Filed under: Portables, Macbook Pro, MacBook
The new MacBook (Pros): the fine print
We finally got the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros we've all been waiting for and now it time to dig into the fine print a little bit. As we noted earlier the new machines are shipping without the $19 Apple remote, but there are also some other subtle changes worth noting:
- The processors are confirmed to be Intel's Penryn technology.
- Only the MacBook Pro is getting the multi-touch trackpad functionality of the MacBook Air. Apparently Apple is doing this deliberately to differentiate the higher-end portables from the MacBook line.
- Only the Pros are getting LED backlights, and that's standard only on the 15". LED backlighting is a $100 BTO option on the 17" and simply not available on the MacBook. This despite Uncle Steve's assurance that the entire Mac line would transition to LED backlighting "when technically and economically feasible." I suppose that Apple would say that it's not yet economically feasible in the MacBook line.
- The Pros feature a slightly new keyboard layout missing the virtual number pad.
- The Pros also have
3 USB ports now, instead of 2.Update: Oops, lots of people have pointed out that only the 17 incher has the 3rd USB port, and it has had that forever. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. - Perhaps most disturbing is that the official battery life estimates have dropped noticeably. MacNN notes that "Apple's revised projections falls to a maximum of 4.5 hours versus six [on the MacBook]... from six hours to five [on the 15" MBP and]... from 5.75 hours of use to 4.5" [on the 17" MBP].
Thanks to everyone who sent in tips!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Adam said 7:11AM on 2-27-2008
The MacBook Pro 17" has three USB ports but it's always had that and the 15" still only has 2 USB ports at least according to http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html .
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Shannin said 7:14AM on 2-27-2008
beat me to it ;P
OSXleopard2 said 7:41AM on 2-27-2008
I was wondering the same thing about the USB...I would sooooo love to have three on the 15" instead of only two. Can anyone confirm that??? thx.
Adam said 7:50AM on 2-27-2008
No there's only 2 on the 15" I would also love to have 3 http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3240 .
shippster said 7:16AM on 2-27-2008
Notice that the battery life now includes the terms "wireless productivity." I bet the battery life is the same, but now they stopped turning off airport for the tests since common use has it turned on.
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Elliott Pogue said 7:34AM on 2-27-2008
Exactly! These new estimates include "wireless productivity." They've finally turned on the WiFi for estimates and have gained more accurate readings. If they're getting 5 hours with WiFi on, color me impressed.
Bob S. said 10:37AM on 2-27-2008
But if you're going to use your laptop on a plane, you'll want to know its battery life with wi-fi off.
Really, manufacturers should just give all three numbers right up front.
nxiv said 12:59PM on 2-27-2008
Apple changed how they measure the battery life, just as the EPA changed how they measure fuel economy. In both cases, the results represent testing under more realistic usage conditions.
TMM said 7:16AM on 2-27-2008
I think it's not that bad that you have to pay the 100$ upgrade for the LED screen ... you'll get a 1920x1200 - Full HD - screen btw. And that's awesome and a bargain.
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Sean Karns said 7:21AM on 2-27-2008
The virtual number pad hasnt been around since the last revision (or maybe longer, not sure). The major change to the keyboard layout is the removal of the right hand enter key, which has been replaced with an option key.
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Nikki said 8:23AM on 2-27-2008
Actually I have a MBP that I purchased in November and I still have the num lock and the virtual number pad... If you look at the picture that is on the article that the keyboard change links to, you can see that the top row of buttons changed too... I am not sure if it has all the same media functions because it doesn't show the full keyboard but I can see that the volume up/down/mute are f10, f11, f12 on mine they are f3,f4, f5. In fact my f11 and f12 don't have any media function printed on them at all so that means there are at least 2 new media functions.
Richard. said 7:21AM on 2-27-2008
I thought the whole idea behind the Penryn chip was better power management!? So, why the drop in battery life?
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Tom said 7:56AM on 2-27-2008
Not a drop, just less optimistic. See the comment above yours, WiFi is now ON for the tests.
Joram Oudenaarde said 7:26AM on 2-27-2008
The reason why it seems that the batterylife has gone down, is because they no longer provide an optimal batterylife anymore, but give us an estimate on the batterylife in a "real life" environment... in their case, having it on+wifi. Hence the reason why it only appears that the batterylife has gone down.
Wouldn't make any sense if that was really the case either, since they're using a more power-efficient CPU, and the "Pro's" are using a more power-efficient led-display as well ;)
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David S said 7:35AM on 2-27-2008
Personally, I hope that the battery stuff is just Apple being more realistic about their battery life. Apple's claim of battery life have never been realistic.
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dagge said 7:53AM on 2-27-2008
The 15" has only 2 USB ports. Three USB ports are only on the 17" MacBook Pro.
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mungler said 7:52AM on 2-27-2008
well, the $100 BTO doesnt *just* get you LED backlighting, you get the higher-resolution screen too (which i saw in the apple store... god damn its gorgeous.. i want one for photo work).
3 usb ports only on 17'', 2 on 15''.
battery life estimates now include wireless, there is no real change.
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Ed said 7:55AM on 2-27-2008
To confirm what other have said - there is no real change in battery life, only in the way it's measured.
Check ars technica for details, they quote Apple PR.
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Laydros said 8:01AM on 2-27-2008
yeah, there was stuff on arstechnica about the battery tests.
http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/02/26/the-new-macbooks-battery-life-and-power-adapter
they have always done 3 tests, a dvd test, a wifi and websurfing test, and a "highway" test. they always reported the highway test in the past, and they now are using the wifi test for the numbers. and in the article the rep said that the battery life is actually better.
this is good becuase i bought a macbook on saturday and decided to pay the restocking fee to get a new one yesterday, mainly for the better battery life and less heat
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Kevin said 8:01AM on 2-27-2008
Geez who is blogging here these days? TUAW has been quite in accurate recently!
USB ports - uh, that's the same
Battery life - considering that it's the exact same motherboard on the inside with just a new processor, should be similar, if not better. Apple said they are changing the way they report battery life.
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