MacBook Pro First Impressions

I received my MacBook Pro yesterday morning. I ended up getting the 2GHz version with 2GB of RAM and a 120GB hard drive. This unit is replacing my 17-inch 1.5GHz PowerBook with 1GB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive.

Here are my first impressions:

The Good

Speed

The MacBook Pro is very, very, very fast! Universal applications such as Keynote, iPhoto, iCal, Mail and Safari just scream on this thing. Spotlight is actually usable and snappy. Dashboard widgets come in without a long delay. Fast user switching is quick.

Rosetta is amazing! All my non-Intel applications such as Entourage, Word, Illustrator, Photoshop and Excel run well. In fact, these applications seem to run with little noticeable slowdown (although I am not a big user of Adobe applications anymore).

Networking / Airport

Copying items back and forth from a Windows network seems snappier. Apple has really improved the Airport reception on the MacBook — it is amazing! I see approximately 2-3x more wireless base stations at work and at home. The only downside is that I am finding that the AirPort reception at home and at work seems to fluctuate between 1-4 bars much more than the PowerBook did. I wonder if the increased reception is causing more interference? Something to keep an eye on...

Sound

The speakers in the MacBook Pro are much better than the speakers on my previous PowerBook. They have a lot more base and seem to be a lot louder. Although they won't give your Bose Wave a run for its money — they should eliminate the need to bring another set of speakers with you to a hotel.

Screen / Keyboard / Trackpad

The screen is quite a bit brighter than my 17-inch PowerBook. Some people have commented that the screen has a really light bar at the bottom, but mine seems fine. The illuminated keyboard seems to be much brighter than before and the trackpad is the same as my old PowerBook, which was incredible. Apple has really nailed trackpad engineering. Every time I use a Dell laptop the trackpad sends me into a fit of rage.

iSight / Photo Booth

The embedded iSight is awesome. You don't really notice the camera at the top of the screen until it is activated and the green light beside it is illuminated. I had an iSight for my old PowerBook, but never used it because it was a pain to carry around and attach to the screen when I wanted to use it. I have a feeling that I will be using video with iChat a lot more now that I don't have to plug the iSight into my computer every time I feel like using video.

Photo Booth is a cool little application that is a lot more fun then it should be. It also gives you one-click options for using a photo as your iChat buddy picture or your account picture — slick!

The Bad

Fan Noise / Heat

My MacBook Pro seems to have a messed up fan on the right-hand side (near the speaker) that starts and stops all the time. It is pretty loud, and sounds a bit like there is a snake in my computer (hissing). It doesn't ramp up in speed (like the one on the left). I'll give AppleCare a call and see if they are working on some sort of software update for this issue. Hopefully I won't have to take the computer in to be fixed already!

The MacBook Pro also gets quite hot. My old PowerBook would get very toasty on the top-left-hand side of the laptop (above the keyboard). The MacBook Pro gets hot on both the top-left and top-right.

Battery Life

Battery life on the MacBook Pro seems comparable to my 17-inch PowerBook. It isn't too bad, but I wouldn't say that it is great either. I seem to be getting just over two hours out of each charge with fairly heavy use. I will order another battery for long plane rides.

MagSafe Connector / Power Adapter

Although great in theory the magnetic power connector (MagSafe) is too strong. Sometimes when you tug on the cable the connector doesn't release from the MacBook and it slides on the table. I wouldn't recommend relying on it if someone runs into the cable, especially on a slippery table.

The power adapter is also a lot larger!

The Verdict

I'm really happy with the computer (minus the weird fan noise). It is super fast, and I prefer the size of the 15-inch PowerBook to the 17-inch. The MacBook Pro has the same resolution as my 17-inch PowerBook had (1440 x 900) so I am not loosing anything by moving the the smaller screen.

I'll post the resolution to the fan noise issue when I call Apple!

Comments

[barinov2000]

I just exchanged my 17" G4 1.67 the same way for a new intel book 1.8Ghz. I have the same issue with the fan.
And, maybe it's just me, but the aqua inteface doesn't feel as fluent as on a G4 mac.
And yes: the power supply is HUGE, they could have put a USB on it, so users would have less wires and extra functionality - so there would be some justification for the size increase....

[barinov2000]

P.S. Just found test results - intel macs are slower than G4s in user interface tests. maybe new OS X updates will fix it.. Or maybe the problem is in Intel vs. G4 architecture/bus width.

[bryan]

the fan on the right side of my MBP does the same thing.

whirr.. whirr.. whizzzzzzzzz. over and over when it starts running hot.

[Gable Garnett]

Hi, I got a Macbook in May, of 2006, and it is now December 2006. I saw that your fan made noise, and it is extremely similiar to the problem that i just recently had. it didn't used to do that, and i was wondering what applecare said.

I would appreciate it soo much if you would tell me what they said, as i have found nothing else on the internet about it

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