June 27th, 2009Apple MacBook Pro
This past fall, when the 15-inch Macbook underwent its stunning unibody redesign that added an edge-to-edge LED-backlit display, a multitouch-enabled touchpad, and dual graphics cards, we heaped plenty of praise upon it; but lamented its lack of a memory card reader, and its hefty price tag. Apple has seemingly taken our gripes to heart, and has re-introduced the 15-inch MacBook with a number of noteworthy changes, including a lower starting price ($1,699 vs. $1,999), an SD Card reader, and a long-lasting lithium-polymer battery that delivers more than 8 hours on a charge. We wish there were more USB ports on board, but you won’t find a more powerful 15-inch notebook that’s this easy to carry.
Design:-
Measuring 14.4 x 9.8 x 1.0 inches and weighing 5.4 pounds, the revamped 15-inch MacBook Pro is spacious enough for long, comfortable computing sessions, yet won’t weigh you down when it’s time to go mobile. It sports the same carved-from-a-single-chunk-of-metal unibody design as its MacBook Pro brethren, retaining the sturdy aluminum chassis and rounded edges. The overall look is classy and modern.
Keyboard and Touchpad:-
Similar to other MacBook Pros, this unit features a shallow keyboard with black, isolated keys that provide adequate feedback when quickly typing URLs and crafting e-mails. It also has an ambient light sensor that backlights the keys when typing in low-light situations (such as a darkened plane cabin). While typing in a dark room, the soft glow enabled us to see the keys clearly.
A very large touchpad made navigating the desktop a snap, and its built-in multitouch functionality will have iPhone and iPod touch users feeling right at home as they swipe through photos and pinch and zoom Web pages. Falling in step with other MacBook Pro models, the 15-inch lacks dedicated mouse buttons; the entire pad doubles as one.
Display and Audio:-
Once again, Apple wows with a gorgeous edge-to-edge, glass 15.4-inch LED display (with a 1440 x 900-pixel resolution). The panel offers a 60 percent greater color gamut than its predecessor, and it really brought out skin tones and made other details pop while watching episodes of 30 Rock on Hulu or when we popped a DVD of There Will be Blood into the optical drive. Our only gripe with the display is that it kicks back too much reflection, especially when viewing content that has a dark background, or if you’re anywhere but directly in front of it. Its attractive black bezel border easily picks up fingerprints and smudges, but that’s nothing a cloth can’t remedy.
Flanking the keyboard are a pair of speakers that deliver solid (if unspectacular) sound. When we streamed Lyn Collins’ “Think” from Slacker, we enjoyed loud and clear audio, although funk classic lacked a robust bottom end.
Ports and Webcam
On the right side of the system, you’ll find the 8X SuperDrive and Kensington lock slot. Built into the left side are two closely placed USB 2.0 ports, Mini DisplayPort, a FireWire 800 port, the MagSafe power port, and headphone and mic jacks. Conspicuous in its absence: an ExpressCard slot, found on the previous 15-inch MacBook Pro, but replaced by an SD Card slot that accepts all manner of SD Cards, from mini to SDHC (with the correct adapter).
Above the display, a VGA iSight webcam is embedded in the bezel. It captured a good amount of detail and delivered near-lifelike colors, but friends reported some motion blur when we engaged in Meebo video chats. Photo Booth, Mac OS X’ fun webcam program, allowed us to record video clips of ourselves, snap photos using a variety of filters (such as Sepia, Thermal Camera, and X-Ray), and even fire off four quick photos in succession like a traditional photo booth.
