13-inch Retina MacBook Pro Review (Late 2012)
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 13, 2012 2:53 AM ESTThermals & Acoustics
When we looked at the 15-inch rMBP we noted that it was a significant improvement in the thermal department compared to the previous, 2011 MacBook Pro. The move to 22nm Ivy Bridge and 28nm Kepler silicon meant a much better power profile than the outgoing model. Apple also changed the way it brings air through the system. The previous MacBook Pro chassis did all air exchanging through vents near the hinge of the machine. The new Retina systems pull in cool air from the sides and exhaust it at the display hinge.
In the 15-inch rMBP the improved cooling combined with more power efficient silicon helped ensure more consistent performance over time. While the 2011 15-inch MacBook Pro would quickly throttle under heavy CPU and GPU load, the 15-inch Retina MBP didn't have to reduce clock speeds as aggressively to keep the system's thermal footprint in check.
13-inch rMBP cooling solution, courtesy iFixit
With the 13-inch model, the cooling problem is far less of an issue. For starters, Apple only has to remove heat from a single major producer rather than two. There is no discrete GPU in the 13-inch rMBP, so the cooling workload is immediately reduced. Secondly, the 13-inch rMBP is only available with a dual-core 35W Ivy Bridge processor, and not the quad-core 45W parts used in the 15-inch model. With a cooler running CPU and no dGPU, the 13-inch rMBP has a much easier job of staying cool compared to the 15.
To confirm there was no obvious CPU throttling I ran two tests. The first was continuous runs of Cinebench 11.5's multithreaded render benchmark. Prolonged multithreaded FP workloads have always been a great way to drive temperatures up. We didn't see any throttling during this test on the 15-inch rMBP, and it's no surprise that we see no different here with the 13-inch model:
Next up, I ran the same type of test but using Half Life 2 instead. Here I picked settings that provided a good balance of CPU and GPU workload and ran back to back timedemos while monitoring performance:
As expected, there's no obvious drop in performance over time.
Apple also paid attention to acoustics with this generation. Like the 15-inch model, the 13-inch rMBP uses two fans to remove heat from a single heatpipe that runs across the CPU. The fan blades are asymmetrically spaced on each fan to produce a sound that's more varied across the frequency spectrum, rather than concentrated at specific frequencies. The idea is to create the illusion of quiet fans without negatively impacting cooling ability.
Even more so than in the 15-inch rMBP, Apple's fans in the 13-inch rMBP rarely spin above 2200 RPM. During both the Cinebench and Half Life 2 tests, fan speed remained around 2100 RPM. At these speeds, fan noise is effectively non-existent. In fact, during all of my testing of the 13-inch rMBP there were only a couple of times when I actually heard the fans spin significantly faster than that. Although I would like to see faster silicon and dGPU-level graphics performance in the 13, the obvious benefit of not having four cores and discrete graphics is a very quiet system.
Thermal performance goes hand in hand with acoustics of course. During the Half Life 2 marathon run I kept tabs on CPU and chassis temperature. The results are below:
| Thermal Comparison | ||||
| 13-inch rMBP | 15-inch rMBP | |||
| Max CPU Temp | 52C | 63C | ||
| Max GPU Temp | - | 72C | ||
| Max Surface Temperature (Top) | 48.1C | 49.8C | ||
| Max Surface Temperature (Bottom) | 41.6C | 41.8C | ||
Unfortunately I don't have a 2011 13-inch MacBook Pro to compare to, but the 13-inch rMBP is clearly cooler running than the 15. In terms of user experience, I felt the 13-inch rMBP get warm but never too hot to use on my lap.
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nerd1 - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
I just cannot understand Apple's spec selection for this laptop.They are selling this as 'Pro' laptop, with fixed 8GB ram, 128GB starting storage space (and HUGE overcharge for slightly more useful 256GB) and no external graphics.
I don't think this is any better than recent full-HD ultrabooks from other brands, usually around $1000 price tag recently. 1080p is more than enough on 13" screen, and they provide cheaper storage upgrade option (256GB mSATA drives are now cheap around $200), and some even has external GPU. And face it - 2.5Ghz i5 won't give a huge performance edge over 1.8Ghz i7 ULV with turbo boost for most applications.
Yes, I know it will still sell like hotcakes.
lukarak - Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - link
That`s the only problem. Simply put, a dealbreaker, especially for mac users , that inherently have an above average need for virtual machines.Everything else is expected.
bji - Thursday, November 15, 2012 - link
Anand - the image retention flaw on the 15 inch rMBP is a real issue. I have written you several emails asking if you'd like to address this using your testing tools but never received a response. You haven't acknowledged this issue in this review either.Is the 13 inch rMBP subject to the same image retention flaw?
bji - Thursday, November 15, 2012 - link
WHOOPS - I am wrong. You did address this, I just didn't see that paragraph somehow.It would still be great if you used the tools at your disposal to analyze this. There are reports that the heat of the display (air conditioned versus warm room) have an impact, and of course it's well known that only LG displays suffer this issue. Having all of that confirmed by a reputable reviewer would be great.
edgarperez - Saturday, November 24, 2012 - link
I am trying to decide on a replacement for my 2gb mba 13" . The UI references including "Also if you're looking to minimize UI frame rate issues as much as possible you're going to want the upgraded CPU (although that still won't eliminate low UI frame rates)." truly scar me away from the rMBA. I am on my machine 12 hours a day regularly. the thought of the UI lagging scrolling on applications This is not something i noticed when i looked at the machine in the store but certainly something that would drive me batty once i have noticed it. I think I am going to have to think more about the MBA vs. the MBP non retina and pass on the retina for now.Zink - Wednesday, December 5, 2012 - link
It's not really lag, just low frame rates. It works just as fast as it should but looks a pit more choppy while moving.marioyohanes - Friday, December 7, 2012 - link
Well, I'm one of those people who always complaint about "Pro" in 13" MBP/rMBP, it should be named MacBook, without Pro because it is not a Pro machine. And maybe we could get lesser complaint on Mac App Store comment section for 3D games just because they thought 13" MBP can do 3D game.As for 13" rMBP, here my two cents after using this thing for a month (I got it for free anyway, so...):
- 8GB RAM is not an issue, period! You just trolling saying it needs 16GB! You just don't run 2 VM, 100megs AI files while running FCPX on this machine, you just don't do that.
- 128GB SSD for $1799 laptop? This is annoying! Seriously? 128GB? And yet you still calling it a Pro? I'll be damn!
- Display is awesome, super awesome, even though, I prefer to have 1440x900 resolution over native retina. The only thing I hate from 13" MB/MBP is the resolution barely usable for professional work. However, if you're iOS app developer or UI designer, this thing rocks! No more scrolling madness for testing app on retina simulator or designing retina artworks in Adobe!
- UI performance is not an issue, at all, some websites simply just another prove of bad programming. And retina aware apps are widely available, if they're not updating their app to be retina aware until first half 2013, it means the app is either no longer under development or its developer simply not serious selling Mac apps.
- Gaming or anything 3D? Forget about it. Unless of course, by gaming you meant Angry Birds, but for me, gaming is stands for Steam, AC3, Diablo 3 and the list goes on.
So who is this for? Professional who does a lot of work developing or designing retina UI but hates 15" rMBP portability. Or, it could be great for business professional, you'll be thank to its retina display for saving your eyes for working too long in front of your computer.
This is not for me, obviously, I switched back to my 15" rMBP after a month. This is well overpriced on my opinion, but then again, no competition whatsoever. And yes, please stop telling me ultrabooks $1000 etc, the closest ultrabook price with this thing is cost more than $1400! But then again, if you're making money with your laptop, why bother with price, as long as its beneficial for you to have this rMBP (also works for boosting confidence), just buy it and don't look back. Haters will be haters, don't listen to them.
.Chris. - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link
Grate in-depth review wish I found this 2 weeks agoI bought a maxed out air then sent it back after seeing the retina display in store.
Since then I’ve been trying to decide if the upgrade to the faster cpu is worth it for the rMBP. Sounds like it is and as I am paying education prices which brings it in at £1383 (which still hurts but not as much as £1609)
AirieFenix - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
I would love to see a 13-inch "non-Retina" Macbook Pro with some of the goodies of the rMBP. For instance, I need the Ethernet port (yes, there is an adapter, but I'd rather prefer o have it out-of-the-box); I also like the battery life on the non-Retina model, and to have upgradable hardware is almost a must-have for people that don't buy a new notebook every year (for instance, me).In the other hand, I don't use the DVD drive on my computers since... I don't even remember. And the 1280x800 is a low resolution right now.
But most important, I'd rather prefer to have a consistent fluidity through all the UI than more than a lot of pixels (yes, it's a nice display, but I'm not a photographer, it isn't a must-have to me) and the price. The price of the Retina model is just too absurd.
Why don't make a 13-inch Macbook Pro with Air's display (a not Retina, but still good) and without DVD-tray (although I can live with it, would be nice to have more space for battery life)? That would be my dream machine.