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2015 13-inch MacBook Pro With Retina Display Review

2015 13-inch MacBook Pro With Retina Display Review

The marquee feature on this computer, though, might be the Force Touch trackpad, which combines Force Touch input and Apple’s unique ‘Taptic’ haptic feedback engine – it’s the first Mac to ship with the new trackpad, and the first chance users have to try it on for size.

 Basics

13.3-inch 2560 x 1600, 227 PPI IPS LED display
2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
8GB of 1866MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM
128GB PCIe-based flash storage
Intel Iris Graphics 6100, supports 3840 x 2160 on two external displays
2x Thunderbolt 2, 2x USB 3, HDMI, SDXC, 3.5mm audio in/out
Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0
10 hour wireless web, 12 hour iTunes movie playback
MSRP: $1299 (as tested)
Product info page

Pros
Portable and powerful
All-day battery
Force Touch trackpad is extremely cool

Cons

No RAM upgrades post-purchase

Design

The new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro keeps the same design that Apple has been offering since 2012, but while the case’s novelty may have worn off, the quality of its construction has not. The slender shell measures only 0.71 inches thick, and weights under three and a half pounds. It still, in other words, feels remarkably portable for the power it’s packing, especially considering that Retina display and the all-day battery

That said, the design is beginning to feel a bit less exciting given the advances in the rest of the industry, and especially framed against the dramatic portability of the new MacBook design that Apple unveiled alongside the announcement of the new Retina MacBook update. Whereas the Retina MacBook Pro used to stand in stark contrast to the beefy MacBook and non-Retina MBP, it’s now the heftiest of Apple’s notebooks.

Still, the unibody aluminum shell hasn’t lost any of its appeal from an aesthetic perspective, and the 13-inch version especially still doesn’t add much in the way of pack weight or occupied bag space. And while the MacBook Air might be smaller still, the difference is not going to have a practical effect for most users. Plus, the performance and spec benefits more than justify a bit of additional heft when compared to the Air. And from the perspective of someone who uses a 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display, the 13’s size and weight savings feel positively luxurious.

Features

The 13-inch MacBook Pro’s most apparent new feature, for most users, will be the Force Touch trackpad. This input device resembles Apple’s previous trackpad, and the one found on all of its other current MacBook offerings, but its outward appearance and tactile feel hide the fact that it’s actually a trackpad with virtually no motion whatsoever – there’s no actual mechanical click when you press the trackpad down, but it will still feel 100 percent like a physical click is taking place thanks to Apple’s new ‘taptic’ haptic physical force feedback technology.

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