If you'll be chopping up masses of big files then that extra flash space might be more useful than you'd think, but it doesn't come in cheap. It's this top-spec model that we've been testing out for this review, as that's what Apple sent on over for the loan. The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is available with a 2.4 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 2.9 GHz, 4GB of memory, 128GB of flash storage for £1100.įor an extra £150 there's a with an 8GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage option or, top of the off-the-shelf pile, is the £1,500 2.6Ghz model with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of flash storage. Intel's processor better graphics via Intel Iris and, the crux of it all, better battery life than ever before.Ĭombined with Mavericks it means we've been getting a good day's worth of battery from a single charge and while the system doesn't last as long as the MacBook Air - something probably to do with the increased screen resolution the Pro has to power - it's nonetheless still very good. Welcome Intel Haswell, which drives forth not significantly better performance, per se, but better power performance. The main shift in the 2013 MacBook Pro is the interior architecture.
There's enough resolution, for example, for video editing at native 1080p while leaving enough additional space around the preview for your editing tools. But it isn’t really just about making your fonts look prettier, this is a laptop designed for photographers and videographers looking to work in the field and wanting the resolution to make work both easier and more accurate. Most major apps have upgraded, while the Mavericks operating system looks great.Įven up close you will struggle to spot the gradients in fonts thanks to that crisp resolution.
A year in with the Retina display and the 2013 MacBook Pro doesn't have the issues with apps and jaggy views in some software that was an issue before.
There is one difference to before, though, and that's time. In its MacBook Pro form it's lovely to enjoy. The screen is almost like an enlarged 13-inch equivalent of the Retina-flavoured iPad devices, such as the 9.7-inch iPad Air.