The last time we reviewed Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Pro we gave it an Editors’ Choice and named it one of our favorite notebooks of 2007, but we pooh-poohed its stale look. A year later, Apple has reinvented the Pro (along with the MacBook), delivering a sturdier, sleeker design, brighter display, and serious graphics punch courtesy of Nvidia. Those with simpler—or more mobile—needs can’t go wrong with the more affordable and portable MacBook ($1,299 to $1,599), but the MacBook Pro (starting at $1,999 but $2,499 as configured) is worth it for serious power users with serious cash.
A Whole New MacBook
The newest MacBook Pro borrows some of the design elements introduced with the MacBook Air—namely, an aluminum chassis with rounded edges. Like the Air, it has a shallow black keyboard with separated keys (the last-generation MacBook Pro had a matching metallic keyboard with dense, cushy keys, and was 0.05 inches thicker).
Although the Pro’s aluminum surface looks as smooth as the original Air’s, it’s much sturdier. Thanks to a new manufacturing process, the Pro (and all the other notebooks in the line, save for the entry-level plastic MacBook and the 17-inch Pro, which keeps its old design) is made from one piece of metal, called a unibody, which makes it more resistant to breakage.
Indeed, the MacBook Pro’s 14.4 x 9.8 x 0.95-inch body felt solid in our hands, if a tad heavy; at 5.5 pounds it’s 0.1 ounces heavier than the last-generation Pro. Nevertheless, the MacBook Pro remains one of the lightest notebooks with a 15.4-inch display.
All Touch, No Buttons
The island keyboard, the likes of which you’ll also find on many Sony VAIO notebooks, is backlit in low-light conditions (a feature standard on the 15-inch MacBook Pro but available only on the highest-end MacBook). On the top row you’ll find multimedia keys for pausing, stopping, and skipping through movies; these were consistently responsive.
The keys are whisper-quiet and comfortable to type on, but for people used to pillowy keys it might take some getting used to. Although both the MacBook and MacBook Pro’s island keybords are quiet and comfy, the 13-inch MacBook’s keys feel shallower by comparison.
The MacBook Pro builds on the last generation’s multi-touch trackpad, which allowed users to manipulate on-screen objects as they would on an iPhone: spread your fingers to zoom in on a Web page, or peruse photos with the swipe of a finger. This glass touchpad is 39 percent larger than on previous MacBooks, and new multi-touch gestures allow users to activate Exposé or switch between applications with four fingers (the instruction manual includes illustrated instructions for taking advantage of multi-touch).
Aside from its size, the most notable thing about the touchpad is that it has no buttons. Rather, the entire pad doubles as a button. It’s the kind of elegant innovation that made us think, “Why didn’t we think of that?” Once you realize that you can press down on the lower end of the pad, using it feels intuitive. Oddly, we found the touch button stiffer on the Pro than on the highest-end MacBook.
The touchpad has just the right amount of resistance. Mastering the art of multi-touch took a few minutes, but once we did, it became addictive. Unfortunately, multi-touch still works only in Apple applications. For instance, we were able to zoom in on a Safari page by spreading two fingers apart, but we could not replicate this in Firefox 3. Mac users have always been able to right-click by tapping with two fingers, but now, users can designate the lower right section of the touchpad for right-clicking.
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