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How good are the speakers on the new Retina MBPro?

Q

Qusus

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 30, 2009
67
0
I think I heard Apple claimed that the speakers on the new rMBP were the "best ever put on a laptop."

Anyone with direct experience care to chime in? (A link to a review that goes into detail about the speakers would also be nice.)

I don't expect them to be anywhere near as good as external speakers of course, but are they on par with say, the speakers on an iMac or LED Cinema? What about compared to a USB sound-bar like the Logitech z305?

Is there a significant noticeable difference when comparing them to the speakers on the current Macbook Pro?

I'd like to try it out in an Apple store, but I'm afraid the crowds and noise won't give me an acceptable listening environment. Thanks!
 
Last edited:
daven85

daven85

macrumors member
Mar 29, 2011
75
11
Qusus said:
I think I heard Apple claimed that the speakers on the new rMBP were the "best ever put on a laptop."

Anyone with direct experience care to chime in? (A link to a review that goes into detail about the speakers would also be nice.)

I don't expect them to be anywhere near as good as external speakers of course, but are they on par with say, the speakers on an iMac or LED Cinema? Are they as good in the mids but with a huge drop off on the low-end? What about compared to a USB sound-bar like the Logitech z305? Is there a significant noticeable difference when comparing them to the speakers on the current Macbook Pro?

I'd like to try it out in an Apple store, but I'm afraid the crowds and noise won't give me an acceptable listening environment. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I think they are pretty good.

I watched on Friday the latest Episode of Burn Notice on them why I did some cleaning in the kitchen and was happy with the sound of the explosions and the voices.

Keep in my I don't considered myself a Audio Guy, I think the Apple ear phones you get are the best I have ever had.
 
Q

Qusus

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 30, 2009
67
0
daven85 said:
I think they are pretty good.

I watched on Friday the latest Episode of Burn Notice on them why I did some cleaning in the kitchen and was happy with the sound of the explosions and the voices.

Keep in my I don't considered myself a Audio Guy, I think the Apple ear phones you get are the best I have ever had.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply! I do appreciate it, but I'm a little wary of your review given your opinion of the Apple earphones... (ha)

How do you think the speakers compare to your regular Macbook Pro? (I assume you've had a 13" or 15"... also please state which size you had as the speakers are different in each model.)
 
henry72

henry72

macrumors 68000
Jun 18, 2009
1,523
913
New Zealand
I'm extremely happy with it! Bass is deeper and the music are clearer compare with the MacBook Pro 15" :D

Try it yourself, like earphones, everyone have different opinions ;)
 
S

stevelam

macrumors 65816
Nov 4, 2010
1,215
3
Qusus said:
I think I heard Apple claimed that the speakers on the new rMBP were the "best ever put on a laptop."

Anyone with direct experience care to chime in? (A link to a review that goes into detail about the speakers would also be nice.)

I don't expect them to be anywhere near as good as external speakers of course, but are they on par with say, the speakers on an iMac or LED Cinema? What about compared to a USB sound-bar like the Logitech z305?

Is there a significant noticeable difference when comparing them to the speakers on the current Macbook Pro?

I'd like to try it out in an Apple store, but I'm afraid the crowds and noise won't give me an acceptable listening environment. Thanks!
Click to expand...

like you said, they're still laptop speakers which are always going to sound like ****. they sound better than the ones in my 13" macbook, but not as good as my gf's 21" imac speakers.
 
A

amsure

macrumors newbie
Nov 5, 2010
20
0
Compared to the speakers I had in my previous MBP, I personally found the rMBPs to be better in terms of bass and clarity.
 
infernohellion

infernohellion

macrumors 6502
May 14, 2006
397
14
København
Not satisfactory for me, though the bass is definitely better than my previous 2009 17" MBP.
Harman Kardon speakers on some high-end Toshiba laptops are still better.

It's a laptop speaker at the end of the day :)
 
TMRaven

TMRaven

macrumors 68020
Nov 5, 2009
2,099
1
I don't think it really matters as much. At the end of the day, they're still laptop speakers, and even the stock apple buds sound very good considering they're free, even better then some of the 'upgrade' iems and buds from skullcandy and the like.
 
A

ACiB708

macrumors regular
Apr 6, 2008
122
0
Qusus said:
I think I heard Apple claimed that the speakers on the new rMBP were the "best ever put on a laptop."

Anyone with direct experience care to chime in? (A link to a review that goes into detail about the speakers would also be nice.)

I don't expect them to be anywhere near as good as external speakers of course, but are they on par with say, the speakers on an iMac or LED Cinema? What about compared to a USB sound-bar like the Logitech z305?

Is there a significant noticeable difference when comparing them to the speakers on the current Macbook Pro?

I'd like to try it out in an Apple store, but I'm afraid the crowds and noise won't give me an acceptable listening environment. Thanks!
Click to expand...

They're definitely better laptop speakers. The best in any Apple laptop I've heard, but they're still laptop speakers. Again, a huge improvement, but don't expect to hear every single detail in Shine On You Crazy Diamond.
 
M

mdapple

macrumors regular
Jun 29, 2012
149
7
they are still notebook speakers... meaning pretty bad when you compare them to headphones or any other computer speakers
 
D

djrobsd

macrumors 6502a
May 2, 2008
824
25
A huge improvement from my previous Macbook Pro. I find myself not needing to hook up external speakers as much, at least when sitting directly in front of the laptop, but laptop speakers are always going to be worse then real ones.
 
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