Apple on Thursday, February 24 announced their latest generation MacBook Pros. The entire line, 13, 15 and 17-inch, has been updated. The most striking difference is the switch from Nehalem to Sandy Bridge platform from Intel. In addition, the GPU replaced by chips from AMD instead of Intel and the MacBook Pro received a Thunderbolt port. In this review I take the heavier standard configuration of the 15-inch model in hand. Using benchmarks, I will particularly focus on the changes from the older models. If you want to read about things that have remained the same as the housing, over the review of the previous generation by Olaf van Miltenburg a good start. The software I leave out of consideration.
Specifications
Physical
Depth: 24.9 cm
Width: 36.4 cm
Height: 2.41 cm
Weight: 2.54 kg
Ports
MagSafe power port
Gigabit Ethernet port
FireWire 800 port (up to 800Mbps)
Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480Mbps)
Thunderbolt port (up to 10Gbps)
Audio line in
Audio line out
SDXC card slot
Kensington lock slot
Communication
802.11a/b/g/n WiFi
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
10/100/1000mbit Ethernet (RJ45)
Audio
Stereo speakers with subwoofers
Omnidirectional microphone
3.5mm mini-jack line in (analog / digital (SPDIF)
3.5mm mini-jack line out (analog / digital (SPDIF)
Tech specs
2.2 GHz Intel Core i7
4GB (2x2) DDR3 1333MHz
AMD Radeon HD6750M, 1GB DDR5
Intel HD Graphics 3000 384MB (shared)
750GB 5400RPM HDD
Price
Sandy Bridge
The new MacBook Pros are the first laptops to feature Intel's Sandy Bridge processors. This has a huge performance boost to the MacBooks. Previously appeared already in Geekbench benchmarks Primate Labs that the 13-inch entry-level model (2.3GHz i5-2415M) the performance of the heavy 15-inch model (2.8GHz i7M 640) from the previous generation almost equaled. High time the i7 2720QM 2.2GHz to explain the fire. shins Here are the results: Geekbench (64-bit) For comparison, the current entry-level Mac Pro with a quad-core Xeon 2.8GHz scored 8360 points. The variant with the optional 3.2 GHz Xeon know to put down 9968. Cinebench 11.5 Score 15 "2.4GHz i5 (Early 2010): 2.21 Score 13 "2.66GHz Core2Duo (early 2010): 1.52 Cinebench 10 score 15 "2.4GHz i5 (early 2010) 1 CPU: 3432 Score 15 "2.4GHz i5 (Early 2010) x cpu: 7425 Score 13 "2.66GHz Core2Duo (early 2010) 1 CPU: 3024 Score 13 "2.66GHz Core2Duo (early 2010) x cpu: 5574 iBench FP
Geekbench 64-bit
CineBench 11.5
CineBench 10
iBench FP
Score 15 "2.4GHz i5 (Early 2010): 3.28
Score 13 "2.66GHz Core2Duo (early 2010): 3.21 iBench INT
iBench INT
Score 15 "2.4GHz i5 (Early 2010): 4.47
Score 13 "2.66GHz Core2Duo (early 2010): 4.14 iBench Score 15 "2.4GHz i5 (Early 2010): 3.83 Score 13 "2 , Core2Duo 66GHz (early 2010): 3.64
iBench
AMD Radeon HD6750M
The GPU is not left alone. The GT330 with 256MB (512MB in heavy MC373) is replaced by an AMD Radeon HD6750M 1GB DDR5. This results in significant performance improvements. portal runs on the hardest settings (incl 16x 16AF and 8XAA) excellent: framerates were not among the 80 and amounted to 129 per second. The old model took an average of 22 frames per second. Which does perhaps worth mentioning is the Portal of benchmarks: the game is "only" using 4 of the 8 available CPU threads. CineBench in 10 took the old model in OpenGL test a score of 5060, 15.64 in Cinebench 11.5. The new model is that 7807 and 34.78 respectively. XBench shows similar improvements seen:
Portal logo
Portal settings
XBench
Hard disk
The standard hard drive that comes, 5400rpm 750GB, presents itself immediately as the bottleneck in this system. Despite the massive improvements in every aspect compared to my old 15 "MacBook Pro (mid'07, 2.4GHz C2D), feels the new system a lot slower Cause:. HDD The old workhorse equipped with a OCZ Vertex. 2 SSD. 750GB, 5400rpm
750GB HDD xBench
60GB OCZ Vertex 2 It is regrettable that Apple as the MacBook Air systems) has no memory chips soldered on the motherboard. Will you be able to use all the power that this system entails, use an SSD is really a must. You can not close the wallet so unfortunately after buying this laptop.
OCZ Vertex 60GB SSD benchmark
Thunderbolt
The problem of slow internal HDD can be overcome in the future by connecting it to the Thunderbolt port. An external hdd to With 10Gbit / s full duplex bandwidth for the first time (as far as I can remember) that external HDD can perform better than internal. It also provides the ability to port the two 27 "Cinema Displays to send: especially for professionals is a huge improvement over the old, it is only waiting on equipment that can be connected.. Lacie and Promise have announced products that provide from the port. For a demonstration of the possibilities, see this video from Engadget. The only question is whether it will be for a normal mortal affordable.
Thunderbolt
Screen
The screen is the most disappointing part of the laptop. The resolution of 1440x900 simply does not fit in a mobile workstation like this. Even the optional 1680x1050 resolution is too low. Mobile video editing would be a lot easier to work on a full-HD screen or a 16:10 version with 1200 pixels 'height'. The color reproduction is very good.
It is an enormous amount of money for a laptop, but then the performance is there for. Apple is now used as one of the few Sandy Bridge CPUs, the price-performance ratio is very good. The finish of the laptop. Unprecedented The aluminum unibody has to date not been approached by other manufacturers.
Conclusion
The new 15 "MacBook Pro gives performance where the old models fade If you're a power user looking for the most powerful laptop of this moment, then the choice for the new 15 -., And 17-inch MacBook Pro's a no-brainer. The lack of a decent screen and an SSD are big negatives.
Finally,
Do you want more benchmarks? Or other suggestions to improve the review Leave me a message and i will try to add it as soon as possible:)
Updated March 9, 2011
I have now begun the second MacBook Pro. The first model I had bought 'froze' regularly and the battery showed cures. portal (via Steam) made standard for total system lockup and Handbrake came it sometimes happens. Temperatures remained fairly normal (cpu about 90 degrees at full load long). Also, the battery was only 95% after 6 cycles. On the forum of Apple are more people who are experiencing these problems. See eg this and this thread. Acknowledgements Samplex The new model asap I will also fire seemed to go down to see if the problems continue.
Update March 17, 2011
The new MacBook Pro does fortunately a lot better than the previous one I had, no longer suffer from complete system lockups. However, it looks like I'm going to exchange it for a new model it again. The right fan makes significantly more noise than the left. In logere touring this gives a high-pitched, 'cry'. When playing games the sound is even above the built-in speakers. To illustrate, I have an amateurish sound, so that you can check if you also have trouble at purchase. The setup: The audio file can here find. Using smcFanControl I adjust the fans during recording: 0:00 to 0:10 Both fans idle around 2000rpm (barely audible) 0:10 to 0:20 The right fan approx 6200rpm, 2000rpm left around 0:20 to 0:30 The left fan at about 6200rpm, 2000rpm right around 0:30 to 0:40 Both fans at maximum speed (6200rpm) Upside I hate to say the least as a plug, a third model that I should get next. And then it's still questionable whether this does not suffer from lockups or brackish fans ... Incidentally put these photos of a tearDown (performed by iFixit) not really comfortable:
Specifications
Physical
Depth: 24.9 cm
Width: 36.4 cm
Height: 2.41 cm
Weight: 2.54 kg
Ports
MagSafe power port
Gigabit Ethernet port
FireWire 800 port (up to 800Mbps)
Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480Mbps)
Thunderbolt port (up to 10Gbps)
Audio line in
Audio line out
SDXC card slot
Kensington lock slot
Communication
802.11a/b/g/n WiFi
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
10/100/1000mbit Ethernet (RJ45)
Audio
Stereo speakers with subwoofers
Omnidirectional microphone
3.5mm mini-jack line in (analog / digital (SPDIF)
3.5mm mini-jack line out (analog / digital (SPDIF)
Tech specs
2.2 GHz Intel Core i7
4GB (2x2) DDR3 1333MHz
AMD Radeon HD6750M, 1GB DDR5
Intel HD Graphics 3000 384MB (shared)
750GB 5400RPM HDD
Price
Sandy Bridge
The new MacBook Pros are the first laptops to feature Intel's Sandy Bridge processors. This has a huge performance boost to the MacBooks. Previously appeared already in Geekbench benchmarks Primate Labs that the 13-inch entry-level model (2.3GHz i5-2415M) the performance of the heavy 15-inch model (2.8GHz i7M 640) from the previous generation almost equaled. High time the i7 2720QM 2.2GHz to explain the fire. shins Here are the results: Geekbench (64-bit) For comparison, the current entry-level Mac Pro with a quad-core Xeon 2.8GHz scored 8360 points. The variant with the optional 3.2 GHz Xeon know to put down 9968. Cinebench 11.5 Score 15 "2.4GHz i5 (Early 2010): 2.21 Score 13 "2.66GHz Core2Duo (early 2010): 1.52 Cinebench 10 score 15 "2.4GHz i5 (early 2010) 1 CPU: 3432 Score 15 "2.4GHz i5 (Early 2010) x cpu: 7425 Score 13 "2.66GHz Core2Duo (early 2010) 1 CPU: 3024 Score 13 "2.66GHz Core2Duo (early 2010) x cpu: 5574 iBench FP
Geekbench 64-bit
CineBench 11.5
CineBench 10
iBench FP
Score 15 "2.4GHz i5 (Early 2010): 3.28
Score 13 "2.66GHz Core2Duo (early 2010): 3.21 iBench INT
iBench INT
Score 15 "2.4GHz i5 (Early 2010): 4.47
Score 13 "2.66GHz Core2Duo (early 2010): 4.14 iBench Score 15 "2.4GHz i5 (Early 2010): 3.83 Score 13 "2 , Core2Duo 66GHz (early 2010): 3.64
iBench
AMD Radeon HD6750M
The GPU is not left alone. The GT330 with 256MB (512MB in heavy MC373) is replaced by an AMD Radeon HD6750M 1GB DDR5. This results in significant performance improvements. portal runs on the hardest settings (incl 16x 16AF and 8XAA) excellent: framerates were not among the 80 and amounted to 129 per second. The old model took an average of 22 frames per second. Which does perhaps worth mentioning is the Portal of benchmarks: the game is "only" using 4 of the 8 available CPU threads. CineBench in 10 took the old model in OpenGL test a score of 5060, 15.64 in Cinebench 11.5. The new model is that 7807 and 34.78 respectively. XBench shows similar improvements seen:
Portal logo
Portal settings
XBench
Hard disk
The standard hard drive that comes, 5400rpm 750GB, presents itself immediately as the bottleneck in this system. Despite the massive improvements in every aspect compared to my old 15 "MacBook Pro (mid'07, 2.4GHz C2D), feels the new system a lot slower Cause:. HDD The old workhorse equipped with a OCZ Vertex. 2 SSD. 750GB, 5400rpm
750GB HDD xBench
60GB OCZ Vertex 2 It is regrettable that Apple as the MacBook Air systems) has no memory chips soldered on the motherboard. Will you be able to use all the power that this system entails, use an SSD is really a must. You can not close the wallet so unfortunately after buying this laptop.
OCZ Vertex 60GB SSD benchmark
Thunderbolt
The problem of slow internal HDD can be overcome in the future by connecting it to the Thunderbolt port. An external hdd to With 10Gbit / s full duplex bandwidth for the first time (as far as I can remember) that external HDD can perform better than internal. It also provides the ability to port the two 27 "Cinema Displays to send: especially for professionals is a huge improvement over the old, it is only waiting on equipment that can be connected.. Lacie and Promise have announced products that provide from the port. For a demonstration of the possibilities, see this video from Engadget. The only question is whether it will be for a normal mortal affordable.
Thunderbolt
Screen
The screen is the most disappointing part of the laptop. The resolution of 1440x900 simply does not fit in a mobile workstation like this. Even the optional 1680x1050 resolution is too low. Mobile video editing would be a lot easier to work on a full-HD screen or a 16:10 version with 1200 pixels 'height'. The color reproduction is very good.
It is an enormous amount of money for a laptop, but then the performance is there for. Apple is now used as one of the few Sandy Bridge CPUs, the price-performance ratio is very good. The finish of the laptop. Unprecedented The aluminum unibody has to date not been approached by other manufacturers.
Conclusion
The new 15 "MacBook Pro gives performance where the old models fade If you're a power user looking for the most powerful laptop of this moment, then the choice for the new 15 -., And 17-inch MacBook Pro's a no-brainer. The lack of a decent screen and an SSD are big negatives.
Finally,
Do you want more benchmarks? Or other suggestions to improve the review Leave me a message and i will try to add it as soon as possible:)
Updated March 9, 2011
I have now begun the second MacBook Pro. The first model I had bought 'froze' regularly and the battery showed cures. portal (via Steam) made standard for total system lockup and Handbrake came it sometimes happens. Temperatures remained fairly normal (cpu about 90 degrees at full load long). Also, the battery was only 95% after 6 cycles. On the forum of Apple are more people who are experiencing these problems. See eg this and this thread. Acknowledgements Samplex The new model asap I will also fire seemed to go down to see if the problems continue.
Update March 17, 2011
The new MacBook Pro does fortunately a lot better than the previous one I had, no longer suffer from complete system lockups. However, it looks like I'm going to exchange it for a new model it again. The right fan makes significantly more noise than the left. In logere touring this gives a high-pitched, 'cry'. When playing games the sound is even above the built-in speakers. To illustrate, I have an amateurish sound, so that you can check if you also have trouble at purchase. The setup: The audio file can here find. Using smcFanControl I adjust the fans during recording: 0:00 to 0:10 Both fans idle around 2000rpm (barely audible) 0:10 to 0:20 The right fan approx 6200rpm, 2000rpm left around 0:20 to 0:30 The left fan at about 6200rpm, 2000rpm right around 0:30 to 0:40 Both fans at maximum speed (6200rpm) Upside I hate to say the least as a plug, a third model that I should get next. And then it's still questionable whether this does not suffer from lockups or brackish fans ... Incidentally put these photos of a tearDown (performed by iFixit) not really comfortable:
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