Technology

MACBOOK PRO 13 INCH WITH RETINA DISPLAY, ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IT.

Apple unveiled the new MacBook Pro 13 inch with retina display in its special event held on the 23^th.  This month, the event was grand success, as Apple’s most events are. The event was dedicated to the 7^th gen iMacs, MacBook Pro we will be talking about and the iPad Mini. Apple earlier announced the MacBook Pro 15 inch with retina display, and now it has come up with a smaller 13 inch model. This one is, as all Apple’s new MacBooks have been, thinner, lighter and comparatively better than its predecessor.  The MacBook Pro 13 inch has some exiting new features and it offers an amazing portability not only this it has a lot more integrated in its small unibody design. Read on to find out.

Display and Design.

Like the previous 15 inch MacBook Pro with retina Display, this one also features high resolution display i.e. 2560x 1600 pixels, the highest you get in a 13 inch laptop (while the 15 inch model featured a resolution of 2180×1800). Like we’ve mentioned before, you can only notice how much the difference is between a retina and non-retina laptop when you compare them side by side. This difference enhances your computing experience but one drawback is that retina optimized apps (which are not many) are required for the best user experience. If you are addicted to playing apps on the MacBook, you won’t make out much difference between the 13 inch non retina and 13 inch retina MacBook Pro as far as the standard apps are considered. 

Unlike the older chunky MacBooks, this one is sleeker and lighter. The MacBook Pro 13 inch lies in between the category of super slim ultrabooks and mainstream powerhouses.  The new MacBook is just 0.75 inches thick, now that’s slim! 12.35 inches wide and 8.62 inches dense. The laptop weighs about 3.5 pounds, though not as light and slim as recent ultrabooks, the laptop houses much more than what standard ultrabooks would. And what are those features? Read on to know.

Performance and Features.

The new MacBook Pro (the base model) is powered by 3^rd gen Intel core i5 processor. Also, it uses flash instead of spinning hard drive, so the boot speed is much faster, launches apps and programs qulickly. It thus uses SSD storage instead of hard drive. The base model has 128GB of SSD, for a higher pay you get an upgraded 256GB SSD storage, for an even higher pay you get 256 GB SSD powered with the i7 processor. The laptop has Intel 4000 graphics so it won’t run high end games but can still do well with games like Warcraft and Star Wars. The different upgrades are priced differently based on processor and storage. Apple also claims much lesser reflection and glare than the previous MacBooks. It has 8GB of DDR3 RAM so multitasking shouldn’t be a problem at all.

The MacBook Pro 13 inch with retina display uses the same backlit Chiclet keyboard as its predecessors. The typing experience is thus user friendly and comfortable. The Magic track pad is also the same, the multi finger gestures work very well and is the easiest way to use in any laptop.

As far as the connectivity options are, the MacBook Pro lacks the optical drive, as per Apple, it is something old and ancient, so it decided to give it up to make the laptop sleeker. The new MacBook Pro also lacks Firewire port and Ethernet cable. It has 2 thunderbolt ports, an HDMI port and 3 USB ports( 2 USB 3.0 and 1 USB 2.0).

According to Apple MacBook Pro has over 7 hours of battery life on continuous video playback. And the MacBook by default comes with Apple’s latest Mountain Lion OS.

In addition the new MacBook also has some other interesting features like the Power Nap, now what’s that?  Power Nap is a feature that enables the MacBook Pro to automatically update itself when you leave it in sleep mode. This does not sound that effective but believe me, it is.

Conclusion.

The MacBook Pro 13 inch, though does not match Apple’s older 15 inch MacBook Pro which is widely considered as Apple’s best all-rounder, is still one of the best 13 inch Laptops available in the market right now. But all these features seem to have been priced quite a lot, here is about the price, the MacBook Pro 13 inch with retina display (base model) is priced at $1699, which has available upgrades that are 256GB SSD storage instead of 128GB in the base model for an additional $300, and another $100 would get you the i7 processor. The MacBook Pro is a tough contender but there are those who are coming up with amazing Windows 8 high end laptops for much lesser pay, though you won’t get the retina display as on this one. So we’d have to see if the MacBook Pro actually clicks among all other Windows laptops and ultrabooks.

Summing up all major specs.

Processor- Intel 3^rd gen i5 (Intel i7 also available for an additional pay)

Graphics- Intel HD 4000 graphics.

OS- Mac OSX Mountain Lion

Screen Resolution- 2560×1600 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio)

Screen Size- 13.2 inch

Memory Options- 128GB SSD, 256GB SSD

Price- Base Model at $1699