CNET Editor's rating: 8.2 out of 10
Reviewed by
Dan Ackerman
Review date: 03/04/08
Release date: 02/26/08
The good: Updated CPUs, improved battery life, adds touch pad gestures from the MacBook Air.
The bad: Small performance premium over the cheaper 13-inch MacBook; only 90 days of toll-free technical support; still no SD card reader.
The bottom line: A solid, if predictable, upgrade to the MacBook Pro line, but noteworthy for stealing the MacBook Air's best feature--expanded gesture controls for the touch pad.
Apple has made its first update to the venerable MacBook line since the introduction of the MacBook Air. Regular 13-inch MacBooks get the usual CPU upgrade, but the MacBook Pro line gets a notable internal overhaul--including new Penryn-class Intel CPUs, new touch pad gestures (lifted from the MacBook Air), and finally a backlit LED option for the 17-inch models, something already standard for 15-inchers.
As we've come to expect, the new configurations hit the same price as the now-discontinued ones. More power for the same money is always welcome, but at $2,499 (we looked at the higher-end of two 15-inch configurations), we still think the cheaper 13-inch MacBook is a better overall value, outweighed only if you need either the larger screen or Express card slot, or you can't live without the touch pad gestures.
Physically, the refreshed 15-inch MacBook Pro is identical to its predecessors, still only 1 inch thick, but now that we've had time to get used to the thinner, lighter MacBook Air, it feels positively huge in comparison.
By now we're very familiar with the minimalist layout--open the lid and inside you'll find only a power button, a full-size keyboard, stereo speakers, a sizable touch pad with a single mouse button, and a built-in iSight camera. Despite our love for a clean look, we've also become used to having at least a few media control keys--attractive touch-sensitive media controls now regularly pop up on even the cheapest laptops.
Possibly the biggest change is how the revamped trackpad is now works with multitouch gestures, much like the MacBook Air. Originally, you could do things like use two fingers to scroll through documents--now Pro users can use three fingers to go forward and back in Safari's browser history, and use a thumb and forefinger to zoom in and out of documents and photos--much like on the iPhone. We hope Apple will roll this out for the 13-inch MacBooks sooner rather than later.
The move to backlit LED displays happened in the last MacBook Pro revision, at least for the 15-inch models. This time around, the 17-inch models have it, too--but only as a $100 add-on. The 15-inch display is 1,440x900, while the 17-inch is either 1,680 x 1,050 (standard) or 1,920x1,200 (LED). Apple touts the backlit LED displays as being both energy efficiency and mercury-free.
MacBook Pro
Average for mainstream category
Video
DVI video out
VGA-out, S-Video
Audio
Stereo speakers, line-in/line-out jacks, built-in mic
Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data
Two USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800
Four USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, multiformat memory card reader
Expansion
ExpressCard/34 slot
PC Card slot
Networking
Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth
Optical drive
DVD burner
DVD burner
The MacBook Pro remains the only laptop we can think of with a FireWire 800 jack (along with the more common FireWire 400), useful for digital video fans, but we still think adding a simple SD card slot would be a huge plus for the Pro (and let's get that on the regular 13-inch MacBook, too, while we're at it).
With the newest Penryn CPUs, the MacBook Po offers an excellent boost in performance over the previous mid-2007 Pro revision in our benchmark tests, although a pre-Penryn 13-inch MacBook from late 2007 was nearly as fast, reinforcing our opinion that Intel's Penryn CPUs, while more energy efficient, don't offer much of a performance boost. The MacBook Air was well behind--its custom Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, designed to fit into the Air's extra-thin chassis, is slower than the typical Core 2 Duos found in most laptops.
The Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics card allows for some basic gaming--although if you plan on playing games on the MacBook Pro, you'll probably want to install Windows on a separate partition through Boot Camp. Running Quake 4 at 1,024x768, we got 88 frames per second, compared to only 65 frames per second from the 2007 version of the MacBook Pro. Both systems had identical graphics cards, so we credit the CPU.
Despite some initial concerns that the revamped MacBook Pro offered less battery life, we got an impressive 4 hours and 23 minutes with our battery drain test--that's 47 minutes more than the older version of the MacBook Pro, and 20 minutes more than the MacBook Air.
We're still not fans of Apple's nearly obligatory extended warranty upsell (so much so that we've simply copied this complaint from our last MacBook review). The default warranty for the MacBook is one year of coverage for parts and labor, but toll-free telephone support is limited to a mere 90 days--well short of what you'd typically find on the PC side--unless you purchase the $349 AppleCare Protection Plan, which extends phone support and repair coverage to three years.
Multimedia multitasking test (in seconds) (Shorter bars indicate better performance)
System specifications: Apple MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo - 2.5GHz / 15.4 inch
OS X 10.5.1 Leopard; Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5GHz; 4096MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT; 250GB Hitachi 5,400rpm
Apple MacBook Air - 1.6GHz / 13.3 inch
OS X 10.5.1 Leopard; Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6GHz; 2,048MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 144MB Intel GMA X3100; 80GB Samsung 4,200rpm
Intro:
This configuration of the Apple MacBook Pro 2008 is a 5.5-pound, thin-and-light notebook computer.Compared to other thin-and-light notebooks on the market, it is expensive at around $1,945.Has Wi-Fi (wireless connectivity) built-in.Features NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with 256MB of video RAM.
Noteworthy Features:
Has 1440 x 900 native screen resolution, which is higher than some similarly priced notebooks.Also, this notebook has a 200GB hard drive, which is somewhat larger than some similarly priced notebooks.
Weaker Features:
The Apple MacBook Pro 2008 comes with no-frills word processing software ? if you often need access to special character sets you will likely need to upgrade to a full-fledged office suite.
Suitability:
A thin-and-light notebook, suited for business computing.Store massive amounts of data on DVD using the DVD recorder included in this computer.With 256MB of dedicated video RAM, this machine will do quite well compared to most other notebooks, when it comes to multimedia applications and games.Clean up your digital photos with the photo editing software included with this laptop.If you have a wireless network at home, wirelessly browse the Internet from any room in your house with this Wi-Fi enabled notebook.
Value:
Despite its expensive price, this notebook has great features for the money.However, if you were to judge strictly by how large the screen is, the average price of thin-and-light products with a comparable screen size is considerably less -- in fact around $1,552.
Suggestions:
(1) Given this device's Wi-Fi capability, you may want to get a wireless access point for your home, so that you can browse the Internet more conveniently from any room.(2) To get the most out of this notebook's Bluetooth capability, you could have a Bluetooth-enabled headset, handheld or other device, and be able to link it wirelessly to your computer within a range of 20-or-so feet inside the same room.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Convert--I did
I'm a PC user and have been since I was born. But here's the reason why I'm ...
I'm a PC user and have been since I was born. But here's the reason why I'm making the switch:
1. The hardware for Mac is now the same as PC. What this means to me, I can run any OS (within reason) that I want and OS X. This is by far the biggest seller for me.
2. OS X is what Vista is trying to be.
3. Apple is currently coming out with better innovations in all most every product line they produce.
4. I'm sick of PC's after working all day with them and the end users.
5. I want to be able to work and not have to trouble shoot the computer while working.
6. OS X is stable and vista isn't.
7. OS X is a much faster then Vista.
The reason I choose the Macbook Pro (over the Macbook model) is they are using the new Intel processor, better graphics card (Macbook uses the RAM for its graphics, meaning if you have a 1GB in the computer and your sharing it with the video card, you have less ram to run applications and such.), and lastly the larger screen size.
10 out of 10 - Perfect Every detail is designed with user in mind
An excellent buy. Don't kid yourself into buying a PC just to save $500 on a similarly speced laptop. ...
An excellent buy. Don't kid yourself into buying a PC just to save $500 on a similarly speced laptop. I switched from PC's with this laptop and I've never looked back. Very solid performance, never crashes or freezes. period. The screen is so bright that the text is readable in direct sunlight! The speakers are excellent and get surprisingly loud.
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by Falcora (see profile) -
April 23, 2008
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular This is an awesome product!
I don't recall ever being this excited about owning any gadget before. Being a long time windows user I ...
I don't recall ever being this excited about owning any gadget before. Being a long time windows user I finally took the plunge and got myself a macbook pro. I thought it might take some time getting used to the operating system but I actually started to get confused and somewhat feeling like a fish out of water when I tried to use a windows machine after just a few days with my macbook pro. Installations were a breeze on the mac- even for very large files.Not to mention that Leopard seems to be a very fast and smart OS unlike Vista which annoyed the crap out of me. Love the multi-touch trackpad (who needs a right mouse key?)and the display is unlike anything I have ever seen before-- simply beautiful (get the anti-glare). And I guess it's true-- once you go mac you can't go back!!
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by ShaneDebayo (see profile) -
April 11, 2008
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Powerful, sexy and efficient!
This is serious hardware, unbelievable speed for a laptop, or for any machine. Now, by speed i mean with OSX. ...
This is serious hardware, unbelievable speed for a laptop, or for any machine. Now, by speed i mean with OSX. with windows its a little glitchy.
8 out of 10 - Excellent Awesome Screen,Brilliant battery life,Bit pricey though
As a an owner of previous versions of the Mac Book Pro, I am as pleased with this version as ...
As a an owner of previous versions of the Mac Book Pro, I am as pleased with this version as I was with the last.
My first Mac Book Pro was the first generation ever released by apple, i.e. the first with the Intel Chips, and it was an amazing machine for what it was, but inevitably as soon as I had mine, a new version came out with Core 2 duo processors and bigger hard drives, so it was always at the back of my mind that I would like to upgrade.
As I live in Ireland it would however be a very very expensive upgrade leaving me wondering if it was worth it so when I came to be in the states this past month I took the opportunity to save 800 euro and bought it there.
The machine itself left people who know me asking had I even changed my laptop as they look the exact same to the untrained eye but I can tell you, the main difference is definately under the hood.
The Intel Core 2 duo 2.4ghz is perfectly complemented by the standard 2gb of RAM and creates a world on the machine that would give the impression of an ability to do anything! The only thing this machine has struggled with, for me, is loading Microsoft Windows XP on VM-Ware while I am doing multiple things, and even then, the machine takes its time, loads the software, and once it is running, everything is back to normal (and this issue might be the fact that I have allocated 1gb of the computers RAM to the Windows run-time).
The graphics world flawlessly with the computer to present a very smooth sleek looking Mac OS 10.5 with no stutters or lagging of any kind, even with multiple applications open. And the included iLife software allows the user to use this machines graphics capabilities to their full extend, expert or not.
As i am quite the power user in terms of programming and general computer science programs, I can speak from experience when I say that this computer was designed with professionals in mind, from its included Xcode developing environment to its ability to have multiple IDE(interactive developing environments) open at the same time, and this creates a perfect developing environment that is a pleasure to use.
Mutli-touch is a great feature added by apple, but in my opinion it is not fully utilized as it could be. It has such potential that I am sure, in the future Apple will use. But for the moment, a program called multi-clutch has been brought to my attention which I have been using for 2 weeks now and I have not looked back, it gives the user the ability to add track pad gestures to any program with personalized functionality.
The new keyboard included with the Mac Book Pro, closely resembles ,in functionality, the new keyboards Apple now ship with their desktop PC's. It allows for music control without having to switch to itunes as well as LED back-light controls, keyboard Back-light controls, volume and Dashboard. Apple really got it right with this one.
Finally the wireless. In my older Mac Book Pro, I found the wireless to be good, but the range was quite limited, this of course due to the aluminum case. The wireless in the new Mac Book Pros however does not suffer from this problem, and I now enjoy wireless where I would not have been able to with my older Machine. Personally I cannot wait for the day when N becomes standard and I can laugh at the Dell followers who will not have either the range or speed.
All in all this is a brilliant machine and any problems I have found can and will probably be solved with software updates.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular the review was very helpful in making my decision
where to start, this thing does it all. i would say that my favorite thing about it is the fact ...
where to start, this thing does it all. i would say that my favorite thing about it is the fact the I have a copy of windows Vista Ultimate which runs better on this machine then on any other and runs better then even OSX. love that ambient light sensing, can't do without the multi-touch ability and it is even surprisingly light for being a widescreen even in comparison to the HP DV series. the notebook is fully loaded if there can be such a term when referring to computers. amazing value overall
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by Dann1burk (see profile) -
July 19, 2008
10 out of 10 - Perfect amazing allround notebook
i personally have this notebook and love it is great for any family or student
i personally have this notebook and love it is great for any family or student
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by swimpat07 (see profile) -
July 18, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Glad i went with the Powerbook
I am very happy with my new laptop. Laptop is beautiful to look at and to operate.
I am very happy with my new laptop. Laptop is beautiful to look at and to operate.
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by caliguyalbie (see profile) -
June 22, 2008
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