I was finally able to get my hands on the new MacBook Pro. The box came in at 11 pounds, and the first thing I noticed is the amazing job Apple did with the packaging. I treated this piece of hardware like my Video iPod, delicately removing each piece. I was expecting to get the standard review unit everyone has gotten so far—a Core Duo T2500 with 1GB RAM. Instead, Apple surprised me with the T2600 (2.16 Ghz) and 2GB of RAM. I was overwhelmed.
The look and feel hasn't changed. The MacBook Pro is thinner and the LCD is brighter. It's still a scorcher, and I would recommend a pair of pants when it's on your lap. The Magsafe power adapter is Apple ingenuity at its best. There are LED lights on both sides of the Magsafe connector, so there is no wrong way to attach it. I simulated a trip-over-the-wire scenario. The adapter detached instantly, I didn't pull the notebook to the floor, and I didn't fall on my face.
The feature set had its up and downs, and performance is faster, but more like 1 to 2 times as fast, not the 3 to 4 times that Apple was preaching. Apple is still playing catch-up to certain 3rd party software. All the universal applications worked like a charm. Microsoft Office ran nicely. The 2GB of RAM helped run Photoshop CS2, and even then, it didn't perform like it should. InDesign CS2 was a little slow. QuickBooks NUE 2006 ran smoothly, for a non-universal app. You can easily find out if an application is universal or not: highlight the application, go to the finder, and select "Get Info. If it says "Kind: PowerPC, then it's not universal. You can get the full list of universal applications here.
Overall, I like FrontRow, but the likelihood of me losing the remote is very high, being the clumsy person that I am. Integrating iSight is the best feature upgrade I've seen, other than the Intel Components, of course.
Final verdict: Buy if you're a regular user. Wait a couple of months if you're a media professional.
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March 3, 2006 2:44 PM
...not the 3 to 4 times that Apple was preaching. Steve Jobs never said 3-4X faster on EVERYTHING. The statement is "up to four times". And even during the keynote, they noted that it was the specint and specfp tests that were faster. If you read around on the internet you'll note that people running java apps, compiling things, etc. are seeing huge gains in the 3-5X faster range. Just because the interface (which is limited) doesn't run 3-4 x faster, and other certain functions don't run 3-4x faster doesn't mean that it's not 3-4x faster on certain things. I'm seeing remarks like, "I thought my scanner was going to run faster, with the macbook pro but it doesn't" as well. Also, why is everyone comparing rosetta apps with how they think they should run. "The 2GB of RAM helped run Photoshop CS2, and even then, it didn't perform like it should.." Perform like it should how? If you live in a non universal app like Photoshop, you should be buying a g5 anyhow. Adobe even stated they weren't going to ship a universal binary of CS2.
March 3, 2006 3:13 PM
Steve jobs never said 3-4X faster on spec_int either, but you're right I shouldn't make a blanket statement like that. The Photoshop scores were actually compared to the Acer Travelmate's in the PCmag review that I wrote. Have a great day
March 3, 2006 4:56 PM
Please stop defending apple... they released an inferior product... hands down... buy a pc. Or not... but dont defend apple , they dont deserve it.
March 7, 2006 1:50 PM
Ok araab. Did you plan on making statements and backing them up, or just making a troll post and running away like a little girl ?? "they released an inferior product.".....In what way is it inferior?? How long have you been using the macbook pro?? How long did you work in the OSX environment?? Please dont bother providing anecdotal evidence, like "my freind has one and he says it sucks" or copying and pasting data from somehwere else. You made statements, now back them up, unless your too busy re-booting, installing virus protection ,closing pop-up windows or ridding your hard drive of spyware. Oh, and one last thing..."this program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down."