Review: New MacBook Pro

[editor]

hibernate before swapping batteries.

If you mean sleep, yes, it was in sleep mode.

[editor]

Pro: The MacBook Air's trackpad, which is now in the MacBook Pro (and presumably the regular old MacBook). Doing a three-fingered swipe to change tabs in Safari rocketh.

[Pumapayam]

I just got bad news ... I hear the MBPs and the MBs are being redesigned in June/July... but heck. That's 2 months away and I needed a new machine now.

I am ready to retire my VIAO and get a desktop Mac Pro.

But when the heck are they going to update the HD Cinema Display to glossy with iSight.

They have looked the same since 2004!

And no, I am not ready for a MacBook, nor do I want to whole combo PC/screen device that is the iMac.

I like my computer easy to mod.

[HoustonMidtown]

I am ready to retire my VIAO and get a desktop Mac Pro.

....me too

but Im gonna get a Macbook Pro!!

[editor]

I am ready to retire my VIAO and get a desktop Mac Pro.

But when the heck are they going to update the HD Cinema Display to glossy with iSight.

They have looked the same since 2004!

I doubt the Cinema Display will get iSight anytime soon, for the same reason that it won't get glossy -- it's not a consumer product, it's aimed at professional videographers and cinematographers. The last thing a pro wants in his workspace is a glossy monitor throwing the colors off and reflecting the overhead halogens. I got the glossy screen on my MacBook Pro and it totally screws with color calibration hardware.

I worked with Cinema Displays for years, and know a lot of professionals who have 2, 3, or even 4 of them hooked up to their Mac Pros. They are amazing pieces of hardware. But they are not consumer monitors.

[Pumapayam]

I worked with Cinema Displays for years, and know a lot of professionals who have 2, 3, or even 4 of them hooked up to their Mac Pros. They are amazing pieces of hardware. But they are not consumer monitors.

Hence the high cost for them.

So honestly, no refresh?

Apple loves to refresh things, except the Cinema screens.

[editor]

Hence the high cost for them.

So honestly, no refresh?

Apple loves to refresh things, except the Cinema screens.

The average time between Cinema Display refreshes is 230 days. It's been 379 days since the last refresh. MacRumors predicts a refresh is imminent.

[Pumapayam]

The average time between Cinema Display refreshes is 230 days. It's been 379 days since the last refresh. MacRumors predicts a refresh is imminent.

Sorry to continue the hijack on this thread, but THIS is too good to not mention!

After over 4 years, we finally get an update to the Apple Cinema Display line in 5 months.

I know it is still a rumor, but I am just glad something is chattering regarding this. I want to retire my Vaio pronto.

LED lighting, energy efficient, and bright.

Look forward too seeing what surfaces soon.

[editor]

Sorry to continue the hijack on this thread, but THIS is too good to not mention!

After over 4 years, we finally get an update to the Apple Cinema Display line in 5 months.

I know it is still a rumor, but I am just glad something is chattering regarding this. I want to retire my Vaio pronto.

LED lighting, energy efficient, and bright.

Look forward too seeing what surfaces soon.

I hope LEDs in Cinema Displays will bring on a new generation of color calibration tools. The one I used on my Powerbook is worthless on my MacBook Pro. For some reason it insists on calibrating to some seriously wacky colors on the MBP's LED screen.

BTW -- as a follow-up to the very first message in this thread -- it's been four months and I'm still VERY pleased with the battery life. Doing heavy Photoshop (lens corrections on 10-25 90meg images at a time at full brightness) I still get 3:30:00-4:00:00 of battery time. Just chilling and surfing the web it's closer to 5:00:00 if I knock the brightness back a couple of notches.

I still miss my old Enter key.

[Pumapayam]

I hope LEDs in Cinema Displays will bring on a new generation of color calibration tools. The one I used on my Powerbook is worthless on my MacBook Pro. For some reason it insists on calibrating to some seriously wacky colors on the MBP's LED screen.

BTW -- as a follow-up to the very first message in this thread -- it's been four months and I'm still VERY pleased with the battery life. Doing heavy Photoshop (lens corrections on 10-25 90meg images at a time at full brightness) I still get 3:30:00-4:00:00 of battery time. Just chilling and surfing the web it's closer to 5:00:00 if I knock the brightness back a couple of notches.

I still miss my old Enter key.

My friend and I attented one of those Apple workshops on Saturday morning before the store opens. She almost got a Dell, but I think now she is 100% convinced to get a Macbook.

[Jeebus]

BTW -- as a follow-up to the very first message in this thread -- it's been four months and I'm still VERY pleased with the battery life. Doing heavy Photoshop (lens corrections on 10-25 90meg images at a time at full brightness) I still get 3:30:00-4:00:00 of battery time. Just chilling and surfing the web it's closer to 5:00:00 if I knock the brightness back a couple of notches.

I still miss my old Enter key.

Same here! I frequently work in Photoshop, Final Cut, and I also boot in Vista quite a bit to run Premiere. I've racked up 157 charge cycles, and my battery health is still at 92%.

My only complaints.. (From my PowerMac) I still miss the pc delete key. That, and when booting into pc, I have issues trying to use all the advanced features of the mouse trackpad.

Also, this sucker still gets pretty hot.

Puma, what do they talk about at those workshops?

[editor]

My only complaints.. (From my PowerMac) I still miss the pc delete key.

I'm thinking of re-mapping my \ key to forward delete. Aside from escaping characters in PHP I don't think I ever use it. It's hardly used outside of the Windows world, and it's right under delete, so it makes sense. I know there are a ton of free utilities for re-mapping the keyboard. I'll have to explore them later today.

If you enjoy the trackpad features, pick up a program called MultiClutch. There's free trials out there on Versiontracker and the other usual sources. I liked it so much I paid for it ($12 I think).

It lets you assign different trackpad gestures to different keystrokes in different programs. For example, in the New York Times Reader I can use a three-finger swipe left and right to go to the next and previous story, or three-fingers up and down for the next and previous page. In Safari I use three-finger swipes to change tabs, which totally rocks.

[sarahiki]

I'm thinking of re-mapping my \ key to forward delete. Aside from escaping characters in PHP I don't think I ever use it. It's hardly used outside of the Windows world, and it's right under delete, so it makes sense. I know there are a ton of free utilities for re-mapping the keyboard. I'll have to explore them later today.

How do you do that? I've more or less adjusted to the lack of a forward delete, but I would love to have it back.

here's my complaint: Powerpoint for Mac doesn't give you thumbnails on the left side of a normal view. But I've learned to live with that, as well.

I heart my Mac. I would never go back.

[editor]

How do you do that? I've more or less adjusted to the lack of a forward delete, but I would love to have it back.

Well, I did a little research and it looks like all the old methods don't work on the newer Macs. When Apple switched from ADB (Apple Desktop Bus) to USB they stopped working for the most part; which means people with Intel Macs (myself, included) are SOL until someone comes up with another method.

here's my complaint: Powerpoint for Mac doesn't give you thumbnails on the left side of a normal view. But I've learned to live with that, as well.

I have Powerpoint on the Mac, but have never used it so I'm no help there. I always use Keynote for presentations.

I heart my Mac. I would never go back.

Ditto.

[Talbot]

I definately think for my next laptop purchase, I am going to try out a mac. It just seems like they have a lot of things lately that appeal to me, that pc doesn't.

[editor]

I definately think for my next laptop purchase, I am going to try out a mac. It just seems like they have a lot of things lately that appeal to me, that pc doesn't.

Be careful if you're hairy. I'm starting to get that yank-your-arm-hair-out thing that Jeebus mentioned earlier.

[Talbot]

lol, well thankfully I am not too hairy.

[houstonmacbro]

lol, well thankfully I am not too hairy.

My old Powerbook pinches, but I haven't noticed it much on my MacBook. It might be that the Powerbook already pulled all the hairs out.

[wernicke]

Just got my new MacBook today and am using it for the first time... it is a beautiful machine.

[editor]

Just got my new MacBook today and am using it for the first time... it is a beautiful machine.

I bet. I'm going to run by the Apple Store today to see what they look like.

At least with the new construction method you don't have to worry about losing any wrist hair!

[wernicke]

Just getting used to the new laptop. A few things:

I'm not sure about this new Mini Displayport connection... seems kind of limiting.

The aluminum casing is awesome... there are only 4 visible screw heads on the entire machine. Very solid and light. Elegant simplicity.

A huge improvement over my 15" PowerBook G4 I bought in 2003. I hadn't expected the internet to run so much faster. And the glossy screen is much less noticeable than I had expected -- I am already used to it. I am waiting for a copy of the new version of Photoshop... interested to see how the performance improves.

[editor]

Just getting used to the new laptop. A few things:

I'm not sure about this new Mini Displayport connection... seems kind of limiting.

I was worried about that, too, until it was explained. A lot of people initially thought it should be HDMI so people could plug their computers into their HDTVs. But the problem is that HDMI is lower bandwidth than DisplayPort, so it can't drive the 30" Apple Cinema Displays. I think a lot more people connect their laptops to Cinema Displays than to TVs, so this makes sense. Since DisplayPort is an open standard, it shouldn't be too long before someone makes a DisplayPort-HDMI cable.

A huge improvement over my 15" PowerBook G4 I bought in 2003. I hadn't expected the internet to run so much faster. And the glossy screen is much less noticeable than I had expected -- I am already used to it. I am waiting for a copy of the new version of Photoshop... interested to see how the performance improves.

It's too bad that Adobe software changes can't keep up with Apple's hardware changes. Imagine if there was a version of Photoshop optimized for the second graphics processor in the MacBook Pro! That would rock.

I'm running CS3 on my MBP and it's significantly faster than CS2 on my old G4. Certain filters I would start, then have time to check on the laundry or go to the bathroom and come back when it was just finishing. Now the same operations take only about three seconds.

Did you get the MacBook, or the Pro? What do you think of the chicklet keyboard?

[editor]

Another thing I recommend -- Picking up a little program called MultiClutch. It allows you to do all sorts of amazing things with the multi-touch trackpad. I can't imagine working on a laptop and not being able to flick, spin, and do all sorts of things without the trackpad anymore. And lots of things I used to do with the keyboard I now do much easier with the trackpad.