13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display: Hands On
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 23, 2012 3:14 PM ESTWe just spent some time with the other major announcement from today: Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. The 3.5 lbs machine is obviously lighter than the 15-inch rMBP but you do give up quad-core and a discrete GPU, which makes this more of an upgrade for 13-inch MBP users than an alternative to the 15-inch rMBP. It may also do a bit to tempt 13-inch MacBook Air users.
The same resolution scaling that we discussed in the 15-inch rMBP review is present on the 13-inch model, although I don't yet know the specifics about what scaled resolutions are available. The default resolution is 1280 x 800 scaled to fit the panel's native 2560 x 1600 resolution. I would guess the two higher resolution modes are upscaled 1440 x 900 and 1680 x 1050 but I'll find out for sure later this afternoon.
Check out the gallery below for more shots of the 13-inch rMBP.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
24 Comments
View All Comments
andykins - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
No quad core or discrete GPU? :/ I could have forgiven it if the price was lower but if you're going to spend that much you might as well go the whole hog and get the 15". Still, I guess some people like the 13" form factor.I bet this makes a great deal less noise than the Airs too. My late 2010 13" Air makes way too much noise at load. It sounds like a jet engine.
tipoo - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
Agreed, there is a quad core Vaio S 13", and there is a quad core IVB processor in the same TDP this uses, so it's very underwhelming. The specs would be ok if it was 1400 or something, but nope.coder543 - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
once you leave out the display -- you're comparing against the $1200 MBP. Check your price ranges, good sir.dagamer34 - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
Size, weight, price. That's why I didn't go with the 15". Also, since the resolution is decreased, hopefully, the lag shouldn't be as severe on the 13".tmacboy - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
13'' has always been my favorite too for the same reasons. I will jump on this 13'' retina bandwagon when they start putting a quad-core into it.lmcd - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
No discrete GPU = more lagsolipsism - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
He's talking about the iGPU on the 15" pushing the display. That's where there can be some lag on the 15".madmilk - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
Most of the lag is from the CPU getting stuck on window rendering, not the GPU.sheh - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
If 17" is expected, finally we'll be within reach to >200dpi >20" desktop monitors.450 DPI phones
300 DPI tablets
250 DPI notebooks
100 DPI desktop
solipsism - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
I wonder if 17" just isn't a good enough seller for Apple to maintain. Either that or they'll bring it back when they can finally do their iMacs. However, I wouldn't expect a 21.5" Retina Display if they can't also do the 27" as Retina at or around the same time... which I think is a couple years off.