Digital Trends

Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2008) October 27th, 2008 | by Nick Mokey

Performance

Our MacBook went from dead to ready-to-surf in just 38 seconds, which decimates almost any Vista-equipped machine we've tried and even improves upon the smaller MacBook significantly, which was already a major . Where it really shines, though, is in waking up from standby. Almost as fast as you can flip open its wafer-thin lid, it's ready to go. Both are stellar traits for a machine meant to be lugged around everywhere and popped open on a whim.

Wi-Fi has traditionally been a sore spot for Apple's previous metal MacBooks, since their shells interfered with reception, but the company seems to have found a workaround for the latest version. While it still has some problems finding fringe networks, the MacBook did a respectable job sniffing out usable networks in residential areas, almost on par with conventional plastic-shell notebooks. It also outperformed most PCs in connection time, latching on to networks with high signal very quickly and with minimal hassle.

As we've come to expect from Apple products, OS X responded to input quickly and smoothly, snapping open applications on demand and delivering seamless performance during most everyday tasks. Even under the load of nearly every preloaded application, it refused to chug and continued operating smoothly.

Switching to the high-performance GeForce 8600M GT card makes a barely noticeable difference for most everyday applications, but performance will definitely speed up in demanding applications like editing movies and playing games. Though you won’t find many Mac games that will challenge the 9600 GT, Toca Race Car Driver 3, a relatively demanding game, ran silky smooth on our system, meaning the MacBook Pro should handle the rather limited selection of Mac titles just fine.

Unfortunately, switching to the faster card isn’t nearly as smooth or easy as most users would expect from Apple. Rather than using an exterior switch as other manufacturers with the same setup have done, Apple requires users to switch through the OS, and the option isn’t exactly easy to find. It’s rather ambiguously labeled “higher performance” under the Energy Saver menu, which took us longer than expected to find, especially since the included documentation makes no reference to it. Furthermore, it requires you to log out to switch cards, meaning you’ll have to save and close everything you have open before unlocking the higher performance of the 8600M GT – a rather inconvenient process. 

Image Courtesy of Apple

Display

The MacBook Pro’s 15.4-inch LED-backlit display is among the finest we’ve encountered – on a notebook or otherwise. Its colors are extraordinarily vibrant, its 1440-by-900-pixel resolution makes images and text sharp, and it fights off the sun like none other thanks to its punchy LED backlight. Even with the midday sun streaming in a window or beating down directly onto it, images on the screen remain bright and easily legible, defeating one of the most common complaints about LCDs. As another convenient side effect of the LED backlight, it reaches full brightness instantly upon firing up from sleep, doing away with the weak, barely usably light that most conventional notebook displays throw off while they yawn and warm up.

Unfortunately, the ultra-glossy coating on the screen that makes it so incredibly crisp-looking also catches loads of glare in some scenarios. While you won’t notice it as much for typing and surfing, where white seems to be the dominant color, dark screens, such as those in games, definitely bring out the worst in the display.

Additionally, the screen only cranes back from vertical about 45 degrees, which isn't quite enough flex room when you're contorted into certain tight situations. On the plus side, though, the full-length hinge then runs along the bottom of the screen feels sturdy, and offers just the right amount of friction to keep the screen locked in place most of the time. 

Audio

For a 15.4-inch notebook, the speakers on the MacBook Pro really threw off an impressive level of sound. At full volume, they were actually able to fill a room to the point where we had to raise our voices to talk over it, and there was amazingly little distortion at that level, either. Of course, being notebook speakers, they are almost completely devoid of bass, but for but for sharing a YouTube clip with friends or taking in few tunes while you surf at home, they’re actually more than ample. 

Keyboard

Like previous MacBooks, the newest version uses "chiclet-style" keys, meaning they're recessed into the keyboard like individual buttons with aluminum filler between them, rather than with crumb-catching crevices, as on normal keyboards. This definitely produces a clean design, and Apple has complemented it with a respectably neat set of keys, but we weren't blown away with the typing experience. It felt more muddled than we were used to, lacking the crisp, clean feedback of a keyboard like those found on Lenovo's ThinkPads. It's very usable in every sense, but the satisfaction factor wasn't quite there as much as we've experienced on some our top-rated keyboards.

Battery Life

In testing, the MacBook Pro delivered Apple’s claimed five hours of battery life, but only by turning down brightness and using features like Wi-Fi sparingly. Turning on discrete graphics will cut that figure even more to four hours, but realistically, you probably won’t be turning on high performance mode then using processor power sparingly, so prepare for much less in actual usage. While it’s a passable travel machine, you won’t be getting much done or using its most powerful features when separated from a wall outlet for too long.

Conclusion

The new MacBook Pro’s discrete Nvidia graphics and LED-backlit display make a practical usability addition to the MacBook Pro, but the unibody frame and buttonless multi-touch pad can mostly be called frivolous revisions – albeit pretty ones. If anything, the Pro’s price of $1,999, or $2,499 for the premium version, would be the biggest deterrent to purchasing one, since the same performance can definitely be had cheaper from other manufacturers. Apple’s knack for design, though, is untouchable, and it has definitely reached the pinnacle of refinement in the super-sleek MacBook Pro.

Pros:
 
• Rock-solid aluminum unibody
• Class-leading display
• Large multi-touch trackpad
• Powerful discrete graphics card

Cons:
 
• Expensive
• Screen glare
• Mediocre connectivity