MacBook 13” 2010 Review
Apple’s Latest refresh to the MacBook Family comes in the form of a 13” Anodized aluminium laptop.
Technical Specifications
· Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz
· 4GB DDR3 Memory
· NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM
· 13” Inch Glossy Display
· Maximum Resolution: 1280x800 Pixels
The various I/O
Other Features
· MagSafe power port
· Gigabit Ethernet port
· One FireWire 800 port
· Mini DisplayPort
· Two USB 2.0 ports
· SD card slot
· Audio in/out
· Kensington lock slot
First Take – It’s beautiful. Really.
.
Let’s cut to the chase here, the reason the MacBook Pro is one of the most desirable laptops in the market now is simple it’s design. The MacBook Pro is quite possibly the best looking laptop, ever.
At first glance, you’ll be blown away by the MacBook Pro’s edge-to-edge glass display, producing both crisp and vivid images. The Backlit LED screen produces great colour contrast, making it the MacBook’s defining feature.
The minimalistic design provides a good balance between the accessibility to the various ports and the “clean” look & feel of the laptop.
The smooth finish of anodized aluminum is simply the best finish that we’ve seen on a laptop.
What we liked
1. Edge-to-Edge Glass Display – As mentioned before, the glass display is one of the best display’s we’ve seen on a laptop as portable and functional as the MacBook Pro. Rich blacks and crisp detail makes this one of the best displays on a laptop of its size. If you’re into photography and videography, this is the screen for you.
2. Fantastic Keyboard – Unlike many laptops in the market today, Apple has clearly done their homework in keyboard design. Easily accessible shortcut keys replace the usual Function Keys and make it easy to switch between windows and more. The spacious keyboard is a breeze to type on and provides good tactile response. Coupled with the Backlit function it is a proven winner.
3. Extraordinary Trackpad – First time users of Apple’s new glass trackpad might find it slightly awkward at first, with the whole track pad functioning as a button. However once you’ve familiarized yourself with the different gestures, you’ll soon realize that the spacious trackpad is easily one of the most user-friendly track pads in the market.
4. Reliable Operating System + it runs Windows too!– The long-standing reputation of OSX has been repeatedly proven as one of the most reliable operating systems. Quick response time, boot up times and good power management adds to the usability of the device. Coupled with a great user interface it is easy to see why more and more people are switching to OSX.
The MacBook Pro also comes preloaded with a free copy of iLife 11 (E.g Garageband, iPhoto), which usually costs S$78. The MacBook Pro also allows the running of Windows on a separate partition by use of BootCamp, which is also included for free!
Despite using the MacBook Pro for a little over half a year, the laptop has performed strongly consistently and has not crashed on me once. Day to day performance has remained top notch with little or no discerning lag when running the usual applications (Microsoft Office, Safari etc.)
However when running Windows 7, the performance dropped slightly, resulting in slower processing (opening of files and windows), but this is understandable, after all it wasn’t designed to run on Windows, it’s merely an added perk Mac users have. So don’t expect much performance from it.
5. Outstanding Battery Life – This factor is quite simply the most astounding feature of the MacBook Pro. Apple claims that the 13” MacBook Pro has a battery life of over 10 hours on a single charge and boy they aren’t joking. Personal tests of the MacBook Pro yielded over 8 hours of nonstop usage on a single charge; tasks included playing videos, surfing the web and some light schoolwork. The outstanding battery life easily stands out from other laptops that struggle to get 2 hours of battery life before conking out. The MacBook Pro should have no trouble getting you through a day of school without the need of a charger.
What we didn’t like
1. Last Generation Specifications – The biggest letdown with the 13” MacBook Pro is its hardware. Yes I said it, its hardware.
Let’s begin with the processer,
The older Intel Core 2 Duo Processer stems from older generation of Intel processors. With other notebooks in its price category delivering much stronger i3, i5 and i7 cores, the MacBook Pro is in need of a serious update and seems almost dated compared to current standards.
Now the Graphics processer,
The 13” MacBook Pro is equipped with a Nvidia 320M graphics processer. For those of you who aren’t as tech savvy, this is bad news for most applications, first and foremost gaming.
Playing the latest games is essentially out of the question on the MacBook 13” Pro. Despite Apple’s claim of increased performance while gaming, the processor doesn’t seem to provide enough performance to keep game play at a consistent frame-rate. The processer will struggle to keep up with the immense processing requirements, often causing the laptop to consume immense loads of power, reducing its outstanding battery life.
Other graphics intensive tasks such as Final Cut Pro rendering yield similar results. Don’t get me wrong, the MacBook Pro 13” is perfectly capable of rendering a video or simple graphics and transition but when tasked to render a slightly more demanding task such as heavy 3D animation results in less than optimal performance.
Better alternatives are available within the similar price range
Now the Ports,
Equipped with 2 USB 2.0 ports, the MacBook Pro has trouble with external peripherals. Due to the limited number of ports, long time laptop users might find it difficult to choose which peripherals to use, as each USB port is a precious resource. Often you’ll find yourself choosing which device to plug in and which device to unplug.
2. The Price – The biggest issue with the MacBook Pro 13” is it’s enormous price tag. And I mean, enormous.
The MacBook Pro 13” comes in two specifications, below are some of the differences between the two models.
Model 1 - 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processer
a. 250GB Hard Drive
- Price: S$1788.00
Model 2 - 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processer
a. 320GB Hard Drive
-Price: S$2188.00
The plain and simple problem when buying a MacBook Pro comes down to its price. It is by no means cheap. And when compared with the competition, other laptops in its range provide better specifications and performance for a cheaper price.
Conclusion – Ouch my pocket.
In short, if you’re looking for a laptop for simple performance and great reliability, design and usability, the MacBook Pro 13” is the one to go for. Its defining features, such as its screen, are unmatchable. But if you’re looking for a high performance workhorse, better alternatives are available.
The MacBook Pro 13” simply put is like rose, no matter how beautiful it is, it still has its thorns, and a boy is it big expensive one.
Good for:
o Photos
o Videos
o Casual Use
o Web Surfing
Not Good for:
o Gaming
o High Performance Computing
Overall Rating:
8/10 – Great!
*Images Courtesy of Apple.Inc
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