The New MacBook Pro 13″ vs Previous MacBook
About a month ago, I recieved a brand new MacBook aluminum unibody, maxed out with a 2.4ghz CPU, 320GB harddrive, and 4GB of memory. I love it (except for a slight ding in the aluminum out of the box), although it did take some getting use to the smaller resolution after using a 15″ PowerBook for almost 4 years. Fast forward to last Monday, when Apple announced that the MacBook aluminum model is being renamed a “MacBook Pro,” and gaining a few new features to go along with its new “professional” moniker. The upgrades over my last-gen version include:
- Slight CPU bump (from 2.4ghz to 2.56ghz)
- FireWire 800
- SecureDigital card slot
- Upgraded, non-removable battery
- Upgraded display (higher color gamut)
- Standard 4GB Ram (now supports up to 8 GB from 4GB)
- “Pro” name designation
- 64-bit Bootcamp driver support
- Removal of digital audio input
- Cheaper price ($100 less)
That’s it! The rest of the system remains the same as the previous-gen MacBook – same GPU, same chassis, same display resolution, same multi-touch trackpad, same weight and dimensions, but at about $100 less than the previous-gen. At first I was a little upset, but then I came to the following realizations. Sure, I would love a FireWire port and built-in SD card reader on my MacBook, but I would only use the Firewire port with my old digital video cam (which I haven’t used recently – I actually only used FW on my PowerBook for Target Disk Mode). I can always use an external USB card reader for reading my SD cards, and my dSLR uses CompactFlash anyway. The small CPU bump isn’t going to make much of a difference, and while I guess it would be nice for my MacBook to say “Pro” on it, the name really makes no difference. That leaves the upgraded display and battery as the “upgrades” I would benefit most from, especially the display (a better display is always nice, although I should note that its the same resolution as the previous MacBook display, which I haven’t noticed any problems with. It also would be a moot point if you use an external monitor).
The new MacBook Pro comes standard with 4GB of memory, which I already have in my MacBook, but it now supports up to 8 GB (I don’t think I’d ever install more than 4GB, but its nice to have the capability. As there are no chipset changes, the previous-gen MacBooks also could support up to 8GB, but must be artificially capped via firmware. Apple could fix this via an upgrade, but I doubt they will.) Along with the “Pro” designation comes 64-bit Bootcamp drivers from Apple, allowing you to run a 64-bit version of Windows (which is required to take advantage of more than 2GB of RAM). This is one feature I would definitely take advantage of, and one feature my current MacBook is actually already capable of. That’s right, any Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook is capable of 64-bit, but Apple has purposely blocked their non-Pro computers from installing the Drivers. Hopefully, Apple will rectify this crazy software-only feature distinction with Snow Leopard, since 64-bit is useful to all users (although again, I’m not holding my breath).
As far as the battery, the new battery features new technology that supposedly allows it to last doubly long before beginning to degrade (from 500 charges to 1000 charges) and get more life out of each charge. Gizmodo has done some preliminary testing, and the difference appears to be about 40 extra minutes (see diagram below, and read the review over at Gizmodo), which is pretty significant! However, there is a downside! The new battery is non-removable by the user, and must be replaced by Apple, where it will cost $175 for replacement rather than $120. Likewise, the longer life claim has yet to be proved in general use.
So, all-in-all, the upgrade is a great one for those needing to upgrade. I really have to applaud Apple for creating a really great computer! But at the end of the day, I’ve concluded that not having the latest and greatest “MacBook Pro” isn’t really that big of a deal. Sure, the new model has some great features, but my last-gen MacBook performs just as well in almost all areas (with the exception of the CPU, display, and battery), and so far, I can say I don’t have any complaints!
Diagrams from Gizmodo.
