Back in the Spring of 2014 the MacBook Pro Retina launched with some interesting new features while keeping some time-tested MacBook components. At release it was well-received as another good effort from Apple. 

We take a look back at the 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina and see if it still stands up to other high-end notebooks.

 

Whats changed?

The biggest noticeable addition with the MacBook Pro Retina was the inclusion of a pressure-sensitive trackpad. Called the Force Touch pad, it differed from the older Mac touchpad in that it did away with separate buttons and instead uses the entire surface area of the pad to click on. Many where sceptical about the trackpad back in 2014, but I’m happy to report that it holds up. Apart from having new functions, such as instant dictionary access or image previews, the new Force Touch pad just feels great to use, and holds up to Apple’s usual standard of innovation.

 

Design and hardware

In terms of design, the MacBook Pro Retina follows along many of the same lines that other MacBooks go along. Think aluminium frame, edge-to-edge glass display and the familiar Apple keyboard. At 18mm thick and 1.6kg it’s a little larger than some other notebooks in it’s price range, but the MacBook Pro Retina is still portable enough to take anywhere.

Coming with armed with Core i5 or i7 chips and 8GB of RAM, the Pro Retina is a step up from earlier Mac models with faster frame rates and disk speeds, and an overall smoother experience.

Something else that really stands out is the long battery life of the MacBook Pro Retina. It’s capable of up to 10 hours of web browsing or 12 hours of video playback and is also able to fully charge in less than an hour. There are also configurations, screen dimming and sleep mode are two that come to mind, that allow you to prolong the battery life even more.

 

 

What’s up with Retina Display?

At it’s heart the MacBook Pro Retina is a device specifically aimed at creatives. The new graphics card improves the 3D graphics, video playback and picture resolution. The Retina display means you’ll be getting better than 1080p resolution, providing brighter colours, deeper blacks and more detailed imaging.

Ideal for photographers, graphic designers, video editors and other creatives, the Retina display may slightly be showing it’s age when compared to other high-end 4K graphics notebooks, but it still holds up and does the job just fine.

 

More connections than ever

While some complain about the fact that other MacBooks only come with a single port, you definitely won’t be having that problem with the MacBook Retina Pro. There are two USB ports, an HDMI port, two mini-display ports and an SD card slot.

Final Verdict

Although it’s outdated in some respects, the MacBook Pro Retina is still a great device that fulfils plenty of functions. It has enough graphics capabilities to work for visual creatives, enough power and battery life for office workers and it’s compact enough to take anywhere. Mac enthusiasts will still love it, and those on the fence may just be convinced to make the move to Apple. 

 

The Good                                                 The Bad                                         

Long battery life                                                                                              Slightly more cumbersome than the competition

Innovative Touch Pad                                                                                     Hefty pricetag

Sleek Design

Retina Display still holds up

 

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