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March 13, 2009

15in Apple MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz review

Product Code: MB470lla

Except for a minor boost in processor speed, the new 15in 2.66GHz MacBook Pro is identical to the 15in 2.53GHz MacBook Pro it replaces.

As far as upgrades go, the top-of-the-line 15in MacBook Pro's makeover is far from extreme. But we're not going to complain if Apple chooses to gently boost the processor speed a little bit without expecting a penny more for the effort.

Aside from the slight boost in processor speed from the model it replaces, the 2.53GHz 15in MacBook Pro (which was also £1,712 when it was released) and, the rest of the new 2.66GHz MacBook Pro's specs remain identical, including the unibody case, ports, bus speed, hard drive capacity and more.

15-inch MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo/2.4GHz review

17-inch MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo/2.66GHz review

Unibody case

Instead of assembling the laptops piecemeal and expertly splicing the components together, the new MacBook Pros sport a unibody architecture that constructs the entire machine out of a single piece of recyclable aluminium.

Such assembly, according to Apple, eliminates the need for fine-tuning parts and diminishes the possibility of construction failures. With the new MacBook Pro in hand, it feels almost like an extension of your arm.

There's no clasp keeping the lid shut: simply grip the thumbscoop etched into the bottom of the case, and it opens right up. Even without a clasp, it feels secure when closed.

Apple MacBook Pro

The unibody composition also makes these new laptops easier to service and fix, and great for do-it-yourself types who have, in the past, lamented how difficult it was to do things like swap out the hard drive or battery. The new MacBook Pro makes it very easy to access the battery and hard drive - move the lever on the bottom of the case, and you're in. Upgrading RAM requires the removal of eight screws; the previous MacBook Pro had only three screws.

All ports are grouped together on the left side of the case, including the MagSafe power port, Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800, two USB ports, audio in and out ports, and an ExpressCard/34 slot. The microphone is under the left speaker grille.

The new Mini DisplayPort connects to Apple's new 24in Apple LED Cinema Display (£635). You can connect other monitors to the new MacBook Pros, but you'll have to buy a £20 Mini DisplayPort to VGA or Mini DisplayPort to DVI adaptor, or £68 for a Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adaptor.

The right side of the machine has the slot-loading SuperDrive and a Kensington lock slot. And if you're using the lock, it automatically locks the access door underneath, thus protecting the hard drive and the battery. An elegant battery indicator on the side of the case glows green through eight tiny dots and when all is well and flashes five times when the battery needs replacement.

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User reviews from Reevoo.com

Apple 15in MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo/2.66GHz scores 8.9 out of 10 based on 19 reviews

Reevoo reviews are by people who definitely bought the product

The 2 most helpful reviews:

19 Nov 2008 Anonymous verified purchaser

Good Points

Beautifully designed piece of kit

Bad Points

Still quite expensive

05 Mar 2009 Andrew Martin, Dublin

Good Points

Incredibly well designed; Apple's unibody laptops (this includes the newer MBPs released a couple of weeks ago) are vastly superior to their previous models. The case just feels rock solid (but in no way bulky or clunky). The screen is beautiful, everything (webcam, audio, etc) just works out of the box (without a million annoying task bar icons to make them all run), the battery lasts a respectable 4ish hours under normal use (I spend most of my time programming, which would be roughly the same as word processing or browsing the internet in terms of battery usage).

Bad Points

It does run windows, but the mouse pad isn't very optimised for it - it can be a little jumpy (it's perfect under OS X). Also, under Windows, the slower graphics chip is completely disabled, and the faster one can get extremely hot. Neither of these affect OS X, or even Windows running inside VMWare or Parallels on top of OS X, so I'd consider them minor issues. The only reason I have to boot into fully native Windows is for gaming, where I'd usually be using an external mouse and the faster graphics anyway. It's not cheap as computers go, but you do get what you pay for - high quality.

Overall score: 8.9

See more Apple 15in MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo/2.66GHz reviews on Reevoo.com

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