From the unibody aluminium shell to the great speakers, to the built in webcam, gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800, two USB ports, SD card reader, headphone and microphone jacks and DVD+-RW drive, if you've seen last year's revision, you know what this one is all about. The MacBook 15-inch is otherwise identical, but this is not a bad thing. Apple, for what it's worth, still refuses to embrace HDMI officially on anything but the Apple TV.
Thankfully, an independent developer has come to the rescue with gfxCardStatus, a program that lets you see exactly what GPU is being used and allows you to switch it at any time.įinally, the MacBook Pro has gained the ability to send audio over its Mini-DisplayPort, a boon for those using third-party Mini-DisplayPort to HDMI adapters, although it remains to be seen if such adapters need to be updated first. You can force the discrete graphics on through the "Energy Saver" options under "System Preferences" to address this, but you can't do it the other way around - if you'd prefer to use the Intel card and the MacBook has decided the Nvidia one is a better option, you're boned. Incidentally, the answer is nothing the MacBook continues to use the Intel card. This is no doubt a tricky equation to get perfect, especially with things muddying the water like the web - for the most part web browsing won't need the GPU, but what happens when you come across an embedded H.264 clip that could benefit from hardware acceleration? It's an excellent idea in theory, but the execution isn't perfect, with a few sites reporting that the MacBook sometimes turns on the GT 330M when it shouldn't, and sometimes doesn't manage to turn it off after an application that was using it has been closed. When 3D acceleration is required, the GT 330M seamlessly kicks in to give the extra power.
In its place is a switching solution similar to Nvidia's Optimus technology - when using apps that don't require 3D acceleration, the MacBook Pro uses its integrated Intel HD graphics, saving on battery. Gone is the integrated Nvidia graphics, as Nvidia simply didn't have a licence to pair its chipset with Intel's Core i processors. Internally, a few things have changed as well our 15-inch review sample was running a Core i7 clocked at 2.66GHz, and a GeForce GT 330M.
We'd always recommend taking AppleCare on-board, but just remember that it makes the MacBook's final price that bit more expensive. Apple's standard warranty offers only one year (with phone service limited to 90 days), and to expand this to three years will cost you a whopping AU$579. Then we come to the usual bag of hurt known as AppleCare. While the SSD costs aren't too far from market price, you'd be better off adding after-market drives for the mechanicals. Other options include 8GB RAM (up from the standard 4GB for AU$560), and if you start from the base model a flotilla of hard drive updates, with 500GB (AU$140), 500GB 7200rpm (AU$210), 128GB SSD (AU$420), 256GB SSD (AU$1060) and a 512GB SSD (AU$1960). But for those who just want matte, they'll also have to wear the cost of the high resolution screen, adding AU$210 to their order cost. We're always fans of higher resolution screens, and just getting one of these will set you back AU$140.
#2010 MACBOOK PRO 13 REVIEW UPGRADE#
In response to criticism of its glossy screens, Apple has also offered matte upgrades on both its 15- and 17-inch models, but there's a catch: the upgrade also incorporates a higher resolution screen, bumping the default 1440x900 to 1680x1050.
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