The next-gen MacBook Pro with Retina Display Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 23, 2012 4:14 AM EST- Posted in
- Mac
- Apple
- MacBook Pro
- Laptops
- Notebooks
Boot Camp Behavior
When the MacBook Pro with Retina Display first started shipping Apple hadn’t even released Boot Camp drivers for the system. Since then Apple has uploaded a Windows Support package to its servers, and the Boot Camp Assistant will give you drivers for everything in the machine should you ask for it.
The driver bundle and Boot Camp Assistant work with both Windows 7 and the Windows 8 Release Preview, although Apple only explicitly offers support for the former. You don’t have to do anything to make the Windows 8 RP work with the Boot Camp Assistant, just supply the Win 8 RP ISO instead of the Windows 7 image during the Boot Camp setup and you’re all set.
Like all previous MacBook Pro Boot Camp installs, only the discrete GPU is “connected” under Windows. Apple relies on a lot of its own software to switch between processor and discrete graphics which obviously isn’t made available under Windows, thus you only get the dGPU. Apple uses NVIDIA’s 296.49 drivers for the GeForce GT 650M under Windows. Since the standard Windows desktop doesn’t support integer DPI scaling (see update below as you can force 2.0x scaling) Apple picked the next best option and configures Windows for 1.5x DPI scaling and 2880 x 1800 as the defaults. The result is a desktop that looks like this:
At the largest text scaling setting Windows is remarkably usable on the 15.4-inch display at 2880 x 1800. Unfortunately as I mentioned in the Zenbook Prime review, Windows 7 and third party handling of DPI scaling is hardly elegant. While applications that aren’t Retina-aware under OS X tend to simply have blurry text, those that don’t behave properly with DPI scaling under Windows just look odd. Some text elements will be huge and overflow outside of their normal borders, while others will ignore the scaling setting entirely and just be too small. It’s passable in a pinch but suboptimal for certain.
Windows 8 RP on the rMBP. Note the Skyfall trailer is in a full 1080p window
Windows 8 does a somewhat better job, but only under Metro. Metro supports integer DPI scaling at 1 and 2x factors, similar to OS X. With DPI scaling enabled under Windows 8, Metro looks like it would at 1440 x 900 - similar to the default setting for the Retina MacBook Pro under OS X.
200% DPI scaling under Windows 7
Update: As many of you have correctly pointed out, Windows allows you to specify custom DPI scaling modes including an integer 2.0 setting. The result is the same "1440 x 900"-like desktop you get under OS X. Application compatibility still appears to be an issue, check out the gallery below for some examples. Overall Windows is very usable on the rMBP, but just as under OS X the overall experience really depends on application support.
Software Funniness
With the Retina MacBook Pro I get the distinct impression it was launched before the software was ready to support it. Apple did an amazing job enabling Retina support in all of the iLife applications, but iWork isn’t ready for it yet. The system technically launched without Boot Camp support although that was soon added. Then there are the UI performance issues in applications like Safari under the currently available version of Lion. There are also occasional graphical glitches under Lion. the occasional flashing of UI elements, nothing major but just not the polish we’re used to from Apple. Once again, Mountain Lion addresses a lot of this and is only a month out but you still have to deal with reality in the interim.
I also had a strange experience where the CPU clocks on the system magically decided to get clamped down to around 1.2GHz on battery power. A simple reset of the PRAM and SMC fixed the problem but it was odd behavior for sure. I can’t completely fault Apple for this one, as I know I subjected the rMBP to a bunch of strange tests over the course of the past week and a half.
If you’re buying today, just be aware that the best experience will come with Mountain Lion and even then you’ll have to wait an unspecified amount of time for Retina-aware app updates.
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EnzoFX - Saturday, June 23, 2012 - link
Just let apple push down the high end tech, let it trickle, and let pc manufacturers bring up their game, is it not a win win? Haters gonna hate, so lost.MacTheSpoon - Saturday, June 23, 2012 - link
I have to say, after having tried one out in an Apple Store, that I was pretty surprised how underwhelming and minor the screen improvement was. I would have thought from all the breathless press coverage that it was going to be a life-changer like apparently it was for Anand, but the fact was that looking at the thing at waist-height on its bench I personally couldn't even tell the difference. I had to stick my nose in it to see a difference. From a normal typing distance I could see a bit more of a difference, but not as much as I'd imagined.Maybe it's just that I have crappy eyes, but I didn't see a single other customer in the store looking at the displayed laptops, either. I bet most walked by without even noticing the different display--because laptops are already pretty close to a retina display at normal usage distances. It's not like a phone, where you hold the thing up to your face.
I also found it disappointing that 1080p stuff looked so small. You had to blow it up to full screen, and then it seemed...well, it didn't seem that sharp. It was pretty underwhelming. My test material was the Big Buck Bunny vid on YouTube. I thought, so I would pay all this money and end up with this subpar viewing experience?
Honestly I think I would probably prefer a great 1080p display with a full sRGB gamut. I like the black levels and contrast on the MBP, but you can pretty much get that and more on other laptops. And matte, too.
The thing that I liked most about the machine, when all was said and done, was its looks. I love the thinness. And the lack of the wedge shape, which never appealed to me. But I left the store feeling like I wasn't missing out on anything too amazing by not having that screen. For a pro machine I'd probably want a workstation with full gamut and as much storage as possible. For a multimedia machine I'd probably wait to see how the XPS 15 redesign turned out. It will probably offer better speakers, storage, and color for less than half the price.
Ohhmaagawd - Saturday, June 23, 2012 - link
I had exact opposite reaction. I went to the Apple store yesterday and was blown away by the screen.But you can't use youtube for your testing, they are all fuzzy.
Spoony - Saturday, June 23, 2012 - link
Sublime review, as we always relish from Anandtech.To follow up, what do we know about the thermal performance of Kepler and IVB in the 2011-style MBP chassis?
Additionally, does opting for the 2.3GHz model do any significant favors for temperature or battery life?
Reading this review on a Retina iPad was amusing because all the pictures were fuzzy. The web has a way to go before it looks great at 220+ dpi.
da1bigkahuna - Saturday, June 23, 2012 - link
I was wondering if you had any fairly broad comparisons you could make that we might expect from Haswell - and it's successor. I mean something like, "Haswell should be at least 10% faster overall, but the next chip will increase speed far more". Any info would be appreciated, but ultimately speed is the main thing. Next main thing would be if thunderbolt will be a lot better in those future systems.dagamer34 - Saturday, June 23, 2012 - link
I believe Haswell is another tock in terms of GPU design, and all CPUs are designed for far lower thermal limits. Anand has referred to it as the "ideal" ultrabook CPU, allowing for it to even be in the screen of a computer with a minor increase in thickness.houkouonchi - Saturday, June 23, 2012 - link
The reason I bought my first Mac. Of course I run at the native 2880x1800 (I ditch the HiDPI).The big problem I have had so far is getting it working in linux. Seems like really bad linux support right now. The nvidia driver doesn't want to work and the thunderbolt ethernet also doesn't work. The wireless is also really shoddy which made it a pain in the but to just get my linux installation moved over (probably easier if I installed off a USB cd-rom drive).
I am coming from a 22.2 inch 3840x2400 (204PPI monitor) so going to a 220 PPI laptop at native resolution was no big stretch for me. On linux I run X at 75 DPI even on those dense monitors. Its all about the desktop real-estate for me.
houkouonchi - Saturday, June 23, 2012 - link
Just to add its funny that running at the native 2880x1800 is the only way to have third-party apps look good (like word processors/excel/pdf that you can up the font/text size on). Also using safari + google maps the plugin was rendered at 1/4th the resolution. Rendered correctly when running native 2880x1800.krazyfrog - Saturday, June 23, 2012 - link
I would like you guys to add a webcam test as it will help judge the quality of the built-in webcam and microphones. Otherwise, a fantastic review, as usual.LuckyKnight - Saturday, June 23, 2012 - link
I hope Apple release a 13" Macbook Pro with dedicated graphics and a slightly better screen!!