Laptop Review - Apple 13″ MacBook Pro
While Macintosh computers have not exceeded the popularity of PCs, they continue to have their own solid niche in the compute market. Mac fans may be fewer in number but they make up for it with enthusiasm to the point of zealousness. Interview any Mac user and get ready to listen to a litany of the Mac’s best qualities, namely: dependability, the use of ergonomics, screen clarity, and usability. But don’t be surprised if you find a few fans who chose the Macs merely to be different. It’s arguable that Macs, despite their vast difference in price, don’t really have that much of an advantage over the PCs.
Usually, laptop makers create another version of a model if sales are low. However, the MacBook 13″ was a certified hit among customers. When the entry of the MacBook Pro was announced, there were some who questioned the need for the new model and whether it just might prove to be a wrong move. Upon closer look, buyers had raised complaints regarding the 13-inch MacBook’s lack of FireWire and its insufficient battery life.
So that’s the quick story of why the MacBook Pro 13″ came to be. This MacBook had been fitted with FireWire plus an array of new features and at a cheaper price.
It’s a good thing that what fans loved about the MacBook 13″ remained. The unibody aluminum construction was kept, making the unit rigid as well as giving it an exceptional design.
Apple also made sure to lengthen its battery life to 7 hours of operation. A SecureDigital (SD) slot was added. Offering improved color reproduction and clearer images was the new LED-backlit screen.
Apple worked on improving the processing speed, from 2.13GHz to at least 2.26GHz. The “Pro” designation also means that it now has an illuminated keyboard.
With regards to flaws, there are a few. Since it doesn’t have a discrete graphics processor, it depends on integrated graphics and some users just can’t be contented with the result. A Doom 3 frame-rate test was conducted and we found that it shifted nearly 40 frames a second when on the highest video settings. There’s no sense hoping for what wasn’t meant to be but it would have made a huge difference if they made the choice to put in discrete graphics.
SPECS - AVAILABLE OPTIONS (From Apple’s website)
CPU - 2.26GHz or 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB on-chip shared L2 cache running 1:1 with processor speed
RAM - 2GB up to 4GB
Screen Size - 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display
Operating System - OS X Leopard 10.5.7
Battery Life - 7 hours (manufacturer’s estimate)
Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor
Pros
Let’s start with why all Macs are loved by so many - it’s easy to use. For those who are clumsy or accident-prone, the fact that it is made with unibody aluminum construction is a huge relief. We appreciate Apple’s effort to lengthen the battery life to about 7 hours. Its design makes it more accessible. Loading applications, even several of them at the same time, is done quickly.
Cons
Discrete graphics is a sore issue with us so we would like to restate it here. We would like to grumble about the price because despite its excellent features, it’s still not justified.
Conclusions
The 13-inch MacBook became a hit for a good reason. Despite its shortcomings, users tended to overlook them because its performance and design made up for it. Now that Apple has corrected those flaws, it’s becoming quite difficult for its rivals to steal a chunk of its market. The MacBook Pro 13″ is a good buy despite our issues with its price. If you can afford it, go for it and be a happy and contented laptop user.