MacBook Pro with Retina display review (13-inch, 2015)

Nope, it’s not the new MacBook. That review will need to wait until next month. What we have here is the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. For all intents and purposes, it’s the same one we last tested in late 2013, except for one important thing: It swaps out the old trackpad in favor of a pressure-sensitive “Force Touch” pad that responds differently depending on how hard you bear down on it. (A hard-press on the skip button in QuickTime, for instance, will let you fast-forward at warp speed.) In addition, the new MBP brings all the spec upgrades you’d expect in a system refresh, including faster SSDs, fresh graphics and Intel’s latest Core processors. At $1,299-plus, it’s priced the same as before, and since the design and Retina display haven’t changed, you’re likely to enjoy it as much as you did the last-gen model. I can’t promise you’ll love the new touchpad, though.

Apple MacBook Pro with Retina display review (13-inch, 2015)

 

 

 

MacBook Pro with Retina display (13-inch, 2015)

PROS

  • Gorgeous screen
  • Long battery life
  • Good graphics, even faster SSD speeds
  • Comfortable keyboard

CONS

  • New trackpad takes getting used to; Force Touch gestures aren’t that useful
  • Discrete graphics still not an option on the 13-inch Pro
  • The machine isn’t any thinner or lighter than it was a year and a half ago
SUMMARY The refreshed Retina display MacBook Pro brings faster performance and longer battery life, along with the same stunning screen and comfortable keyboard. This time around, though, Apple also traded in its already-best-in-class trackpad for a new, pressure-sensitive one. While it’s almost as comfortable to use as its predecessor, we’re not convinced these new touchpad tricks were worth making the switch. That said, the 13-inch Retina MBP remains one of the few laptops of this size that offers such long battery life and this kind of graphics clout.

Read full post here:
https://www.cnet.com/reviews/apple-macbook-pro-13-inch-2015-review/