13-inch MacBook Pro gets torn apart
By Nilay Patel 
posted June 10th 2009 5:27PM
posted June 10th 2009 5:27PM
posted June 10th 2009 5:27PM
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cant wait to get this in the next two weeks,i am very exited!!!!!!!!!
got mine today replacing my white macbook. an amazing machine the backlight is really handy and the small stuff makes all the differences. the feel of the machine is very good as well, high quality and obviously looks stunning. ordered online yesterday came today excellent!
I've never owned a mac, but for this price I may get this rig. I've been eying the dell studio xps 13 for a while, but this may make a convert of me, especially since it can run windows too.
Just waiting for windows 7 to be released.
iPorn..
@Barbaric
I just moved from a unibody macbook to a Studio XPS 13 a few weeks ago. The build quality isn't the same and I do miss the trackpad but for almost half the price you get a better cpu, esata, HDMI, Displayport, expresscard and SD slot. Guess it depends how much you need OS X. I ended up using windows more than it on my macbook so it worked out getting the Dell.
@ Barbaric
I went from a Dell XPS M1210 (I think) that was only about a year old and already stupidly slow, to a MacBook Air last summer. It is my first Mac and it was the best move i've ever made.
I want a little "Pro" sticker for my uMacbook.
@Brotato: how would a Studio XPS 13 be half the price of a unibody macbook? i see that the base model is $999 with a 2.0 Ghz core2, thats not much less than $1200 for the MB... Just asking as i am too interested in a cheap light 13" laptop.
@Barbaric
@Bogdan
@brotato
@t_bracelin
I too am looking at the MBP 13 with great interest as I’m in the market for a powerful, portable, 13” laptop.
Here in the UK Apple are charging £899 and £1,149 ($1,483 and $1,895) for the two base specs. Which, when compared to other laptops in the class are looking very good options, they certainly have the weight and dimensions licked.
This potentially being my first Mac I have a few concerns and questions though;
1) How rigid and rugged is the aluminium unibody? Does it increase reliability? I’ve had some laptops in the past that bowed, bended, twisted, and felt so flimsy.
2) How hot does it get? How well does the unibody dissipate heat? Most laptops I've used get incredibly hot, so much so that using them in your lap is unthinkable, I’ve even encountered one that warped the leather inlay and scorched the woodwork of an antique desk. If the unibody gets anywhere near as hot as most laptops, it would be like putting a hotplate/iron on your lap!
3) Possibility and ease of upgrading RAM and/or HDD. Is it possible, and if so, how easy is it to upgrade the RAM and HDD in a unibody?
So, as we knew, it's a Macbook with Firewire and an SD card.
OK.
Also with a better screen and backlit keyboard at the same price point. And slightly better performance, too.
Also with a better screen and backlit keyboard at the same price point. And slightly better performance, too.
Wonderful comment system. This reply was to Mark Anderson's comment.
It's funny how apple makes a big deal about a SD card slot when there's been SD card slots in other computers for years
@Anderson
It also has a LED screen, 7hour battery and 8gig of memory. Plus minor nicietes such as backlit keyboard, tweaked up processor and more bus speed. For less $. Hardly earth shattering but significant and useful.
I don't think Apple made a big deal out of the SDslot, they just said it had one.
Aaaah, that's GOOD ol' British cynisism.
The kind you don't get much of these days. What is the world coming to?
A professional SD slot.
(With no CF)
Also with a small "Pro" sticker :)
Why didn't you tear it apart first?
@naz im glad you noticed quite innovative the empire is.
@nas:
Have they really made a big deal out of it? I'm pretty sure they mentioned it as one of the many changes, but they didn't tout it as the second coming of Christ. Is it possible that, because it's a new feature on the Macbooks that many of the posts discussing the changes point it out and your confusing a feature breakdown with making a big deal about it?
So it's a Macbook with some upgrades to keep it in line with the other OEM's upgrades?
OK.
Is the ram and hdd still upgradeable?
I've heard yes, but I'd like to know for sure as well.
Yes they are. Actually you can replace the battery yourself too although Apple would really like to do it for you. That is once you can actually buy just a battery.
Watch for Chinese batteries to overflow from Hong Kong via ebay. Once they get their hands on an original, cheap kirfs will abound. Probably reallly sub par quality at first, but there's a chance for replacements.
does replacing the RAM/HDD void the warranty if you DIY?
Will Apple do the upgrade for you (how much $) and keep your warranty in tact, if you bring them the new RAM and HDD?
Seriously considering buying this. So hard to resist.
Hopefully the price of 2x 4GB DDR3 memory kits drops soon. Still $700+ on Newegg. How long do you think until it costs $200ish?
Heck it even looks like you could upgrade to a Blu-ray drive pretty easy.
Not that it does Mac OS X users any good (yet).
I don't think it's ever voided your warranty to replace memory/HD. Usually they provide directions. Though I think maybe on the Mac Mini you weren't told how.
It's probably illegal to void your warranty for replacing a component -- I think because of Moss/Magnusson, the mfgr has to be able to prove that your 'modification' is what broke it. Though for all I know this doesn't apply to electronics or is easy to get around by saying 'static buildup did it'.
I'd wondering the same thing as I may upgrade them in future.
Could work out considerably cheaper than getting apple to do it.
Regarding voiding the warranty if DIYing, it all depends on the small print of said warranty. If is states somewhere "all repiars and hardware modification must be carried out by Apple authorised personnel" or similar, then if you're not an Apple autorised person, warranty is void!
Does anyone else make notebooks with unibody enclosures?
TIA
Yeah, dell ... but they really sux ...
Lenovo makes a few with a magnesium alloy roll cage.
I wish RAM was user replaceable
But it doesn't look that difficult to do the deed.
I think I will replace my MBA with a 13" MBP...
Cheers
Snd me yr MBA, KTHXBAI!
engadget has become apple's new bitch
Yeah, because gadget news doesn't belong on a gadget news website if Apple made the gadget.
I think Nilay is aiming to be Engadget's own Jesus Diaz. It's hard to beat that fanboy but I can see you're trying.
hum ... engadget has ALWAYS been apple's bitch ...
You lot need to quit your Engadget / Apple whinging. If it was Win 7, Zune or Xbox your boxers would be wet by now.
And who's bitch are you?
All the fanboy bitching has got to stop. I dont care who makes the product. I'm a gadget fanboy. Reading the comments for something interesting or useful is really getting pointless.
Read a pre post & some ass has to start a bitch thread with all the reasons iPhone is superior. Read an iPod post, and its full of why zune is the better hardware.
How would you guys like it if you had to login first to READ a post, and they were censored to your preferred platforms based on your comments. Dont like microsoft... fine, Engadget wont even show you the posts or let you comment.
All I want is info on ALL gadgets, regardless of creator or whatever. Why cant I have a Macbook, zune, and PS3 in the same house.
Goddamn...if you like something for good reasons, share them with the crowd instead of just bashing the other offerings. Was Engadget Sony's bitch when the PS3 was released? cause it dominated the news?
I love built-in batteries. There are few things that are so badly designed as battery covers.
Phones break apart when dropped, family remote controls always lack 'em and it's just a serious waste of space.
Thats so funny... I was fit 2 AA NiMh batteries and an Energizer USB charger into the cable box DVR remote- in the same place the standard removable AA batteries fit. And filled it in with composite material, making it solid (no cover). Now all I need to charge it is a reg USB cable and it plugs into any available USB port, there's one right on the DVR.
Oh please, with the Al case the battery cover could have been 90-95% as strong as a fixed battery and still been the extended size.
I guess Apple knows it's market, when business consists of going to Starbucks so strangers can watch you work on your "novel", the limits of a fixed battery don't really matter that much.
@jon:
But still, the new design is even sturdier than the old. And it saves space, giving you 2 extra hours.
Engadget sure love them some apple eh?
If the insides are the same as the original unibody, does that mean the original will also support 8gb ram as well?
Hum short answer NO. I believe it's disabled i the SMS ( firmware ) and you can't really use the firmware for the newer version. It might also be disabled in the hardware ( chipset ) although I highly doubt that. Plus there are very few things that you need 8gb of ram for. Really!
SMS? I thought it was CMOS...