MacBook Pro (mid 2009) in-depth impressions
By Nilay Patel 
posted June 18th 2009 1:00PM
posted June 18th 2009 1:00PM
So while this isn't going to be a full-on review, we think just slightly more than just our usual bullet-pointed impressions are in order -- and we think it's important to actually break things down by model. How do Apple's latest laptops stack up? Read on for more.
13-inch MacBook Pro
We thought the unibody 13-inch MacBook was a fine machine when we first reviewed it back in October 2008, and the upgrades it's been given during its Pro makeover are entirely welcome and positive -- unlike the 15-inch model, things have mostly been added here instead of taken away. Let's run 'em down:
The screen's way nicer. Apple lists the specific improvement as a 60 percent higher color gamut, but unless you're getting in there with a colorimeter and a monocle what you'll really notice is that Apple's finally shipping a mainstream 13-inch laptop with a viewing angle wider than a pencil. Compared to the disappointing MacBook screens we've seen in the past, the 13-inch Pro display is quite impressive -- we'd say it's roughly equivalent to the panel in the 15, and slightly better than the panel in the first-gen MacBook Air we have on hand. Of course, you're still stuck with that mirror-like gloss finish, but at this size and price point you don't have a lot of matte options regardless of manufacturer.
The dedicated audio-in jack has been pushed aside in favor of an SD card slot and FireWire 800 (hallelujah!). In its stead remains a single multifunction 3.5-inch audio jack which can be used with the iPhone headset for voice calls and also be set as an standard input -- you won't be able to record and monitor at the same time without a USB audio interface, but we doubt most people will care.
Speaking of the SD card slot, well -- there's an SD card slot. Hard to imagine it's taken Apple this long to put one in a consumer machine, but we're happy to finally have it. SD cards just show up as standard USB mass storage, so you can use 'em any which way you want -- hell, you can even boot from one in a pinch.
Lastly, there's the newly sealed-in battery, which is where we think the distinction between consumers and professionals is drawn into sharpest relief: we're not personally thrilled about it, but on the whole we have no doubt it'll be a win for the average person who buys this machine. In our rough testing of general use (web browsing, image and document editing, media playback) we tended to get between four and five hours of action, which is more or less twice what we're used to getting out of our black plastic MacBook, and an hour or so more than the removable battery in the original unibody machines. Considering we've never met a single person who's purchased a spare MacBook battery, that doesn't seem like a terrible tradeoff. Apple says the battery is designed to last five years, longer than most people will keep the machine, but if you do need a new one for some reason, it'll cost the same $129 as the replaceable, including service and disposal. If you happen to find a cheaper replacement elsewhere, you can install it yourself without concern -- not only does it appear to be pretty easy, but Apple says replacing the battery on any of the MacBook Pros won't void the warranty unless you break something. Sure, it doesn't completely ease the sting, but unless there's a sizable contingent of battery-swapping consumers out there we don't know about, we're guessing most people will happily accept longer life off the plug.
All in all, it's a solid revision of an already-popular machine, and we're honestly left wondering why the $999 white plastic MacBook continues to exist -- for $200 more you get a dramatically better screen, a faster processor on a speedier bus, an SD card slot, longer battery life, and rock-solid unibody construction. In fact, Apple told us they consider the $1,199 13-inch MBP configuration an entry-level machine, which we think signals a change: "Pro" no longer means "professional," but rather "aluminum." It's a semantic difference, to be sure, but it's easy to see how it blurs the line between Apple's consumer and professional machines -- just take a look at the $1,699 15-inch MacBook Pro that lacks a discrete graphics chip. It's anarchy, we tell you. Anarchy!
Don't get us wrong, all this line-blurring is great for consumers, who are now getting pro-grade features like that much-improved display at lower prices, but we don't think it works as well in reverse -- it feels a bit like Apple's forcing consumer-oriented design decisions on its professional customers.
15-inch MacBook Pro
We'll admit to being extremely wary whenever Apple makes changes to the 15-inch MacBook Pro. 15-inch MBPs running all manner of operating systems are pervasive in the Engadget ranks, and when we hit the road at events like CES and E3 we tend to standardize on them so we can do things like... share batteries. So it's fair to say we went into testing somewhat skeptical, and after a week with the midrange $1,999 configuration we're only slightly less ambivalent about Apple's latest revision of its most popular pro machine -- it's still solid, but we just don't think mobile professionals will be as pleased with Apple's design choices as the general consumer. It's an interesting dichotomy: the exact same changes that we view positively on the 13-inch MBP seem like negatives on the 15, because on the larger machine Apple's traded features instead of simply adding them. For example, instead of just adding an SD reader, Apple's replaced the ExpressCard slot -- they told us research indicated only a small percentage of MBP owners ever used it, and those that did generally inserted an SD card reader. But where that sort of statistics-driven design decision makes sense on a consumer machine, it only serves to alienate the small number of mobile users who depend on ExpressCards to actually get work done -- yes, it's a tiny minority, but as of now your only option if you need a new Mac laptop with ExpressCard is the 17-inch MBP, which is larger and heavier than the 15 and starts at $2,499. We'll be fine switching to USB 3G sticks from our ExpressCard modems, but we just can't argue in favor of convenience over flexibility with this one -- we've heard from a lot of A/V pros who are steaming mad.
Similarly, while the sealed-in battery seems like a net win for outlet-surfing consumers buying the 13-inch machine, on the 15 it troubles us greatly, especially since we only managed to eke out four hours while we were writing this review with some light browsing here and there for research. That's only slightly more than half of what Apple claims under the same conditions, and while it's certainly good, it's not so much better than the outgoing MBP that the tradeoff seems worth it -- and keep in mind, once you drain this thing in the field, you'll need to spend around two hours tied to a wall to get fully charged up instead of just swapping a battery and taking off. Yes, we know an external battery pack like the 32-hour Sanho HyperMac is a viable solution to this problem, but we just don't see why we're being forced into accepting an hour or so of additional usage at the expense of flexibility -- did Apple get tired of selling us spare batteries?
Still, these are pretty minor changes in the grand scheme of things, and we don't think they'll deter most people from what remains an otherwise excellent machine -- we'd be willing to bet the SD reader gets used far more often than vast majority ever even pondered their ExpressCard slot, and that extra hour of battery life will likely leave quite a few pleased as punch. We're just not convinced Apple had to subtract in order to add.
Wrap-up
Here's our main takeaway from the new MacBook Pro line: Apple's made some very strong decisions about what most customers care about and followed up with equally strong design decisions across the board. Most people use SD cameras, so there's an SD slot. Most people never use audio-in and headphones at the same time, so there's just one jack on the 13. Most people never think about replacing their laptop batteries but wish they'd last longer, so a bigger cell is now sealed in. ExpressCard, who cares. It's a simple and appealing logic, and it's a great strategy in the consumer market, but we don't think it holds up as well for professionals, who require much more flexibility from their machines. Of course, you could argue that Apple's always catered to 95 percent of its users at the expense of 5, but we think that tendency has been expressed to an extreme here, and we'd like to see the pendulum swing back a bit the next time these are revved -- some matte display options would be a nice start.
That said, it's not like you have any other choices if you want a Mac laptop, and we very much doubt you'll be unhappy with any of the new MacBook Pros unless you're one of the few people dependent on ExpressCard accessories or you have a clinical aversion to external battery packs. They remain attractive, well-constructed, and high-performing, and hey -- FireWire's back.
Respect for having one of them foldable SD cards. ("SD Plus"?)
The irony of having a foldable SD card in that slot is that if you do have a foldable, you stick it in the USB port! LOL! Either way, I have owned a foldable for a while and they are invaluable, except they do of course block the second USB port on Macs. I wish Apple would do what ASUS, Dell and others do and space their USB ports apart and place them on both sides of the machine. But we know Apple, always saving a penny here or there. And putting all the I/O ports next to each other of course makes the PCB less pricey.
I know what you mean. You can always just get a little USB extension cable if you really want to.
Yeah, it' done for the sake of design, but I would prefer more spacing. I have some older usb drives that are pretty wide, and take up both usb ports.
Anyone know if they still make these in modern capacities? all I could find were 1gb ones from like 2005
The author of this article FAILED to mention the biggest downside of the new 13" and 15" "Pro" line...
THE SATA DRIVES ARE DOWNGRADED/CAPPED AT 1.5mbps!!!!! Which pretty much means that if you wanna use the SSD you will never get the full speed out of it.
I understand this if you wanna sell these notebooks to the average consumers... But please, don't call them "PRO" ffs!!!
@Glitter: I always get mine from Play.com (UK). They currently have "SanDisk 8GB SDHC Plus Ultra II" and "SanDisk 4GB Extreme SDHC+ Ducati Edition", but I got their normal 4GB SDHC+ with clearance price so keep an eye out.
@Milan: just so you know, Engadget already has an article about this. Apparently those shipped with SSD are not affected which, if true, is very naughty of Apple, forcing buyers to get SSD from Apple instead of elsewhere.
Those shipped with SSD are in fact 1.5gbps capped as well. Check out Macrumors.com forums. There is a person that hated life once he received his 256GB SSD macbook 15" still capped at SATA 1 speeds.
Pretty sad.
Yeah, I have to unplug my mouse to plug in a flash drive. They could have added a millimeter or two between the ports and it would be fine.
If you really like having a card reader and you have the Express card slot, you can get a card reader for it. They used to sell them at the Apple Store, but I just went there a couple days ago and all the Express card stuff is gone. :/
Yep, the SSD is only beginning and I suspect this time next year, all new computers will have them at little if any upgraded costs.
Regards,
~DD
All i wanted was a no-glare option on the 15 inch....
That is also what i wanted... but it is only offered on the 17 inch macbook pros....
well i recently bought a the new mac book pro 15 inch... n its pretty sweet. was hurting my pocket right after i paid for it.... but it all smoothed out after turning on the laptop..the intro was way better than wat windows 7 or any other windows os has.
all done n said... think it was worth the 2k i paid for the laptop... battery is great and the backlit keyboard feels great on the fingers.
@wat up!
Wait... You just spent $2000 on a computer and justified it because "the intro was way cooler" and "the backlit keys feel great on the fingers"?!
Are you a moron? What ever happened to buying a computer based on what it can do vs. the stupid OS intro?
That's like saying "I bought a VINTAGE Ford Pinto because the horn sounded awesome and the seats gripped my ass in just the right way!"
@Matt
Ass gripping is pretty important
It's all about the ass grip baby
dat ass.
In other words, just repackaged line with shinier displays? Glossy = Great!!!
Duh...
erm, better diplays, 2 extra hours of battery, bigger hard drives, faster processors, memory card slot, firewire 800 on 13 inch, backlit keyboard on all models and a price drop, little bit more than a rebadge
"what you'll really notice is that Apple's finally shipping a mainstream 13-inch laptop with a viewing angle wider than a pencil. Compared to the disappointing MacBook screens we've seen in the past, the 13-inch Pro display is quite impressive"
I love that Engadget only points out shortcomings in Apple products after they have been fixed. So they can write another stellar review, using past gripes as a way to cover for their Apple-buttbuddy-ness.
I love how you just came on here and posted the same bullshit about engadget that every other MS fanboi spews ad nauseam. Good job buddy, you’re a real winner. Man you idiots are brainwashed MS proles.
@Dillinger
Good job showing how blindly devoted you are to apple by bashing someone who's being critical about your precious company. You make the rest of us Apple users look like idiots.
@alex
I thought they covered the shortcomings pretty well in their original review, actually:
"The panel just seems, for lack of a better word... crappier. The viewing angle is reduced considerably; looking even a little bit off to the side or up above can cause a nasty amount of polarization. The brightness levels also don't seem to be what they are on the Pro. Don't get us wrong, compared with the last generation MacBooks, these are stunning -- but compared to the Pros, they're just not as impressive."
http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/21/macbook-and-macbook-pro-review/
Ooooh! Apple-buttbuddy-ness = more ass!
the glare.... it hurts....
I can't believe how much of a reflection it has.. lol.
I can't believe they don't offer the matte screen as an option. Glossy sucks in real world applications. If you don't have absolute light control, you've got a mirror. I don't like the sealed battery either (at a minimum it needs to be end user or in store replaceable) but at least that only affects you once every couple of years or so. The screen issue is an every day pain.
Typing from my older MBP with matte screen.
The battery is store replaceable.
Only a week left before i get mine, cant wait becuse thi is my first mac!!
btw a great in in-depth impressions
oh nice MACs,
I wish that i win a Lottery, so that i can buy one of them....
Yea.. them magnetically accelerated cannons are damn nice :)
And you *do* need to win a lottery to buy one.. even then.. good luck!
Oh look. It's yet another overpriced Mac. Yawn.
Normally I would agree, but if you use the HE discount the 13" MBP comes out at £18 less than than the equivilent Dell Studeio XPS 13, admittedly specs are a little worse (160gb vs 250gb & 2.23ghz vs 2.4ghz) but it has better build quality and a superior battery life.
Not to mention they throw in an iPod Touch right now as well.
@Raikiri
Did you just compare two computers and added a limited discount to only one to prove it was cheaper? Why not add the dell premier discount or EPP discount as well?
Okay the Ipod Touch isint really "free" you still have to pay 229 up front and then wait for the rebate to process.
Overpriced? More expensive that the P.O.S. you have, that's for sure.
How the hell are these things usable in the real world as you know a portable computing device? That glare is so awful and in every picture it is present, except for the lid closed picture and the one where its sitting in the dark.
not to mention their keyboard lacks dedicated Delete key, and lacks Pg Up key and lacks Pg Down key and lacks Home key and lacks End key...
I could live with the latter (Sony Vaio Z user) but dedicated Delete is a must!
But then again, the Fn key is in the corner instead of CTRL (which is sick Lenovo placement) and "ALT" is hard to find as it is no longer near Spacebar, there isn't bigger space between A and CAPS LOCK so you'll switch the most useless key in the universe far too often and when I'm "eating" I can't quickly mute my pr0n with just one hand, I need to:
1. find Fn key (takes a while, but I do realize it is in the corner after a while)
2. do a one-hand Bruce-Lee move, e.g. pressing Fn (in the corner) + particular F10-12 key
If anyone wonder why Snow Leopard is the way it is (e.g. very slow developement cycle), the layout of the Apple keyboard for their coders is the answer - contraproductive shit.
and speakers on the 13 are non-existent (no-movies in the evenings) and it gets _very_ hot on a lap in heavy-use (check notebookreview.com).
Other than that, an excellent laptop and you can get a makeup every morning in a tube without using a mirror, just open it and...
They must have signed a deal with 3M to sell a Mac Pro branded anti-glare/security screen that will start at $300 for the 13" and up to $500 for the 17".
It has both a dedicated "delete" key and "mute" button. I hope this makes your porn watching all the more sneaky.
In every picture, that is true. With adequate brightness settings, though, it's not nearly as distracting.
@ cowgar
Any useful programmer (or prOn viewer) will remap the control/fn keys within minutes of first encounter with a macbook (or mac with BT keyboard). The next few minutes will be spent prying the keys out of their places and popping them back in "correctly".
"speakers on the 13 are non-existent"
Huh? Not only are there speakers, but they are the best speakers I've had on a laptop. I can hear music all the way across my apartment clearly using them. Just because you can't see them, doesn't mean they aren't there/are crappy.
No purnell - it has a backspace key, not a delete key....
You must be a mac user - obviously dont know how useful this key is.... probably dont know keyboard shortcuts either.....
more @cowgar
Have you ever actually used one of the new MacBook Pros? I can mute mine with one hand (one finger actually, you only press the key, no Fn involved) and the caps lock almost never gets activated unless you actually press on it (it has that delay thing for activation).
I don't know what the notebookreviews people do but my unibody MacBook Pro is one of the most coolest running laptops I have, especially compared to an older MacBook Pro or my Sony. Maybe I need to do some Maya renders while it sits in my lap and I too can feel the heat.
@Phenoum maybe it is a regional thing. Are there any regional differences in hardware? I assure you that as I type this, there is a key with the word "delete" on it right above the "\" key. Maybe you are referring to its functionality within OSX as opposed to its actual labeling. It does in fact not function in the quite same way that the "delete" key does in XP/Vista although, with the inclusion of the trackpad's "smart right-click" feature, accessing "move to trash" is simpler than on previous macs. Using "control click" used to be such a pain when I was cleaning up my comp, but it is way more elegant now.
@cowgaR
And also, who wants to be looking at reflections of their tool when watching p0rn with one hand. I guess you can see people coming up behind you though, which gives you a head start on the 2-key mute...
Shift + Backspace = Delete. I know, I know, it's two keys rather than one, but it's still not the calamatous end of the world scenario it could be. :D
Oh my god, TRS, I was starting to get worried there. I'm glad you came along to tell us what we do and don't need on our keyboards. Thank you.
Page Up/Page Down are the fn key plus up/down arrow