Mac power users, including art directors, film editors, photographers, videographers, and the like, wait for each new release of the top-of-the-line Apple MacBook Pro with bated breath. The first question is always, "is the new MacBook Pro better than last year's model?" In this case, we'd say yes, but only in that 16GB of memory is now standard, up from 8GB. Sure, the Core i7 processor is a couple of hundred megahertz faster, but that really doesn't translate into measurably faster performance overall. That said, the latest 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display is still an excellent power user's laptop, a veritable object of lust, which earns our Editors' Choice nod for high-end desktop replacement laptops.

Connections continue to be excellent, counting the system's HDMI port, headset jack, SDXC card reader, two Thunderbolt ports, and two USB 3.0 ports (one on each side). About the only thing missing that a business user could want is an Ethernet port.

The backlit chiclet-style keyboard is composed of the usual excellent black keycaps with high contrast characters. It is much easier to read than the silver-on-silver keyboard on the Acer Aspire S7-392-5410. The well-proportioned, glass-covered trackpad reacts quickly to multi-touch input. There is no Mac available with a touch screen, though that's not a drawback since OS X isn't optimized for touch.