Lab Tested: Ultimate 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro
In addition to the standard configurations of its Macs, Apple offers a number of build-to-order (BTO) upgrade options that include more RAM, more storage capacity, and faster processors. An "ultimate" configuration is a customized machine with the fastest options available. We’ve tested the ultimate configuration of the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro and found that the performance—as well as the price tag—were both considerably higher than the standard high-end configuration.
Our $2699 BTO 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro was loaded for bear. It starts with a fast 2.9GHz dual-core Core i7 processor (a $200 option), which replaces the 2.5GHz dual-core Core i5 processor in the $1999 standard configuration model. A 512GB flash storage drive ($500) replaces the stock 256GB flash storage. Our ultimate system has the same 8GB of RAM and integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 as the standard configuration.
To see if these upgrades are worth the significant cost, we put the ultimate 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro through the paces of our new Speedmark 8 system performance benchmark suite.
13-inch Retina MacBook Pro: Speedmark 8 Scores
Speedmark 8 score
13-inch Retina MacBook Pro/2.9GHz Core i7, 512GB flash storage BTO (Late 2012)
205
13-inch Retina MacBook Pro/2.5GHz Core i5 (Late 2012)
184
13-inch MacBook Pro/2.9GHz Core i7 (Mid 2012)
153
13-inch MacBook Pro/2.5GHz Core i5 (Mid 2012)
121
13-inch MacBook Air/1.8GHz Core i5 (Mid 2012)
166
15-inch Retina MacBook Pro/2.6GHz Core i7 (Mid 2012)
275
15-inch Retina MacBook Pro/ 2.3GHz Core i7 (Mid 2012)
257
All results are scores. Higher scores are better. Best result in bold. Reference models in italics.
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