the company, including ones with smaller screens and smaller price tags. It’s both a great computer, and a preview of great computers to come.
CNET (link)
The Pro and Retina Pro are clearly two laptops designed for two different users, and with the exception of all-day commuters who need something closer to a MacBook Air or ultrabook, one of the two branches of the MacBook Pro family tree is still probably the most universally useful laptop you can buy.
USA Today (link)
Most users will drool over the new MacBook Pro’s gorgeous low-glare 15.4-inch Retina display, the same screen technology found in the newest iPad and the later iPhones. In geeky terms, it has a screen resolution with more than 5 million pixels or picture elements, 3 million more dots than a high-definition television, and a pixel density of 220 pixels-per-inch. Text pops off the screen, icons are sharp, and color images are vivid and true to life — even in bright sunshine. Some software, including Apple’s own Aperture and Final Cut Pro X programs, have been updated to take advantage of the new display.
Laptop Magazine (link)
Surveying the Ultrabook landscape, there’s nothing that approaches the new MacBook Pro’s combination of power, portability and endurance. And it’s easy to see why Apple has nixed the 17-inch MB Pro. With a screen like this, you just don’t need the extra inches of real estate. Overall, the MacBook Pro with Retina Display is the ultimate notebook for performance fiends on the move.
If you think we’ve missed anything, let us know. We’ll gladly add it to this list for everyone.
