I tested at three different distances from the AP, through walls and on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Unobstructed, within a couple of feet of the AP, I measured as much as 230Mbps to the Retina MacBook Pro. Just like before, the best case negotiated physical rate is 450Mbps when paired with a 5GHz 3x3 access point. The MacBook Pro with Retina Display is no different. The 15-inch MacBook Pro has been one of the best behaved notebooks on wireless that I’ve had the pleasure of using. That’s not to say Apple’s wireless implementation is bad. Rather than be caught shipping potentially unratified hardware, Apple went the safe route and stuck with 802.11n. While 802.11ac dongles and routers are just arriving today, Apple likely froze the Retina MBP’s wireless configuration quite a while ago. Major changes to the industrial design are typically paired with comparatively minor silicon changes, and other components are kept as static as possible so long as they don’t overly compromise experience. Like a good silicon company Apple appears to mitigate risk in design by sticking with known-good components wherever possible.

Deciding to stick with Samsung’s 45nm LP process for the A5X instead of embracing 32nm LP sooner with the 3rd gen iPad is one example that comes to mind.

We have seen Apple be conservative with component choices in the past. All three antennas are located in the Retina Display’s housing. The wireless behavior characteristics are a bit different since this is a physically different chassis, but we’re still dealing with a 3-stream 802.11n solution - not 802.11ac. In other words it uses the same 3x3:3 WiFi solution that was present in the 2011 MacBook Pro and is present in the non-Retina 2012 MacBook Pro as well: Broadcom’s BCM4331. The next-gen MacBook Pro is equipped with a decidedly this-gen wireless stack.

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