The 13-inch MacBook Pro is the many affordable of Apple's high-end laptops. With the admittedly supercharged 15-inch chronicle starting at a elegant $1,799, the 13-inch model's starting cost of $1,199 is the a many consumers will expected ponder first. Its size is moreover ideal, and in fact, we've long deliberate 13 inches to be the honeyed mark in laptops for usability and portability. The subject is: does the not as big Pro broach the estimate punch that final year's lacked?
In short, unquestionably yes. This year's 13-inch Pro gets a cutting-edge processor ascent that many were watchful for--including us. That ascent comes in the form of next-generation Intel Core i-series CPUs. The 2011 MacBook Pros are the initial laptops we've reviewed at CNET with these processors; the entry-level 13-inch model features a second-generation 2.3GHz Core i5 processor, and the $1,499 setup has a 2.7GHz dual-core Core i7.
However, notwithstanding the processor improvements, the use of Intel's HD Graphics 3000 integrated graphics is a step back from the integrated Nvidia graphics found in the 2010 13-inch Pro. It's not a outrageous backslide, though, and for many it's a survivable loss. Plus, it does advance with the sufficient talked about high-speed data/video port, Thunderbolt .
Thunderbolt is envisioned as a arrange of future unified inheritor to USB, FireWire, and DisplayPort, permitting peripherals to bring information and video at 10Gbps. We are unaware when Thunderbolt-compatible peripherals will be existing (although Apple says the initial ones should uncover up in the spring of 2011), how sufficient they'll cost, or if Apple will be adding the technology to future displays or iOS devices. For now, it's a wait-and-see bet on a future technology, but at least the dock is backward-compatible with Mini-DisplayPort and can encouragement HDMI out with the buy of a cable. The 13-inch MacBook Pro moreover keeps its FireWire 800 port, so Thunderbolt is more of an updated underline than a chance Apple's creation you buy into.
In the end, the 2011 13-inch Pro is a big step up in estimate opening is to same cost as its predecessor. To put it in perspective, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is about as absolute CPU-wise as final year's $2,199 15-inch Core i7 model . And whilst its integrated Intel graphics are a bit reduction able than the formerly model's Nvidia 320M GPU, the boon comes with other big jump in battery life.
Lastly, if you're on the blockade between the $1,499 13-inch and the $1,799 15-inch Pros, that $300 buys you a lot more computer. On the other hand, we'd dispute that many people won't see or don't need the additional opening and it is a larger, heavier laptop.
There's nothing not similar design-wise about the new MacBook Pro. Walk up to the 2011 chronicle and you'd have no thought that you were seeking at a "new" Mac. The iconic pattern and unibody building has remained intact, even identical, to final year's 2010 model, even down to the dock layout. Ports line the left side, and the side-connecting MagSafe charging line plugs toward the rear, staying out of the way. The slot-loading drive lines the correct side. A far-reaching area of aluminum and Apple's elementary but excellently assembled set of keys feel similar to tech minimalism in a world of tense and overdesigned laptops, and the considerable multitouch clickpad is still--even scarcely 3 years later--one of the largest we've seen. Construction high quality is, as always, rock-solid: compared with other flexy laptops, the seamless steel body of the Pro feels similar to modern art.
That being said, you wouldn't thoughts a few pattern improvements in the future, mainly when it comes to density and weight. The 13-inch Pro is condensed and thin, but compared to wafer-thin Apple products similar to the iPad and MacBook Air , it ends up feeling heavier. Then again, if density counts that much, you can always buy an Air.
A backlit set of keys still comes standard, even on the entry-level $1,199 MacBook Pro. It's utilitarian for typing in low-light conditions, and the ambient light sensors manage shade liughtness and set of keys lighting in best balance. The ergonomics work excellently, and the MacBook Pro moreover has a few of the largest, deepest palm-rest zones in a 13-incher.
Edge-to-edge potion still frames the Pro's 13.3-inch screen, and, yes, there still isn't a matte shade option--although on the incomparable 15-inch line, antiglare is offered. The manifestation has glorious brightness, color, and contrast, and the screen's observation angles are generous, but the 1,280x800 local pixel fortitude is same to the 2010 model's. Oddly, the MacBook Pro might be the final laptop that hasn't switched to a 16:9 1,366x768-pixel display. Even more oddly, the 13-inch MacBook Air obviously has a aloft fortitude than the stream 13-inch Pros, at 1,400x900 pixels. We're astounded that there wasn't a fortitude ascent in the higher-end $1,499 configuration.
Speaker volume is adequate, and both song and cinema sound great on the integrated stereo speakers. The MacBook Pro doesn't have audio that reaches out and grabs you, unless you're wearing headphones; then again, on a 13-incher this slim, it does improved than homogeneous competition.
A new HD Webcam offers 720p wide-screen Web chats around the new FaceTime app, that comes preinstalled. FaceTime, that has been existing as a beta let go for a while, allows calls to both Mac users and iPhone 4 owners. iPhone 4 calls advance in at a fuzzier resolution, but Mac-to-Mac calls looked comparatively frail over Wi-Fi. Swapping between mural and landscape mode may be triggered with a singular button-click.
While many ports on the 13-inch MacBook Pro sojourn carbon-copy same to those on final year's model, there are a few important additions. The SD card container right away accepts SDXC cards. More importantly, the Mini-DisplayPort has subtly been remade in to the above mentioned Thunderbolt port. The Intel-developed information and audio/video dock has exceedingly swift throughput at a limit of 10Gbps, and matching hard drives will be able to send files with on fire speeds. The minuscule Thunderbolt dock is powered, and will be able to daisy sequence up to 6 related devices, be they hard drives or even monitors. It's backward-compatible with aged Mini DisplayPort monitors or cables, and similar to with final year's Pros, it can outlay audio and video over HDMI with a Mini DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter.
Thunderbolt may be a opponent to USB 3.0, but gadgets that can use the dock won't even be existing until spring. Most people will simply use the USB 2.0 and FireWire 800 ports on the 2011 MacBook Pro and be entirely satisfied. Still, it's comforting to know that future dock encouragement is there. Is it vital correct now? No. In two years, however, it could be indispensable. Consider it future tech on your MacBook Pro--a perk, rsther than than a necessity.
Apple's laptops have always had paltry ascent and setup options; the new Pros are no different. The 13-inch MacBook Pro comes in $1,199 and $1,499 configurations, with 2.3GHz Core i5 and 2.7GHz Core i7 dual-core CPUs, respectively. Our high-end $1,499 Pro comes with a 500GB hard disk and 4GB of DDR3 RAM. RAM may be stretched up to 8GB for an additional $200; the hard disk may be stretched up to a 5,400rpm 750GB drive for $100 or a solid-state drive at 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB. The aren't cheap: the 128GB ascent expenses $200, since the 512GB expenses a whopping $1,200.
That's it as far as configurations go. The 1,280x800-pixel shiny shade can't be upgraded, unlike on the 15-inch Pro. There's no choice to increase several graphics, either. It's an unusual disconnect: even the 13-inch MacBook Air has a higher-resolution screen, and the insufficient of higher-end graphics feels inexpensive for such an costly laptop.
The new second-generation Sandy Bridge Intel Core i7 CPU is a outrageous alleviation on final year's 13-inch Pro. Benchmark tests uncover that this model is scarcely twice as swift in multitasking and the iTunes test. Start-up foot time is moreover zippy, nonetheless nowhere nearby as swift as on the MacBook Air . This is the processor ascent you were anticipating for final year, and then some. Though you should obviously keep in thoughts that the 15-inch Pro is even faster, is to cost and the size, it's hard to beat what the 13-inch offers. Until other next-gen Intel Core i-series laptops arrive, in reserve from the new 15-inch quad-core MacBook Pro, this is the second-fastest Apple laptop we've ever reviewed. Though the 15-inch 2011 MacBook Pro has an corner in multitasking, the 13-inch Pro more than hold its own at single-task benchmarks--in fact, it was scarcely the next to of its more costly sibling.
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