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Roundup of Retina MacBook Pro Reviews

Thursday June 14, 2012 11:54 am PDT by Eric Slivka
With a number of media outlets having received Retina MacBook Pro review units on Monday after the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote and a few early hands-on reports having been published, more extensive reviews are now beginning to appear. To help summarize the overall response to the new machine, we've put together this roundup of some of the major reviews, along with some highlights from each of them.


The New York Times – David Pogue
If you could design your dream laptop, how would you describe it?

Superfast. Superthin. Superlight. Superlong battery life. Immense storage. Enough memory to keep lots of programs open at once. Stunning screen, comfortable keyboard, terrific sound. Fast start-up, rugged body, gorgeous looks.

And, of course, inexpensive.

The new Apple laptop that went on sale Monday hits an impressive number of those high notes in one radical swoop. As you might guess, the one it misses by the biggest margin is “inexpensive.”
Engadget – Tim Stevens
Is this the best Mac ever? You can't ignore the Air as an amazing piece of machinery, especially with the new, higher-powered Ivy Bridge processors and faster SSDs tucked inside its wedge profile. But, this new Pro is on another level of performance. With a quad-core processor and up to 16GB of RAM it's a proper beast -- a proper beast that you can throw in your messenger bag and carry around all day without spending all night complaining about an aching back.

That said, this is not exactly a small machine, heavy enough that those happy Air users who've been feeling tempted might want to take a swing by their closest Apple Store and lift one themselves. It's expensive, too.
The Verge – Ross Miller
If you’re in the market for a premium OS X laptop right now, it’s hard not to recommend the new MacBook Pro with Retina display. If, however, power isn’t your ultimate goal, may we suggest shaving a few pounds and specs for the MacBook Air. As for everything in between, those non-Retina “standard” MacBook Pros, well... the writing’s on the wall. And of course, it doesn’t hurt to be even a little bit patient and wait for more apps to push Retina-optimized updates — if you get the MacBook Pro with Retina display now, you’ll be waiting on the world to change.
Time – Harry McCracken
Even for those of us who are unlikely to spend more than two grand on a computer, or who prefer something more ultraportable than a 15″ model, the arrival of the Retina MacBook Pro is a meaningful moment in Mac history. 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 – Dan Ackerman
I've previously called the 15-inch MacBook Pro one of the most universally useful all-around laptops you can buy. This new version adds to that with HDMI, faster ports, and more portability. But it also subtracts from that with its exclusion of an optical drive and Ethernet port, plus its very high starting price. 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.
(Image from CNET)

[ 348 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

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WildCowboy
87 months ago

Stopped reading when the first review said "inexpensive".


You should keep reading. ;)
Rating: 68 Votes
Avatar
Andy-V
87 months ago
Okay as there's already 2 posts talking about the "inexpensive" quote so just to let people know:

If you've come here to talk about the "inexpensive" quote please read the sentence that follows.
Rating: 56 Votes
Avatar
Hazel
87 months ago

Stopped reading when the first review said "inexpensive".


Clearly, because the very next line read:
"the one it misses by the biggest margin is “inexpensive.”"

It's clearer in the article what Pogue is getting at. The area where the Retina MBP misses the mark of a "perfect laptop" is in the pricing.
Rating: 31 Votes
Avatar
zeromeus
87 months ago

Stopped reading when the first review said "inexpensive".


As you might guess, the one it misses by the biggest margin is "inexpensive."

Read the entire article before you complain.
Rating: 21 Votes
Avatar
sishaw
87 months ago

Stopped reading when the first review said "inexpensive".


The review wasn't saying that the Macbook Pro is inexpensive, it was saying that being inexpensive is a desirable trait, one that this machine misses by a wide margin. Read more carefully?
Rating: 15 Votes
Avatar
bmacir
87 months ago
This:

"the least repairable laptop we’ve taken apart"
(https://www.macrumors.com/2012/06/13/teardown-of-retina-macbook-pro-finds-low-repairability-with-custom-components/)

is a deal breaker for me...stunning display but no thanks :(
Rating: 15 Votes
Avatar
Eddyisgreat
87 months ago
In before "this is cool, but despite what the reviews say , revision a products always have bugs so I think i'll wait for the one that comes out in two revisions which is the one I buy so it doesn't have any bugs and extra features for a lower price. Besides my late 2011 macbook pro still does everything I need it to so this machine is crap anyway".
Rating: 14 Votes
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JohnDoe98
87 months ago

I want one, but I'll wait for 17" version and wait for them to work out all the kinks.

Lets not forget giving the developers some time to optimize their apps for the retina display. Apps on the New iPad are slowly being updated to support this so we'll see how long it takes for desktop developers to get on board.


There won't be any 17" version. The 17" line is dead, time for you to face that fact.
Rating: 10 Votes
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WildCowboy
87 months ago
What's interesting is that an equivalently-specced (CPU, RAM, storage) regular MacBook Pro is more expensive than a Retina MacBook Pro. Once you throw an SSD into the non-Retina version, the price skyrockets.
Rating: 10 Votes
Avatar
Stente
87 months ago

Stopped reading when the first review said "inexpensive".


If you read the review - you would know how stupid your comment is.
Rating: 10 Votes

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