After two week away from the government agency , I returned to a brewing storm : our first MacBook Pro models arrived just as I did , and I was bug to critique them . After 24 hours or so , I had enough experience to make some initial judgment ; after four days ( and a huge amount of science lab testing courtesy Jim Galbraith and Jerry Jung ! ) , we ’ve finally got a full review .
Weighing in at approximately 2,500 words , my review is not just a haiku . Of of course , neither is it a massive nine - page composition that goes into immense detail about every new port and relocated jailer on the MacBook ’s slip . Here atMacworldwe assay to strike a rest , cater depth without bringing the majority of our readership to bust .
However , for every mortal who thinks that 2,500 words about a new laptop is 2,400 words too many , there ’s another person who feel I should n’t have stopped until I hit 5,000 . So for those of you who wo n’t find the result to your interrogation in my review , here ’s a 2nd helping — stuff that , for whatever reason , did n’t really fit at full distance into my review .
Migration and Console catch
Apple ’s Migration Assistant utility did a really near job of bringing my data point over from my PowerBook G4 to the MacBook Pro . It brought over my user folder items , all my apps ( unless a newer version existed already on the MacBook Pro ) — the piece of work . The result was that I was up and go in no clip — well , no time plus the time it takes to transfer five gigabytes via FireWire .
However , Migration Assistant did transmigrate some stuff that I wished it had n’t . After I got up and run , I was still noticing the occasional retardation ( and the appearance of the detest spin pinwheel of death ) . clue in by my smart boss , Rick LePage , I popped start the Console utility and key approximately a zillion error content , most of them attributed to items in my
One of the most clever thing that Migration Assistant does is replicate everything into a folder that ’s marked with the extension “ .noindex ” , which cleverlyexcludes it from Spotlight ’s snoopiness eyes(and slow indexing feature ) . Unfortunately , once the copying procedure is done , Migration Assistant move all the data out into the open — and the MacBook Pro becomes incredibly sluggish for a few minute as Spotlight does its business .
So if you do employ Migration Assistant , be prepared to wait out Spotlight before you could take full advantage of your Modern Mac . ( And if youdon’tuse Migration Assistant , but opt to copy files over yourself , I still recommend that you outwit Spotlight by copying file into a folder that ’s been dragged into Spotlight ’s Privacy window , so that your transcript is n’t slowed down by Spotlight ’s aggressive indexing . )
How does it sense ?
Two of the most important program program I run are not useable in Universal form : Eudora and Word . Both of them ran like champs in Rosetta , although when I examine to scroll using the Scrolling Trackpad , Word ’s scrollbar jumped around like the proverbial woodchuck who drank too much espresso . ( Okay , I allow , Itotallymade that proverb up . )
Of course , not all of my applications form . Virtual microcomputer is a goner . Apple Remote Desktop was completely non - functional . Neither is a deal - surf , but if you count on either one , the MacBook Pro may not be quick for you yet .
Otherwise , everything operate well and felt up speedy . Safari by and large felt quite antiphonal , but the heavy modification I discover was with iCal . On my PowerBook G4 it ’s an absolute dog most of the time ; on the MacBook Pro it ’s actuallyresponsive .
Unlike the last time I reviewed an all - novel Mac laptop computer , I refrained from using a kitchen thermometer to measure the heat coming from the MacBook Pro when it sat on my legs . But I will say that it was quite warm . I found it sufferable , but a few degrees warmer and I might have changed my tarradiddle . If you cogitate the PowerBooks are too hot , the MacBook Pro wo n’t change your psyche .
Video issues , TVs , and Front Row
I ’ve get wind a distich of multitude grouse about how the MacBook Pro does n’t have the S - Video port wine that the PowerBook has , and it surprised me : I did n’t know even acoupleof people were using that port . Of course , now that the MacBook Pro has built - in Front Row and an infrared removed control , having progress - in a TV - way TV embrasure finally stimulate sense . Sigh . In any event , for $ 19 you’re able to get a lovely DVI - to - S - Video transcriber from Apple that does the deception .
I used one of those transcriber to attach my MacBook Pro to my TV set , and after a few pretended starts it work well . While the laptop was open , I tie the transcriber . The computer immediately proceed into mirroring modality , so I could see the same information on the laptop ’s screen and on my TV screen . I adjusted the closure to a widescreen ratio ( I have a widescreen tv set ) , reverse off the MacBook Pro ’s screen backlight , and sit down down on my couch to play back euphony and video recording via Front Row . It work middling well , although my abode speaker organisation pick up some processor interference from the MacBook Pro — not a job when things were playing , but vexatious when everything was silent .
My next attempt was to link up the MacBook Pro to my telly set with the lid closed . So I closed the lid , putting the computer to sleep . No problem — I squeeze the essence push on the Apple remote control , which wake up the computer … for about 10 seconds , before it went right back to kip . This is coherent with the behaviour I ’ve seen on PowerBooks , but it ’s a little frustrative . It should beeasyto launch the MacBook Pro in palpebra - closed mood via the remote control . or else , for wake up the MacBook Pro up andkeepit alert , I had to attach a USB mouse . reasonably silly on a system with a built - in remote control .
That said , the picture quality on my TV solidification was hunky-dory . I watched a little bit of a telly show download from iTunes ( the liberal archetype of “ judgment of conviction , ” if you must know ) , and it was watchable , but I definitely noticed the scale down motion picture calibre .
Unfortunately , Front Row ’s still induce all the same galling limitations as it did when it was resign . Time for a Front Row 2.0 , guy cable .
MagSafe and battery
I do n’t have a lot more to say about the new MagSafe power connexion that is n’t in the review . As someone who uses a laptop at family and at work , I own two major power adapters — and of class , every sentence Apple releases a new adaptor style , that mean it ’s time to corrupt a spare adapter . And that bang-up third - party adapter that also buck my iPod and cell telephone set via USB and FireWire ? despicable . Oh well . Such is the price of advancement .
Last weekend , while chasing my one - year - old son , I almost tomahawk my PowerBook G4 into my carpet or , depend on the angle of inflection , the brick in front of my hearth — all by jaunt on the power electric cord . Now , my PowerBook G4 is not a shrinking reddish blue . It ’s a old hand of the warfare , asMacworld’snew IT cat notice the first sentence he saw it . ( “ Wow , it ’s pretty beat up , ” was how he put it . What , you stand for all those mule and dents ? You should see my living room bulwark ! ) But this would ’ve been a catastrophic cataclysm , especially since the lid was heart-to-heart . I managed to stop in clock time , but if ever I became a believer in MagSafe , that was the time . May it know a long and happy life in the Apple product air .
speak of power , there ’s been a deal of brouhaha in the Mac cosmos about the battery life of these organization . When I talked to Apple about it , the attitude seemed to be this : most other computer vendors do n’t quote battery - life figures , so we are n’t going to play the plot either . Fair enough , but it ’s led people to assume that this was Apple ’s attack to blot out some terrible battery - animation results .
In reality , the MacBook Pro ’s battery life story seems to be on par with the PowerBook ’s . If you bleed it dry playing a DVD , you ’ll get a brace of hour . If you use it like a normal human being , you should get well more than three hours on a charge . ( But the MacBook Pro uses a young barrage eccentric , so if you ’ve indue in spare shelling for your PowerBook — d’oh ! — there ’s another new matching investment funds to make . )
Let me quote from Rick LePage , a true 15 - column inch PowerBook blackguard , here : “ I ’ve been play with my own MBP for more than a day now , and I ’m receive 3 to 4 hour of life story out of the barrage on a full charge , just doing normal stuff – Entourage , Safari , Excel , etc – without any special power - optimisation background . now and again , I ’ll shut the chapeau or walk by ( go get a cup of java , visit the loo ) , but that ’s generally with me working solid . And it ’s a minuscule more than what I ’ve been getting on my 1.67GHz PB 15 ” , but not by much . ”
What ’s that buzz dissonance ?
Many MacBook Pro substance abuser are reporting that their computers make a detectable hum randomness . Some of them claim it ’s dependant on the brightness of the laptop ’s screen ; others suggest that it happens when the Core Duo processor is n’t doing much work .
I ’m not quite sure what to make of it all , but I can confirm that my MacBook Pro has this hum , while my aforementioned foreman ’s does not seem to . Adjusting the showing brightness had no consequence whatsoever on my system ’s Harkat-ul-Mujahidin ; however , I did find that the hum seemed to only be present during period of processor inactivity . ( This noise , by the way , is the same one I reported as coming over my speaker arrangement when the MacBook Pro was attached to my home stereo organization . )
The sound reminds me of the noises I ’ve pick up in Power Mac G5s before : weird , processor noises that seem to be related to a processor ’s wait cycle . I am clearly no check locomotive engineer , but something singular is going on . While the e - mail service and forum Charles William Post that advise that the sound would let up if you launch Photo Booth sounded like old wife ’ tales , I give it a try — and what do you know ? They were precisely right . Very , very uncanny .
So what does it mean ? This is where reviewing a product have catchy , because it ’s indecipherable how many models have this problem , it ’s ill-defined where the problem really spring up , and it ’s unclear how the trouble can be furbish up . Adding to the deficiency of clarity : how many people will even notice the noise ? I did n’t notice it until I listened very , very , verycarefully for it . Of course , now I hear it all the time . ( I left a vocalization mail message about this topic with an Apple representative but , as of this writing , have n’t had a reception . )
So , I will say this : If you are sensitive to annoying footling stochasticity , you may need to make certain about the return / replacement insurance in impression at wherever you ’re plan to purchase a MacBook Pro . Beyond that , we just do n’t know yet .
You ’ve got ta have receiving set
legion people wrote in asking about the wireless range of the MacBook Pro . That information is in the recap , and thanks to everyone who drop a line in . fundamentally , receipt in these laptops is better than in the PowerBook , and well than the new Core Duo iMac , too . But not as good as the venerable white iBook , which is still the king of the Wi - Fi tidy sum .
However , I ’ve seen some reports that the MacBook Pro ca n’t successfully join to LEAP wireless internet . So look before you — er , well , you know .
Wrapping up
Put the review , my first look , and this floor together and I ’ve shove along past that 5,000 - word target . And as it ’s Friday evening as I spell this , and the Lord’s Day is setting with some lovely oranges and pinks over San Francisco , I think perhaps I ’ll finish my sentence on the soapbox for this week . But , as always , the conversation continues on our forum , admit the threads sequester to both this story and the critical review . It ’s your turn , so feel free to speak amongst yourselves , ask me more query , question my ancestry , compliment my fine liberal - arts education , or argue the finer points of metallurgy .
I ’ll get out you , for a third metre this calendar week , with this overarching conception : the MacBook Pro , despite its taste of a name , is a PowerBook . More specifically , it ’s a 15 - in aluminum PowerBook . Yes , there ’s an Intel processor in there . Yes , a few apps do n’t yet run and several more are going to run slow for a while until a Universal adaptation appear . Yes , this MacBook Pro has a few quirks that will turn some people off . Is n’t that always the case ? But if you want reassurance that this is n’t some unknown pod - PowerBook dwell by the soulfulness of an foreigner , you ’ve got it . It ’s a Mac , through and through . Even though there ’s Intel inside .
Thanks for reading this far , and for all the feedback this week .
