In our MacBook Pro with Retina Display we examine Apple's ground-breaking laptop, paying particular attention to that gorgeous, if flawed, display. Video filmed and edited by Dominik Tomaszewski.
The Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display (reviewed here) is thin and light for a feature-packed notebook –only 1 millimetre thicker than the MacBook Air. At just 20 grammes over 2 kilogrammes, it's the lightest MacBook Pro ever. Build quality is outstanding. Lifting the satin aluminium lid reveals a clean deck below.
The keyboard is almost identical to that seen in the Unibody MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. typing action remains a first-class experience.
The MacBook is quiet in operation. By staggering the pitch of the blades of the internal fans, a single point of resonance has been removed, and there are no other moving parts such as optical or hard-disk drives.
The entry-level MacBook Pro may have 'only' 256 GigaBytes of storage but with USB 3 storage so plentiful, it's easy to expand the SSD on demand.
As well as USB 3 there are two Thunderbolt ports but no ethernet or FireWire. You can use an adaptor to turn those Thunderbolt ports back into your favoured interface.
There’s Bluetooth 4, but only 802.11n wi-fi, disappointing with 802.11ac coming down the tracks.
It's a quick 11n, however, thanks to its three-stream 3 by 3 capability. We saw transfer files at 250 Megabits per second.
The display is stupendously gorgeous, and just a little bit flawed.
The screen is a joy to behold, relieving eyestrain thanks to the way it makes text so sharp. Colour depth from the IPS panel is so rich and saturated most TN screens will look anaemic after you spend time reading from this panel.
But this is a glossy screen, fronted with reflective glass.
It's not nearly as distracting in its mirror-like state as the displays on other MacBook Pro models. And the wealth of detail, great contrast and deep colours go a long way to make up for its reflectivity.
You can select between five different virtual screen resolutions. Conspicuously absent is the panel's native 2880 x 1800 pixels. It’s remarkable how usable the non-multiple resolutions can be, however. Set at 1680 and 1920 in particular, you get a detailed and sharp interface.
Apple's first retina-class Mac is a triumph in portable computing. A great laptop and an engineering breakthrough that excites the heart as much as the mind.
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