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13-inch MacBook Pro Retina Haswell Unboxing & Benchmarks

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The 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina Haswell update is part of Apple’s new late 2013 lineup which uses an Intel 4th generation processor to deliver better battery life and a new graphics card to power the super dense, high-resolution display.

When it comes to notebook displays, it’s hard to find competition that can match the 2560 x 1600 resolution of the 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina.

In addition to the new processor, Apple adds faster PCIe storage, Thunderbolt 2 connectivity which delivers faster data transfers and faster 802.11ac WiFi connectivity.

Read: 13-inch MacBook Pro (late 2013) vs 13-inch MacBook Air (mid 2013)

Here's a video showing off the 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina Late 2013 update with Intel Haswell processors.

Here’s a video showing off the 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina Late 2013 update with Intel Haswell processors.

Apple offers three stock models of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display in retail stores at; $1,299, $1,499 and $1,799. Users can configure the MacBook Pro Retina with up to 1TB of storage, 16GB RAM and a 2.8GHz Dual core Core i7 processor.

The MacBook Pro Retina Haswell model we are reviewing is the $1,499 option with the following specs;

  • 2.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
  • 8GB RAM
  • 256GB Flash
  • Iris Graphics

13-inch MacBook Pro Retina Haswell Unboxing & Demo

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display late 2013 is thinner than the first generation, at 0.71-inch thick. This is nearly as thin as the MacBook Air, though it does not taper like the MacBook Air does. This new version is also lighter, weighing in at 3.46 pounds. This is a half pound heavier than a MacBook Air, but a pound lighter than the non-Retina MacBook Pro.

13-inch Macbook Pro Retina Haswell Video

As configured this machine is capable of serving as a go to Apple notebook for video editing and photo editing as well as some light gaming. The small 256GB hard drive is a bottleneck, but Apple does not offer an upgrade without jumping up to the $1,799 option. Unfortunately users cannot upgrade storage later, like on the non Retina MacBook Pro.

13-inch MacBook Pro Retina Haswell Benchmarks

We ran GeekBench to get the following 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display late 2013 benchmarks. After running the test in 32 bit and 64 bit settings, here are the benchmarks for the MacBook Pro with a 2.4GHz Intel Core i5 Haswell processor.

13-inch MacBook Pro Retina late 2013 benchmarks

13-inch MacBook Pro late 2013 Benchmarks – 32 bit | 64 bit

13-inch MacBook Pro Retina Haswell benchmarks

13-inch MacBook Pro Retina late 2013 Battery Life

Apple promises the new MacBook Pro Retina battery life will clock in at 9 hours, and based on our early tests that is a conservative estimate. On a full charge with brightness at half and Safari open the MacBook Pro reports nearly 12 hours of battery life.

Early battery life tests on the 13-inch Macbook Pro Retina with Intel Haswell are promising.

Early battery life tests on the 13-inch Macbook Pro Retina with Intel Haswell are promising.

After using the 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina with Intel Haswell, for four hours including benchmarks, the notebook estimates seven hours of battery life remaining, which would equal out to about 11 hours. This isn’t going to catch up to the new MacBook Air, but it is long enough to change the way I work.

Read: 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina vs. 15-inch MacBook Pro Retina (Late 2013)

After four hours using my mid-2011 MacBook Air the battery life would be within 20% of empty and I would need to alter my pace or look for an outlet. With this new notebook my only concern is staying within range of 4G LTE so I can keep connected to the internet.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Domen

    10/27/2013 at 2:29 am

    Hi! Thanks for the review! Could you just tel me if you noticed any ghosting with the new rmbp screen? Previous models experienced a lot of ghosting and screen bleeding, is this still the case with new model? And my final question is about fps frame rate. Did you noticed any lag when scrolling thru long webpage or huge excel file? I was really disappointed with previous model, which lagged a lot. Thanks for your reply!

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