“Our MacBook Pro was ordered with the optional 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo CPU and the optional 7200RPM 100GB hard drive in order for it to be as fast as possible. We are still looking for a ‘Book that’s fast-enough to replace our Power Mac G5. From all reports, the new MacBook Pro just might be the one. Of course, it will also drive our 30″ Cinema Display,” Bill Fox reports for Macs Only! “We ordered a third-party 1GB RAM chip so that our new MacBook Pro would have 2GB of RAM and saved $100 off the Apple price.”
“We think our MacBook Pro is the best notebook we’ve ever used. Fortunately, the majority of applications that we use routinely are either Universal already or run very well in Rosetta emulation (e.g. Adobe GoLive CS2, SimpleFTP, NetNewsWire, and Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0). Even the latest 3-D games run well on the MacBook Pro, though non-Universal ones will need to be run at lower quality to get an acceptable frame rate. But Doom 3 is already Universal and so is Quake 4. With Call of Duty on Aspyr Media’s to-do list and our MacBook Pro running our 30″ Cinema Display just fine, our Power Mac G5 Quad may soon be on the market,” Fox reports.
Fox examines the MacBook Pro’s “Look & Feel,” “Speed,” “Heat,” and “Battery” in his full review (with MacBook Pro 2.16 GHz vs. iMac Core Duo 2.0 GHz vs. Power Mac G5 Quad 2.5 GHz benchmarks) here.
Advertisements:
• Apple’s brand new iPod Hi-Fi speaker system. Home stereo. Reinvented. Available now for $349 with free shipping.
• Apple’s new Mac mini. Intel Core, up to 4 times faster. Starting at just $599. Free shipping.
• MacBook Pro. The first Mac notebook built upon Intel Core Duo with iLife ’06, Front Row and built-in iSight. Starting at $1999. Free shipping.
• iMac. Twice as amazing — Intel Core Duo, iLife ’06, Front Row media experience, Apple Remote, built-in iSight. Starting at $1299. Free shipping.
• iPod Radio Remote. Listen to FM radio on your iPod and control everything with a convenient wired remote. Just $49.
• iPod. 15,000 songs. 25,000 photos. 150 hours of video. The new iPod. 30GB and 60GB models start at just $299. Free shipping.
• Connect iPod to your television set with the iPod AV Cable. Just $19.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Detroit Free Press’ Wendland: Apple MacBook Pro ‘the finest portable computer I have ever owned’ – March 14, 2006
Fortune: Apple improves what were already two of best computers on planet with iMac, MacBook Pro – March 14, 2006
Seattle Times: Apple’s MacBook Pro ‘delivers the Mac experience with speed and potential to spare’ – March 11, 2006
AP: Apple shines with MacBook Pro – ‘fast with decent battery life’ – March 11, 2006
Apple’s MacBook Pro ‘leaps a generation beyond PowerBooks’ – March 08, 2006
Boston Herald: Apple MacBook Pro ‘contender for best notebook on market, comes with a superior OS’ – March 06, 2006
Time Magazine’s Gadget of the Week: Apple MacBook Pro – March 06, 2006
PC Magazine review gives Apple MacBook Pro 4 out of 5 stars – March 03, 2006
Ars Technica: Apple MacBook Pro ‘an extremely solid machine, an important step forward’ – March 02, 2006
Mossberg: Apple’s MacBook Pro gives users a ‘much better OS with vastly better built-in software’ – March 02, 2006
New York Times’ Pogue: Apples MacBook Pro a ‘beautifully engineered, forward-thinking laptop’ – March 01, 2006
Apple MacBook Pro a ‘drop-dead gorgeous laptop’ – February 27, 2006
Macworld posts Apple MacBook Pro 2.0GHz first lab tests – February 22, 2006
Apple PowerBook G4 1.5GHz vs. MacBook Pro 2.0Ghz Adobe Photoshop benchmarks – February 22, 2006
Apple begins shipping MacBook Pro notebook computers with faster 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo processors – February 14, 2006
Adobe: no native Intel Mac support until 2007; Photoshop could be 14 months away – February 01, 2006
Computerworld: Apple’s MacBook Pro ‘fast, really fast – looks like a real winner’ – January 28, 2006
Analyst: Apple seeing strong sales of iMac Core Duo, MacBook Pro, 5th generation iPod – January 25, 2006
Apple: expect MacBook Pro shortages – January 19, 2006
Use the ExpressCard slot to add FireWire 800 to Apple’s new MacBook Pro – January 15, 2006
Apple MacBook Pro, ExpressCard and EVDO – January 14, 2006
Apple introduces MacBook Pro; up to four times faster than PowerBook G4 – January 10, 2006
First post? Who cares?
Gimme a MacBook Pro!
so does the intel macs (iMac and MBP) even come close to the speed of the quad?
In real life email/web/word precess/file copy/ etc.?
In Photoshop/Final Cut renders?
The Intel Macs can scroll like lightning.
Get real Noob. If the apps are not Universal, they will not work faster on an Intel Mac.
My MacBookPro has a ton of dead pixels on it.
“…and it scrolls like butter” I believe was the line Steve gave when he debuted them at Macworld.
Once again, patience is a virtue.
My MacBook Pro is configured JUST like the test machine and I got it last week. It screams! No dead pixels, no “mooing” noise, no noise period….
Apple’s got it right and this baby rocks!
Buy one!
Holly COW!!
The Mac Book Pro only got 76 on the X-Bench CPU test? My companies Dual 2 Ghz Tower gets 100!!
This says a lot for seperate processors, each with their own bus and memory controler vs a dual core processor.
I’m surprised the Quad got only 124 on the CPU test, that’s strange.
Andrew, notice they ran the new Quake 4 on the MacBook Pro and had to turn down the options, but it ran fine at full options on the Quad with the 6600 card. This says later on when new game engines emerge the MacBook will need to be upgraded vs the Quad which will simply need a newer video card.
IMMO, the Quad is the better longterm value, however the 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo CPU and the optional 7200RPM 100GB hard drive isn’t a slouch, except that alarming CPU score.
I wonder if Apple hobbled the processor to keep the heat down? There’s no reason it should score 76 vs 100.
The Quad should have a score of at least 200, the X-Bench score is based upon a Dual 2 (seperate processor) PowerMac at 100.
The Quad has 4 cores running at 2.5 Ghz. so it shoudl be at least twice as fast as a Dual 2 from three years ago.
I think Apple has been hobbling the full potential of these dual core processors somehow.
How can we explain a X-Bench of only 76 vs 100?