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Apple Macbook Pro

The fifth generation Apple Macbook Pro was announced and released on October 14, 2008. New to the Macbook Pro line, over the 4th generation, is the inclusion of a multi-touch glass trackpad (no mouse button) with new gestures for app switching, Macbook Air aluminum stylings, and a glossy screen similar to the last iMac computers. The Macbook Pro has been slimmed down slightly, no coming in at 0.95 inches thick, but is now slightly heavier at 5.5 lbs. The Macbook Pro has a new internal structured, rumoured to be called "brick", that includes room for NVIDIA's 9400M GPU + chipset and a supplemental 9600M GPU. There are three Macbook Pro options available: 1) 15.4" LED, 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB DDR3 RAM, bot GPUs for $1999, 2) same as option 1, but upgrades to 4 GB of RAM, and a 320 GB hard drive for $2499, and 3) a 17" LCD with a 2.6 GHz CPU starting at $2799. See details for information about the 2009 update to this model.

Where to Buy

Apple Macbook Pro 2
MSRP $1,999.00
Release date October, 2008
Brand Apple
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want it
have it
tag it
Pros & Cons19
Reviews19
Details
Buy It34
Competitors6
Comments1
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Pros & Cons

ProSCORE
15 reviews
82
negative
mixed
positive
12 positive
2 mixed
1 negative

[i] How is the ProSCORE calculated?

show me!

Pros:
Do you agree?
•
Multi-touch glass trackpad
+15agreedisagree

•
Thinner than previous gen @ 0.95"
+12agreedisagree

•
LED Backlit screen.
+11agreedisagree

•
Backlit keyboard.
+11agreedisagree

•
Unibody design.
+10agreedisagree

•
Sleek Macbook Air aluminum styling with clean screen bezel
+9agreedisagree

•
Slot loading DVD drive.
+9agreedisagree

•
Chiclet-style keyboard
+4agreedisagree

•
Photo editing is a pleasure.
+4agreedisagree

•
Very quiet internal fans.
+3agreedisagree

•
Better battery life because of LED and Penryn core
+2agreedisagree

•
LED screen on 15.4" model is brighter than LCD
+1agreedisagree

•
Runs crysis when running on Windows XP.
0agreedisagree

Cons:
Do you agree?
•
Slightly heavier than predecessor
+6agreedisagree

•
Major selling points for NVidia dual GPUs are disabled currently: no Hybrid SLI or on-the-fly switching of the two GPUs
+5agreedisagree

•
Expensive
+5agreedisagree

•
No significant performance upgrades over previous generation
0agreedisagree

•
Software artificially restricts iTunes HD content from playing at full resolution to non-HDCP monitors
-1agreedisagree

•
Very hot
-1agreedisagree


20 people added to this review by submitting or voting on pros and cons. Add your say!
See individual votes »

Details

Updated in early 2009 at MacWorld, the 17" model was updated to a unibody build. The standard build now includes: 17" LED-backlit 1920x1200 LCD, 320GB 5400RPM SATA drive, and 4GB of DDR3. Excitingly, the build remains at the $2799 price point  - and while the battery is now non-removable, it is rated for an amazing 7-8 hours depending on which GPU is in use.

Model Variations

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This report was started October 14, 2008 at 3:09 pm by Erik
with the last edit occurring Yesterday, 10:50 PM by Lefty10
This page has been viewed 3257 times, with 227 edits by 22 contributors.
See the full report history »

Buy It

Apple MacBook Pro MB985LL/A | 15.4" - 2.66GHz - 4GB RAM - 320GB HDD

• Apple MacBook Pro MB985LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop

• 15.4" Macbook Pro Notebook

UPC: 885909295715

EAN: 885909295715

MPN: MB985LL/A

Apple MacBook Pro MC226LL/A | 17" - 2.8GHz - 4GB RAM - 500GB HDD

• Apple MacBook Pro MC226LL/A 17-Inch Laptop

• 17" MacBook Pro Notebook

UPC: 885909330386

EAN: 885909330386

MPN: MC226LL/A

Apple Macbook Pro MB991LL/A | 13.3" - 2.53GHz - 4GB RAM - 250GB HDD

• Apple MacBook Pro MB991LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop

UPC: 885909296545

EAN: 885909298891

MPN: MB991LL/A

Apple MacBook Pro MB990LL/A | 13.3" - 2.26GHz - 2GB RAM - 160GB HDD

• Apple MacBook Pro MB990LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop

UPC: 885909296552

EAN: 885909298594

MPN: MB990LL/A

Apple MacBook Pro MC118LL/A | 15.4" - 2.53GHz - 4GB RAM - 250GB HDD

• Apple MacBook Pro MC118LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop

• 15.4" MacBook Pro Notebook

UPC: 885909315710

EAN: 885909315710

MPN: MC118LL/A

Apple MacBook Pro MB986LL/A | 15.4" - 2.8GHz - 4GB RAM - 500GB HDD

• Apple MacBook Pro MB986LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop

• 15.4" Macbook Pro Notebook

UPC: 885909295722

EAN: 885909295722

MPN: MB986LL/A

Competitors

Apple Macbook Pro is ranked 5th among it's competitors.  See the top picks in Laptops »
HP Envy 15

HP Envy 15

MSRP  $1,799.00    Released  October, 2009
Pros
  • great screen (LED backlight, 1080p resolution)
  • extra battery slice fits underneath the entire laptop which means you don't need to swap out batteries for more life
  • very slick design
Cons
  • pretty expensive
  • extra battery slice weighs almost 3 pounds on its own
  • substantial shipping delays
ProSCORE
5 reviews
73
Vote! (1 vote)
vote Apple Macbook Pro 0% vs. vote HP Envy 15 100%
HP Pavilion dm3

HP Pavilion dm3

MSRP  $649.00    Released  October, 2009
Pros
  • available with switchable discrete graphics from the two major brands
  • affordable price
  • 10-hour battery life for all day computing
Cons
  • too much variation in system specifications - will lead to a large system performance variation, consumer confusion / support issues
  • ultraportable design - lightweight and small at the expense of power, not good as a desktop / work laptop replacement
  • Lacks more conectivity, I would like to see a USB port removed for a Firewire or ESATA port.
ProSCORE
5 reviews
82
Vote! (0 votes)
vote Apple Macbook Pro   vs. vote HP Pavilion dm3  
HP Envy 13

HP Envy 13

MSRP  $1,699.00    Released  October, 2009
Pros
  • lightweight and thin (3.74 pounds, <1" thick)
  • high resolution LED backlit display (1600 x 900px) - superior colour gamut than the Envy 15
  • comes with the latest generation, powerful ATI Radeon HD 4330 graphics chip with 1GB of dedicated RAM
Cons
  • not the best value - closer to the underpowered ultra-portable side, quite expensive
  • only 2 USB ports
  • poorly implemented touchpad
ProSCORE
3 reviews
68
Vote! (0 votes)
vote Apple Macbook Pro   vs. vote HP Envy 13  
Sony VAIO Z

Sony VAIO Z

MSRP  $2,000.00    Released  July, 2008
Pros
  • amazing battery life
  • the latest chipset - including 802.11N, improved Intel graphics
  • 13.3" is a sweet spot - small and light but functional
Cons
  • fairly expensive - like any luxury super thin and light notebook
  • Only 2 usb connectors. Card readers inconveniently located at the middle-front.
  • can not enable Intel Core 2 Due Virtualization technology
ProSCORE
6 reviews
75
Vote! (0 votes)
vote Apple Macbook Pro   vs. vote Sony VAIO Z  
HP Envy 15 BEATS Edition Series

HP Envy 15 BEATS Edition Series

MSRP  $2,299.99    Released  January, 2009
Pros
  • powerful high end internal components - Core i7 processor, DDR3 memory, ATI Radeon 4830 w/ 1GB of dedicated memory
  • LED backlit full 1080p capable display
  • slick all-black enclosure
Cons
  • high price
  • Beats audio - stupid marketing, Monster cable, cheap celebrity endorsements
  • includes DJ software - silly for those who just want a nice laptop
ProSCORE
5 reviews
68
Vote! (0 votes)
vote Apple Macbook Pro   vs. vote HP Envy 15 BEATS Edition Series  
Lenovo IdeaPad Y650

Lenovo IdeaPad Y650

MSRP  $1,049.00    Released  March, 2009
Pros
  • extremely attractive enclosure
  • fairly light and thin for a 16" model
  • LED backlit
Cons
  • poor battery life
  • poor 1366x768 resolution (same as the 15" and 14" models!)
  • no Blu-ray drive option
ProSCORE
2 reviews
59
Vote! (0 votes)
vote Apple Macbook Pro   vs. vote Lenovo IdeaPad Y650  

Suggest a new competitor to add to the list of competing products.
If the product hasn't yet been added to ProductWiki, submitting it here will also start the product report.

Comments

15 taps
show more
1.  avatar Howlsthunder said:

For clarification, I have the 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo model with 4 GB of RAM

Though this is not the first laptop I have used, it is the first laptop I have owned and I am in love. It was my only computer for this past summer and it performed fantastically and now that I am home again and around other computers, I prefer to use it over my usual machines.

I don't have any real 'cons' to list because, as I said, I don't have much to compare it to but I do want to emphasize that this machine is whisper quiet for me. I actually thought something was *wrong* with it because it was so quiet - I usually have to put my ear on it to hear anything! (Note that I am usually using my MBP in a cool-ish environment). Also I don't find it to be a very hot laptop. Past PC laptops I have used would scald your legs if you sat it in your lap but I can sit for a few hours with this on my lap and it only just gets slightly uncomfortable. So if this is what people mean by "Too hot" then I am impressed. ;)

Other items of note:
. I LOVE the 'chickle' style keyboard with the black keys set apart from one another. It makes touch-typing easier than on older models whose keys bled into one another, making it easy to drift away from proper home row position. And because the keys are pretty much identical to current Apple keyboards, there's none of that readjustment that used to happen when swapping between typing on a clunky external keyboard and a too-small laptop. Also, the backlighting works and looks great, especially with the black keys.

. The multi-touch pad. I love this thing so much I wish I could buy an external one to use on my other computers. The gestures are useful, especially for browsing files (two-finger scrolling and a multi-finger swipe to go back and forward through nested folders, etc). Its smooth *and* you can set up the pad to 'click' with a touch-tap rather than depressing the entire pad (the entire pad is a button and there are no other click buttons). Tapping is much easier on the fingers and I find it frustrating that other laptops (like my sister's plain MacBook) do not have this feature.

Those are just the highlights for me. I'm sure people with much more laptop experience can get into more technical pros and cons but I am satisfied with my purchase. :)
Sep 30, 2009 12:48pm
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Reviews

Sort by: Most helpful  •  Newest  •  Most positive

matchpoint

avatar
March 22, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
87
negative
mixed
positive
13 pros
2 cons
love itlove it
have ithave it
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Multi-touch glass trackpad
  • Thinner than previous gen @ 0.95"
  • LED Backlit screen.
  • Backlit keyboard.
  • Unibody design.
  • Sleek Macbook Air aluminum styling with clean screen bezel
  • Slot loading DVD drive.
  • Chiclet-style keyboard
  • Photo editing is a pleasure.
  • Very quiet internal fans.
  • Better battery life because of LED and Penryn core
  • LED screen on 15.4" model is brighter than LCD
  • Runs crysis when running on Windows XP.

Cons

  • Major selling points for NVidia dual GPUs are disabled currently: no Hybrid SLI or on-the-fly switching of the two GPUs
  • Expensive

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Karl Lind

avatar
June 8, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
91
negative
mixed
positive
10 pros
1 con
love itlove it
have ithave it
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Multi-touch glass trackpad
  • Thinner than previous gen @ 0.95"
  • LED Backlit screen.
  • Backlit keyboard.
  • Unibody design.
  • Sleek Macbook Air aluminum styling with clean screen bezel
  • Slot loading DVD drive.
  • Chiclet-style keyboard
  • Photo editing is a pleasure.
  • Very quiet internal fans.

Cons

  • Expensive

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Howlsthunder

avatar
September 30, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
90
negative
mixed
positive
9 pros
1 con
love itlove it
have ithave it
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Multi-touch glass trackpad
  • Thinner than previous gen @ 0.95"
  • LED Backlit screen.
  • Backlit keyboard.
  • Unibody design.
  • Sleek Macbook Air aluminum styling with clean screen bezel
  • Slot loading DVD drive.
  • Chiclet-style keyboard
  • Very quiet internal fans.

Cons

  • Expensive

Comments

"For clarification, I have the 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo model with 4 GB of RAM

Though this is not the first laptop I have used, it is the first laptop I have owned and I am in love. It was my only computer for this past summer and it performed fantastically and now that I am home again and around other computers, I prefer to use it over my usual machines.

I don't have any real 'cons' to list because, as I said, I don't have much to compare it to but I do want to emphasize that this machine is whisper quiet for me. I actually thought something was *wrong* with it because it was so quiet - I usually have to put my ear on it to hear anything! (Note that I am usually using my MBP in a cool-ish environment). Also I don't find it to be a very hot laptop. Past PC laptops I have used would scald your legs if you sat it in your lap but I can sit for a few hours with this on my lap and it only just gets slightly uncomfortable. So if this is what people mean by "Too hot" then I am impressed. ;)

Other items of note:
. I LOVE the 'chickle' style keyboard with the black keys set apart from one another. It makes touch-typing easier than on older models whose keys bled into one another, making it easy to drift away from proper home row position. And because the keys are pretty much identical to current Apple keyboards, there's none of that readjustment that used to happen when swapping between typing on a clunky external keyboard and a too-small laptop. Also, the backlighting works and looks great, especially with the black keys.

. The multi-touch pad. I love this thing so much I wish I could buy an external one to use on my other computers. The gestures are useful, especially for browsing files (two-finger scrolling and a multi-finger swipe to go back and forward through nested folders, etc). Its smooth *and* you can set up the pad to 'click' with a touch-tap rather than depressing the entire pad (the entire pad is a button and there are no other click buttons). Tapping is much easier on the fingers and I find it frustrating that other laptops (like my sister's plain MacBook) do not have this feature.

Those are just the highlights for me. I'm sure people with much more laptop experience can get into more technical pros and cons but I am satisfied with my purchase. :)"
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

cobracg

avatar
December 27, 2008
ProSCORE
71
negative
mixed
positive
5 pros
2 cons
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Multi-touch glass trackpad
  • Thinner than previous gen @ 0.95"
  • LED Backlit screen.
  • Sleek Macbook Air aluminum styling with clean screen bezel
  • Chiclet-style keyboard

Cons

  • Slightly heavier than predecessor
  • Major selling points for NVidia dual GPUs are disabled currently: no Hybrid SLI or on-the-fly switching of the two GPUs

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Erik

avatar
October 10, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
77
negative
mixed
positive
10 pros
3 cons
want itwant it
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Multi-touch glass trackpad
  • Thinner than previous gen @ 0.95"
  • LED Backlit screen.
  • Backlit keyboard.
  • Unibody design.
  • Sleek Macbook Air aluminum styling with clean screen bezel
  • Slot loading DVD drive.
  • Chiclet-style keyboard
  • Better battery life because of LED and Penryn core
  • LED screen on 15.4" model is brighter than LCD

Cons

  • Slightly heavier than predecessor
  • Major selling points for NVidia dual GPUs are disabled currently: no Hybrid SLI or on-the-fly switching of the two GPUs
  • No significant performance upgrades over previous generation

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

fractalhorizon

avatar
October 10, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
92
negative
mixed
positive
11 pros
1 con
want itwant it

Pros

  • Multi-touch glass trackpad
  • Thinner than previous gen @ 0.95"
  • LED Backlit screen.
  • Backlit keyboard.
  • Unibody design.
  • Sleek Macbook Air aluminum styling with clean screen bezel
  • Slot loading DVD drive.
  • Chiclet-style keyboard
  • Photo editing is a pleasure.
  • Very quiet internal fans.
  • Better battery life because of LED and Penryn core

Cons

  • Slightly heavier than predecessor

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

ferrija1

avatar
October 10, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
89
negative
mixed
positive
8 pros
1 con

Pros

  • Multi-touch glass trackpad
  • Thinner than previous gen @ 0.95"
  • Backlit keyboard.
  • Unibody design.
  • Slot loading DVD drive.
  • Photo editing is a pleasure.
  • Better battery life because of LED and Penryn core
  • LED screen on 15.4" model is brighter than LCD

Cons

  • Very hot

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Lefty10

avatar
October 8, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
78
negative
mixed
positive
7 pros
2 cons
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Multi-touch glass trackpad
  • Thinner than previous gen @ 0.95"
  • LED Backlit screen.
  • Backlit keyboard.
  • Unibody design.
  • Slot loading DVD drive.
  • Very quiet internal fans.

Cons

  • Slightly heavier than predecessor
  • Expensive

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Alvin Cheung

avatar
June 7, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
67
negative
mixed
positive
6 pros
3 cons
have ithave it
love itlove it
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Multi-touch glass trackpad
  • LED Backlit screen.
  • Backlit keyboard.
  • Unibody design.
  • Sleek Macbook Air aluminum styling with clean screen bezel
  • Slot loading DVD drive.

Cons

  • Major selling points for NVidia dual GPUs are disabled currently: no Hybrid SLI or on-the-fly switching of the two GPUs
  • Expensive
  • Very hot

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

liggitt

avatar
Tuesday, 8:38 PM
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
88
negative
mixed
positive
7 pros
1 con
have ithave it
love itlove it

Pros

  • Multi-touch glass trackpad
  • LED Backlit screen.
  • Backlit keyboard.
  • Unibody design.
  • Sleek Macbook Air aluminum styling with clean screen bezel
  • Slot loading DVD drive.
  • LED screen on 15.4" model is brighter than LCD

Cons

  • Expensive

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No
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