Shopbattery.ca: MacBook Pro with Retina display 13-inch vs. 15-inch: Which powerful Mac laptop should you get?

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

MacBook Pro with Retina display 13-inch vs. 15-inch: Which powerful Mac laptop should you get?

Dual core vs. quad core: Retina MacBook Pro gets a Haswell makeover

In 2013 the Retina MacBook Pro was refreshed with Intel Haswell microprocessors - the same chips used in the MacBook Air. Haswell chips are more power-efficient than their predecessors, which nets some improvements in battery life - up to nine hours per charge for the 13-inch model and up to eight hours per charge in the 15-inch model.

The clock speeds of early 2013 models are actually higher than the Haswell versions. But other efficiencies, such as improved SSD throughput and better integrated graphics, mean the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pros are quite a bit faster than their predecessors. It's a bit murkier for the 15-inch models. Some operations that don't rely on graphics processors are faster, which some graphics-intensive operations perform better only on the Nvidia-equipped high-end 15-inch model.

Integrated graphics vs. discrete graphics: A question of speed, price and battery efficiency

A benefit of the Retina MacBook Pro's switch to Intel's Haswell microprocessor is faster graphics. The 13-inch MacBook Pro features Intel Iris graphics - the next step up from the Intel HD Graphics 5000 found on the MacBook Air, which itself was much faster than the integrated graphics found on last year's processors.

Iris graphics differentiate themselves from the 5000 by having a higher clock speed, so you're able to get more done in less time. Iris Pro, standard on the 15-inch model, gains a 128 MB cache of embedded DRAM to speed things up further.

The $2,499 Retina MacBook Pro adds Nvidia GeForce GT 750M graphics. This graphics subsystem is ordinarily only activated when an app or process launches that demands extra graphics horsepower. Games are an obvious example. So is Adobe Photoshop. Even Apple's own iPhoto will force the faster graphics to come on. When that discrete graphics processor kicks in, battery efficiency drops like a stone. But that's the price you pay to have extra graphics oomph when you need it.

Bottom line: the more you spend, the faster your graphics get. If you need the fastest possible graphics in your next laptop, be prepared to shell out for a 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro.

Who should buy a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro?

The base-model Retina MacBook Pro is more than the base-model 13-inch MacBook Air, but comes twice the RAM. While it weighs more, it's a lot more powerful under the hood - faster processor, better expansion and a dramatically better screen.

For most general users, the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro is the sweet spot between performance and price, and it should be a great replacement for older laptops - one area where it's particularly better is in battery life, which will be a welcome respite for you if you're used to carrying your power adapter around with you.

13-inch Retina MacBook Pro battery display:

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Who should buy a 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro?

The 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro is the no-compromises king of Apple's laptop line. It has the most capable processors, the fastest graphics and the highest resolution. It's superior to the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro by just about any measure except for battery life (and comparing apples to apples, the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro is better than the system it replaces). But all that capability has a price - starting at $1,999.

So if you're a content creator, especially if you're working with pro audio, video or high-resolution graphics - and you're looking for the best system to get your work done, I think the high-end 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro is worth the money. You get a faster machine, double the RAM and half a terabyte of flash storage for another $600.