The MacBook Pro Review (13 & 15-inch): 2011 Brings Sandy Bridge
by Anand Lal Shimpi, Brian Klug & Vivek Gowri on March 10, 2011 4:17 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Mac
- Apple
- Intel
- MacBook Pro
- Sandy Bridge
Display Quality
We analyzed the 15" antiglare display on the new MacBook Pro since in all likelihood if you care about display quality you'll opt for the high res or high res antiglare option. Before even starting to analyze display quality, I pulled the panel model out of EDID and wasn't surprised to see the same LTN154MT07 Samsung panel in the new 15" MBP as we did in the previous generation. It's literally the exact same. It's not surprising in the least that Apple is using the same panel; there wasn't anything wrong with the old one.
13-inch Glossy MBP (back) vs. 15-inch MBP with optional anti-glare screen (front)
We calibrated using the i1D2 and ColorEyes Display Pro same as we did before, then check with the GMB color checker card colors and get Delta E. There's shockingly little to say about it that we haven't said before. It's the same as the previous one, and unsurprisingly the data backs that conclusion up very well. Apple also seems to ship an ICC profile for each specific panel type with LUT curves already, which actually put the display close to where it should be. It's a TN and likewise still has the same mediocre vertical viewing angles as virtually every TN.
It's a bit disappointing that Apple didn't take the opportunity to dramatically improve displays on the MBPs this time around. While everyone was speculating about what display the iPad 2 would get, there was very little discussion about how the Mac side of things needs higher resolution to even get close to being able to display 1:1. Hopefully higher resolution notebook displays are somewhere on the horizon.
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Bewareofthewolves - Thursday, March 24, 2011 - link
Hello all, I just wanted a bit of advice. I am planning on buying one of the new Macbook Pro's, and wondered which one would best suit my needs. I am mainly making the purchase to use Logic Pro, which i will use extensively, i will also be using the internet regularly, should i go for a high end 13'' or the 15'' model. Advice would be appreciated, thankyou.abhic - Sunday, March 27, 2011 - link
Hey Guys,I had to decide what to upgrade to this year and I kept on going back and forth between the 13" & the 15" MBP. You guys single-handedly made up my mind! Kudos on an insanely well researched post.
I ended up noting down a few points on how I analyzed the choices as well - http://vritti.net/2011/03/2011-15-macbook-pro-i7-2...
Keep up the great work.
Mezoxin - Thursday, March 31, 2011 - link
Does switching between SNB HD3000 and the discrete graphics work in windows 7 ?tno - Wednesday, May 4, 2011 - link
Nope. As they stated, in Win 7 it's dGPU only.Steve Katz - Tuesday, April 12, 2011 - link
Anand states that the Thunderbolt port is not even visible under Device Manager.Does this mean that the 2011 MBPs cannot use an external monitor under Windows 7? Or did the author mean that the Thunderbolt port is limited to mini-DisplayPort functionality under Windows 7?
Lack of support for external monitors under Windows 7 would be a deal breaker for me.
BTW: I had to create a new log on to post this comment. Anyone care to explain why it's "apparently spam?"
linked.account - Saturday, May 7, 2011 - link
Well I think the subject of my question was enough to explain my question :D!linked.account - Saturday, May 7, 2011 - link
And what about Airport Express 802.11n ?JCrichton - Monday, May 9, 2011 - link
Would you happen to have a comparison or stats for the DGPU difference for the 6490M?cagecurrent - Friday, May 13, 2011 - link
Got my first Mac ever yesterday: a Macbook Pro 13" with the slower CPU. As I had a X25-M G2 160 GB SSD lying around I had planned from the start to install it. It was super-smooth, and everything works perfect.Love Mac/OSX, really sold on it... probably getting a second Mac before the end of the summer.
Per, Sweden
@cagecurrent
angad - Wednesday, June 8, 2011 - link
I was kind of hoping for a better look at Windows 7 (and specifically gaming) performance on the 15-inch Pro, given that the 13-inch's anemic GPU should have been enough of a 'don't bother'.I want a Macbook but I want to game. I'm ok with 4-odd hours of battery life under Windows and I might get used to the funky fn+backspace to delete but I really don't want a rude shock when it comes to gaming.
Can anybody tell me whether the base 15-inch model will handle games under Win7 without killing itself?