rMBP 15 2012 – Detailed

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy (was drunk at this time)

So we are checking out the Retina model this time.

I don’t want to re-review this machine later.

Arguably this is a 15″ ultrabook, but Apple does market this as their top end workstations. In this particular case they started out the new at the time MacBook with dedicated graphics. They improved the model for next year, the ‘early 2013’ and then the ‘late 2013’ models came with only intel graphics or nVidia, which were called IG or DG respectively.

As per usual, stealing our information from everymac.com, there are only 3 moA1dels released for the 15″ “retina 2012”. not to be confused with the other model, which sports a DVD drive, this model is noticeably thinner and sports the beautiful 2880 x 1800 display. It’s lame that for some reason, Apple is the only company who gets to use 16:10 displays on their laptops.

Model Identifiers:

  • MC975LL/C
  • MC975LL/C
  • MD831LL/C
  • A1398 – Every 15″ rMBP from 2012 to Mid 2015

Processor options:

  • 2.3GHz i7-3615QM w/ 6MB Cache
  • 2.6GHz i7-3720QM w/ 6MB Cache
  • 2.7GHz i7-3820QM w/ 8MB Cache
  • Processors are soldiered on, cant upgrade

RAM options:

  • 8GB 1600MHz DDR3L
  • 16GB 1600MHz DDR3L
  • RAM is soldiered on, can’t upgrade

RAM and CPU are soldiered on, really the only thing you can ‘upgrade’ is the SSD, and even that I hear its a pain to do.

GPU Configuration:

  • nVidia GeForce GT 650M w/ 1GB GDDR5 RAM
  • Intel HD 4000 Graphics
  • Same GPU config as the unibody Late 2012 MBP

Screen Information

  • 2880 x 1800 ‘Retina Display’
  • 220 PPI (idk other Apple shill talk)
  • 720p webcam – quite lulzy, apple never upgraded and its 2017.

Storage Options:

  • 256GB M.2 SSD
  • 512GB M.2 SSD
  • 768GB M.2 SSD ($500 original upgrade option, trending at $230 – $350 used)

Power Info:

  • 95Wh Li-Poly – glued on, hard to replace (Apple can replace for a decent cost)
  • 7 hour ‘web use’ battery life
  • MagSafe 2 85W Power Adapter

Alright… I’m on my fourth drink and have been procrastinating since I’ve posted the first letters on this post :O

 SHOUT OUT TO MAIN TAP IN EL CAJON!!! I’m here on most friday afternoons/nights. (;

15″ rMBP 2012 – $570 – 800 // 1250 ~ 152 vs 400 Higher starting price vs other workstations, but kinda gets flat, about 3/4 are available under $900 unless you goof over options.

46   Risky    – $330 – 450   // 700
132 256GB – $600 – 850   // 1300  (a lot with apple care warranty)
45   512GB – $750 – 930   // 1200 (lame processors? idk)
9     768GB – $750 – 1000 // 1200
9     1TB     – $900 – 1200 // 1600
10   Refurb – $770 – 850   // 1100 (resellers suck lol, also all sold manufacturer reburbs weren’t real MFRBs)
New-Ish      – None applicable
New             – None applicable

Hmmmm… I am really surprised about these SSD options… the 512GB and 768GB options don’t make a difference. I guess people really care more about condition and maybe processor spec, there was BS for the refurbs, 8 of these that I didn’t include were ‘seller refurbished’ but didn’t have hard drives. Yeah bullshit, they were basically ‘as is, for parts’ listing and someone who knows how to fix macbooks checked them out. All of the manufacturer refurbished were just resetted machines, so I didn’t even bother, same with the new-ish and new other. IMO 256GB SSD is great for a laptop, I think thats enough storage for what people need, unless you are going to be a movie priater or gaming every fucking game idiot (beer is kicking in). There really isn’t a need for more, unless you want a stand alone machine without a desktop with all your movies you like (and cant netflix) then the 512Gb and 768GB units aren’t much of a difference in price. Please don’t buy one of these if you are a photographer and don’t fucking backup your photos, I hope your rMBP break then.

232 2.3GHz i7 – $450 – 720 // 860 (broken ones at $700 still wtf)
97  2.6GHz i7 – $520 – 860 // 1230
25  2.7GHz i7 – $790 – 920 // 1120 (again idk why)
106 8GB         – $660 – 770 // 1060
146 16GB       – $720 – 930 // 1400 (found the motherfucker why its so expensive)

Ok so it seems that the 16GB version makes it so expensive…

Quite surprising, I guess a lot of the people who took the 2.6GHz version did the RAM ugprade and kept the 256GB SSD… Thats why so many of those are so expensive, at least thats what I think. Arguably, that was probably the best spec/price ratio at the time too,

45 Keyboard     – $19 – 40 // 100
20 Logic board – $310 – 400 // 500
30 Screen          – $220 – 270 // 360
40     Battery     – $52 –
100 // 250  ($100+ should come w/ keyboard/palmrest, apple charges $199, C$239 & £159… oh and I guess if you an AUS fag, shell out A$229 dollardoos)300 Charger    – $19 – 31 // 46 ($25 is gud IMO, don’t pay more than $38 if is used)
30  Bottom      – $18 – 30 // 50

So yeah, uhhh i guess thats all u need to know.

Again, due to the high price of a non working Macbook, I don’t recommend buying a broken mobo or water damaged unit unless you know what you are doing.

Although these are kinda price, they aren’t as much as some of these 17″ contenders they are going up against, and you can’t upgrade to XM chips either. But some mac fans who thrive on mac only, need to use this crap.. I mean top quality computers.

To be honest, I would like to get one of these, but… maybe not a 2012 model, as it won’t compete against my 2012 Mac Pro, but I did wan to get a 2014 rMBP for $500 and they are available at that price by desperate people…

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