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Video review
The Macbook Pro isn't just a pretty face. Like a model secretly taking a correspondence course in astrophysics, it has a real thing for self-improvement.
When we last cast our beady eyes over it in 2006, it had just slaked off the Powerbook name and taken the big leap to Intel chips. 2007's changes aren't nearly as radical but they're welcome nonetheless.
Fast worker
The first big difference is a new processor (Intel's Santa Rosa chipset) and a change in graphics card (ATI dumped in favour of Nvidia's Geforce 8600M with 126MB of dedicated memory). These upgrades supposedly provide a 10% bump in performance and the new iteration of the Macbook Pro certainly runs lightning fast, even when handling video and a multitude of apps simultaneously.
Apple's main reason for upgrading the processor is to allow the Macbook Pro to go toe to toe on performance with its Windows worshipping competitors and it succeeds. Santa Rosa chips are designed for use in laptops and the Macbook Pro will easily hold its own against the best of Sony's various Vaios or Dell's new delicacies.
The (LED) light fantastic
The second major change is the use of LED backlights to illuminate the screen on the 15.4in model (not the 17in). This is more environmentally friendly since it doesn't use mercury like the fluorescent lamps used in traditional flatscreen displays and Apple claim it helps to extend battery life. We got about two and half hours of web surfing with a full jolt of juice.
Other minor tweaks include increased RAM as standard, up from 1GB to 2GB, and a larger hard disk, 120GB rather than 100GB. You can also now ramp the RAM up to 4GB, stick in a 200GB hard drive and up the graphics memory to 256MB if the mood takes you. The option of a 17in widescreen remains but that lacks the lovely new LED backlighting.
While iLife 06 is a great software suite we're hoping iLife 08 will come bundled with new Macbook Pros sooner rather than later. It's not that the older versions of iPhoto, iMovie and Garageband are suddenly sub-par, it's just that the constant entreaties to purchase the updated package can be a little cloying, especially if you've just shelled out for lovely new laptop.
Tech Specs
- Bluetooth
- Yes
- Dimensions
- 275x325x227mm
- Hard drive storage
- 120GB, 160GB
- Operating system
- Mac OS X
- Optical drive
- 8x double-layer SuperDrive
- Processor
- 2.2GHz/2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
- RAM
- 1GB, 2GB or 4GB
- Screen resolution
- 1440x900
- Screen size
- 15in, 17in
- USB
- Two
- Weight
- from 2.27Kg
- Wi-Fi
- Yes
Comments
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12 weeks ago
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Bill Hide
4 years ago
Hi Limp Bizkit, "normally" Apple is the innovator, not the follower.
Limp Bizkit
4 years ago
I agree 100% on the 5 star rating and why it is hot to buy before i had a mac i thought what makes them so much better to a windows operating system but once you own on you just seem to fall in love with system as it is so handy to have all the icons at the bottom compared with windows but that is only touching the serface on why it thrashes windows when you by a mac you buy it for imovie ichat garageband this list could go on forever. But with all great things there are always set backs as if you are a apple owner yourself you just know that if something new comes out for all operating systems mac are always last to normally have it on the system.