MacBook Pro is what I prayed it would be: A PowerBook with Intel guts. Apple messed with the formula only to improve it. For
example, the MacBook Pro keyboard’s quality is exceptional, a vast improvement over the latest PowerBooks. The roomier trackpad
is sized like that of a 17-inch PowerBook, fitting MacBook Pro’s wide aspect display and making a big difference in usability.
The display, although sharper and brighter as advertised, is much, much fussier about its viewing angle. If it’s tilted vertically
even a few degrees from parallel with your retinas, the top or bottom of the display fades markedly in brightness. On the
other hand, MacBook Pro’s display glass is stronger and more resistant to pressure, adding to durability that brings the notebook
close to industrial standards in its capacity for abuse.
MacBook Pro’s wireless networking, with a new chip and an aftermarket-grade antenna, is radically improved over PowerBook.
It withstands the challenge of walls, floors, distance, and interference, pulling in clean signals and 54Mbps connections
in places where I could previously only get 2Mbps to 5Mbps, or nothing at all. Wireless was initially an unacceptable drain
on the battery, but the new software ameliorated that.
On the other hand, USB devices remain a constant frustration. Data transfers to and from external USB disks would routinely
hang in mid-transfer, freezing the machine until the cable was unplugged. USB audio devices were nightmares to use, requiring
plugging and unplugging and jockeying around in System Preferences to make them work. When they do work, they continue working
until the device is unplugged. Thankfully, storage devices attached to the FireWire port are hot-pluggable and completely
reliable.
MacBook Pro runs hot, even by PC notebook standards. I sternly warn against resting it directly on your lap, especially while
it’s charging. I took unusual care to keep MacBook Pro cool, but I’m sure that some of the early stability problems I encountered
were related to the extreme heat.
Lastly, MacBook Pro produces a high-pitched squeal during operation, an annoyance I was able to quiet by using developer utilities
to disable the second CPU core. That’s only diagnostically significant; there’s no making a solution from that.
Even with all I’ve said, the MacBook Pro is the only notebook I use. It tries my patience at times, but the software updates
solved a lot of the issues I encountered and made it a more pleasant machine to use.
Buy now, later, or never?
A wait-and-see approach to MacBook Pro may be warranted, but no such caution is necessary with iMac. The next generation of
Intel’s CPUs will make both systems faster and even more energy efficient, but this will only raise iMac higher above the
PC pack than it already is.
Despite their rush to market, these two systems show that Apple knows how to do Intel systems right, and as the catalog of
Intel-native OS X applications fills out and users get used to the idea of running Windows on Apple hardware, iMac and MacBook
Pro have a solid shot at mainstream leadership.
Apple iMac
Apple Computer, apple.com
|
 Excellent 9.0 |
|
| criteria |
score |
weight |
| Ease-of-use |
10 |
30% |
 |
| Application compatibility |
6 |
20% |
|
| Manageability |
10 |
15% |
|
| Connectivity |
10 |
15% |
|
| Performance |
9 |
10% |
|
| Value |
9 |
10% |
|
|
|
Cost:
As reviewed, 20-inch iMac with 32-bit 2 GHz Core Duo, $1,699; 17-inch iMac with 1.83 GHz 32-bit Core Duo CPU, $1,299. Promotional
financing and mail-in rebates may be available from some resellers.
Platforms:
OS X Tiger release 10.4.4 or later; Apple’s Boot Camp modifies iMac to run Windows, and a number of virtualization solutions
for Windows and other x86 OSes are available.
Bottom Line:
iMac packs the computer, monitor, and speakers into one chassis in a way that consigns the box-and-monitor PC to the legacy
landfill. iMac is virtually silent and consumed less than 100 total watts of power in testing, yet its performance is excellent
for a 32-bit PC. The integrated wide-aspect display is exceptionally sharp, bright, and evenly lit. The built-in iSight Web
cam, microphone, and speakers equip iMac for A/V conferencing and presentations out of the box. And yes, Virginia, it runs
Windows.
|
|
About our Reviews and Scoring Methodology
|
|
Apple MacBook Pro
Apple Computer, apple.com
|
| Good 7.3 |
|
| criteria |
score |
weight |
| Ease-of-use |
8 |
30% |
|
| Application compatibility |
6 |
20% |
|
| Battery life |
7 |
15% |
|
| Connectivity |
7 |
15% |
|
| Performance |
9 |
10% |
|
| Value |
7 |
10% |
|
|
|
Cost:
As reviewed with 2.16 GHz Core Duo, 2GB RAM and 256MB video RAM, $3,099; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $1,999; 2 GHz Core Duo, $2,499.
Promotional financing and mail-in rebates may be available from some resellers.
Platforms:
OS X Tiger release 10.4.4 or later; Apple’s Boot Camp modifies iMac to run Windows, and a number of virtualization solutions
for Windows and other x86 OSes are available.
Bottom Line:
MacBook Pro is a step up to the market-changing PowerBook in design and solidly exceeds it in performance, but this notebook
still needs to mature. I had problems with USB devices, and it runs very hot, which may have caused some stability issues.
MacBook Pro is Apple’s fastest and most expandable notebook by far, and some users may never be affected by its shortcomings.
Those who expect Apple’s trademark perfection, though, might want to wait for the next generation.
|
|
About our Reviews and Scoring Methodology
|
|
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