Against a low-end Intel Core i3 processor, however, such as the one found in the Dell Inspiron i1464-4382OBK ($749.98 list, ) and HP Pavilion dv4-2153cl ($749.99, ), the 13-inch had trouble keeping up. In Cinebench R10 tests, the margin was greater (17%) since this test takes advantage of both processor and memory (video encoding is processor intensive).
According to video encoding tests, the MacBook Pro 13-inch (Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz) beat its predecessor by a margin of 9%. With memory, the MacBook Pro 13-inch (Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz) goes from 2GB to 4GB of DDR3 RAM, so there is a significant boost in raw horsepower. The clock rate has grown from 2.26GHz to 2.4GHz on the base model. While every other laptop, including the MacBook Pro 15-inch (Core i5) ($1,799 direct, ), has transitioned to Intel's newest Core processor technology, Apple elected to stay with the aging Intel Core 2 Duo on the MacBook Pro 13-inch (Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz). Performance is basically a case of give-and-take.
Of course, that has to be an improvement in Mac OS 10, since BootCamp is an OS 10 utility.
And while many Mac fanatics will cry foul over putting Windows on a MacBook Pro, I would love to see better Windows support in BootCamp, particularly with power management and device drivers. A wireless display solution like Intel's Wireless Display (WiDi) would be a whale of a gimmick, but I digress. Also, an option for an embedded 3G modem would benefit frequent travelers, as opposed to tethering a phone or a USB-based 3G modem.
Needless to say, the software bundle included with the MacBook Pro 13-inch (Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz) is abundant, which includes the iLife 09 suite, and arguably the most comprehensive in the laptop industry.Īs for features on my wish-list, I'd like to see support for Blu-ray drives, but I don't expect it any time soon. It now outputs audio and video, like HDMI (the previous version did video only). A mini-DisplayPort is a rare find on a laptop and a standard feature on the MacBook Pro 13-inch (Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz). Although the two USB ports seem meager on a 13-inch laptop, Apple brought back the FireWire port last year. The original 13-inch, however, took a baby step by adding an SD card slot-a feature countless digital camera owners have been asking for. With the latest MacBook Pro 13-inch, Apple added a new gesture, called inertial scrolling: An upright swipe with two fingers can scroll through a long Web page in an instant.Īs a family, the MacBook Pro feature set has been criticized for not being as vast as that of its Windows counterparts. Many have tried to emulate the two- to four-fingered swipes and pinches, with little success. The clickable touchpad is easily the largest and most multi-touch friendly among its peers, so there's plenty of room to execute all your favorite gesture-based commands. The MacBook Pro 13-inch's backlit keyboard is invaluable in low-lit environments, and it's ambient, too, meaning the brightness levels are automatically adjusted based on lighting conditions. Few, however, have been able to include an LED-backlit keyboard at this price. The 13 user experience on the MacBook Pro 13-inch (Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz) is one of the most revered, as the island-style keyboard has since been adopted by many of its competitors.
At some point, I would love to see Apple include a display with a matte finish, instead of the lone glossy option, which has a tendency to emit glare. The Asus U30Jc-1A has a similar resolution to the MacBook Pro 13-inch. The 13.3-inch widescreen is one of the few remaining ones that use a 1,280-by-800 resolution (most laptops have transitioned over to a 1,366-by-768 resolution, or in geek-speak, a 16:9 aspect ratio). The business-class Sony VAIO VPC-Z116GXS ($1,800 direct, ) has a similar footprint, but weighs just 3 pounds. A thick slab of aluminum has some drawbacks, though: at 4.5 pounds, the MacBook Pro 13-inch is one of the heaviest 13-inch laptops in the business. Others, like the mainstream laptop Editors' Choice Asus U30Jc-1A ($899 list, ) and the Asus UL80Vt-A1 ($823 list, ), use aluminum only on the top cover the rest of the chassis is made out of plastic. Similarly designed laptops like the Dell Adamo XPS ($2,000 direct, ) and HP Envy 13 ($1,899 direct, ) aren't as solidly made as the MacBook Pro. The "Unibody" frame (built from a single block of aluminum) isn't just attractive it's also tough, and its matte finish is impervious to smudges and fingerprints. The Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch's design hasn't changed, and that's just fine by me.
But if you're new to the MacBook Pro family, this is the ticket to portable computing bliss. If you bought the MacBook Pro 13-inch ($1,199 direct, ) last year, it isn't worth the upgrade.
Updated components are all you'll get with the Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz) ($1,199 direct), but they can be compelling for many.