New MacBook Pro?
Over at AppleInsider, they have a bunch of photos comparing the new 15-inch Macbook Pro with the now “old” design:
My thoughts: The new MacBook Pros are a really worth thinking about. From their overall look, they seem to be better designed, and a few annoyances have been taken care of, such as the old MBP’s plastic rim, or the hard drive (failure part number one in computers, seriously) that was hidden way on the inside of the box.
Along with that, since I bought my first-generation one, the processor speed (mine still has an Intel Core Duo CPU), and now also graphics power have increased significantly. All the new “bling” in Mac OS X Leopard and many new and fancy applications demand a lot from a laptop, which mine–in spite of plenty of RAM–sometimes can’t fulfill.
Bottom line: I am considering retiring my laptop “Chronos” some time next year as my primary, every-day tool, in favor of one of its younger siblings, with much more “bang” to tackle the work to come.
I also looked at the smaller MacBooks, and while I like that they moved closer to the MBP (being aluminum and all), the missing FireWire, ExpressCard, and the shared-memory graphics made me forget about that pretty fast.
They do look good, although I’m wary of the glossy-only screen. I do wonder what they’re like temperature-wise… I can barely use my MBP for anything CPU intensive when it’s on my lap because it gets so hot. (My cat likes it, though!)
Yeah, I currently don’t have a glossy screen either — though allegedly they are sharper, brighter, more awesome? I don’t know. Good call about the temperature as well. I have the same problem. In particular, running Parallels while the laptop is on my lap is a pain (literally). VMs are one of the “fancy, but demanding” applications I was referring to in the post. And they don’t only stress the hell out of my aging MBP, they also make the poor thing boil.
I’d love to buy one of those new MacBook Pros, too, but I’m still happy with my 1st gen MBP. My employer gave me a Thinkpad for work (yes, I am also required to use Windows) and my aged MBP is still handling my hobby (photographs), web and e-mail more than well. I also just recently updated RAM and HDD, so I expect the MBP to serve us for some more years
The 13″ MacBooks are more portable when it comes to size dimensions but I’d go for the 15″ Pro again. I don’t really like the glossy screens (read: mirror) but I would have to live with it (and I think I could get used to it…). Firewire, higher screen resolution and the ExpressCard slot were also a plus for the Pro.
But the MBP still has some deficits: the SuperDrive is not capable of writing DVD-RAMs, you’ll need an adapter for the external monitor you’re currently using and another one for your Firewire 400 drives. And of course, you’ll have to pay an extra $19 if you’d like a remote control with your $2000 laptop. Come on, Apple, that’s just ridiculous!
[...] batteries in the past and hopefully does a better job with the recently introduced new MacBook and MacBook Pro [...]
I bought one a couple weeks ago. It is amazing. I had it on my lap for 3 hours, and almost no heat. It generates almost no heat for hours of usage. The glossy screen is awesome, though I like glossy, it is reflective, but EXTREMELY sharp ahd colors are impressive. It is lightning fast, with super graphics.