13″ MacBook Pro with Retina Display (Early 2013)

Four months after introducing the first 13″ MacBook Pro with Retina Display, Apple introduced a slightly faster version with 2.5 and 2.6 GHz dual-core i5 CPUs.

13.3" Retina MacBook Pro

As with its 15″ sibling, there’s no built-in SuperDrive and no hard drive. The Retina MacBook Pros are built around SSD technology for enhanced speed and ruggedness, not to mention allowing for a slimmer, cooler running design.

As with the 15″ model, it has built-in USB 3. The improved USB specification is over 10x as fast as USB 2.0 and has half the bandwidth of Thunderbolt. There are already a lot of USB 3 drives on the market, and they are far more affordable than Thunderbolt drives. Best of all, Apple uses the same port for USB 2.0 and 3, while the standard in the PC world is separate ports for each protocol.

It also has a 720p FaceTime HD webcam with three times the resolution of older MacBook FaceTime cameras. The new HD camera supports widescreen displays.

Battery life is claimed to be 7 hours of wireless productivity.

This model ships with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and supports all later version – all of which are free upgrades.

Closed Lid Mode: All Intel ‘Books support “lid closed” (or clamshell) mode, which leaves the built-in display off and dedicates all video RAM to an external display. To used closed lid mode, your ‘Book must be plugged into the AC adapter and connected to an external display and a USB or Bluetooth mouse and keyboard (you might also want to consider external speakers). Power up your ‘Book until the desktop appears on the external display and then close the lid. Your ‘Book will go to sleep, but you can wake it by moving the mouse or using the keyboard. The built-in display will remain off, and the external monitor will become your only display.

To resume use of the internal display, you need to disconnect the external display, put the computer to sleep, and then open the lid. This will wake up your ‘Book and restore use of the built-in display.

Details

  • introduced 2013.02.13 at US$1,699 (2.6 GHz dual-core i5, 128 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM) and US$1,999 (256 GB SSD), 3.0 GHz dual-core i7 build-to-order option. Replaced 2014.07.29 by faster Mid 2014 model.
  • Part no.: MD212, ME662
  • Identifier: MacBookPro10,2

Mac OS

  • Requires Mac OS X 10.8.1 and later
  • Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion compatibility
    • AirPlay Mirroring is supported.
    • AirDrop is supported.
    • Power Nap is supported.

Core System

  • CPU: 2.6 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 3.0 GHz dual-core i7 build-to-order option
  • Level 3 cache: 3 MB shared cache in i5, 4 MB in i7
  • Bus: 1600 MHz
  • RAM: 8 GB, no upgrades
  • Performance
    • 64-bit Geekbench 2:
    • Speedmark 7:

Video

  • GPU: Intel HD Graphics 4000
  • VRAM: uses 384 MB of system RAM
  • Video out: Thunderbolt port, which is backward compatible with Mini DisplayPort (VGA, DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort supported with optional adapters)
  • display: 13.3″ glossy 2560 x 1600 18-bit 227 ppi color active matrix
  • supports 2560 x 1600, 1680 x 1050, 1440 x 900, and 1024 x 640
  • allows mirroring to external display or extended desktop mode

Drives

  • Hard drive: 128 GB or 256 GB SSD
  • optical drive: external only
  • drive bus: SATA 3 (6 Mbps)

Expansion

  • Thunderbolt: 2 ports
  • USB: 2 USB 3.0 ports
  • FireWire 400: none
  • FireWire 800: none
  • Ethernet: via USB adapter
  • WiFi: 802.11n AirPort Extreme built in, three antennas support up to 450 Mbps bandwidth
  • Modem: no longer offered by Apple
  • Bluetooth: BT 4.0 built in
  • ExpressCard/34: none
  • SD Card Slot: 1 SDXC slot
  • expansion bays: none

Power

  • battery: 74 Watt-hour
  • AC adapter: 60W MagSafe 2

Physical

  • size: 8.62 x 12.35 x 0.75″ (219 x 314 x 19 mm)
  • Weight: 3.57 pounds (1.62 kg)

Online Resources

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