Editors' Rating
| Service & support |  |
4.0 |
| Design |  |
9.0 |
| Features |  |
8.0 |
| Battery life |  |
5.0 |
| Performance |  |
7.0 |
Published: 06 Mar 2006
Apple's first new notebook since the company switched to Intel processors, the 15.4in. MacBook Pro features a Core Duo processor and, in doing so, ushers in a new era of Apple computing. Replacing the 15in. PowerBook in the company's lineup, the MacBook Pro delivers many familiar, beloved features (a scrolling touchpad, the Sudden Motion Sensor, an excellent software package), along with a few new ones. Although the Intel partnership gives Apple the potential to match the performance capabilities of its Windows-based competition, the first MacBook Pro, like the iMac Core Duo, shows signs of the growing pains Apple faces in switching to the new platform.
We expect the company to work out these kinks as it transitions the remainder of its notebooks to Intel, but for now, if you use Photoshop or other non-native applications, wait or look at a Windows-based system, which will offer superior performance and many of the same features for a lower or equal price. That said, if performance and battery life aren't a huge concern (and the 12in. PowerBook is too small for you), the MacBook Pro delivers the goods better than any other Apple notebook.
With the MacBook Pro, Apple's hasn't radically redesigned the PowerBook form factor -- it has just made a few refinements to it. As such, the sleek, aluminium MacBook Pro looks very similar to the 15in. PowerBook G4 -- just a tad wider, to accommodate the slightly larger 15.4in. (diagonal) display, and a few millimetres thinner. Striking a successful compromise between portability and usability, the MacBook Pro weighs 2.54kg – an tad less than the PowerBook and toward the upper end of the thin-and-light category. The MacBook's AC adapter, which is larger and slightly heavier than the PowerBook's, brings the total package to 2.81kg. One awesome innovation: the MacBook's AC adapter connects magnetically to the notebook, so if you accidentally trip over the cable, it will simply detach instead of sending your MacBook flying or tearing out the system's innards.
Underneath the lid, the MacBook Pro extends the tradition of the PowerBook's minimalist design. The MacBook Pro has just a power button; a big keyboard framed by stereo speakers; and a very large touchpad with a single mouse button. There's one new feature: a handy built-in iSight camera that sits above the display. Although the keys are a bit shallow, they're wide and we found them comfortable to type on; we also love the keyboard's backlighting feature, which adjusts to changes in ambient light levels. The touchpad lets you scroll through long documents, Web pages and spreadsheets by dragging two fingers down or across the pad -- a terrific feature that's unique to Apple notebooks. The MacBook Pro's 15.4in. (diagonal) wide-screen display features a fine 1,440 by 900 native resolution and looks noticeably brighter than the 15in. PowerBook's display and about as bright as the average PC notebook display.
Apple updates some of the PowerBook's ports and connections with the MacBook Pro and scales back a few others; overall, we think the MacBook Pro comes up a bit short of what you'll find on similarly priced PC notebooks. That said, the MacBook Pro features two USB 2.0 ports (fewer than most comparably sized PC notebooks); a FireWire 400 port; an ExpressCard slot; and DVI and VGA ports for connecting to an external monitor. It's also equipped with Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), and you can access the Internet via 802.11g Wi-Fi radio and Gigabit Ethernet. As with the PowerBook, the MacBook Pro features a slot-loading SuperDrive that plays and burns DVDs and CDs. One new extra is a small remote control, which looks like an iPod Shuffle, that controls the included Front Row multimedia player (we wish the MacBook had a storage slot for this). Unlike most PC notebooks, however, the MacBook Pro lacks a built-in media reader for flash memory cards; there's also no S-Video output, composite-video connection, FireWire 800 port or built-in modem -- all of which were present on the PowerBook.
The MacBook Pro ships with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, highlights of which include the incredibly cool Spotlight search utility and the customisable Dashboard, a collection of handy desktop tools. Also included is the robust iLife '06 software suite and a handful of other applications; an equivalent batch of PC software could easily cost hundreds of pounds.
The MacBook Pro comes in two standard configurations, each running Intel's new Core Duo processor: a 1.83GHz model for £1,216.17 (ex. VAT; £1,429 inc. VAT), and a 2.0GHz model for £1,514.04 (ex. VAT; £1,779 inc. VAT); you can upgrade the latter model to 2.16GHz for £210 (inc. VAT) more. We tested the base 1.83GHz version, which was equipped with 512MB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM; an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics card with 128MB of VRAM; and an 80GB 5,400rpm hard drive. In testing the MacBook Pro, we compared it against a number of older Apple notebooks running the PowerPC processor, as well as a group of Windows-based systems running Intel's Core Duo processor. As with the iMac Core Duo, which we tested in January, the results were mixed.
Apple has prepared its own software, such as iLife, to run with the new Intel processor and has developed a translation program called Rosetta to help the Intel Macs run older applications for the Mac. Not every software vendor has completed the necessary reprogramming to ensure full performance on the Intel Macs, however, so some applications -- Photoshop and Sorenson Squeeze among them -- run significantly slower (slower, in fact, than on even the lowest-end iBook).
That said, the MacBook Pro runs native applications such as iTunes considerably faster than previous Apple notebooks, and working within the OS just feels faster. We also found that applications that have been patched for Apple-Intel machines, such as Unreal Tournament 2004, show serious speed gains; in UT2004, the MacBook turned in about twice as many frames per second as the 17in. PowerBook G4, making it the first Apple notebook that might be any good for gaming.
It's only a matter of time before the software catches up, and most major vendors have committed to the transition. We do recommend looking into your favourite applications -- especially if you use them for work -- to see how the compatibility is shaping up before making a purchase. You can find more details about Rosetta, universal binary and other issues related to application performance on the new Intel-powered Macs here.
For such a portable notebook, it's a shame that the MacBook Pro's battery life comes up short. In our DVD battery-drain test, the MacBook Pro lasted for 2.9 hours -- a bit more than the 15in. PowerBook, but still inferior to the PC competition.
Apple backs the MacBook Pro with an industry-standard one-year warranty that covers parts and labour, but toll-free telephone support is limited to a mere 90 days -- well short of what you'll typically find on the PC side -- unless you purchase the £279 (inc. VAT) AppleCare Protection Plan, which extends phone support and repair coverage to three years. By way of contrast, you can upgrade most PCs' warranties to three years of support for around £120. Apple does offer online troubleshooting, and its Web forums are a good resource to get tips from other users and download the product's printed manual.
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