Apple MacBook Pro 15 inch review

Apple launched a series of new MacBooks last summer and we’re eagerly anticipating the new models to be released sometime in 2011.

These are of course some of the most popular and desirable laptops on the market, and the chances are that you’ve already decided that you want one. However for those of you still capable of maintaining a respectable degree of skepticism please read on.

What we like best

The chassis is the signature single piece of (recyclable) aluminium which gives it a smooth and attractive finish.

The aluminium has a practical purpose. You may notice that it gets warm quite quickly because the body conducts heat, but its metal shell allows heat to dissipate so it never gets uncomfortably hot.

Not only is it cool, but it’s also light at just 2.5 kg and all functions are executed quietly and efficiently.

This model comes with Intel’s i5 or i7 processors which are lightning-quick.

Apple claims that the new displays show up to 60 per cent more of the colour gamut (the range of colours the screen can show).  It’s tricky to quantify but the resolution certainly seems sharper and the colours more vibrant. It’s also easier to view to from an angle.

The signature keyboard is backlit and exceptionally comfortable for typing on.

What we like least

New users might struggle with the narrow return key and lack of forward delete button and getting used to the trackpad is even trickier. It has no buttons, though the bottom of the pad can be pushed down like a button, and took us a while to master.

The design of the model, being made from one single piece of aluminium means that you can’t take out the battery yourself, making upgrades more difficult.

The 256Mb NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card is not really suitable for handling complex games at maximum resolutions, but will cope with most games on native resolutions.

Where the MacBook Pro falls down is with external hardware. The SD card reader is a nice addition but it only supports full size SD memory card. The Firewire 800 port is far faster than USB, but previous generation Firewire 400 devices are not directly connectable and an adaptor is required. Finally, having only 2 USB sockets is a little bit limiting.

Video review