Because of the wider chassis, there are wider stripes on both sides of the keyboard that accommodate the speakers. The input devices of the MacBook Pro 15 are similar to those of the 13-inch model that we have already reviewed. This usually means that if there is a problem after the 12-month warranty period, you have to visit an authorized service partner or the manufacturer, which is usually a pretty expensive solution ( iFixit score of the predecessor: 1/10 points). The bottom cover is secured with Apple’s own Pentalobe screws, and inside the chassis is a highly integrated motherboard with other proprietary or even soldered components (including CPU, GPU, and RAM). Another typical aspect of the Apple design without frills: It is very hard or even impossible to maintain or upgrade the device. There are no significant changes this time – but this is not an issue: Stability, build quality and design are still very appropriate in 2015, just as the port selection with USB 3.0 (unfortunately just 2x), Thunderbolt as well as triple-stream WLAN (3x3: 3). Nevertheless, we will summarize the most important aspects below.įor the last three years, the 2.04 kg (~4.5 lb) chassis of the MacBook Pro 15 has been the benchmark for quality. The online configurator also includes several upgrades (Core i7-4980HQ, 1 TB SSD) that can easily increase the price to more than 3000 Euros (~$3378).Īt this point, because of the numerous similarities with the predecessor, we do not want to go into details about the Case, Connectivity and Keyboard all the relevant information is available in our previous review. The MacBook Pro 15 is the spearhead in Apple’s notebook portfolio – so the pricing is quite confident: Even the base model with a Core i7-4770HQ, 16 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD is quite expensive at 2249 Euros (~$2532) our review configuration with a Core i7-4870HQ, twice the amount of SSD storage and the previously mentioned Radeon GPU costs 2799 Euros (~$3151). Another surprise: The last remaining Nvidia GPU in a Mac, the GeForce GT 750M, can be replaced with the optional Radeon R9 M370X. The manufacturer has also promised much faster SSDs and more CPU performance, but the MacBook Pro 15 still uses quad-core processors from the old Haswell generation – it is curious that Apple has not integrated the recently announced quad-cores from the Broadwell generation or waited for the replacement, Skylake, which is expected in the late summer/autumn. One of the new features is the Force Touch TrackPad, and the 15-inch device now uses the same model as its smaller sibling. Although the MacBook Pro Retina 15 is not really new, it has got its first major update since the last significant refresh almost two years ago.

With all the attention on the impressive 12-inch MacBook, it was easy to miss the fact that Apple has also launched another new MacBook a couple of weeks ago.

For the original German review, see here.

Apple 2015 macbook pro