Section: Macintosh / Apple Hardware, Laptops, MacBook Pro, Features, Opinions and Editorials
In the end, Thursday’s MacBook Pro update announcement turned out to be pretty much what I had expected and predicted, although less than many had hoped. However, one new feature I hadn’t anticipated for this refresh of the pro portables was the addition of Intel’s new high-speed I/O interface technology (aka “Light Peak”). I knew Light Peak was coming, but didn’t imagine that it would arrive before summer or fall at the earliest until the rumor mills broke the story this week.
What we got
Otherwise, the new MacBook Pros represent a substantial and solid speed bump with the move to Intel’s second-generation Sandy Bridge Core “i” dual and quad core silicon across the board, especially for the 13 inch model, which finally abandons the now two generations of dated Core 2 Duo CPU family. Apple claims the entire MacBook Pro line is up to twice as fast as the previous generation models were, which is doubtless true if you’re talking just processor speed. The downside is that Apple has dropped Nvidia’s superior integrated graphics processor unit chipsets on the 13” model and adopted Intel’s HD Graphics 3000 IGPU that is integral to the Sandy Ridge Core “i” processors. The dispute between Intel and Nvidia over licensing the ladders chipsets for use with Core “i” Intel CPUs is ongoing, so Apple had the choice of staying with ever more outdated CPU technology in the smallest MacBook Pro, or dropping Nvidia’s state-of-the-art GeForce 320M IGPU used in the last generation and hoping that the faster processing speed of the Core i5 and i7 chips that will now ship with the latest generation models will compensate for the slower Intel HD graphics. At this point, what that means in real world performance remains to be seen.
However, the addition of Thunderbolt should be an unequivocal improvement over the erstwhile FireWire 800 that was your fastest I/O transfer interface with the previous generation MacBook Pros. It also explains why Apple was reluctant to adopt USB three as a interim high-speed data solution, knowing that ThunderBolt was in the pipeline. Featuring two bi-directional channels with transfer speeds up to an 10 gigabits per second, eclipsing USB 3 and FireWire 800, Thunderbolt delivers PCI Express directly to external high performance peripherals such as RAID arrays, and can support FireWire and USB consumer devices and Gigabit Ethernet networks via adapters. Thunderbolt also supports DisplayPort for high resolution displays and works with existing adapters for HDMI, DVI and VGA displays. Apple predicts that Thunderbolt technology will be widely adopted as a new standard for high performance I/O, and I won’t be surprised if it is, although FireWire was also markedly superior to USB 1 and 2 in its day, and it never did become a universal standard in the PC sector.
The third major element of this refresh is that the MacBook Pro now includes a built-in FaceTime HD camera with triple the resolution of the previous generation models’ camera.
What we didn’t
What was widely predicted, but didn’t materialize, was a revised form factor for the Pros’ aluminum unibody enclosures, which some expected to be redesigned with styling cues taken from the superslim wedgie-profiled enclosures of the October 2010 MacBook Air models. Personally, I thought (and am on record saying that I always thought) a redesign of the less than 2-1/2 year old (fewer than two in the case of the 17 inch model) was no more than a 50/50 probability at most. I expect the spectacular popularity of the new MacBook Airs will eventually result in Apple taking that route when it’s time to restyle the Pro series, but the current aluminum Pro housings are still fresh and exceedingly attractive, and since their engineering and manufacture tooling was almost certainly an expensive proposition, I expect Apple wants to amortize those overhead costs for a longer period before replacing what is still a relatively new design, from a historical perspective. For example, the original aluminum PowerBook form factor was carried over to the original MacBook Pros, and it remained in production with a few relatively minor facelift for seven years. The dual USB iBooks had a five-year production lifespan.
I’m happy Apple decided to stay with conventional hard disk drive technology for the present, although that will disappoint those who were hoping for standard SSD storage on at least some models. If you absolutely must have an SSD you can be accommodated from the configure to order list, but I’m delighted Apple was able to hold the line on price points for these refresh machines, which would not have been possible had they gone with standard solid-state drives.
The bottom line, of course, will be whether this update is enough to persuade substantial numbers of current MacBook Pro owners to upgrade their systems, and of course to entice Windows PC laptop users to switch. I think it probably will succeed on both counts, although perhaps not so much as it would have had there been a radical MacBook Air-esque restyling. Speaking for myself, it may prove enough to persuade me to replace my late 2008 aluminum unibody MacBook sooner than the early 2012 that was my penciled-in system update target.
However, I had been hoping that the 13 inch MacBook Pro—which is the model that best suits my needs, tastes, and especially my budget—would get the higher-resolution 13 inch display that comes with the 13 inch MacBook Air. Alas, no. Another disappointment for many will be that the 13 inch Pro is still unavailable with a matte screen finish option, although I’m perfectly content with glossy myself.
I’ve also been weighing the relative advantages/disadvantages of going with a 13 inch MacBook Pro compared with a 13 inch MacBook air. I’m still not 100% decided, and the questions of what Apple will do about moving the MacBook Air to Core “i” silicon and whether/when it will get Thunderbolt conductivity are still, how shall we say? — up in the air. But for now, the new 13 inch MacBook has widened the performance gap substantially. I think I want one.
Full Story » | Written by Charles Moore for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »
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