MacBook Pro 13 Retina 2012: Complete Review & Specs

Today we brought you another review of MacBook Pro 13 Retina 2012, with Retina Display and left us a good feeling with minor exceptions. This is a professional device focused on a very portable screen size and resolution that at first glance is far superior to its rivals and even the MacBook Pro model traditional 1280 x800 pixels, reaching up to 2560 x 1600 pixels.

MacBook Pro 13 Retina

Technical Specs of MacBook Pro 13 Retina 2012:

• Manufacturer: Apple
• Model: MacBook Pro 13 Retina
• Web: www.apple.Come
• Price: From € 1,779.
• Processor: From Core i5, 2.5 GHz dual-core
• Memory: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM
• Display: 13-inch 2560 x 1600 pixels IPS.
• Connections: USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, HDMI, magsafe 2, audio, Wi-Fi N and Bluetooth.
• Battery life: up to 7 hours.
• Size: 31.4 x 21.9 x 1.9 cm
• Weight: from 1.62 kg

The device is just adaptation of the original 13-inch 15-inch Pro Retina. That is, the optical drive disappears, received two Thunderbolt ports and a native HDMI output, meaning you do not need any adapter. The two USB ports are USB 3.0. This decreases the thickness of the equipment.

The technical characteristics of the equipment received are remarkable in that it integrates a processor Core i5 2.5 GHz (dual-core rising to 3.1 GHz with 3 MB cache), the integrated GPU on the same chip is the Intel HD 4000 and coupled with 8 Gbytes of RAM and a fast SSD of 128 GB. That is the most basic model with MacBook Pro 13 Retina 2012, with a price of € 1779.

This is the point of discussion in this laptop, as we remember that although it is light, not within the Mac equivalent to ultrabook of Intel, which would be a MacBook Air.

Our first impressions were good approaching the screen long enough to see the difference in resolution compared to a MacBook Pro 13 Retina 2012. It shows greatly in defining icons and toolbar in Mac definition of the time and icons of the applications that work in the background is clear.
The first impression is very good but when the device started using different matter seriously. Native applications like iMovie, iPhoto, etc are optimized for use with the native resolution Retina. Safari is also adapted to the use of this resolution Rescaling the text perfectly and displaying large images-albeit with some pixelation, and the result is good.

Connections: SXDC, USB 3.0 and HDMI Magsafe 2, 2 Thunderbolt, USB 3.0 and headphone.

It is a joy to use software like iMovie because it can display a 1080p video in a small-to-native resolution, i.e. watching a movie with a pixel resolution in a window size and can continue working on it in the menu traditional iMovie.

MacBook Pro 13 Retina

Turning to other third party software like web browser we realize one of the small computer issues, are not adapted to this type of high-resolution screen. In fact we have to use Chrome or Firefox Beta beta of the next version so that text scale is well.

“Internet is not ready for Retina Display” – MacBook Pro 13 Retina 2012

The screen mode of Retina Display is 2560 pixels wide, so the typical images we see on the Internet, few Kbytes and just over 600 pixels in width are amplified showing obvious pixelation.

The user experience has two aspects that have to go together, software and hardware. Apple has just taken a stunning leap in display hardware, has adapted its applications and experience with apple is very good. However when we return to the real world, and we see no Internet or applications optimized for screen resolution is obvious pixelation. In fact MacBook Pro 13 Retina 2012 shows a sense as blur in images when viewing websites at random as long as we do not use Safari.

MacBook Pro 13 Retina 2012 performance with SSD, Core i5 and 8 GB of RAM is superb. OS X 10.8 works very smooth, we had no problem in making multitasking fatigues.

Battery is one of the strengths of this device because although Apple promises 7 hours of use without connecting to load. Apple optimizes this aspect much more battery than the alternatives on the market, as it controls the hardware and software integration completely.

Conclusion for MacBook Pro 13 Retina 2012

Is expensive equipment, € 1,779 for the basic model, and the difference in experience with Retina Display or not, is not so critical compared to traditional MacBook Pro. In fact, with the same configuration, i.e. the same processor, RAM and storage is €220 cheaper without Retina Display, besides that we still have optical drive.

In times of crisis this price would be justified only for professional users who are able to take advantage of that resolution with video or photo editing.

MacBook Pro 13 Retina 2012 size is compact, 13 inches and is thinner than the model without Retina Display, and has a weight of 1.62 kg is halfway between MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, yet at a more expensive price.
We could call the new MacBook Pro 13 Retina a model that aims to take the good ultrabook segment-MacBook Air and adds professional features such as the Retina Display screen or multiple Thunderbolt connectivity. But the mixture has a very expensive face.

It is a product with high quality materials and superb screen performance that puts it in the high-end sector, however, the price makes that we can propose alternatives even within Apple, as according to us MacBook Pro 13 Retina 2012 scores 4 points out of 5 rating.

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