Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro gets an internal makeover

CNET's Dan Ackerman takes a look at Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro, which has a faster CPU, longer battery life, and a lower starting price than before.

[skifree]

because its haswell. Which has dramatically better IPC than ivy bridge (ipc = work done for every "clock" of the cpu).

Its the same situation with the has well mbas. They were clocked @ 1.3 ghz but had the same performance than ivy bridge 1.7ghz equip.

[MiguelMenendezlife]

same question here, i think i'll go with the air refurbished unless i find a cheap retina which i don't think

[MadDogMeh]

Well, does it? I'm picking mine up next week and I wanted your thoughts on the RAM.

[cuddles]

If it has 2 dim slots you can upgrade the ram yourself and save money buying your own chips. As long as they aren't a pain in the arse to get inside of like my 2006 Mac Mini, now the Mac Minis are easier to add memory, my old one I broke the wire to the internal fan trying to add more ram etc.

[ICYASIAN]

I'm upgrading from my iMac to this. I need HD in my life

[cuddles]

Unless your doing video editing, 8 gigs is just fine, heck even 4 gigs im sure but 8 to be safe. 16 maybe for iMovie.

[Heraizen.YouTube]

it looks nothing like any of the vista wallpapers?

[EstorilGarage]

To be bluntly honest, if you're seriously considering a RMBP, I'd buy a used/referb. 13" retina. I have a mid-2013 13" retina (i7-256GB) and really it has turned in to a severely overpowered web surfer. I do however throw it the occasional photoshop CS6 task and it does beautifully. With the couple 100 saved, you can get some pretty decent accessories.

[cuddles]

For a few hundred you can get a Thunderbolt PCI Express external Box to run a full size PCI Express 2.0 graphics card on your OLDER Macbooks/Macs and get much better graphics.

[sezurin]

Depends on your needs. This mac has a better screen and is a lot more powerful (graphics wise), but heavier.The air is lighter and smaller.
I'd get the mac since portability isn't a priority for me.

[ghoti]

Im pretty sure its 5100, although i havent seen any site confirm it yet. Sadly, its not the iris pro 5200 otherwise i would have actually considered buying this laptop.

[MadDogMeh]

You can't. The RAM is soldered on the motherboard with the Retina Macbook's; no upgrading.

[TheCireMC]

I would, i upgraded my late 2011 27" iMac to 12gb and it runs just so much more better compared to the 4gb that I had in my 2009 macbook. The 16gb will future proof you for the next 5 years as far as whatever programs you decide to run. I know I often run 5 programs at one time, with two of them being AutoCAD and Eclipse, and the ample amount of ram keeps the system quick and snappy. Good luck with your mini, go for the ram! lol

[cuddles]

Not necessarily. Most graphics tasks are now GPU intensive not the processor and a lot of apps dont use more then two cores anyway. 4gigs on a PC is all you need unless your running a video editing machine, then 16 is good. I have 16 for 3 years and I never use all of it.

[Pwwasserman]

You can buy an optical disk that goes into your computer via usb for like 50$

[marioapaez]

I save 1400 in three months i will get it maybe tomorrow. Do anybody knows if they still offer students discount with this new model?

[comebackata]

hmm please google images "default vista aero wallpapers"
its not exactly it, but looks like it.

[MiguelMenendezlife]

8GB is enough + you save a lot if you do it, same with the HDD

[MiguelMenendezlife]

8gb is enpguht but do it your self, is cheaper, and the HDD can be upgraded by your self 2

[sezurin]

Obviously. Ram is essential for gaming and browsing the internet. The more ram you have, the faster your computer becomes.