New Core i7 MacBook Pros are fast

Continuing with their run of April news announcements, Apple has just released an update to their popular MacBook Pro line of notebook computers. Not much has changed, but what has, is significant. The new pro machines have been updated with Intel’s Core i5 and i7 processors, offering substantial performance gains through the use of a new 32-nanometer manufacturing process, Turbo Boost, and Hyper-Threading. The marketing material may sound a bit gimmicky, but the performance increase is anything but. Even though the new clock speed has dropped from 2.8GHz to 2.66GHz (at the top), performance is estimated to increase by roughly 50%. Having used the 15-inch model with the 2.66GHz Core i7 processor for the last few days, I can confirm this statement with utmost confidence.

My previous workhorse laptop had been a 17-inch 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro. It was working for me, but I often felt it lacking in performance when driving a second display and doing heavy photo editing between Lightroom and Photoshop. I had plans to switch over to a desktop for my photo/video production, but to make a long story short, that did not work out. Now here I am with the fastest laptop Apple makes… So how does it compare to the machines it is replacing?

To sum it up, this is the first laptop I would consider to be a true desktop replacement. Everything is faster with these new i7 machines, from launching apps to converting video. Even while driving a secondary display, the machine feels more akin to a desktop tower than a laptop.

To give an idea of how I use my Mac portables, this is a list of programs that are typically open together:

• iTunes open playing music (with a huge, memory robbing library)
• AdiumX
• Mail App
• FireFox
• Preview
• Lightroom
• Photoshop (50% of the time)
• Word
• Dictionary
• Tweetdeck
• iCal
• Flickr uploader

My old machine could handle this, but not without frequent slowdowns. This new machine has left me feeling much more confident in its ability to handle the heavy lifting when necessary. It feels like a completely animal, one that doesn’t back down when playing flash video on one display and rendering 1:1 previews of 21 Megapixel RAW files on the other.

So what is not to like? Well, the stock 1440×900 monitor leaves much to be desired. Unfortunately, the Apple store I purchased mine from did not have the high-res antiglare ($150 upgrade) machines in stock. I think it is strange that this is a $150 upgrade, mainly because I don’t know many professional (at least photographers) that want a super reflective glass display on their notebook, or desktop for that matter. I am unsure what Apple’s love affair is with these new displays but I am a matte kind of guy. However, 90 percent of the time I will be using it with a calibrated display for photo work, so it doesn’t really matter.

Other than that main gripe, the battery life claim of 8-9 hours is just not realistic from what I have observed. As one of my colleagues said in an email, “maybe in a dark room staring at the wallpaper with no wi-fi on and display set to 10% brightness.” That about sums it up. I saw 4.5 hours under normal usage, wi-fi on, display 90% – while composing text, surfing web, responding to email, working on some files in Lightroom, and watching the occasional productivity killing YouTube video. I actually got better battery performance out of my 17-inch unibody. This is no deal breaker by any means. To be able to get 4-5 hours out of a high performance laptop while away from AC power is fine by me, it is just a little strange that Apple would claim 9 hours.

Overall, the new models represent a significant performance boost to the previous line of 15 and 17-inch MacBook Pros. While it may not be worth upgrading from a 2009 model, it really comes down to what you are doing with the machine. I personally saw valuable performance gains, but not everyone is editing photos/video on a daily basis.

The good:

• Top-notch performance from a portable, I have never used a faster laptop
• Great battery life, even though not the 8-9 hours claimed
• Best Trackpad out there, new inertial scrolling is great (works like the iPhone)
• I’m a huge fan of the chicklet style keyboards that Apple has made their new standard
• Practical, attractive, and environmentally friendly design
• New low profile Mag-Safe connector is cool

The not so good:

• Not a fan of the super reflective glass display, 1440 display on my unit seems slightly washed out
• SD card reader built in? Thought this was for pros, where is the CF
• No ExpressCard on the 15-inch model
• Wish there was a third USB port on 15-inch model
• Not much in the box, forced to buy remote/MDP-to-DVI cable – two things that used to be included gratis

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