15-inch i7 MacBook Pro, May 2010
Friday, 21 May 2010
This slimline look debuted last year, when Apple launched the new slimmer, lighter and more rigid aluminium enclosures rolled and etched from one piece of aluminium in a process it had to engineer and design for the task. The other major change, aesthetically, is black plastic buttons on the keyboard, whereas the older MBP has aluminium-surfaced buttons.
You can watch a video on this manufacturing process if you’re super-keen.
Another new feature is an angled MagSafe connector which takes up less room once plugged in – the older style (above and out of focus in the shot, below) comes straight out at right-angles to the MacBook Pro.
Everything about the new MacBook Pro is slimmer – even the box and packaging it comes in, as you can see from the head picture (new on the right).
A definite plus is that you can never angle the older MacBook Pro’s screen back enough – the new one, since the new case design, angles back much for comfortably, as you can see below, particularly if you actually do use it on your lap.
Running at 2.66GHz with 4GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive, this version of MacBook Pro is the very latest 15-inch, with an Intel dual-core ‘Core i7’ processor.
For $3799, you get up to a 50 per cent performance boost over the previous model’s Core 2 Duo, which the 13-inch version still uses; the i7 (like the i5) uses Intel’s newer 32-nanometer technology.
If you’re using processor-intensive applications like Apple’s own Aperture 3 or Final Cut Pro, a feature called Turbo Boost increases the speed of one or both cores, taking the 2.66GHz CPU up to 3.33GHz.
Apart from the latest CPU the big news is the NVIDIA graphics card, a GeForce GT330M with 512MB onboard video.
The other two current versions of the 15-inchers have Intel i5 CPUs instead of the i7, running at either 2.4GHz with a 320GB HD or at 2.53GHz with a 500GB HD, but both of these ‘only’ have 256MB video cards.
When Apple released these, a little controversy was stirred as to what video-switching technology was used. Everybody assumed it was Intel’s but it’s actually Apple’s, as Intel admitted. The controller switches video tasks between the NVIDIA and a built-in (and lesser) Intel HD graphics controller, presumably when it’s running on battery and/or non graphics-intensive tasks. This is partly why the new batteries are supposed to last up to nine hours – I’m lucky to get two-and-a-half hours with my 2007 version.
Note that, if you want to control or see which card is used, download the free little utility – gfxCardStatus – which loads into a right-side menu. Use it to either see which card the MacBook Pro is using, or to switch manually between them.
Speeds
A large and complex Numbers document launched in 3.9 seconds on a 2007 Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro, and in 2.8 seconds on the i7. (Both these figures included launching the Apple iWork ‘Numbers’ spreadsheet application and opening the document.) That’s 1.39 times faster on the i7.
In 64-bit mode I got an overall Geekbench score of 6379 for the i7.
My Core 2 Duo 2007 MacBook Pro 15 runs at 2.2GHz – the overall Geekbench score, also in 64-bit, is 3396. That’s 1.88 times faster for the new model, for about the same money I shelled out three years ago (I had my ’07 shipped with a bigger, faster hard drive than standard).
A new 2.67GHz i5 iMac, with four cores not two, clocked 7615 (thanks to Jamie Lunn for benchmarking his for me).
| Mac (faster Geekbench score is higher number) | Processor speed | Geekbench score |
| i5 iMac 21.5-inch 2010 (4 cores) | 2.67GHz | 7615 |
| i7 2-core MacBook Pro 15-inch 2010 | 2.66GHz | 6379 |
| Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro 15-inch 2007 | 2.2GHz | 3396 |
Speaking of options, you don’t get that many when you buy Macs, compared to PC vendors. You can get cheaper i5 versions of this 15-inch for $3099 and $3499. You can double the RAM before your MacBook Pro ships for another $720.
The 15-inch MacBook Pro comes with a 1440-by-900-pixel LED-backlit glossy display as standard, as per the test model, but you can choose a higher-resolution, 1680-by-1050 glossy display with 36 per cent more pixels for another $160. Photographers might prefer the anti-glare display; it’s also the higher resolution, and costs $270 more.
The anti-glare display has a silver frame (border) around it instead of black, by the way.
There was a lot of comment about these MacBook Pro shiny glass screens. Photographer Sean Craig ordered an i7 MacBook Pro as soon as they were available, but forgot to specify the anti-glare screen. Soon after he got it, he emailed: “I have to say I actually like the glossy screen! Didn’t think I would. Need to try it outdoors, I guess, but so far I do like it. And let’s face it – for important work like colour correction, I’ll be indoors anyway.”
You also get several hard drive options: a faster 7200rpm 500GB hard drive (add $90), a 128GB solid state drive instead (add $360), a 256GB SSD (add $1170) or go the whole hog, for a total of $6859, and get the 8GB RAM version with a 512GB SSD (add $2340 for the biggest SSD). This would be a really high price for a laptop that, like my 2007 model, would feel pretty dated in three years time, but I guess it comes down to what you need and how much money you have, doesn’t it?
There are several other options, too, including video adapters for connecting non-Apple displays, for software etcetera.
If I was to buy one of these for myself I would spring for the 500GB 7200rpm HD version. And I’d probably then get my own third-party Apple-compatible RAM to put in.
It’s easy to do, after all.
Video
This is the top-of-the-line for Mac portable video – the NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 512MB VRAM really lets you edit images and video well, and it really kicks in games like Call of Duty! This easily competes with iMacs in the video department, and happily drives an additional monitor to great effect. In Call of Duty on the older MacBook Pro, I have to have most graphics options turned off or set to Low, plus the resolution is turned down. On the new one, everything was on Max, I got dynamic heat hazes, spectral effects and atmospheric effects, sophisticated shadows and reflections ... and I drove an external 22-inch LCD at full resolution. And it felt faster – frames were smooth and detail was exceptional.
Below, left: video in Call of Duty on the older MacBook Pro with it's 128MB GeForce 8600 GT card, and right from the new MacBook Pro.
Conclusion
It's a stronger Mac laptop, easier to put in a bag, almost twice as fast as my old 15-inch and almost as grunty as a new four-core i5 iMac. That's powerful! The screen tilt angle is more useful for working on planes etc, and it has all the connectors on one side (the left) which is much more convenient than connectors spouting from both sides and remembering what goes where.
The new i5 and i7 versions of the MacBook Pro, with their better battery life, represent really good value in bang for your buck.
What's great: power enough in your lap for Final Cut Pro'
What's not: I'm supposed to say the glossy screen. But I really like it! Oh, OK – the catch to open it is less fiddly but also requires a bit more effort to open. It has no catch to press in, but you have to use both hands and tilt the unit to lever it open.
Needs: Under $4000 for some serious, portable Mac power
What: 15-inch MacBook Pro i7 2.66GHz $3799 (2.53GHz i5 $3499, 2.4GHz i5 $3099)
System: Intel Core i7 2.66GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD, SD card slot, 8-9-hour battery, Intel DH Graphics plus NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 512MB VRAM
