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Haswell rMBP Reviews

R

radiohead14

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 6, 2008
873
42
nyc
The Verge (15") - http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/24/5024346/macbook-pro-with-retina-display-review-15-inch-2013

LaptopMag (15") - http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/macbook-pro-15-inch-2013.aspx

TechCrunch (15") - http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/25/late-2013-retina-macbook-pro-review/

CNet (15") - http://www.cnet.com/apple-macbook-pro-with-retina-2013/

PC Mag (15") - http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2426359,00.asp

Arstechnica (15") - http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10/retina-round-two-apples-15-inch-2013-retina-macbook-pro-reviewed/

Slashgear (15") - http://www.slashgear.com/macbook-pro-15-inch-with-retina-review-late-2013-26303163/

Wired (15") - http://www.wired.co.uk/reviews/laptops/2013-10/macbook-pro-retina-late-2013

Mobiletechreview (13")

Digital Trends (13") - http://www.digitaltrends.com/laptop-reviews/apple-macbook-pro-13-inch-2013-review/

LaptopMag (13") - http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/macbook-pro-13-inch-retina-display-2013.aspx

Engadget (13") - http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/29/macbook-pro-with-retina-display-review-13-inch-2013/

The Verge (13") - http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/30/5044874/13-inch-macbook-pro-with-retina-display-review-2013

CNet (13") - http://www.cnet.com/laptops/apple-macbook-pro-with/4505-3121_7-35831098.html

Macworld (13") - http://www.macworld.com/article/2059045/13-inch-retina-macbook-pro-review-thinner-lighter-and-faster-never-hurts.html

Notebookcheck (13" German translated) - http://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-Apple-MacBook-Pro-Retina-13-Zoll-Late-2013.104688.0.html

Notebookcheck (13" English) - http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Apple-MacBook-Pro-Retina-13-Late-2013-Notebook.105035.0.html

waiting impatiently for Anandtech's though.. :)

if you guys find more, please feel free to add here (i don't count the short hands-on that other sites try to pass off as "reviews")
 
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I hate when people review the absolute top model that most people can't afford/or want to get. Of course its going to be an amazing laptop if you completely spec it out
 
simondonnely said:
I hate when people review the absolute top model that most people can't afford/or want to get. Of course its going to be an amazing laptop if you completely spec it out
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Right. Now that the 15" has both integrated and dedicated gpu, it would be good to see some comparisons, especially in terms of heat production under load.
 
Reviews like these are just worthless. No mention of the image retention problems that seem to be continuing with the new model; no mention of the yellow-tinted screen you will get if you need a replacement. Laptopmag.com says: "This panel is bright and offers a fantastic amount of detail along with rich and bold colors." Yeah, my first screen had fantastic detail and bold colours, but then I needed a replacement and my screen now is yellow. Boldly yellow. And after calibration the detail is gone and it's bland and greyish-blue. No mention of the creaking cases.
 
Shmanky said:
Reviews like these are just worthless. No mention of the image retention problems that seem to be continuing with the new model; no mention of the yellow-tinted screen you will get if you need a replacement. Laptopmag.com says: "This panel is bright and offers a fantastic amount of detail along with rich and bold colors." Yeah, my first screen had fantastic detail and bold colours, but then I needed a replacement and my screen now is yellow. Boldly yellow. And after calibration the detail is gone and it's bland and greyish-blue. No mention of the creaking cases.
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yea.. that's why i'm waiting for Anandtech and Notebookcheck to get their reviews in. they seem to be the only two that go in greater detail. i remember when Anand even wrote about the MB Air display panel and SSD lottery.
 
radiohead14 said:
waiting impatiently for Anandtech's though...
Click to expand...
Seriously. I ain't buying anything until that cakes out.

Since I'm not a gamer and I have a need for the dGPU, I specifically want to know if the 15" with just Iris Pro gets better battery life/heat management compared to one with a dGPU. Also curious to see how the Iris in the 13" compares to the Iris Pro in the 15".
 
Shmanky said:
Reviews like these are just worthless. No mention of the image retention problems that seem to be continuing with the new model; no mention of the yellow-tinted screen you will get if you need a replacement. Laptopmag.com says: "This panel is bright and offers a fantastic amount of detail along with rich and bold colors." Yeah, my first screen had fantastic detail and bold colours, but then I needed a replacement and my screen now is yellow. Boldly yellow. And after calibration the detail is gone and it's bland and greyish-blue. No mention of the creaking cases.
Click to expand...

I agree that both of those reviews read like ad copy, but I'd like to think that the reviewers would have mentioned image retention and yellow tints if their review machines had exhibited either of these problems in a noticeable manner. This has probably been stated in these pages a thousand times, but the purpose of reviews like these is to relate the overall experience of using these machines in everyday life, as opposed to scientifically evaluating colour accuracy, white balance, etc. which the majority of prospective MBP owners would probably never notice in the first place.

I don't mean to undermine your bitterness. I definitely have my own OCD tendencies. But if reviews like these turned into endless lists of found faults, bugs, and defects, rather than outlining what the machines are actually capable of, people would probably stop buying computers altogether. Either that, or come to the realization that no computer is perfect... which might not be such a bad thing.
 
Did anyone else notice this? Assuming it's just a typo

Laptopmag said:
Our config came fully loaded with 16GB of RAM, 256GB of flash storage and Nvidia GT 750M graphics.
Click to expand...
 
johnnylarue said:
I agree that both of those reviews read like ad copy, but I'd like to think that the reviewers would have mentioned image retention and yellow tints if their review machines had exhibited either of these problems in a noticeable manner.
Click to expand...

Some reviewers just want to be the first to publish a review.

Others (like Anand) will take the time to do it thoroughly and do it right.
 
simondonnely said:
I hate when people review the absolute top model that most people can't afford/or want to get. Of course its going to be an amazing laptop if you completely spec it out
Click to expand...

What I dislike even more than that, is when they pit it against a lower spec or highest spec air. W?HAT?! I guess if I want to see the reviews I actually want to see people do, I'll just order them all and post my own.

I'd like to see the early 2013 2.8Ghz 16GB 15" rMacBook VS a maxed out 15" haswell and a maxed 13" haswell with 16GB.
 
CausticPuppy said:
Some reviewers just want to be the first to publish a review.

Others (like Anand) will take the time to do it thoroughly and do it right.
Click to expand...

I hear you. The quality and depth of Anand's reviews are definitely "gold standard" compared to these. But hey, I'll take anything I can get at this point! ;)
 
johnnylarue said:
I hear you. The quality and depth of Anand's reviews are definitely "gold standard" compared to these. But hey, I'll take anything I can get at this point! ;)
Click to expand...

Anand was the only one that did a deep-dive into scroll lag and found out that it's actually CPU limited and not GPU limited.
 
CausticPuppy said:
Anand was the only one that did a deep-dive into scroll lag and found out that it's actually CPU limited and not GPU limited.
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Yup. Scandalous stuff. I still remember the outrage from early adopters who just couldn't fathom how Apple could cripple its flagship laptop with "a GPU that's too weak to power the display".

(To be fair, Apple's engineers probably could have done a better job of optimizing OS X 10.8 to prevent that from happening in the first place...)
 
Not That Future said:
Also curious to see how the Iris in the 13" compares to the Iris Pro in the 15".
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Desperate to see this; I really hope that there is specific information comparing the two soon. I'm leaning towards the 13", but I will go 15" if the 13 can't hold it's own with Iris graphics and can't even run basic games or scroll a page in an internet browser without stuttering.
 
I'd like to see how the integrated videocard works compared to a dedicated one. The lowest model at 2000$ doesn't have dedicated videocard.

I was so waiting on these updates and I finally don't think I will update my early 2011
 
radiohead14 said:
waiting impatiently for Anandtech's though.. :)
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Second that. Anand's reviews were almost always late than others. He tended to use the machines much more extensively and put a lot of details in the reviews. Never seen any other reviews as deep as Anand's.
 
For many of us, the entry-level MBP is what determines whether or not we can afford an MBP. I do a lot of research on a computer and desired the retina screen and SSD, so I bought a refurbished mid-2012 entry-level rMBP. Reviews that focus upon machines with appreciably higher specs and correspondingly higher prices do nothing for many of us.

I would love to see how the new $1999 MBP compares against the $2199 early-2013.
 
radiohead14 said:
none yet.

added another review for the 15"
Click to expand...

Love this "Con" on the techcrunch review

"Still pretty beefy compared to Air and 13-inch Retina Pro"

Well no $h!t! Ha, the thickness is identical so what exactly is beefy? His video review is laughable as well.
 
Hello everyone! I'm new on this forum. I intend to buy the top spec 15 inch rMPB.
I was browsing the youtube and just found this new video with the gaming performance (crysis 3) of the 2.3ghz, 750m, 512ssd model.

I guess that s better than the old version.:)
Can't wait to get mine. I hope it won't come with display issues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKcV_of5znA :)
 
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