Digital Trends

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

Features and Design

The MacBook Pro comes in two basic configurations: fast and faster. The entry-level $1,999 model gets a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor at its heart, along with 2GB of memory and a 250GB hard drive, while the faster $2,499 version in the same shells gets a faster 2.53GHz processor, double the RAM at 4GB, and a fatter 320GB hard drive. Apple also offers one more shot of speed in the form of a $300 upgrade to a 2.8GHz processor.

Both actually sport the same unique graphics setup, coupling an efficient Nvidia GeForce 9400M with a blazing GeForce 9600M GT (8600M GT in the 170inch) as well, and the capacity to switch between them on demand. The faster model though, gets a GPU with 512MB of RAM, while the slower one packs only 256MB.

Like the ordinary MacBook, the Pro now gets an LED-backlit screen, which fires up instantly and uses less power than the traditional CCFL equivalent. As an added twist, the LCD and the surrounding black bezel have been sealed under a single pane of glass, giving it a sleek edge-to-edge glass look. 

Apple's Ubersexy Unibody

Apple’s old MacBook Pro set a high standard in build quality, but the new unibody design manages to demolish just about every other notebook out there in terms of feel. The tight tolerances, lack of gaps and sturdy construction all make the notebook feel almost like a solid slab of aluminum when it’s closed. According to Apple, that’s because it’s machined from one. And it shows. There’s not a bit of creaking, squeaking of flexing to be found.

Unfortunately, practicality does pay a price in two small ways. First, the aluminum takes on a cold feel when used in cool conditions, or if it’s been transported in a less-than-heated environment (like say, a backpack or trunk in the winter). It doesn’t take long to come up to temp, but in the mean time you’ll be pulling the edges of your sleeves up to cover your wrists. Which also brings us to the next problem: the edges around the laptop’s inner deck are about two strokes on a whetstone away from being razor blades. Apple has given the notebook straight, squared-off edges as a visual effect, but they also have the unfortunate side effect of being harsh on the wrists if you’re operating the laptop from the wrong angle. Neither was a deal-breaker, and seasoned MacBook Pro users are already accustomed to the problems, but the style does come with a price. 

Weight and Dimensions

At 5.5 pounds, Apple’s MacBook Pro is actually admirably light compared with plastic-clad notebooks of the same size, unlike its little brother, which wears the aluminum shell like an anchor. Dell’s XPS M1530, for instance, starts at 5.78 pounds, and Sony’s NS starts at a hefty 6.4 pounds. We found it to be highly portable during testing, and the depth of 0.95 inches and beveled edges were especially refreshing when trying to slide it into a crowded backpack. While it’s not as tossable and tiny as many extreme travel notebooks, we wouldn’t rule out the MacBook Pro for travelling at all, and in fact appreciated its larger size and feature set for performing work on the go.

Ports and Connectors

Though better equipped than its runty little brother that comes with barely the essentials for connectivity, the MacBook Pro is still relatively Spartan when it comes to exterior ports. On the left-hand side, you’ll find a MagSafe power jack, Ethernet jack, FireWire 800, two USB 2.0 ports, a Mini DisplayPort, audio inputs and outputs, plus a ExpressCard slot. On the right-hand side: just an optical drive.

Though the FireWire 800 port is an essential given the media-editing capabilities of the MacBook Pro, we were less fond of the Mini DisplayPort, which requires adapters to function with any screen, but Apple doesn’t bother to include any, making it an essentially a useless port out of the box. We would have rather seen a native DVI port, which would not only provide the same flexibility, it would eliminate the need for Apple’s arcane and expensive adapters, which start at $29 and run all the way up to $99 for the dual-DVI version. The lack of a USB 2.0 port on the right-hand side is also an inconvenience for users of wired travel mice.

Apple's signature MagSafe power adapter makes it easy to connect and disconnect the notebook's power cord by snapping the cord to the notebook with only magnetic cling, but we also discovered an annoying side effect: The magnetized power port sucked up tiny magnetic particles from the bottom of a backpack, jamming it up and preventing the power cord from sticking. The ferrous sandy bits were also difficult to remove, due to the magnetism locking them into the crevice.

Massively Multitouch

If normal touchpads are like backyard swimming pools, the one on Apple’s new MacBook Pro is like the Olympic-sized one down at the YMCA. It spans roughly four inches across and three inches tall, leaving plenty of room for multitouch acrobatics. And as anyone who has used an iPhone or iPod Touch can testify, the ability to use more than one finger to navigate a touch device makes an enormous difference in ease of use after figuring out all the tricks and shortcuts it opens up. A four-finger swipe to the right, for instance, brings up Apple’s application switcher, while the same gesture down opens Expose. Two fingers will scroll, and three act like a back-forward button. After getting the hang of these few basic features, the pad began to feel a lot less like a mouse and a lot more like a desktop control center.

The lack of a mouse button didn’t turn out to be much of an issue, but at the same time, it doesn’t add much to the experience either. It’s clearly an aesthetic choice on Apple’s behalf. While we adjusted easily to clicking down on the touchpad, it did bother us in a few circumstances, like when dragging items. It’s possible to press and hold the pad as a button and simultaneously move your finger (or touch with one finger and move with the other), but it’s more of a pain than with a conventional pad. The one-finger-touch-and-drag really annoyed us for certain applications, like Google Maps (which, oddly enough, does not support any multitouch tricks for navigation). 

Image Courtesy of Apple