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Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch with Retina display (mid 2012)
8.0
final rating

reviewed on
this review has been viewed 1573 times

Criteria Comments Rating
  • Speed and features Very good. Wish the 512GB was included in the lower model. Also, it gets really hot. good
  • Design and form factor No comments great!
  • Battery life 7 hours of Web browsing - give or take good
  • Display Some text-icon scaling issues good
  • Durability Hopefully it won't break if I drop it. It seems like it would good
  • Expandability Can't change a thing. The options though the apple store is decent but very expensive. poor
  • Noise No comments so-so
  • Portability (size / weight) Still can't beat the air. good
Detailed review
Pros:
- Retina Display
- Great battery life
- Lower noise than the previous MBP
- Good specs (For the first time, apple uses latest gen graphics chip)

Cons:
- Scaling issues with text/icons
- Can't choose the resolution manually (isn't this supposed to be "Pro")
- Get's really hot
- Expensive
- Can't change the RAM/SSD myself
- Changing the display in case you broke it is so hard
- You can still hear the fan

Update (June 18):
- I don't like the keyboard. Even the Macbook Air offers a better keyboard. Small "Enter/Return" and not enough feedback.
review history
2012-06-18
Updated detailed review

Comments (6) subscribe to this review's comments

jta

jta

Would you mind expanding a bit on the "gets really hot" con please? My current MacBook Pro (late 2008 model) gets pretty warm in the back rear left on the bottom, but I actually rarely have it on my lap anymore so I don't even think about it. Just curious if it's similar to what you are describing? Thanks much,
whskytng0fxtrt

whskytng0fxtrt

It's where the GPU and CPU are located on the motherboard that get warm underneath. I didn't think it was as hot as my Early 2008 MBP though.
KurdiMo

KurdiMo

I agree with whskytng0fxtrt. I doesn't get as hot as my 2007 MBP but it get uncomfortably warm compared to my ThinkPad (T410) I would say ~40 - 45 C. Go to the apple store. Load it with ~20 1080p youtube videos for about 5 min and see what happens.
jta

jta

Great, thanks for the additional explanations guys. Much appreciated.
kevindoesbiz

kevindoesbiz

You can choose the resolution manually? I am not sure why you do not think this is the case? If you switch off of Best For Retina you can choose higher resolutions that instead of quadrupling pixels it just shows each pixel as one.
vudoo

vudoo

I don't understand where he says he can't choose the resolution manually... cause under System Preference -> Display you can choose "Scaled" and adjust to 5 different resolutions.
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