When the 15″ Retina MacBook Pro hit store shelves this past summer, MacBook Air owners hugged their slim, lightweight laptops tightly while looking longingly at the beautiful display of the larger machines. “If only Apple would release a smaller laptop with a retina display,” they wished. It took a few months, but it’s here: a 13″ version of its Retina MacBook Pro offering a relatively lightweight, “pro” oriented laptop in a smaller form factor. Having spent a good amount of time with the 15″ Retina MacBook Pro this past summer, we wanted to get a feel for what the smaller size could offer.
For the past several days, I have switched from my usual 11″ MacBook Air to using the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro for all my daily work. The experience isn’t far off from using the 15″ model—the battery life easily bests the MacBook Air and the screen is crisp and clear. Performance is in-line with what we expected, given the dual-core Ivy Bridge processors. And the thinner aluminum unibody is solid despite the thinner profile compared to the older MacBook Pro design.
Still, while the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro offers an overall great package, the pricing and performance compromises compared to its larger 15″ sibling left me wanting. Here’s why.
Design
The 13″ Retina MacBook Pro is essentially a smaller version of the 15″ Retina MacBook Pro that Apple released in June. It has the same unibody construction, the same port layout, the same backlit chiclet-style keyboard, and the same ultra-thin display module construction—it even has the same series of three vents along the bottom left and right edges.
The 13″ model is noticeably smaller than the 15″ model at 12.35×8.62 inches, but is the same (0.75 inches) thickness—that’s about 23 percent smaller than the 15″ model. It weighs 3.57 pounds, nearly a pound less than the 15″ model. It’s also a pound lighter than the “old” 13″ MacBook Pro design, which Apple still offers as a cheaper alternative to the Retina MacBook Pro.
Whereas the 15″ Retina MacBook Pro is a little unwieldy for heavy mobile use, the 13″ model is far more manageable. It’s more comfortable on a lap, easier to fit into a bag or briefcase, and a little easier on your back or shoulder while toting.
It falls short of ultra-portable territory, though. The 13″ MacBook Air is still slimmer with its tapered design, and saves over half a pound in weight at 2.96 pounds. (The 11″ MacBook Air is smaller still, and weighs less than 2.4 pounds.)
The overall aesthetic is exactly what you have come to expect from Apple design chief Jony Ive: clean, spartan, and understated.
Internals
| Specs at a glance: 13″ Retina MacBook Pro | |
|---|---|
| Screen | 2560×1600 13.3″ “Retina” display (227 ppi) |
| OS | OS X 10.8.2 |
| CPU | 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-3210M (Turbo Boost 3.1GHz), optional 2.9GHz Intel Core i7-3520M (Turbo Boost 3.6GHz) |
| RAM | 8GB DDR3L (non-upgradable) |
| GPU | Integrated Intel HD4000 |
| Storage | 128, 256, 512, 768GB SSD |
| Networking | 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 |
| Ports | 2x USB 3.0, 2x Thunderbolt, HDMI, digital/analog audio minijack, SD card slot, MagSafe2 |
| Size | 12.35×8.62×0.75″ (31.4×21.9×1.9 cm) |
| Weight | 3.57 lbs (1.62 kg) |
| Battery | 74 Whr |
| Starting price | $1699 |
| Price as reviewed | $1999 |
| Other perks | 720p FaceTime HD camera, dual noise-canceling mics, ambient light sensor, backlight keyboard, large glass trackpad |
Similar to the 15″ model, the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro has a small logic board, asymmetrical battery design, and dual asymmetric fan design. Apart from size, the biggest difference between the 15″ and 13″ models are CPU and graphics. The smaller model is limited to dual-core processors and lacks a discrete graphics chip—just like previous 13″ MacBook Pros. Older MacBook Pros had severely limited internal space because of the included optical drive, but the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro looks to have room on the logic board for a discrete GPU. (There may be other considerations for Apple—cooling and product differentiation come to mind.)
The other difference is that the SSD—or, flash storage module in Apple parlance—is tucked under the trackpad. According to iFixit, there is enough space under the trackpad for a slim 2.5″ SSD, so it may be possible to replace the SSD with something a bit more off-the-shelf in the future. However, Apple is clearly leveraging economies of scale and using the same modules that ship in the 15″ Retina MacBook Pro. (They are also used in Fusion Drive-equipped iMacs.)
The base model 13″ Retina MacBook Pro comes with a dual-core 2.5GHz Core i5 processor. The processor has Intel’s Hyper-Threading, so OS X sees the equivalent of four cores it can send active processing threads to. It can dynamically boost its frequency up to 3.1GHz when running a single core thanks to “Turbo Boost,” and has 3MB of L3 cache. You can optionally configure 13″ models with a dual-core 2.9GHz Core i7 chip, which boosts up to 3.6GHz and has 4MB of L3 cache.
(For more on the differences between Intel’s Core i5 and Core i7 mobile processors, read Andrew Cunningham’s recent article on the benefits of processor upgrades.)
The base model also comes with a paltry 128GB SSD, which we consider a bare minimum for many users. If you plan on storing any kind of sizable iTunes and/or iPhoto libraries, for instance, you’re going to want more storage. If you spend much time working with video, you’ll also likely need an upgrade (or carry around dedicated external storage). Models can be configured with 256, 512, or 768GB SSDs, though Apple offers a $1,999 model with a 256GB SSD standard.
8GB of RAM is soldered to the logic board. Unlike the 15″ model, you can’t order it with more RAM; it’s 8GB, and that’s that. At least Apple didn’t skimp on RAM and make you pay extra to have it soldered on at the factory. The “old” MacBook Pro comes with just 4GB by default, although it has two standard slots which can both be fitted with aftermarket 8GB RAM sticks for a total of 16GB.
As mentioned above, there’s no discrete GPU, so you get Intel’s HD4000 integrated graphics. Fortunately, the HD4000 is pretty capable for most uses, as we discovered when reviewing the 15″ Retina MacBook Pro.
Display
Like the 15″ Retina MacBook Pro, the 13″ model comes with an IPS LCD display panel with exactly double the linear resolution of the non-Retina MacBook Pro. And, it uses the same pixel-doubling technology, so every button, window, and text box looks almost as though it’s printed on paper using a high-resolution color laser printer. You still have the same amount of screen real estate as a 1280×800 pixel display does, but everything is significantly sharper.
Also like the 15″ model, the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro offers optional display settings to give you more workspace in exchange for smaller type and GUI elements. By default, the display is configured to the “Retina (Best)” setting, which is like a 1280×800 pixel display. However, there are two settings for “More Space,” which are equivalent to 1440×900 and 1680×1050 pixel displays.
There’s a fourth “Larger Text” option, which trades a relatively tiny 1024×640 desktop for larger text. For users that have bad eyes or struggle with small text, this option is for you. The workspace does get pretty cramped at this setting, however.
For the non-Retina settings, OS X actually creates a desktop four times as large as the chosen setting, and then scales everything down. This keeps everything looking relatively sharp—not quite as sharp as the default Retina setting, but close enough that you won’t likely notice. The upside is you can effectively have a relatively vast workspace on a relatively small laptop. The downside is that such high resolutions really strain the HD4000 GPU, and Apple warns that these higher resolutions can affect overall performance.
I found that using the 1440×900 equivalent setting was actually quite comfortable, and it quickly became my preferred configuration. I didn’t experience any noticeable performance issues using this setting during my daily work. Chances are that if you do a lot of heavy graphics work that performance will likely suffer unless you stick with the default Retina setting.
If you want use the full native 2560×1600 resolution, you still can, but you’ll need a third-party utility to enable easy switching. There are several available, including the display configuration “Swiss Army knife” SwitchResX, the experimental but stable Retina Display Menu, and the highly rated QuickRes. These utilities allow you to choose from all the possible resolutions that are natively supported by the Retina panel, as well as HiDPI resolutions enabled by Apple’s graphics drivers. The limited options Apple provides should work for the vast majority of users, but the above utilities can give you more flexibility if you need it. Fair warning: text and UI elements get positively tiny at 2560×1600.
Performance
The dual-core i5 processor is no slouch, and it certainly handled everything I needed to do during a regular workday. The most processor intensive task I tend to do is editing in Photoshop, or possibly opening about five dozen or so tabs in Safari throughout the course of a busy day.
But looking at raw power, the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro may not measure up to its “pro” moniker. Geekbench places its performance just slightly above a current Ivy Bridge-based 13″ MacBook Air. The 2.9GHz CPU option gives a bit more oomph, so if you plan to use a 13″ Retina MacBook Pro for heavier workloads, it’s definitely worth considering this $200 build-to-order option.
As you can see, the 15″ Retina MacBook Pro benefits from its quad-core processors, easily surpassing the 13″ model’s dual-core limits. If you value power over size, you’re better off moving up to the larger model.
The overall graphics performance of the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro is hampered by its reliance on integrated graphics. Essentially you’re getting the same raw performance as a 13″ MacBook Air; the optional 2.9GHz CPU gets a little extra graphics performance from its faster clock speed, but not much. The discrete GeForce GT 650M GPU in the 15″ Retina MacBook Pro is in a different class altogether, offering nearly twice the performance of the integrated graphics on the Cinebench OpenGL benchmark.
If you plan to use a 13″ Retina MacBook Pro for gaming, don’t expect amazing performance. My copy of Portal 2 wouldn’t even load the single-player game without crashing, no matter what combination of graphics settings I chose. (Steam’s tech support couldn’t sort out the issue before this review was finished.)
As an alternative, I grabbed a copy of Real Racing 2 from the Mac App Store, since it promises “beautiful Retina graphics for your new MacBook Pro.” The graphics were quite sharp, though the game is clearly ported from the iOS version, and the car models aren’t the most detailed. Still, the Intel HD4000 IGP kept up just fine running at the default Retina display setting. (I wish I could say I kept up as well with the game, but steering via keyboard or trackpad isn’t the same as using a quality wheel with a console.)
Overall, you can expect good performance. But unless your existing laptop is more than a couple of years old, don’t expect to be blown away.
Battery life
Apple claims that the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro can get “up to 7 hours” of “wireless web” use. My own unscientific testing supports that claim. When testing a laptop’s battery, I simply load up my normal complement of daily apps, including Safari, Chrome, Messages, Tweetbot, Colloquy, Reeder, Mail, iTunes, Calendar, Dictionary, and TextEdit, and do my thing. I also did some work in Keynote during one of my tests as well. I keep the screen at 50 percent brightness (8/16 dots on OS X’s on-screen scale), Wi-Fi on, and Bluetooth off.
Typically my day involves a lot of writing, a lot of looking stuff up online, and handling a fair amount of e-mail. In this usage scenario, which is roughly equivalent to the kind of work done during Apple’s automated “wireless web” lab tests, I got anywhere from just under 7 to almost 7.5 hours of continuous use on a charge. That means the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro should last during a full day on the floor of Macworld/iWorld or CES, for instance.
However, when I’m not doing any image editing, I tend to set the screen’s brightness to just over 30 percent brightness (5/16). With this setting, I was able to get the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro to run for 8 hours and 12 minutes.
There are definitely ways to eke out even more battery life if you need it, but overall I was pleased with my test results. Naturally, you won’t get as much runtime if you play games, watch video, or run a lot of heavy compute-intensive tasks. But the 74 Whr battery does a good job of keeping up with the power-hungry Retina display and the dual-core Ivy Bridge processor.
Apple’s 13″ options
If the 11″ MacBook Air is too small, and the 15″ MacBook Pro is too big, then Apple has a few 13″ options for you. There’s the 13″ MacBook Air, which can perform nearly as well as the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro, lasts up to 7 hours on a charge, but has a lower-resolution display and less RAM by default. You can upgrade to a faster CPU and more RAM for $200 more, and that $1,699 will give you a 256GB SSD like the $1,999 13″ Retina MacBook Air.
From this perspective, you can either save weight or have a Retina display.
There’s also the non-Retina 13″ MacBook Pro, which starts at $500 less. You’ll get identical CPU and GPU performance, the same battery life, and bonus features like FireWire 800, Ethernet, and an optical drive. In exchange, you’ll be stuck hauling an extra pound around as well as dealing with a pokey 5400rpm hard drive. Again, for well under $200 you can easily upgrade the HDD to SSD, or even swap the optical drive for an SSD and build your own Fusion Drive-equipped laptop.
Going this route will save you money, but you also give up the Retina display and thinner, lighter design.
The real rub comes when you compare the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro to its larger 15″ sibling. The model I chose for this review has a 256GB SSD; that’s the only upgrade from the $1,699 base model, and costs $1,999. So for that money, you get a 13″ Retina display, 2.5GHz dual-core processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. Yet for just $200 more, you can get the base model 15″ Retina MacBook Pro with a 15″ Retina display, 2.3GHz quad-core processor, GeForce GT 650M GPU, 8GB RAM, and 256GB of storage.
An extra $200 gets you a lot more computer, though it is a little harder to haul around comfortably.
Conclusion
In the end, the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro is a solid laptop. Despite this, it’s not the greatest value. If you want a 13″ laptop with a Retina display, you have to accept quite a few compromises: no quad-core CPU, no discrete GPU, an 8GB RAM limit, and expensive storage options.
An easy fix could be getting rid of the entry-level 128GB storage; it’s simply not enough for any sort of respectable “pro” use. If Apple put a 256GB SSD in the base 13″ Retina MacBook Pro model, then the value proposition would definitely start to tip in its favor. A $500 price differential would make the limitations on CPU and GPU power compared to the 15″ models much easier to swallow.
As it is, the 13″ MacBook Pro is hard to recommend, even though I thoroughly enjoyed using it. If you want light, I’d recommend the 13″ MacBook Air. If you want powerful, I’d recommend the 15″ Retina MacBook Pro. If you want cheap, I’d consider the non-Retina 13″ MacBook Pro. If you truly want something that’s sort of a compromise of all three qualities, then the 13″ MacBook Pro just might suit you.
The Good
- Retina display is honestly a joy to use
- Solid, nice-looking design
- Battery should last a full work day for most users
The Bad
- No quad-core processor or discrete GPU options, something many pros probably need
- Entry-level 128GB of storage is just too small for a pro laptop
- If you ever need more than 8GB of RAM, you’re out of luck
The Ugly
- The 15″ Retina MacBook Pro is a way better machine for the money
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