Bottom Line
Apple's latest 15-inch
MacBook Pro represents a slight upgrade to the best system mobile Mac
power users can buy. And while the Windows competition is breathing down
its figurative neck, it's still our top choice for high-end
desktop-replacement laptops.
Mac power users, including art directors, film editors,
photographers, videographers, and the like, wait for each new release of
the top-of-the-line Apple MacBook Pro with bated breath. The first
question is always, "is the new MacBook Pro better than last year's
model?" In this case, we'd say yes, but only in that 16GB of memory is
now standard, up from 8GB. Sure, the Core i7 processor is a couple of
hundred megahertz faster, but that really doesn't translate into
measurably faster performance overall. That said, the latest 15-inch
Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display ($1,999) is still an excellent
power user's laptop, a veritable object of lust, which earns our Editors' Choice nod for high-end desktop replacement laptops.
Design and Features
The 15-inch MacBook Pro's $1,849.00 at Amazon design hasn't changed from last year's model $780.00 at The Geo's Mart,
sporting the same 0.71 by 14.25 by 9.75 inch (HWD) aluminum chassis.
Weight is similar at 4.36 pounds, though imperceptibly lighter than the
last iteration. Cutouts in the sides help draw in air to cool the
internal components, and are in the same spots. Connections continue to
be excellent, counting the system's HDMI port, headset jack, SDXC card
reader, two Thunderbolt ports, and two USB 3.0 ports (one on each side).
About the only thing missing that a business user could want is an
Ethernet port. One can be added with a $29 Thunderbolt-to-Gigabit
Ethernet adapter. Built-in 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0 cover wireless
connectivity. The 802.11ac protocol is still uncommon in Windows
laptops, though more high-end systems like the Dell XPS 13 Touch$1,299.99 at Dell, the Dell Precision M2800 and the HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1 (G4U67UT)$1,644.43 at Amazon support the faster wireless standard.
The backlit chiclet-style keyboard is composed of the usual excellent
black keycaps with high contrast characters. It is much easier to read
than the silver-on-silver keyboard on the Acer Aspire S7-392-5410 $1,197.04 at Amazon.
The well-proportioned, glass-covered trackpad reacts quickly to
multi-touch input. There is no Mac available with a touch screen, though
that's not a drawback since OS X isn't optimized for touch.
The 15.6-inch IPS display has a 2,800-by-1,800 resolution, which is
higher than the 2,560-by-1,440 on the Editors' Choice high-end
ultrabook, the Toshiba Kirabook 13 i7s Touch $1,889.99 at Amazon, but lower than the 4K UHD 3,840-by-2,160 screen on the Toshiba Satellite P50T-BST2N01. OS X Mavericks
automatically scales the screen so everything is crisp, as long as
you're using applications that have been updated for the Retina display.
For example, 1080p and 720p HD YouTube videos play back in full
resolution in Safari and Chrome without having to zoom the video out to
full screen. On-screen elements, like menu bars and windows,
automatically scale to a virtual 1,440-by-900 resolution for purposes of
positioning, though the images and videos within these windows appear
at full resolution. Text is scaled so it looks ultra smooth on the
Retina display. Contrast this with the Kirabook 13 i7s Touch and
Satellite P50T-BST2N01, where you may have to adjust the scaling
repeatedly if menu text looks too small or if images don't look right.
It's not always awesome on the Mac, however. If you're using an older
version of a program (like Microsoft Office for Mac 2008, for example),
text and images may not scale right and there will be a corresponding
reduction in quality. The only unavoidable nit is that the system still
doesn't have a matte screen option for folks that can't stand glossy
glass.
The $1,999 base model of the 15-inch MacBook Pro comes with 16GB of
system memory and a 256GB Flash Storage module (akin to an SSD on other
notebooks). The system's memory isn't upgradable, but the Flash Storage
is technically upgradable. We say technically because you'll have to
source a compatible PCIe Flash Storage module and purchase a special P5
pentalobe screwdriver to handle the specialized screws on the bottom lid
of the laptop. Ultimately, it's not otherwise upgradeable, but then
again neither are most notebooks and ultrabooks these days. In addition
to OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the MacBook Pro 15-inch comes preloaded with
Keynote, Numbers, and Pages (iWork), as well as GarageBand, iBooks,
iMovie, iPhoto, and iTunes (iLife). With iWork, you should be able to
manage schoolwork and basic business work without having to buy
Microsoft Office. If you discount free solutions like Google Docs, this
gives the MacBook Pro a leg up on Windows laptops, which only come with
trial versions of Office. The system comes with a one-year warranty with
90 days of phone support.
Performance
The $1,999 base model we tested comes with an Intel Core i7-4770HQ
processor with integrated Intel Iris Pro 5200 graphics. Add the
performance from the 16GB of memory and speedy PCIe-based Flash Storage,
and you'll likely never want for power. Multimedia scores were
excellent: 1 minute, 17 seconds on the Handbrake video test (which
matches the Dell Precision M2800 workstation in the lead of this group),
and 3:25 on the Adobe Photoshop CS6 test, five seconds faster than the
second place Toshiba Satellite P50T-BST2N01.
Intel's Iris Pro graphics is on board, and it's essentially the
high performance version of Intel HD Graphics. Performance has improved
to the point that Apple chose to use Iris Pro graphics on its base model
instead of the mid-level discrete graphics found in older iterations of
the 15-inch MacBook Pro. The laptop pulled some of the fastest frame
rates on our 3D gaming tests (Heaven 22 fps; Valley 23 fps) at the
medium quality settings. This is at least 10 fps higher than other
Windows laptops with integrated Intel graphics. Only the systems with
discrete workstation graphics like the Precision M2800 and Satellite
P50T-BST2N01 had faster 3D performance. If you need a boost, the $2,499
version of the MacBook Pro 15-inch comes with Nvidia GeForce GT 750
graphics and a speedier Core i7 processor.
The latest model gained 33 minutes on our
battery rundown test over its previous iteration (8:55 vs. 8:22).
But competitive systems like the Dell XPS 13 Touch (9:31) and the Samsung ATIV Book 9 2014 Edition $1,324.99 at Amazon
(11:26) lasted even longer. In addition, the Acer Aspire S7-392-5410
and Toshiba Kirabook 13 i7s Touch both pass the 8-hour mark on the same
test. This shows that the Windows competition is starting to muscle in
on Apple's former dominance in battery life.
Essentially, the new 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro is a very incremental
upgrade to the model released late last year, and if you already have
the 2013 model, there's no need to make the move. The Apple MacBook Pro 13-Inch, Retina Display (2014) $1,184.00 at Amazon
is still our recommendation if you're willing to trade screen size for
portability. That said, if you're a Mac power user upgrading from a
pre-Retina-Display MacBook Pro (or MacBook Air), this laptop
is certainly worth it. It's worthy of our highest recommendation and
Editors' Choice badge for best high-end desktop-replacement laptop.
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