The MacBook Pro Laptop Computer: Finally Reviewed (A1398)
With used computers staying more expensive for longer, the circa-2012 MacBook Pro "Retina" edition seems to be bucking this trend by promising a top-notch screen, big performance, long battery life, and maximum portability, for minimum cost. But is there a catch? I did the heavy lifting so you don't have to, and asked the tough questions when everyone else was too afraid that it wouldn't fit the mainstream Apple narrative. What follows is a straightforward and objective review of the good, bad, and ugly, of the 15" MacBook Pro.
Chapters:
00:43 - Review Philosophy and Platform Overview
02:44 - Hardware and Specifications
04:21 - Keyboard and Palmrest
05:24 - Trackpad and Drivers
07:49 - I/O in-depth
09:25 - non-OSX Operating Systems
13:29 - Mac OSX Operating Systems
17:41 - Laptop + Ultrabook Marriage Promise: too good to be true?
19:11 - Closing, Conclusion, and Findings
Additional commentary:
1. 4 monitor output - To expand on this, one of those four must be the laptop's own built-in monitor, but given how good that screen is, this is hardly a problem. I did use an active DisplayPort-to-HDMI/DVI adapter on one of those, so, not sure if this made a difference or not. I was just really impressed to see that this computer will break the 3-monitor barrier this effortlessly when so many others of the era utterly failed in this regard. This is the best evidence I have (aside from the remarkable combination of light/thin computer with great specs and a huge battery) that Apple was capable of great things if/when they applied themselves. If they'd put this kind of attention-to-detail in to the rest of the PC, it would've been an absolute champion of a computer.
2. MagSafe 2 connector - I kind of glossed over it in the video, but this thing is utter trash. Even after using a toothbrush to clean the filth out of the connector and its mating surface, this thing ages very poorly. It does work, but only in one direction, and takes some finagling to get good contact. Even when it does, that plug really heats up good and warm.
3. OSX - As a desktop replacement, Windows does the job pretty well, (weird 20-second graphics reset/stall on startup notwithstanding) but given the lack of switchable graphics and brightness control, the user's hand is forced to OSX for portable use. As I mentioned in the narrative, even though SmoothMouse does nothing to improve scrolling, the stock trackpad driver actually compensates pretty well. From a usability standpoint, it's actually pretty usable under OSX, but given that web browsers (and other web-adjacent programs) aren't receiving updates anymore, it's only a matter of time before functionality is eroded by changing standards and fixed paths.