Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display - CNET ~ Electronic Gadgets

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Apple's MacBook Pro laptops, including the high-end, high-price Retina display versions (some of the first-ever laptops with better-than-1080p displays), have been stuck in an unusual position for the past several months. While other systems, from budget laptops to premium hybrids, have all moved onto Intel's latest CPU platform, known as either fourth-generation Core i-series, or the codename Haswell.

The first Mac systems to get Haswell were the 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air back in June 2013. The iMac all-in-one desktop followed. That leaves the more-expensive MacBook Pro being a generation behind in CPU power and battery life, than its less-expensive Air counterpart.

The MacBook Pro line has now gotten the entirely expected upgrade to current Haswell CPUs, which our Labs testing shows offers significant improvements to battery life in the PC and Mac systems we've previously tested. Apple promised nine hours from the 13-inch model, and eight hours from the 15-inch. Note, however, that this update refers only to the thinner MacBook Pro models with Retina display, no mention has been made of the traditional MacBook Pro laptops, the last Mac laptops with optical drives. Those models, presumably will continue to exist in their outdated forms, at least until current supplies are exhausted.

The flagship MacBook Pro with Retina display retains its very high screen resolution, which results in crisper text and clearer photos (2,560x1,600 for the 13-inch model, 2,880x1,800 for the 15-inch model). Unlike some Windows PCs with higher-res screens, OS X is more interested in scaling your on-screen content to look its best (or what Apple thinks will look best), rather than giving you full unfettered access to that very, very high resolution. The tile interface in Windows 8 does something similar with the handful of higher-res PCs now available.

Like the recent MacBook Air and iMac updates, the new MacBook Pro models feature 802.11ac WiFi, faster PCIe SSD storage, and Thunderbolt 2 ports for data and video output.

We were pleasantly surprised when the 13-inch MacBook Air saw its starting price cut to $1,099 earlier this year. The MacBook Pro follows, with its prices going from $1,499 for the 13-inch version down to $1,299; and from $2,199 down to $1,999 for the 15-inch version. That's a break from traditional Apple pricing, where prices would remain the same generation over generation, with updated components adding value.

The thin body, somewhere between a MacBook Air and the old MacBook Pro, remains the same, 0.71 inches thick in the 13-inch version. Internally, you get an Intel Haswell CPU (Core i5 in the 13-inch, Core i7 in the 15-inch), Intel's latest on-board Iris graphics, although the 15-inch model has optional Nvidia GeForce 750M graphics.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro starts with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, while the 15-inch version defaults to 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD (which Apple described as "a quarter terabyte"). Both models are available immediately.

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