Neowin Reviews: Apple MacBook Pro, late 2008

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Conclusion

The new MacBook Pro is a very capable machine, especially for a laptop. I’m enjoying the gaming experience, and look forward to getting Vista on this and playing some of my games.

In addition to this, the laptop is absolutely gorgeous. Simply using it in school today got some attention from people saying “wow, that’s nice”. It feels really durable, and I’m very comfortable throwing it into a school bag every day (in a padded, separate pouch of course). The only real concern to me is the glass screen. Many people don’t like the glossiness, but I feel that the strong LED backlight compensates for this sufficiently. My concern is simple: it is made of glass, and glass breaks. We’ll see how it holds up, and it is attached quite strongly to the aluminum backing.

It is a pain to get up and running, since it uses Firewire 800 instead of 400. In a few months, I imagine it will be much better to set up, as Firewire 800 catches on (if this laptop is really mainstream enough to push it). For the time being, though, you’ll likely have a hard time finding a cable to suit your needs.

The unboxing experience is quite good. Being a “green” person myself, I appreciate that Apple is taking the initiative in reducing its packaging across its product line, in addition to reducing waste and the use of chemicals in manufacturing.

View: MacBook Pro Gallery

My overall rating: 4 stars

Design: 4 1/2 stars
Keyboard and Trackpad: 4 stars
Initial Setup: 3 1/2 stars
Portability: 4 1/2 stars
Performance: 4 1/2 stars

Raw specs:

MacBook Pro 15.4”
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 1066Mz DDR3 SDRAM-2x2GB
320GB Serial ATA @ 7200
SuperDrive 8X DL
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
Wireless-N capable AirPort card

« Previous page: Performance

(2 replies) #1 simon360 on 24 Oct 2008 - 03:58

Sorry in advance for the quality of the photos: it's late here, and I wanted to get this out, but I think I forgot to bring the ISO down from a very high setting. So everything is grainy and bright.

#1.1 Ledgem on 24 Oct 2008 - 18:36

I didn't have an issue with the ISO, I had a problem with your aperture settings. If you're doing a product review and you're trying to show us detail, turn up the aperture to give a less shallow depth of field (use something between F6 to F11, depending on the sensor type of your camera). Using an extremely shallow depth of field is great for advertisements and attempting to inspire intrigue and show something in an artistic manner, but when you're trying to show us, say, the hinge, and we can barely see an inch of it clearly before the depth of field drops off, it's not very effective.

Otherwise, nicely done.

#1.2 simon360 on 25 Oct 2008 - 02:41

Yeah, that was a big problem also. Everything would've turned out a lot better had I been able to take the pictures during daylight. For example, these pictures of my time capsule, that I intended to put to use, were much nicer. This lens is also much different for me, ramble ramble.

Lessons learned, I suppose. I'm sure I'll have another chance to redeem myself

#2 SHoTTa35 on 24 Oct 2008 - 03:59

wow, nice system. hopefully it brings you lots of enjoyment

I saw the videos from apple.com and i'm deifnitely jealous of you!

#3 +Telemachus on 24 Oct 2008 - 04:18

Thanks for the review Simon360!

#4 Tech Star on 24 Oct 2008 - 04:32

Very nice system.

I am buying one for myself very soon.

#5 Shadrack on 24 Oct 2008 - 04:34

The two graphics cards absolutely baffle me. I guess nVidia couldn't make a 9600M with power saving features as strong as the 9400M?

Is it true that if your keyboard gets messed up its a major replacement? The machine does look really nice though.

#6 Co_Co on 24 Oct 2008 - 04:37

can you tell me if the firewire chipset inside is made by texas instruments?

(2 replies) #7 thebigl3bowski on 24 Oct 2008 - 05:08

Something to note is that you can use a standard Ethernet or crossover cable to transfer files using the migration assistant. This can either be connected directly from one computer to the other or via a router. (yes you can connect the two computers together via a standard Ethernet cable without a router)

#7.1 bdfortin on 24 Oct 2008 - 05:17

I was about to point this out, but you beat me to it.

And about FireWire 800: I can hardly find any devices that still use FireWire 400, especially external drives. Every external drive I've seen with FireWire in the past few years have had 2 FireWire 800 ports, and sometimes a FireWire 400 port. Sadly I have an early 2006 iMac with only FireWire 400 ports, but one of my external drives conveniently came with a 400-to-800 cable, so now I can daisy-chain all the drives that have two FW800 ports.

#7.2 Ledgem on 24 Oct 2008 - 18:41

bdfortin said,

And about FireWire 800: I can hardly find any devices that still use FireWire 400, especially external drives. Every external drive I've seen with FireWire in the past few years have had 2 FireWire 800 ports, and sometimes a FireWire 400 port. Sadly I have an early 2006 iMac with only FireWire 400 ports, but one of my external drives conveniently came with a 400-to-800 cable, so now I can daisy-chain all the drives that have two FW800 ports.

If you're buying external drives alone, then I'm inclined to agree - nearly all that I've seen come with two Firewire 800 ports and a Firewire 400 port. If you're trying to build your own external drives it's another story. Take a look on Newegg for external enclosures that support Firewire. The slim few that have Firewire 800 ports are double (or more) the cost of those that have Firewire 400 and no Firewire 800 ports. The fact that Firewire 400 to 800 cables exists doesn't make this terribly outrageous, but it's disappointing that they dropped Firewire 400 from the Macbook Pro.

Arguably, it's even worse that they cut Firewire out of the Macbooks entirely. Unless Target Disk Mode can work through ethernet now...

#8 RAID 0 on 24 Oct 2008 - 05:50

Nice review! Have fun with that nice, new toy.

#9 PureLegend on 24 Oct 2008 - 06:00

I was under the impression that both GPUs were being used at the same time. Great review anyway

(1 reply) #10 Ali Koubeissi on 24 Oct 2008 - 06:14

and how much did it cost you?

#10.1 simon360 on 24 Oct 2008 - 10:07

Too much money

#11 DJ Prem on 24 Oct 2008 - 06:20

Nice review...

#12 creamhackered on 24 Oct 2008 - 06:42

Nice

these look pretty sweet

#13 Jugalator on 24 Oct 2008 - 07:37

Nice, nice, I'm happy to have one on its way myself.

(3 replies) #14 liquidguru on 24 Oct 2008 - 11:10

My biggest problem with this otherwise lovely laptop is it's relatively low resolution screen. I mean this is touted as a 'pro' machine, yet it's screen is only 1440x900. It's not HD compatible. I do a lot of video editing on my laptop, and I need a resolution of at least 1680x1050 to work comfortably. It is almost criminal that apple harp on about 2 video cards, top end specs etc etc, then supply such a weak screen resolution. It has stopped me ever considering switching from a Windows based laptop to a Mac.

#14.1 bmaher on 24 Oct 2008 - 13:40

They should refresh the 17" version at some point, which will meet your needs.

Personally, I would hate to have 1680x1050 on a 15" screen.

#14.2 Shadrack on 24 Oct 2008 - 14:44

bmaher said,

1680x1050 on my 15" screen from a DELL laptop that is 5 yo. /sigh @ Apple

#14.3 Co_Co on 24 Oct 2008 - 16:56

1680x1050 @ 15.4" on my dell is perfect...i couldn't and wouldn't go any lower...the screen on my 3 year old dell is much better than half the new lappy screens out there...brighter and higher res.

(1 reply) #15 Tanshin on 24 Oct 2008 - 14:06

I used one of the new ones in our local Apple Store. They are simply amazing. The trackpad was a little hard to get used to as it will require more effort to press. When I tried to double click, I would only single click. I prefer the tap method though.

Also, I have the Eve icon for Adium too.

#15.1 simon360 on 24 Oct 2008 - 14:21

Eve ftw!

Cutest robot ever.

#16 Titoist on 24 Oct 2008 - 14:41

The glass screen is quite durable actually, I am happy they went with it. I have a 3 year old Gateway CX2620 TabletPC with a glass screen, the glass goes to the edge as well and I bend it (to turn it) and put my hands on it all the time when I write. Hasnt broken or scratched yet. Though watch the edges, dust somehow is able to get in, even if it looks fully enclosed.

#17 KeR on 24 Oct 2008 - 16:16

I do want a MBP again, but I have been spoiled by the MBA form factor.

#18 sundayx on 24 Oct 2008 - 19:17

I wished Neowin had an option to indicate the number of pages, tell us what's on that page, and let us skip to that page, and indicate comments on every page.

#19 Linefeed on 24 Oct 2008 - 20:19

Two words (for some reason no one thinks of this...) Gigabit Ethernet. If your previous laptop is a MacBook, it probably had Gigabit. The new ones all do. A simple short Cat 5 network cable is all you need to use the migration assistant at speeds with a sustained data throughput close to - and at times faster than - firewire.

Also, while the two graphics processors don't work in tandem under Leopard, that doesn't mean they won't with Snow Leopard. And THAT operating system has been rumored to allow the main CPU to pass processes to the GPU (so perhaps the "unused" GPU could be doing some other hardcore number-crunching...)

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