Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
It ’s been near a yr since Apple refreshed itsMacBook Proline . That ’s a long - than - usual crack between updates , but thenew MacBook Prossport several change under the hood , including new CPU , new graphics processors , and a new peripheral connector . It all translate into performance jump that were worth the hold .
The new MacBook Pro line of reasoning consist of five models , all with 4 GB of 1333MHz DDR3 remembering , and Intel ’s desegregate HD Graphics 3000 processor . The $ 1199 13 - inch model has a 2.3GHz dual - core Intel Core i5 central processing unit and a 5400 - rev 320 GB hard drive . The $ 1499 13 - inch model has a 2.7GHz dual - meat Intel Core i7 CPU and a 5400 - rpm 500 GB arduous campaign . The $ 1799 15 - inch mannequin has a 2GHz quad - heart and soul Intel Core i7 central processor , a 5400 - revolutions per minute 500 GB operose drive , and a 256 MB AMD Radeon HD 6490 M discrete artwork processor . The $ 2199 15 - column inch model has a 2.2GHz quad - core Intel Core i7 processor , a 5400 - rpm 750 GB hard drive , and a 1 GB AMD Radeon HD 6750 M discrete computer graphic processor . The $ 2499 17 - column inch model has the same spectacles as the $ 2199 15 - inch MacBook Pro .
Welcome to Sandy Bridge
Intel ’s latestCoreseries of processors , known by the code - nameSandy Bridge , are found inside every fresh MacBook Pro . With the processor , cache , integrated graphics , and computer storage controller all residing on the same dice , the Core i5 and Core i7 processors helped propel the new MacBook Pros well past their predecessors in CPU operation .
The Sandy Bridge processor feature Intel’sHD Graphics 3000integrated graphics C.P.U. . In the premature multiplication of MacBook Pros , Apple used Intel ’s incorporated HD graphics only in the high - conclusion model , which also had a 2d , discrete GPU , the Nvidia GeForce GT 330M. The GT 330 M kick back in for graphically intensive applications . With the previous 13 - in MacBook Pros , Apple did n’t think the Intel HD art usable at the time were sinewy enough to be the only graphics alternative , so it stuck with Core 2 couple processors and used Nvidia ’s integrated GeForce 320 molarity graphic . With the fresh HD Graphics 3000 central processing unit , Apple found the performance skillful enough to last ask over the 13 - inch modelling into the new Core geological era .
Like its predecessors , the Sandy Bridge processors supportHyper Threading , which let the system to come up to four virtual cores in the 13 - inch models and eight virtual meat in the 15- and 17 - in models . Another technology , Turbo Boost , tolerate the processors to temporarily speed up when needed . The Sandy Bridge processors are usingTurbo Boost 2.0 , which Apple says is more efficient than the previous version .
All scores are frames per second. Higher scores are better. Best scores inbold. Reference models initalics.
Inteldiscovered a ironware problemthat could possibly slow up down performance over fourth dimension in the first Windows - based Sandy Bridge computers , and recall those processors . Apple says that these central processing unit are complimentary of this mar .
Enter Thunderbolt
The only change you ’ll notice to the exterior of the MacBook Pro is the tiny lightning dash icon near what was once the Mini DisplayPort connector . It ’s now a Thunderbolt port wine , a Modern connectivity technology . The port looks monovular to the Mini DisplayPort and you could connect Mini DisplayPort adapters or Apple ’s LED Cinema Display ( ) .
you may daisy - Ernst Boris Chain up to six gimmick to the Thunderbolt port wine . Thunderbolt can furnish up to 10 watts of power per channel and offer speeds of up to 10Gbps , twice that of USB 3.0 and 12 meter as fast as FireWire 800 . Apple and Intel are hoping for widespread borrowing of Thunderbolt , but only time will secern if Thunderbolt will catch on . Several Thunderbolt - equipped products have been announced , but they ’ve yet to start shipping , so at the moment it ’s inconceivable to full essay the Thunderbolt port . When Thunderbolt peripherals become uncommitted , Macworld Lab will revisit the speed claims with our own benchmark test .
Out of iSight
Along with the other national changes , the MacBook Pros feature a new integrate Webcam call FaceTime HD , which replace the iSight Webcam receive the in the previous MacBook Pros . Capable of enchant video at 720p firmness of purpose , the new Webcam takes its name from Apple ’s video vocation package that function on iPhone 4 , the latest iPod touching models , and most Intel Macs consort Snow Leopard . The FaceTime for Mac software comes pre - install on the Modern MacBook Pros , and is alsoavailable from the Mac App Storefor $ 1 .
There was a noticeable difference in image caliber between the FaceTime HD Webcam and an iSight Webcam in last twelvemonth ’s MacBook Pro . When I held up a papers to each camera , the text was much easier to study on the high - resolution mental image carry from the novel MacBook Pro . The schoolbook on the image from the iSight was garbled and scantily legible . The difference in ikon quality from each Webcam were pernicious when looking at masses .
What hasn’t changed
Everything you see and extend to on the MacBook Pros ( aside from the said Thunderbolt ikon ) is identical to the last generation . The shining LED backlit screens each measure 13.3- , 15.4- , and 17 - inch diagonally , with 1280 by 800 , 1440 by 900 , and 1920 by 1200 pixel resolutions , severally . All modeling have a full - sized , backlit keyboard , and crank multi - touch trackpads with gesture support .
The stereophonic system speakers and build - in microphone remain the same , as do the number of porthole on every model : one FireWire 800 , one Gigabit Ethernet , a MagSafe mogul connexion , and one audio in and one audio out port . The 13- and 15 - inch models have two USB 2.0 ports and a SDXC card one-armed bandit . The 17 - inch model has three USB 2.0 ports and an ExpressCard/34 slot .
MacBook Pro (Early 2011): Speedmark 6.5 scores
To valuate the overall amphetamine of each MacBook Pro , we used our system performance test retinue , Speedmark 6.5 . The unexampled 13 - inch 2.3GHz dual - core meat i5 MacBook Pro , with a Speedmark 6.5 score of 140 , was 35 percent quicker than the 13 - in 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro it replaces . The bad leap in performance was in the iTunes AAC - to - MP3 encryption test , which was 57 percent quicker on the 13 - inch 2.3GHz Core i5 MacBook Pro . In the Handbrake test , the 13 - inch 2.3GHz Core i5 MacBook Pro finish 47 pct faster .
The next step up in the line , the 13 - in 2.7GHz treble - core Core i7 MacBook Pro , show improvement that was less dramatic , seduce only a 13 per centum gain over the manakin it replaces , a 13 - in 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro . The 2.7GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro was 36 pct quicker in our iTunes test and 28 percent faster in our Handbrake psychometric test .
We found the 13 - inch 2.3GHz essence i5 MacBook Pro to be 31 percent quicker overall than the 13 - inch 1.83GHz Core 2 duad MacBook Air ( ) . The Pro was much faster in central processing unit - intensive chore , but the Air was much quicker at duplicating and unzipping files , thanks to the wink memory board . The Air ’s Nvidia nontextual matter were also faster than the HD Graphics 3000 in the Pros .
Unlike the 13 - inch model of the last generation of MacBook Pros , the new 13 - column inch models really break themselves from Apple ’s entrance - stratum laptop computer , the $ 999 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook ( ) . Where only seven Speedmark point , a FireWire 800 port , and $ 200 split the one-time 13 - inch 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro and its charge plate first cousin , the new 13 - inch MacBook Pros were 41 and 57 percent quicker overall than the MacBook .
The 15 - in 2.0GHz quad - core Core i7 MacBook Pro was 33 percent faster than the 15 - in 2.4GHz double - gist Core i5 MacBook Pro precede last April . The 2.0GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro ’s Handbrake prison term was 51 percent quicker , while its iTunes encoding times were 24 percent quicker . Duplicating and Unzipping filing cabinet did n’t see much improvement , however .
The unexampled 15 - inch 2.2GHz quad - kernel Core i7 MacBook Pro was 38 percent quicker than last class ’s degenerate 15 - inch model , a 2.66GHz dual - core Core i7 MacBook Pro . The fresh 17 - column inch 2.2GHz quad - core Core i7 MacBook Pro was 53 pct quicker than last year ’s large Mac laptop computer , a 17 - in 2.53GHz dual - nub heart and soul i5 MacBook Pro .
What ’s even more interesting is how well the MacBook Pros liken performance - wise to the current iMacs . The 15 - inch 2GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro beat the 21.5 - inch 3.06GHz dual - core Core i3 iMac by one Speedmark detail . Call of Duty and disk - intensive tests ran faster on the iMac , while processor - intensive tests ran faster on the MacBook Pro . The 15- and 17 - column inch 2.2GHz MacBook Pros were about 7 percent faster than the 27 - inch 2.8GHz quad - core Core i5 iMac ( ) . These three Macs mark identically in the Aperture import test , as well as the Photoshop and iMovie export trial . Call of Duty was 9 percent faster on the iMac .
you may examine theindividual app test resultsfrom our Speedmark 6.5 testing .
Getting graphic
To see how the new graphics processor handle game performance , we ran a 1024 - by-768 - resolution Call of Duty 4 trial run and a Cinebench R11.5 GPU test , which are part of Speedmark 6.5 . We also ran the Call of Duty test and a Portal timedemo at 1280 - by-800 , the aboriginal resolution of the 13 - column inch MacBook Pro .
The Modern 13 - inch MacBook Pros and their Intel HD Graphics 3000 processors were n’t that telling in our game tryout , scoring lower than the older 13 - inch systems with Nvidia GeForce 320 M merged nontextual matter . In the 1024 - by-768 - resolution Call of Duty examination , the 13 - column inch 2.3GHz Core i5 MacBook Pro displayed 26 fps ( frames per second ) on average , while the 13 - column inch 2.7GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro average 27 Federal Protective Service . Those results are well below the 33 fps displayed by the Old 13 - in 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro with Nvidia graphic .
The Call of Duty scores at 1280 - by-800 showed an even full functioning spread with the 13 - in fashion model , with the honest-to-god Nvidia - power 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro post chassis rates that were 55 pct high than the 13 - in 2.3GHz Core i5 MacBook Pro , and 48 percentage higher than the 13 - inch 2.7GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro . The newfangled 13 - column inch MacBook Pros fared better in the Portal tests , expose just two fewer frames per second than the older 13 - inch 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro . All three of the 13 - column inch MacBook Pros Modern and old posted Cinebench R11.5 slews of 11 . The tedious game functioning may be seen as a sane price to pay for the increased overall performance , but even casual gamers may want to consider a Mac portable with distinct graphics .
The 15 - column inch 2GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro , with its discrete 256 MB AMD Radeon HD 6490 molarity graphics , show a big jump in carrying out , with 1024 - by-768 Call of Duty skeletal frame charge per unit and Cinebench GPU grievance nearly double those of the new 13 - in models . The 15 - column inch 2GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro also more than repeat the score of the 13 - inch MacBook Pros in Call of Duty at 1280 - by-800 . Portal was also significantly quicker , displaying 86 percent more frame per secondly .
When compare the 15 - inch 2GHz marrow i7 MacBook Pro to last year ’s 15 - inch 2.53GHz Core i5 MacBook Pro , the Call of Duty numbers are slower on the newfangled model , while Portal was a few frame faster . Cinebench scores were actually 31 per centum quicker on the 15 - inch 2GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro .
The 15- and 17 - in MacBook Pros with 2.2GHz Core i7 C.P.U. were the top graphic performers overall , thanks to the distinct Radeon HD 6750 M nontextual matter processor with 1 GB of consecrated video memory . In the 1024 - by-768 Call of Duty tests , the 2.2GHz Core i7 MacBook Pros were able to display 31 percent more skeleton per second than the honest-to-god 15 - inch 2.53GHz Core i5 and 17 - inch 2.53GHz Core i5 MacBook Pros , both with Nvidia GeForce GT 330 M in writing CPU . The 2.2GHz Core i7 MacBook Pros utterly smoked through the Portal test , with frame rate that were nearly doubled that of the other machine . And the 2.2GHz Core i7 MacBook Pros more than duplicate the Cinebench GPU grievance of the onetime 15 - inch 2.53GHz Core i5 MacBook Pro .
MacBook Pros (Early 2011): Graphics performance
All score are frame per second . Higher scores are good . upright score inbold . Reference models initalics .
Battery life
Since the MacBook Pro battery is built - in , you ca n’t switch in a fully charged shelling . So how long the built - in bombardment lasts on a charge becomes much more important , and Apple says the MacBook Pro battery should last up to 7 hours . Apple exchange the way it tests bombardment life , so it ’s hard to experience whether 7 hours represents an improvement over last year ’s MacBook Pros . For the old model , Apple take up to 10 time of day of battery life for the 13 - inch MacBook Pro , and between 8 and 9 hours for the 15- and 17 - in models .
Macworld Lab performs a quick - drain agony test to gauge battery lifespan in a bad - pillowcase scenario . Using QuickTime Player , we curl a moving-picture show file that has been ripped from a DVD to the hard drive . We view the picture in full screen mode with screen at full brightness , and AirPort connected . Our battery life tests differ dramatically from Apple ’s , so comparing the results to Apple ’s spec is n’t comparing apples to apples .
In our tests , the new MacBook Pros all lasted between 5 time of day , 39 arcminute ( the 17 - in 2.2GHz Core i7 modelling ) and 5 hours , 53 minute ( the 13 - in 2.3GHz Core i5 model ) . Those results are well than the resolution for last year ’s line .
Both of the 13 - in MacBook Pros lasted longer than erstwhile 13 - inch 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro , which survive 5 hour , 23 minutes . The 13 - inch 2.3GHz Core i5 MacBook Pro hold up 30 minutes longer , and the 13 - inch 2.7GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro last 18 moment longer .
More dramatic advance were incur with the 15 - inch MacBook Pros . The 15 - column inch 2.0GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro lasted 50 minutes longer than the 4 60 minutes , 53 minutes by the old 15 - inch 2.53GHz Core i5 MacBook Pro . The 2.2GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro live on 54 moment longer .
The 17 - inch 2.2 Core i7 MacBook Pro also showed an impressive improvement , lasting 48 minute longer than the 4 hours , 51 minutes carry by the old 17 - inch 2.53GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro .
Options
Not slaked with Apple ’s preconfigured system ? You have a ton of choice for tailor-make your MacBook Pro .
The 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM used in all of the systems can be elevate from the standard 4 GB ( two 2 GB modules ) to 8 GB ( two 4 GB module ) for an additional $ 200 .
The hard drive in each MacBook Pro can be upgraded , but the price for each rise look on the ride in the standard configuration . For instance , an upgrade in the 13 - in 2.3GHz Core i5 example from the standard 5400 - revolutions per minute 320 GB driving force to a 5400 - rpm 750 GB drive costs $ 150 . In the 13 - inch 2.7GHz Core i7 model , upgrading from the standard 5400 - rpm 500 GB drive to a 5400 - rev 750 GB drive costs $ 100 .
A 7200 - revolutions per minute 500 GB heavy drive ascent is available for the 15- and 17 - inch MacBook Pros . It ’s an supernumerary $ 100 with the 15 - in 2.0GHz Core i7 model . On the 15- and 17 - inch MacBook Pros with the 2.2GHz Core i7 processor , switching from the standard 5400 - rpm 750 GB drive to the 7200 - rev 500 GB driveway follow at no cost .
Solid - province drive ( SSDs ) in capacity up to 512 GB are also available for all organization . As with the hard drives , the pricing depend on the standard knockout drive . For model , to swap out the received 500 GB hard drive in the 15 - inch 2.0GHz Core i7 theoretical account to a 512 GB SSD costs $ 1200 . Upgrading the stock 750 GB hard drive in the 15 - inch 2.2GHz Core i7 manakin to a 512 GB SSD costs $ 1100 .
For an excess $ 250 , the 2.2GHz Core i7 processors in the $ 2199 15 - inch MacBook Pro and the 17 - inch MacBook Pro can be substitute with a 2.3GHz quad - core Core i7 with 8 megabyte of partake L3 cache ( up from 6 MB you get with the standard 2.2GHz processor ) .
The 15 - column inch model have the option for a gamey - resolution ( 1680 - by-1050 ) glossy widescreen display ( $ 100 ) or a high - closure antiglare widescreen display ( $ 150 ) . The 17 - inch has only an option for the gamy - resolution antiglare widescreen exhibit ( $ 50 ) . The 13 - inch models do n’t have such display pick .
( Macworldreviews and rat standard configurations only , though we may examine and issue benchmark effect of Macs with custom configurations when usable . )
Macworld’s buying advice
The unexampled MacBook Pros offer a mix of improvements , familiarity and compromise . The central processing unit performance and barrage life are much improved , and the graphics performance of the discrete Radeon HD 6750 M in the 15- and 17 - in 2.2GHz Core i7 manakin was much faster than any MacBook Pro we ’ve try out . There ’s also the high datum throughput of the new Thunderbolt larboard . The screen , weight , keyboard , speakers , and number of ports remain the same . As for compromises , there ’s the integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor , which turn in results that are either dull or similar to the integrate artwork used in last year ’s MacBook Pros . The discrete Radeon HD 6490 M graphic processor in the 15 - inch 2.0GHz Core i7 theoretical account do likewise to the discrete computer graphic found in last year ’s 15 - inch example . And there are n’t any Thunderbolt peripherals useable yet .
If you ’re decide between a $ 999 MacBook and an $ 1199 13 - column inch MacBook Pro , the choice is percipient : expend the extra $ 200 on the MacBook Pro , which is a better performing artist and has more feature . The 15 - inch 2.2GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro is the model to wait at if you ’re looking for the best combination of sizing and carrying into action . The 17 - in 2.2GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro can be earnestly considered a replacement for a background estimator .
[ James Galbraith is Macworld ’s research lab theater director . ]
