Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display user reviews

Pros Retina display nothing short of immaculate, thin form, light weight.

Cons Price, GPU underpowered for 2880x1800, not user friendly for upgrades.

Summary Disclaimer: I love Apple laptops and have owned/used them since 2007, so my criticism is from a positive perspective. That being said, I find the new 15" MBP to be good, but not as great as it could have been. Retina display is simply amazing, but it needs a better GPU as the 650M isn't designed for such a high screen resolution. I love the thin/light form factor. My current MBP is the February 2011 model and it is noticeably thicker, though I still love its portability. Not all pleased that we can't upgrade the RAM/SSD - major misstep from Apple.

I was planning to replace my MBP with the new model, but as much as I love the retina display the drawbacks force me to pass. What I will do is buy a 15" model with the hi-res 1680x1050 display. It has a much better GPU than the AMD 6490M 256MG in my current MBP and it will do a great job at 1680x1050.

Now that my laptop needs are fulfilled, it's on to the fall when the iPhone 5 will be out. Can't wait!!

Pros Display, Flash drive, design, speed and connectivity

Cons None than I have faced yet

Summary After starting up the new MacBook pro with Retina display the first thing that hit me was the excellent display. I have never seen this good display on any computer before. Not only is it better than every laptop and desktop available today, it even better than most HDTVs and I am not talking about just resolution, it better in color reproduction also. The second thing I noted was just how fast the laptop was, I have used laptops with SSDs before and my current laptop has a Intel 510 series SSD in it, but its nowhere near this MacBook Pro.

Also the USB 2.0/USB 3.0 ports on the laptop just works. Every USB stick (2.0 or 3.0) that I have put in the laptop just works. The laptop automatically switches from USB 2.0 to USB 3.0 depending on the device attached. There is no drama like I have seen on some other laptops. And for Pro users two Thunderbolt ports are a blessing.

In short there is nothing comparable to the new MacBook Pro with Retina display on the market today, it is the best laptop available.

Updated on Jun 15, 2012

You disagree with what? The only thing that the X220 and 330 has over the MacBook Pro is the 20 hours battery life for that too you need 9 cell battery internal + external battery, which is not standard on the X series (with standard 4 cell battery its battery life is less than 4 hours. Otherwise the laptop is less than ordinary. It has dual core processor (compared to quad core on Pro), it has 1366 x 768 resolution (pro has four times the resolution 2880 x 1800), X series uses hard drives (pro comes with SSD standard), it has integrated HD4000 graphics (pro has GeForce GT 650M graphics) and finally the built quality can you even compare plastic with unibody design.

My JunkYardTM you are comparing a Junk yard X330 series laptop to a premium laptop.

Pros Screen is the best Ive ever seen
super fast
Great for pro work such as video/photo editing

Cons Could still be a little cheaper

Summary Most amazing laptop ive ever used

Pros 1. Super lightweight
2. Super thin
3. Retina display is absolutely gorgeous (until the white spots appear)
4. SUPER, SUPER fast
5. Great battery life
6. Airplay mirroring

Cons 1. Retina display is absolutely gorgeous (until the white spots appear)
2. No disk drive but it's acceptable as light as the laptop is; fair trade-off
3. Only two USB ports

Summary I love this laptop. The retina display is gorgeous. I was so surprised when I first picked it up. I couldn't believe that a laptop could be so lightweight and the screen could be so thin. The words on the screen are so crystal clear. I had to send it back to the factory twice which I'll get to momentarily. But while it was gone, I worked on my old MBP which I bought in 2009. I really appreciated the speed and beauty of display of the rMBP when I got it back.

Now, let's get to the white spots that keep appearing on my screen. I bought the laptop in October 2012. By the end of the month, I was seeing white spots on the screen. At first there were just a couple. But they quickly multiplied. Within a couple of months, I couldn't take it anymore. I sent the computer back to the factory in December. I received it back in January. By April, I had sent the laptop back again for the same issue. I just got the laptop back today and I'm happy with it. But I'm scared to pick the laptop back up because the sensitivity of the screen. Although the retina display is beauty, the continuous white spots that keep appearing are annoying. One of the several reasons I switched to mac was because of the quality of their products. Now I'm totally inculcated into the Apple ecosystem. But I'm disappointed to have to send my laptop back twice within 6 months for the same issue. If you are shopping for a rMBP, ensure they sell you a laptop with the Samsung display and not the LG display. From what I've read, the rMBP with the Samsung display doesn't have this problem. Check Apples support page. Several customers have complained.

I'll add to this review in about a month and let you know if this problem returns or not. One good thing in all of this is that Apple is replacing the screens with no runaround. This last time, I had my laptop back 15 days after I mailed it. That's an excellent turnaround. I would give this product 5 stars but will keep it at 3 because of of the spots on the screen.

Updated on Jul 3, 2013

After sending the laptop back for the second time, I've had no more screen issues. I had the laptop back for a few months now and it seems as though Apple has fixed the screen issue. Without the screen issue, I'd give this product 5 stars. I've also travelled with this laptop multiple times and have had no screen issues with it. I'm totally happy with the product now.