The MacBook Pro i use for work recently got upgraded. If you remember last week's post on "When should you buy a New Mac?" You'll remember that I had just placed my order at work for the newly introduced MacBook Pro 15" Core i7. Well it arrived last week and I thought I would take a few minutes to share my first impressions.
My Config
8GB RAM, 15.4" Antiglare LED Display, 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 500GB 7200 RPM drive
The Design
There's nothing really new with the design. My last MacBook Pro was the 1st generation uni-body enclosure. So I was already familiar with this design and Apple hasn't really changed it much. They replaced the ExpressCard slot with an SD card reader and I was already mentally prepared for that. Otherwise from a look and feel perspective It feels just like my old one. Don't take that as a knock. There wasn't anything wrong with the design (other than I still prefer the older trackpads with a separate button).
The Display
One of the first things that caught me totally by surprise was that I didn't know that Apple changed the default resolution of the 15.4" display. It's now 1680×1050 as opposed to the old one being 1440×900. Of course the advantage is that you see more on screen and the disadvantage is that everything is smaller. It took about a day to get used to it, now I don't give it a second thought and I do appreciate having more of my documents display without scrolling. However, if you have a hard time reading/seeing small things on screen this could be a problem for you. Sure you can change the resolution, but anything other than the native resolution will be soft unless you use an external display. The one thing I wasn't crazy about with my last MacBook Pro was the very reflective glossy display. I lived with it and it wasn't the end of the world, but apparently Apple listened to the cries of thousands of photographers and offered an anti-glare option. I went for that option this time around. Right off the bat I could tell I was going to like it better. Not only is it antiglare, but it's also recessed just like the previous aluminum MacBook Pros, which means my 3M privacy screen fits in it nicely again.
It's Quiet
My last MacBook Pro seemed to always be running the fan. Yes, I do lots of processor intensive work, so the fan is on all the time even in this new one, but it's much much quieter than my last one.
The Battery Life is AMAZING!
I never ever ever pay attention to Apple's claims on battery life when it comes to a MacBook. I never pay attention to the claims, because I never get anywhere near what they specify the machine can do. I think my last MacBook Pro was rated at 4-5 hours of battery life. I'm always lucky if I can do 2.5-3 hours. On average it's probably closer to 2 hours. So when I saw the claims on this one doing 8-9 hours on battery I said "yeah right!" Do I get anywhere near that? NO! However, I do get double what I used to get. I can easily go 4 hours or more now on battery and for me that's huge! I haven't even tried any battery conservation techniques. The 4 hours I got was on full regular use, screen as bright as it can be, keyboard light on, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. This means that on a plane, with my battery saving techniques in place, I should easily be able to get 5 hours now. So while 8-9 seems like a pipe dream (at least from my experience), I'll definitely take 5 (maybe 6).
Migrating over
It's always a debate with me to either migrate over from my old Mac or start FRESH with the new one. Starting FRESH is better because you're not bringing over unnecessary baggage and problems from your years of migrating. However, starting fresh takes longer to get everything reinstalled and back to the way you like things. I always seem to bail on starting fresh because usually I don't have the downtime it would take to do so. Once again I migrated…sigh. I used Ethernet to do so figuring that Gigabit Ethernet on both Macs would be faster than Firewire 800. Even so, moving over 350GB's of stuff can take hours and it did (about 4 to be exact). However, everything came over nicely and is up and running.
The Speed is Awesome!
At the end of the day this update is all about speed for me. One of main reasons I waited till 2010 and didn't go with the 2009 model is because I figured Apple would put the Core i7 processor in the MacBook Pro just like they did in the iMac. I'm glad I waited! Knowing that Adobe Creative Suite 5 was coming and that the move to 64 bit was underway (Photoshop CS5, After Effects CS5 and Premiere Pro CS5 are now all 64 bit), I not only wanted as much RAM as I could get, but I also wanted the fastest processor I could get in a Mac laptop. That's the Core i7 and it doesn't disappoint. Everything is snappier! Here are my Xbench results:
Click the graphics below to enlarge
Here's the results from the the NEW MacBook Pro Core i7
Here are the results from my 2008 MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo
and just for giggles, I ran the same test on my "production machine", my 1st generation Mac Pro (yes, I'm in the market for a new one. Just waiting for the 2010 model)
My new MacBook Pro got a better overall score than my Mac Pro!
The Bottom Line
While this MacBook Pro isn't a revolutionary update over my 2008 model, it has all the right things in it to make the upgrade worthwhile. I try to plan my purchases to get the most out of the latest processor, graphics and RAM improvements. This move was worth the wait.
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Hey, the 1680×1050 is not the default resolution unless you get the anti-glare screen. The default res for the glossy screen is still 1440×900.
now that bottom line makes me think it worth the wait to upgrade from my g4 laptop and I look forward to it. I wonder thought why does the 17″ have a slower processor than the 15″
[...] this article: Terry White Reviews the NEW MacBook Pro 15" Core i7 | MacNews linkscolor = "000000"; highlightscolor = "888888"; backgroundcolor = "FFFFFF"; channel = [...]
Thanks, good to know.
Always nice to get more info on the new Macbook Pros. I was hoping for these same features on the 13″ this time around as I’m a road warrior using photoshop, FCP and other graphics in airports, so the glossy screen doesn’t work for me. I may have to convince myself to lug around the antiglare 15″ model
To give your blog a little more professional appearance, clean up the grammar and typo errors next time. Plus, if you’re going to give us performance specs on current and previous machines (something all readers want) make sure we can read them beforehand. The font sizes just don’t work. Links to separate pages would have been better.
Still, thanks for the info.
Haven’t had the chance to test the battery life yet, but my experience with the 17″ that’s otherwise just the same as yours has me smiling just as much.
Even more, maybe, since it replaces a Core [non-2] Duo MBP/17. Twice as fast. 4X the max RAM. Almost a pound lighter, 2+ lbs when you consider I no longer carry a spare batt and the power brick is lighter, too. Much sturdier, this uniblock.
PS: @rose, Intel is offering lots of tweaks to keep power under control; the CPU can speed up for single-thread tasks. The i7 CPU is more efficient in compute/watt than the Core2Duo, and offers 4 threads on its 2 cores, so it can crank quite a bit faster within its power budget.
Terry, how do you find the heat? Gizmodo says it can boil water it get so hot.
http://gizmodo.com/5524473/core-i7-macbook-pro-could-make-water-boil
That’s odd because it seems to actually run cooler than my previous one. Still warm yes, but not nearly what i would call hot.
I ordered the same config as you but I also bought separately, the best SSD drive on the market; the OWC Mercury Extreme 200GB drive. Not that’s extreme speeeeeed
@nowhereman, still haven’t gotten mine anywhere near as warm as its predecessor got. I’m sure that you can push the CPU to the limit, maybe especially in BootCamp, and it’ll throttle back when it gets too hot for its — and your! — comfort. Sometimes, you want the CPU running full bore, and the temp control should be built for that.
Still, I haven’t seen any clear complaint that Apple firmware allows the chip to go outside its design limits. The shots about heat that I saw were kinda vague on how they did it.
I think the running hot all has to do with the automatic graphics card switching. As soon as I read about this feature I thought “great so now the MBP will constantly think the graphics are being used (even if they aren’t) and run the discrete card at all times”. And I think that’s exactly what’s happening.
It’s not easy to automatically decide on whether or not discrete gfx should be used. In my day to day usage scenarios, it’s in fact impossible. I might be using Photoshop, but I might be on battery and not doing anything CPU intensive. I’ll wait until they introduce an “OFF” button for that.
Discrete graphics on means more power used, and more heat.
Hi Terry,
Thanks for sharing. I have one question: IWas just about to get the new macbook pro when i heard rumors about the heat of the new laptops form apple. How is it going for you? Is it getting overheat at all?
Thanks,
Alex
No heat problems at all (so far).
Hi Terry,
I’m planning to get a 15″ i7 MBP. But I’m still seeking advices of which should I get, the i5 or i7.
I’m a photographer and designer. I need a laptop because I travel a lot, so I don’t have any other choice.
I run photoshop, indesign, illustrator (currently at CS4) , freehand, and painter on daily basis. Sometimes I open a few applications at one time, like photoshop+illustrator+itunes+browsers.
I got an old iMac (not sure what generation it is) but I don’t use it anymore since I got my previous laptop, Alienware M15x. I got all the specs maxed out, and within 1year, it blew up on me due to overheating (even with cooling pad on), and I cannot get it fixed anymore.
Which do you suggest? The 15″ i7 or the 17″ i5? Or, which one is better for heavy duty? Cos I don’t want an overheating laptop anymore
15″ i7
Hi Terry,
I’m looking to purchase a MacBook Pro 15″ with your configs, except I had a question about the display. I want to install Adobe CS5 Master Collection. An installation requirement for this is a display of “1280 x 900, prefer 1280 x 1024.”
What does this mean? Would CS5 Master Collection work with your configs?
Thank you!
My MacBook Pro has a default resolution of 1680×1024, so yes, it works great with CS5.
It must be luck that you got the Hi-Res version even if you didn’t order such upgrade
How’s you battery by the way? Care to share another post about how things are going with your new toy? Thanks!
It’s going great. No complaints. Battery life is twice that of the one I replaced.
Hey Terry,
Playing call of duty MW2 decreased battery life to 1.5 hours, obviously!! its using like 80% of the cpu and discrete graphics.
so much better then the normal 1440×900 screen. Everything is so much sharper and the colours are more real with the antiglare as the glass makes them stronger than they would be on a printout for example. This is a great advantage when im doing photoshop work, and then print it out. Also there is no stupid reflections 
nice review man.
i have the 15″ i7 aswell. 4gb RAM, 7200rpm 500gb drive and the antiglare Hi-Res screen.
This is a rough review from me
Thought id let you know that you paid 150 for that antiglare screen, meaning, also says that when choosing the option that you get the 1680×1050 Hi-Res screen aswell. Only the Hi-Res option is 100. last Generation macbook pro had the antiglare for 50 because the Hi-Res option didnt exist. Some people guaranteed would like the antiglare without the Hi-Res due to money but thats probs just apples way to make money
Regarding heat with my machine. Well i could be a lot happier. If im in a skype call (both mine and other persons camera on) then skype uses 100% (from 400%) of my cpu, ie. 1/4 of my cpu. my CPU temp then easily goes up to 70-80°C and fans are running at approx. 5500rpm. Which can be very frustrating when having it on your lap or in bed. When i throw 3D renderings at it, which uses all 4 virtual cores 100% then my CPU managed to get to 98°C, for some reason it took a while for the fans to kick in. Dont know why it did that. Now comparing this to my girlfriends 2.66Ghz core 2 duo unibody (2. Gen unibody), which runs cooler on average actually, On skype call, again both cameras turned on (mine and hers) her temperature stays at roughly 65°C. Also her battery lasts a bit longer when about 1/4 of her cpu is used. However speed wise, it is probably half as quick as mine when playing games and doing 3D Renderings with a program not needing graphics card performance.
Annoying thing about the automatic graphics switching is that even when using skype the GT 330 m is turned on. This sucks for the battery life. GFX card status application does help here as you can choose the intel only option and everything still runs smoothly.
My battery life seems better than with you!!! If im typing in pages and slightly using safari, just for information purposes, so no hardcore surfing I do end up with nearly 8h 30 min. :O This I thought was amazing. However as soon as you throw a little bit more stuff at the i7 cpu it seems to suck the electricity. at roughly 1/4 cpu use battery goes down to 3-4 hours. This is still crazy good, any windows user could only dream of this
The High resolution screen with antiglare is AMAZING!!!!
All in ll im very impressed by this machine, couple small thing i dont like but otherwise it is i am 100% satisfied:)