Digital Trends

Apple MacBook Pro 2.33GHz December 17th, 2006 | by Jason Tomczak

Features and Design Cont'd

The MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo has an ExpressCard/34 slot. Even though this is a faster alternative to the ubiquitous PC Card slot, very few ExpressCard/34 options are available to Mac users. Flash memory card readers are most prevalent.

An almost insignificant enhancement was made to the iSight camera mount. In the first-generation MacBook Pro, the iSight camera was seated in the LCD frame along side a tiny pinhole that would light up if the camera was on. The tiny pinhole is now gone, with the iSight's indicator light hidden under the silvery skin of the LCD frame. It's a neat trick - a green "on" light appears, seemingly from under the metal frame. Ground breaking? No. Neat? Heck yes.

The MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo still uses fast and efficient 5400rpm SATA hard drives. As an upgrade option, one can select the 4200rpm 200GB hard drive. The base configuration includes a 120GB SATA drive. Sadly, it is much more difficult to upgrade the hard drive in the MacBook Pro than it is in the MacBook. When buying your MacBook Pro, be sure to get more hard drive space than you think you'll need.

The  Right side of the MacBook Pro


The Left Side of the MacBook Pro

The MagSafe power connector, one of my favorite innovations to accompany the Intel switch, seems to have been improved upon. Early reports of hot connectors, though few in number, have almost entirely disappeared. Of course, the power brick has increased in size, likely indicating where the improvement was made.

For anyone thinking of switching from a PowerBook to a new MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo, there's a little-mentioned improvement... the battery bay. No longer does accessing the battery bay require loose change, an iron-like thumbnail or a screwdriver. The new battery has a simple and elegant two-thumb slide-eject system. It is effortless to remove and replace the battery. And with two latches holding the battery in place, it is doubly secure it its bay.

The white plastic power-brick, cables and external video adapter still do not match the silvery MacBook Pro. How gauche! Steve - where's the design team on this one?