Apple's 15-inch Core i5 MacBook Pro: The One to Get?
by Anand Lal Shimpi on April 14, 2010 10:38 PM EST- Posted in
- Mac
- MacBook Pro
- Arrandale
- Core i5
- Laptops
Bigger Power Bricks, Warmer Laps
Naturally the increase in potential power consumption means we have larger 85W power bricks instead of the 60W brick that shipped with the previous entry-level MacBook Pro:
The new power brick also uses a different mag safe power connector. The connector is still the same, the plug has simply changed:
The Old Mag Safe Connector
The New One
The new MacBook Pro also gets much warmer than the old one. I'd say it's more comparable to the first gen unibody MacBook Pro. If you're going to have this thing on your lap for a while you may want to wait for the next rev of Arrandale due out later this year. It should be a bit cooler.
Cooling the Core i5 and the GT 330M requires two fans, compared to just one in the previous 2-chip solution. The new MacBook Pro is no louder than the old one in practice.
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The0ne - Thursday, April 15, 2010 - link
Wait, huh? I run Win7 and have XP and redhat and ubuntu running. Why can't he do the same? I'm totally confused. So it's meant to be MacOS only?jasperjones - Thursday, April 15, 2010 - link
I said primary OS, not "only" or "exclusive" OS. It's well-known, for example, that MBPs has some issues on Windows that they don't have on OS X. My point is if you don't plan on running OS X most of the time, get something different.Anand wrote:
"You're paying for the design, build quality and ultimately the right to use OS X. If those things don't matter to you (particularly the OS X item) then you'd be much better off with an ASUS or Dell."
I would assume he made that comment in similar spirit.
mikeev - Thursday, April 15, 2010 - link
What's wrong with at least him testing Win7 battery life and letting us know? Is it some sort of secret? We know it's going to be bad- we just want to know how bad.I swear, fanboys sometimes... *facepalm*
Anand Lal Shimpi - Friday, April 16, 2010 - link
If I get the time to I'll run some Windows 7 numbers on it for you guys :)Take care,
Anand
mikeev - Friday, April 16, 2010 - link
Thanks Anand!!Jimbo - Thursday, April 15, 2010 - link
Why not just get your own Intel 80GB SSD and call it a day?I think that 15" I5 with an SSD would would be about as much speed as anyone could reasonably want from a notebook these days.
damianrobertjones - Thursday, April 15, 2010 - link
Has Anand every reviewed or posted about the HP Envy? Just asking as I'd hate this all to be about applePhynaz - Thursday, April 15, 2010 - link
You would hate a Mac article to be just about Apple?Yeah, that makes sense.
sportherz - Thursday, April 15, 2010 - link
Thanks alot for the great update! However, I was wondering if you have any information on the new 13inch MacBookPro. I was looking to upgrade from an older ThinkPad T61p to the new 13 inch MacBookPro, mainly because I hate the time it takes my ThinkPad to wake (running it in Windows 7, using a Vertex SSD) and more importantly the battery life. Due to having to fly often I was also not happy with a 15inch notebook and thus I was eyeballing the 13inch. It would be great if you could post some benchmarking on the 13inch graphics card. It seems that from general performance alone there is really no need to go to the arandale (4% increase in speed seems marginal), is that true? Thus would you second Steve Job's saying that the more important upgrade was the graphic chip?Any additional info would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for doing such an excellent job!
fsardis - Thursday, April 15, 2010 - link
do the edges still cut through your wrists as you type?does it still get too hot to touch when doing any sort of intensive task?
does the screen still tip over the moment you tilt the laptop forward in your lap?
i wonder why i never see these obvious design flaws mentioned.