Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
For many tasks there will be little remainder in carrying out if you have to choose between the two versions of MacBook Pro ( Retina , 15 - column inch , Mid-2014 ) . Both have the same 16 GB storage complement now , and while processor benchmark tests prefer the faster clocked good example , the dispute are only a few percent in spot scores . A welcome surprisal is just how dear the Iris Pro nontextual matter chipset can prove to be when play activeness games , with this desegregate version even playing more or less faster in some claim . We did note , however , that the fan ramped up to higher and noiser speeds with the Iris Pro graphics poser ; perhaps thermal management is more challenging when all your processor eggs are concentrate in one speedily stir up basket . With the same entrepot performance from the small 256 GB , and usefully long battery runtime , the shell for opt the cheaper MacBook Pro becomes strong again . But if you’re able to hold out for the anticipated 2015 model , carry to happen even further improved barrage sprightliness , a Force Touch trackpad and quite probably significatnly amend graphics , should Apple pick out a discrete computer graphic processor from Nvidia ’s exalt GTX 900 series .
The 13 - inch MacBook Pro with Retina display was blessed with a great rise this spring , get a new Force Touch trackpad and Broadwell - serial publication Intel processor ( read : New 13 - inch Retina MacBook Pro ( other 2015 , 2.7GHz ) review . The 15 - inch meanwhile stay the same as when updated in June 2014 ( read : fresh 15 - column inch MacBook Pro with Retina show release ) . All the sign suggest that Apple is waiting for a new quad - heart and soul processor to power its flagship notebook , but that wait must continue as long as Intel is ineffectual to ply the necessary 14 nanometer quad - core Core i7 chips .
Until new models do come out , the current MacBook Pro ( Retina , 15 - inch , Mid-2014 ) remains a suitable challenger when set against any available challenger in spring 2015 . The inspection I wrote last year convered thetop of the two MacBook Pro variant available , so now here ’s the submission - level model , with 2.2 gigacycle Intel Core i7 processor , priced at £ 1,599 .
Read : Modern 12 - column inch MacBook ( early 2015 ) men - on revaluation
Apple has now updated the 15 in MacBook Pro , read ourreview of the 2015 2.5GHz 15 in MacBook Pro hereand the2.2 gigahertz 2015 MacBook Pro here .
Read our Which Mac Buying Guide
2.2GHz 15in MacBook Pro: Specification
The most affordable 15 - in MacBook Pro has the same physical body , screen and larboard spec as thebest MacBook Prowith distinct computer graphic .
It differ in three respects from the £ 1,999 model – central C.P.U. speed , memory board capacity , and its single rather than duple art processors .
The best model includes an Intel Core i7 - 4870HQ which has a baseline clock speed of 2.5 GHz and Turbo provision up to 3.7 GHz . This ledger entry - storey model has the Intel Core i7 - 4770HQ , narrow down at 2.2 GHz and able-bodied to hit up to 3.4 gigahertz in short - condition Turbo mood . Both chips include the same Intel Iris Pro 5200 graphics , but the chips otherwise list the same specification – 47 W thermal design power ( TDP ) and 6 MB degree 3 caches apportion across the four gist .
The received memory capacity of the MacBook Pro ’s wink drive is 256 GB for this version , half that of the best modeling ’s 512 G ; but they ’re both based on the same quick applied science of two - lane PCI Express direct adhesion .
For nontextual matter , this interlingual rendition trust solely on Intel integrated graphics . Fortunately , this factor is much fast than the common on - chip graphics engine found in Intel Core serial chip . With the help of extra local video memory cache on the same die , we found the cheapest MacBook Pro with Retina display is adequate to of playing games with better detail level and framerates .
2.2GHz 15in MacBook Pro: Lab report
Let ’s begin with those graphics . The biggest surprise may be that , for sealed secret plan at least , the incorporate nontextual matter seem to perform considerably than Nvidia distinct graphics .
Faced with Tomb Raider 2013 , the top modelling with its Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 M artwork could average out 56 Federal Protective Service when set to 1280 x 800 pixel resolving and Normal detail . The unveiling MacBook with Iris Pro art played the same mental testing at 59 fps , and could still have a 46 Federal Protective Service average after moving up to high-pitched detail . That ’s with the game gear up to use legacy OpenGL .
The default for Tomb Raider on OS X is a newer version of OpenGL , and here the Iris Pro art proved less capable . At 1440 x 900 resolution and Normal detail , the Nvidia model average out 33 Federal Protective Service while Iris Pro graphics drop to 17 Federal Protective Service . ( doctor bequest OpenGL mode here did allow the Iris Pro MacBook Pro to hit back up to 40 Federal Protective Service . )
In Batman : Arkham City , the Nvidia MacBook averaged 61 Federal Protective Service ( gamy item ) but the Iris Pro computer graphic variant agitate its average up to 68 fps . step up to 1440 x 900 resolution , the Iris Pro model again pulled ahead with 66 and 60 Federal Protective Service at Medium and mellow particular respectively ; the Nvidia mannequin returned slower results of 57 and 50 fps .
flex to workstation benchmark , we found that Cinebench 11.5 consequence were almost the same between MacBooks – Nvidia refund 48 Federal Protective Service and Iris Pro 49 fps . But the more recent Cinebench 15 showed a unclouded gap , in Nvidia ’s favor : 54 fps versus 32 fps .
Finally , the synthetic gaming benchmark of Unigine Heaven also reported uncannily like framerates . At 1280 x 800 and Medium detail , the Iris Pro average 35.9 fps against the Nvidia model ’s 34.8 Federal Protective Service . And at gamey item the gap widened very slightly to 30.2 and 28.5 Federal Protective Service respectively .
2.2GHz 15in MacBook Pro: Processor
With a 300 megahertz difference of opinion between processor speeds , we would certainly expect a measurable variety in performance . But while the 2.5 GHz clock speed cliff by 12 percent to get in at 2.2 GHz , the performance delta is a small reduce so benchmark results of the 2.2 Gc mannequin were middling closer to the 2.5 GHz model .
Geekbench 3 reported score of 3447 and 13,238 stage ( single- and multi - core manner ) for the 2.2 GHz Mac , against 3658 and 14,360 points for the 2.5 gigacycle machine ; that gives a percentage drop of 5.8 and 7.8 percentage respectively if we mark the latter machine as the reference .
Cinebench 11.5 award the 2.2 GHz MacBook Pro with 1.41 and 6.60 points for its two modes , against 1.55 and 6.48 peak for the 2.5 GHz MacBook Pro . In Cinebench 15 the result dropped from 134 and 599 points , to 121 and 593 points , read again that in multi - core mode specially the deviation are almost trivially small – around 1 - 2 percent faster for the 2.5 GHz processor when compared to the 2.2 GHz processor .
2.2GHz 15in MacBook Pro: Storage
With the same type of jiffy drive in each ( both from Samsung in our special sample ) , we were n’t too surprised to find out that memory board stop number is efficaciously the same for the two models ; one with 512 GB , the other 256 GB . While the speeds attend almost walker equate to what ’s now available from the 13 - inch models of MacBook Pro and MacBook Air , make no mistake – the 2014 MacBook Pro with 15 - inch Retina presentation is still incredibly quick in substantial - state technology .
The headline sequential show f number of both model was around 785 MB / s , and compose speed not far behind at around 730 megabyte / s. count at small - file random read / write speeds , the QuickBench try out for data from 4 kB to 1024 kB gave averaged issue of around 200 MB / s random reads and 350 MB / s random writes .
Read about the storage in the center 13 in MacBook Pro which is debauched than that in the £ 999 theoretical account
2.2GHz 15in MacBook Pro: Battery life
We equate battery trial run results between the two current version of 15 - inch MacBook Pro , and found a slight vantage to the slower clocked model . In our standard assault and battery benchmark test looping an MPEG-4 film over Wi - Fi with screen go under to 120 cd / m^2 , the 2.5 GHz model lasted 7 hr 57 Fukkianese , while this 2.2 gigahertz MacBook lasted nearly an 60 minutes longer , running for 8 hr 48 Fukkianese .
Read :
MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro review : 13 in Mac laptop battle
Best Mac : Buying guidebook 2015
