Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro (Early 2010) Reviewed: Shaking the CPU/GPU Balance
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 9, 2010 12:15 AM EST- Posted in
- Mac
- Apple
- Intel
- MacBook Pro
- NVIDIA
The Display: Just as Good
Apple's MacBook Pro lineup is all about consistency. In everything from aesthetics to the keyboard, you really just have to pick your desired screen size and go from there.
That means the 13-inch MacBook Pro has the same keyboard as the 15 and 17-inch models. In other words, you get the best chiclet keyboard on the market. It's great for anyone who wants to do a lot of typing. Like the rest of the Pro lineup, the keyboard is backlit. You can turn off the backlight as well as control its brightness.
The aspect ratio is an Apple-standard 16:10 with a comfortable but slightly old-lady 1280 x 800 resolution. There is no matte screen option, so outdoor use in direct sunlight will be a problem. Indoors however, the display looks great.
In terms of brightness, color gamut and contrast ratio there's virtually no difference between the 13-inch display and the 15-inch high resolution matte display we reviewed a couple of months ago. It's not the best panel we've ever seen, but a clear step above what you find in average netbooks/notebooks.
The MacBook Pro displays can get very bright. They need to in order to make the glossy display usable outside, but indoors and in the shade the brightness is enough to suit anyone's needs.
The black level is reasonable but nothing spectacular, thanks to the bright whitepoint the resulting contrast ratio is pretty solid:
Given Apple's focus on creative professionals the color accuracy of the 13-inch's panel is excellent. And despite the lower price tag, you give up nothing compared to the 15-inch panel.
Color gamut is also impressive, again not the best we've seen but way better than the majority of laptops on the market. And again, identical to the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
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runebinder - Saturday, June 26, 2010 - link
Hi there, just waded through a few pages of comments to see if anyone had already posted it, gave up in the end as more of it was PC Vs Mac then anything else, so apologies if this has already been reported.Got an i7 15" MacBook Pro and installed a 120GB Vertex 2E today, checked System Profiler to see if Apple were limiting SATA speeds as they have previously have and noticed mine has TRIM Support: No listed as well. Just thought I'd mention it as the article states that this is limited to the 13" only. If it's old news then just ignore.
tno - Wednesday, December 29, 2010 - link
This was reported on, and all signs do point to an eventual adoption of TRIM in OS X; as well as a more aggressive use of the GPGPU. Maybe Lion? Maybe Liono?tno - Wednesday, December 29, 2010 - link
A user commented:"I know this wont mean anything to anyone who already has their mind made up. But I have a ridiculous desktop for running games and any intense windows apps. However I also have a 13" macbook pro that is awesome. It stays charged for a very long time even running a virtual machine (vmware fusion is great) for when i need to do something in windows xp or 7. I have it partitioned with windows 7 which I can either boot into if I really need the extra performance for something or I can load it in vmware to get any files I may need. It has some useful terminal commands built in and the trackpad is hands down the best I have ever used. Using any other laptop feels gimmicky compared to the multitouch and all the stupid hand swipe gestures that surprisingly increase productivity! It does cost more, but it isnt plastic and I really feel that people complain about the glossy screen just to find something to complain about. I would never buy an apple desktop but I feel that the 13" mbp is a great computer. "
This is exactly what the usage scenario of which Apple is taking advantage. What's the best way to play video games? On a console or on a Windows PC. Would Apple like a piece of that pie? Sure and they're working on it but that's never going to be a driving influence behind a Mac purchase. But let's move "play" then into the category of "consumption," that is the user of a consumption device is consuming a media, in this case a game. Apple designs their laptops and desktops for "production," they want their machines to be devices you work on. And this has always been so.
So, will the gamer find their Starcraft 2 or Call of Duty performance inadequate? You bet. But that's why they make gaming laptops. Apple doesn't sell those.
To everyone else, and that includes casual gamers that make up the vast majority of computer users, getting work done on a Macintosh is great. Is it better than on a Windows machine? Windows 7 has come along way but I still find the windows management aspects of OS X vastly superior and that makes it worth it for me. Consumption is not the primary aim of Apple computers. That's the purview of . . . their consumption products. Want to listen to music? iPod/iPhone. Want to watch a movie? Apple TV. Want to read a book? iPad. Want to play a game? iOS. Two divisions of Apple, two different missions.
I belabor this point because I think it's important to keep in mind when discussing these products. Losing perspective is, to paraphrase an idiom, like discussing the citrus characteristics of an apple.