In 2006 Apple replaced the Powerbook G4 with the MacBook Pro. Made for professionals on the go, Apple continued to refine their family of high-performance notebook computers every year. Apple has raised the bar again with the release of the MacBook Pro Winter 2011 upgrade, in numerous key benchmarks.
What’s Good About Them
Speed has been increased tremendously by using the new “Sandy Bridge” generation of Intel Core i processors. The 13-inch model received a substantial processor upgrade going from the old Core 2 Duo processor to a rather quick Intel Core i5 2620M. 15-inch and 17-inch models will have quad-core power which is essential for running high-end programs like Final Cut Pro and Adobe Photoshop without problems. The particular memory will remain the same at 4 GB but that can now expand to 16 GB of RAM. Improvements were made in the graphics end to boot with the two larger designs sporting a fast AMD Radeon HD 6490M for respectable gaming. If that is still not fast enough, you may also upgrade the computer to the Radeon HD 6750M. Do not worry about losing out on battery life, because the Intel HD Graphics 3000 runs very efficiently. With these overall performance advancements, the new 2011 models practically soar in the benchmarks.
The particular connection for the Apple LED Cinema Display has been enhanced to a new technology also. Intel’s new Thunderbolt technology delivers much more flexibility in how the port functions. Finally transfer speeds, which have been enhanced by approximately 1200%, will stop being the bottleneck that has slowed down file transfers to high capacity hard drives. Additionally it is flexible enabling devices to daisy-chain off of a single Thunderbolt channel without having performance degradation.
The new MacBook Pros additionally come with an all new type of built in webcam, the FaceTime HD camera. At present video conversation can be achieved in 720p resolution among all Apple’s latest devices.
Disappointments
Every one of these new performance enhancements will continue to be powered by the very same model of battery as the previous ones, which means more frequent charges. You needn’t be too concerned though, since it still lasts a respectable seven hours with wireless turned on. The MacBook Pro 13-inch in addition gets a small downgrade as it uses the Intel integrated graphics without an AMD or NVIDIA counterpart. Only avid gamers need to be concerned though, because the Intel HD 3000 graphics is a great improvement over its predecessors.
The Verdict
The Apple company has again taken a commanding lead in the coveted professional laptop computer category along with their newest line of MacBook Pros, the Winter 2011 edition. These brand new 2011 products are definitely ready for next generation applications and also next generation hardware should the new Thunderbolt interface takes off.
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