Apple MacBook Pro (Unibody vs. Retina vs. Touch Bar)

The Modular Machine

It is easy to get confused with the language in the Macintosh world. Unibody, Retina, TouchBar, what do they all mean? Let’s just start with the basics. The MacBook Pro Unibody refers to all Apple Mac laptops from late 2008 to mid 2012. These computers have a bottom housing made from a single piece of aluminum. Which not only makes it look sleek, but it also helps with heat dissipation! These Apple laptops all came standard with an optical dvd drive and upgradeable hardware.

The Remarkable Retina

Then came the almighty Retina!  Apple introduced the Retina MacBook Pro in 2012. These units are characterized by their stunning retina display, and their lack of optical drive. The Retina computer is often referred to as one of Apple’s most popular computers because of its reliability, speed, and ease of use. The one complaint many people have about these models, is that Apple started to solder the RAM in on these computers. This seemed to cause a lot of confusion within the Apple community since the previous unibody models had upgradeable RAM.

The Tantalizing Touch Bar

Now the one that everyone wants to know, the famous Apple Touch Bar. Apple ended up changing the design of their keyboard in 2016 which got rid of the top row of function keys. Apple did this so they could include a touch-sensitive strip which changes key functions depending on the application in use. Now, these units do have what’s called an “ultra-retina” display, which is a even higher resolution than the previous retina display, but Apple will call these units “Touch Bar MacBook Pro” and the previous generation “Retina MacBook Pro” to make it as clear as possible.