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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spronkey - Sunday, June 24, 2012 - link
I don't know why people quote this. Who is this "Most People"? The MBP isn't targeted or priced for "Most People".In my personal experience, by far and away the majority of people who own computers end up upgrading *something*, or replacing something out of warranty.
Though, in the lattery category the most common would be replacing a dead HDD, but I don't buy the most people don't upgrade argument. Just look at how large otherworldcomputing is now; and companies like Corsair, Crucial, Kingston wouldn't be producing specific parts for Apple machines if there wasn't a massive upgrade market.
tim851 - Sunday, June 24, 2012 - link
I don't think RAM increases have sped up at all.My major builds over the years:
'96: 8 megs
'98: 16 megs (upgrade)
'99: 128 megs
'01: 512 megs
'03: 1 gig
'06: 2 gig
'08: 4 gig
'12: 8 gig
I don't think most people, including the creative prosumers Apple is targeting, are seeing much use of >4 gigs. 8+ gig configurations have become fairly commonplace recently because RAM has just been ridiculously cheap. I only got the second 4 gig this year because it's been like 30 Euro. Haven't really noticed any of it.
SSDs have taken the pain out of disk swapping too.
Yes, you can cite a lot of anecdotes of people with their multiple virtual machines and huge 4k video projects, but then again Apple has never been trying to satisfy 100% of the market with any product.
felixneo - Sunday, June 24, 2012 - link
maybe not everyone need 8+ GB ram but, for example Adobe Illustrator CS6 recommends 8GB ram on the system requirements page, so i don't know if that qualify as an anecdote, but it sure is the target market for such a laptop. If you don't need more than 4GB ram why you buy a Pro and not an Air? a pissing contest?dtolios - Sunday, June 24, 2012 - link
Its a pissing contest for the VAST (VAST) majority of the MBP buyers, ofc.Vanity is what drives (revenue wise) most high end stuff in Computers, and that is exactly what Apple is about, and made it BIG once they realized who to capitalize on it instead of creativity etc.
Let the romantics and the Jobs is a Saint believers say otherwise.
It's the same in the sports car market (oh, wait, i though all ppl driving around in expensive superfast cars were racing drivers), smartphones (even before the iPhone, but especially after it), the large screen TV, and the clothing industry. It's all a pissing contest, and lucky the few who actually get to distill the innovations to make more innovations out of, thanks to the above contestants paying for things to move forward, even if companies side-step a lot in order to maximize their profits (and not please the crowd, NEVER forget that).
EnerJi - Sunday, June 24, 2012 - link
Screen size, for one. There is no 15" MacBook Air. I'm sure it would sell well if it existed.dagamer34 - Sunday, June 24, 2012 - link
This IS the 15" MacBook Air for all intents and purposes. In fact, that's why I'm almost certain they didn't label the display with the "MacBook Pro" logo. When the other laptops in the lineup get Retina displays, Apple will only be selling "MacBooks". I also expect for the taper to disappear in what we currently call Airs because of the increased battery size needed for the Retina Display. There will also only be one 13" laptop.spronkey - Sunday, June 24, 2012 - link
Actually you just proved my point. In terms of megabytes per year, the trend is close to an exponential increase!Remember - going from 4GB to 8GB is adding more ram in the space of 4 years than you've *ever had in total before*.
We're also starting to see operating systems utilise this more through:
- Caching and prefetch
- Virtualisation
aaand let's not forget what's happening in the browser space - websites are now minature applications with their own requirements on memory.
I'm a software engineer who moonlights as a graphic designer - 4GB isn't enough at all for decent design work - Until I upgraded from 4GB to 8GB early last year, I would often find InDesign and Photoshop eating up all my available memory between them, and 8GB is starting to feel pretty limiting if you want to do a few things with your machine - especially when you start hooking up multiple external displays.
SSDs may take some of the pain out, but things are only going to get worse.
wfolta - Sunday, June 24, 2012 - link
I always use Moore's Law in my plans: a doubling in 18 months. Yes, that's exponential, but when you look at it in terms of "doubling", it's not as crazy as you want to make it out to be.The MBP 17" I was using up until last week had 4GB and that was barely adequate. My rMPB's 16 GB is two doublings, which comes out to 36 months -- 3 years. So in about 3 years, I'll be feeling that 16GB is barely adequate.... except with an SSD I'll actually be a bit better off.
The posting by tim851 shows an increase that's considerably less than doubling every 18 months, which would mean 16 GB would last him even longer than 3 years.
It's a tradeoff: do you want a laptop that's small and light enough to meet Intel's Ultrabook definition, yet it has a screen no laptop can match at any price, a dedicated graphics controller, great battery life, and incredible build quality, with enough RAM that you don't have to worry about upgrading for 3 years or more? Then nothing touches the rMBP.
If you want to trade off several cool feature and slip into the cheapest model machine you can afford, planning on upgrading its components every year or so to keep it acceptable? Then the rMBP's overpriced and inflexible. For you.
spronkey - Monday, June 25, 2012 - link
The point I'm trying to make is that it didn't *have* to be a trade-off. They could have engineered two SODIMM slots in that thing, and a standardised mSATA card. Especially given how much better thermally it is than the previous model...SPLENDEUR - Sunday, June 24, 2012 - link
This was the review I was looking - and waiting - for. It is great that this review goes past the bling factor of the new MBP and goes into the longitudinal nitty gritty.The section regarding Safari performance in this higher resolution, how it jitters during scrolling, was of welcome notice - it has given me a second opinion I needed on whether I should readily buy this (the Retina-populated reviews almost had me!)