We've reviewed the huge desktop replacement 17' MSI Dominator laptops and the slim and light Ghost Pro that's a gamer's take on the Dell XPS 15 and 15' Retina MacBook Pro. This time we look at the middle of the family, the MSI Apache Pro. If you're looking for something more affordable than the Ghost and Stealth models, with much more portability than the Dominator line, it's the Apache Pro. Whether you need a GE62 15.6 or GE72 17.3 inch laptop, you're covered since the Apache comes in both sizes with identical specs and ports. The Apaches have the latest Intel Skylake 6th generation CPUs, fast PCIe SSD boot drives, spacious secondary HDDs for your games and media and your choice of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M or 970M graphics. They have full HD 1920 x 1080 matte IPS displays, but no touch screen.
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The GE62 is priced around $1,100 and the GE72 starts around $1,300-- both nicely configured with 16 gigs of RAM, a quad core i7, 128 gig boot SSD and NVIDIA GTX 960M graphics. For fairly powerful gaming laptops that can handle pro apps like Adobe Premiere Pro easily, those are nice prices. MSI laptops are tuned for gaming--heat is well managed as is noise and there's no thermal throttling when gaming. The gamer oriented tuning, optical drive, on-board Ethernet and generous port selection are features that set the Apache line apart from The XPS 15, 15' MacBook Pro with Retina Display and the handful of additional slim and light laptops that take on many of the same chores as the Apache.
Our 15.6' GE62 review loaner came from XoticPC.com. They sell a variety of gaming laptop brands and models and will customize them--handy if you're not comfortable opening up a laptop. They can re-paste the CPU and GPU with IC Diamond compound, upgrade the RAM and storage, and their prices are very competitive. They also do a full round of performance testing before they send the laptop out--the results of which are included in a binder.
Design and Ergonomics
The Apache Pro sports MSI's familiar but slightly updated look with a double 'waterfall' crease in the black aluminum lid and a fairly slim design--though not wildly skinny like the 15' Ghost and 17' Stealth models. In terms of practicality, unless portability is paramount to you, the Apache's less waifish design allows for quieter cooling and surface temperatures that won't singe the hairs off your hands and thighs when gaming. They're still modern looking laptops that aren't chunky by any means and their weights at 5.3 and 6.5 lbs. respectively are manageable. For gaming laptops, their look is understated with a tiny bit of red trim and MSI's Ferrari style logo hinting at what's inside. The backlit SteelSeries keyboard has multicolor zone lighting that's programmable, so you can go with a single staid color at work and a veritable rainbow when gaming. It's a very good keyboard that I find more enjoyable than the GT72 Dominator Pro keyboard, and it's fine for writing at length. Unfortunately, MSI continues to lead the path to the bottom when it comes to trackpads. Synaptics trackpads are generally quite good, but the Apache Pro trackpad has barely adequate tracking and it tends to ignore two-finger gestures half the time. Get a mouse. Really.
Build quality and esthetics are typical MSI, which is to say that the machines look and feel like they were designed by engineers rather than designers. They're well put together with practical designs and the internals are a delight if you're like me and analyze motherboard and component layouts with relish. Intelligently laid copper heat pipes, dual fans with quiet bearings and upgradable RAM, SSD, HDD and WiFi cards are hallmarks of MSI design. They're a company that makes some of the best gaming motherboards for desktops--they know what they're doing.
Msi Ge62 Drivers
The laptops have aluminum lids and wrist rest areas and plastic bottoms (fine with us since plastic doesn't get as hot as metal). The design and port selection is identical on the MSI Apache Pro GE62 and Apache Pro GE72--the choice between them comes down to display and laptop size preference. The 15.6' GE62 has a larger than average footprint in terms of width (left to right), which again is typical for MSI because they include a number pad in the keyboard area. Thus, the size difference between the two isn't as much as you might expect. The depth and thickness are competitive with the Lenovo Y700 models, which are also available in 15 and 17 inch sizes. Our only complaint with build quality centers on the display bezel, particularly on the 15' GE62--it has flex across the lid (the price of a thin design) and it's disconcertingly easy to push the bezel in at the bottom center area. I've owned a few MSI gaming laptops and I've yet to have the bezel fall off, but it doesn't inspire confidence. The 17' GE72 has less flex--you'd think an even longer expanse would give more, but apparently there's more reinforcement on the larger model.
The laptop's Dynaudio stereo speakers fire from the front edge (dual drivers left and right) and there's a subwoofer on the bottom. MSI gaming laptops have very good speakers that are considerably louder and fuller than the Windows competition. I love using them as a Netflix TV when exercising on loud gym equipment for this reason. MSI switched from SoundBlaster to Nahimic sound software last year--I have no strong preference, though I know some folks liked SoundBlaster's software better.
Ports and More
The Apache Pros have a DVD burner, 3 USB 3.0 ports (right and left side), a USB-C port, Gigabit Killer Ethernet, HDMI, mini DisplayPort, SD card slot and 3.5mm stereo out and mic in with an ESS Sabre audio amplifier. They have Intel AC 3165 dual band WiFi 802.11ac with Bluetooth. In comparison, the larger and more expensive Dominator Pro GT72 is available with a Blu-Ray drive, NVIDIA GTX 980M, Killer WiFi 802.11ac, optional G-Sync display and several full size USB 3.1 ports.
Display
Both models have 1920 x 1080 IPS non-touch matte displays, and both of our review units had panels made by LG. The pixel density is higher on the 15.6', so it looks a little bit sharper, and our GE62 15.6' model had a brighter panel that measured 290 nits of brightness vs. 260 nits on the 17' GE72. Both have good color gamut that cover 94% of the sRGB spectrum and 73% of Adobe RGB. These aren't crazy full Adobe RGB gamut displays like the much more expensive Dell XPS 15 with 4K Infinity display, but for those who work professionally with web graphics and video, they do cover the sRGB spectrum used for the web. Color calibration with the default setting (MSI has a color settings app) wasn't superb, but calibrated to near perfection easily. These displays are good enough for pro work if you're a photographer, even if they don't rate quite as high as the more expensive Dominator GT72 1080p matte display. Black levels were decent but not exceptional at 0.4 and contrast was good at 550:1. In comparison, the more expensive Dell XPS 15 with full HD display has a 1200:1 contrast ratio and slightly better 0.34 black levels.