LHMARK From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 7255 posts, RR: 51 Posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 2352 times:
Are there any real differences besides the graphics card and extra 1gb of RAM? Is the pro's only advantage a bit of extra graphical processing power, or are there other, more subtle or specialized differences? Klaus?
"Sympathy is something that shouldn't be bestowed on the Yankees. Apparently it angers them." - Bob Feller
Hardly, the Macbook Pro has quite a bit more muscle.
The graphics card makes a huge difference in some applications. In terms of the subtle features, the speakers on the MBP are better, it has what I would consider a much better case (metal vs. plastic), it has keyboard illumination, and a 3-axis accelerometer that will detect if the laptop is falling to help mitigate damage to the HD. It also has more I/O ports. Not an exhaustive list, but there you go.
Aloges From Germany, joined Jan 2006, 8351 posts, RR: 47 Reply 3, posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 6 days 20 hours ago) and read 2315 times:
How about the bigger screens?! I thought those were the most obvious. As for the aboce mentioned I/O ports, the MBP has an ExpressCard slot (PCMCIA successor) which the MB doesn't offer.
Walk together, talk together all ye peoples of the earth. Then, and only then, shall ye have peace.
Freckles From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2007, 386 posts, RR: 9 Reply 4, posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 6 days 19 hours ago) and read 2303 times:
Firstly, you are freed from the dissapointing glossy displays nightmare (which on a MacBook Pro are nightmarish), you have a better choice of screen size, better I/O including full sized DVI, firewire 800, express card slot and video out, better options for graphics, higher resolution displays, better built quality and feel. Theres a backlit keyboard on them too.
Of course, they are more expensive, but the price is certainly justified.
Pope From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 5, posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 6 days 19 hours ago) and read 2297 times:
In mid January I bought myself a Macbook Pro and my wife a MacBook.
First of all, both are tremendous improvements over our previous PC based computers. The book minutes faster, open files with amazing speed and are far more stable than the Dell desktops and Toshiba laptops we previously used.
As fast as the MacBook is, the Pro is noticably faster in all aspects.
It's got a bigger hard drive, more memory (RAM and Harddisk space) and a faster processor.
I was worried that the 15" Pro was going to be a bit too large to use as my primary laptop and take on business trips but it is very light weight and sleek.
My wife and I have no complaints whatsoever about either device and would highly recommend them. Ultimately, your choice between the two is a function of what you want to do with it. If e-mail, word processing and internet surfing is all you need, the MacBook is more than adequate for the task. If you're going to get into processor intensive applications, then the Pro is the way to go, assuming your budget can afford it (my Pro was almost $1800 more than my wife's MacBook).
You might want to look at the refurbished models available through the apple website. They come with full warranty and eligible for the Apple Care program.
Klaus From Germany, joined Jul 2001, 20845 posts, RR: 55 Reply 6, posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 6 days 16 hours ago) and read 2273 times:
I think the previous posters have already covered pretty much everything. I can only provide another angle:
For me the MacBook Pro 17" was the only possible choice for its screen resolution already. That I could get it with a matte display was another reason why I personally would not have taken a MacBook, but preferences vary there.
For its size it is quite compact and light by comparison to most PC laptops; Performance and features have their price, but it's well worth it if you're using it a lot.
You can do pretty much the same things on any MacBook. The new MacBook Air is a bit of an exception because it gives up most physical ports for extreme portability. But performance-wise it's still in the same ballpark.
So the questions are: Do you need...
MB = MacBook
MBP = MacBook Pro
MBA = MacBook Air
- ...a matte screen? -> MBP
- ...an Express Card slot? -> MBP
- ...FireWire 400? -> MB, MBP
- ...FireWire 800? -> MBP
- ...a dedicated graphics processor with separate video RAM for 3D games and applications? -> MBP
- ...an internal screen with more than 1280*800 pixels? -> MBP (15": 1440*900; 17": 1680*1050 or 1920*1200)
- ...the possibility to connect 30" monitors? -> MBP (up to 2560*1600 pixels; MB and MBA support up to 1920*1200 externally)
- ...extreme portability? -> MBA
- ...an extremely shock-resistant "harddisk"? -> MBA with a flash drive
- ...as much value as possible for as little money as possible? -> MB
- ...a very easily swappable harddisk? -> MB
- ...a high-end aluminium case? -> MBP, MBA
- ...batteries swappable on the road? -> MB, MBP
- ...a built-in optical drive? -> MB, MBP
- ...gigabit ethernet? -> MB, MBP (the MBA has only 100Mbit/s ethernet via USB)
Basically, I would characterize the models roughly like this:
- MacBook: affordable and compact allround machine
- MacBook Air: ultraportable machine for writing and communicating on the go
- MacBook Pro: high-end workstation, still with good portability
LHMARK From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 7255 posts, RR: 51 Reply 7, posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 6 days 15 hours ago) and read 2250 times:
Well, I wound up going with a 15" 2.4 Ghz matte-screen 256gb video card MacBook Pro. This post is the first thing I'm doing with it. So I might as well use this space to make my first defamation of those low-class Red Sox on the new machine.
"Sympathy is something that shouldn't be bestowed on the Yankees. Apparently it angers them." - Bob Feller
AndrewUber From United States of America, joined Jul 2003, 2528 posts, RR: 45 Reply 9, posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 6 days 15 hours ago) and read 2246 times:
Quoting LHMARK (Reply 7): Well, I wound up going with a 15" 2.4 Ghz matte-screen 256gb video card MacBook Pro.
Awesome! I hope to pick one up myself very soon, I'm getting sick and effing tired of Windows!
Theredbaron From Mexico, joined Mar 2005, 1697 posts, RR: 4 Reply 10, posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 6 days 4 hours ago) and read 2198 times:
Very good machine, also in my Service Center I recieve 10 MB for a failed MBP on a average basis... (btw apple laptops are not prone to failing anyway)
JeffSFO From United States of America, joined Dec 2004, 820 posts, RR: 5 Reply 11, posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 2189 times:
Quoting Klaus (Reply 6): - ...the possibility to connect 30" monitors? -> MBP (up to 2560*1600 pixels; MB and MBA support up to 1920*1200 externally)
Also, with the 17" "Ultimate" version, you could use an external monitor of 1920x1200 px and the laptop monitor of 1920x1200 px to create a 3,840 px virtual monitor. I did this using Parallels displaying XP on an external monitor and Leopard on the laptop--worked very nicely:
Canon 5D Mark II, 5D + EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS + EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II + Tamron AF28-75mm f/2.8
Roadrunner165 From United States of America, joined Oct 2000, 843 posts, RR: 10 Reply 12, posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 6 days 1 hour ago) and read 2182 times:
Just a tip... If you want more ram, don't buy it from Apple. They will rip you off!
JeffSFO From United States of America, joined Dec 2004, 820 posts, RR: 5 Reply 13, posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 6 days 1 hour ago) and read 2178 times:
Quoting Roadrunner165 (Reply 12): Just a tip... If you want more ram, don't buy it from Apple. They will rip you off!
QFA380 From Australia, joined Jul 2005, 2023 posts, RR: 1 Reply 14, posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 6 days ago) and read 2171 times:
Quoting LHMARK (Reply 7): 15" 2.4 Ghz matte-screen 256gb video card MacBook Pro
Good decision! You will not regret paying the extra for a much better quality machine. I don't quite know what it is but the Aluminium (stupid wrong spellcheck!!!!) that for me separates a mac from your average windows machine. Aluminium is much more aesthetically pleasing. I'm sure many people have noticed that in ads and movies, whenever you see a computer chances are that its a Mac, but its not very often you see the basic MacBook! This is great evidence for how much better Mac's look.
MacBook Pros are just awesome machines, shouldn't be too long though until Apple updates either the MacBook or the MacBook Pro. Not too sure what will happen with the MacBook Pros, hopefully just an internal hardware upgrade, I will feel very depressed if they come out with a new one soon. If they update the MacBook I hope they make it Aluminium, every other Mac is aluminium.
Anyway, congrats from moving from the dark side! Ironically I'm typing this while booted into XP on my MBP. Flight Sim calls and Mac just can't deliver....
Klaus From Germany, joined Jul 2001, 20845 posts, RR: 55 Reply 15, posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 5 days 23 hours ago) and read 2164 times:
Quoting LHMARK (Reply 7): Well, I wound up going with a 15" 2.4 Ghz matte-screen 256gb video card MacBook Pro.
Excellent! (But it has "just" 256Megabytes of video RAM, unfortunately... )
Quoting LHMARK (Reply 7): This post is the first thing I'm doing with it. So I might as well use this space to make my first defamation of those low-class Red Sox on the new machine.
Good thing that the aluminium is flame-retardant!
Quoting JeffSFO (Reply 11): Also, with the 17" "Ultimate" version, you could use an external monitor of 1920x1200 px and the laptop monitor of 1920x1200 px to create a 3,840 px virtual monitor. I did this using Parallels displaying XP on an external monitor and Leopard on the laptop--worked very nicely:
You can even run the 30" external screen in parallel(s), for up to 1920+2560 = 4480 pixels horizontally...!
By the way, Matrox makes an external splitter adapter which lets you connect two or even three external monitors to a dual-channel DVI output at the same time - for the MacBook Pro again in addition to the internal one:
JeffSFO From United States of America, joined Dec 2004, 820 posts, RR: 5 Reply 16, posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 5 days 18 hours ago) and read 2141 times:
Quoting Klaus (Reply 15): You can even run the 30" external screen in parallel(s), for up to 1920+2560 = 4480 pixels horizontally...!
By the way, Matrox makes an external splitter adapter which lets you connect two or even three external monitors to a dual-channel DVI output at the same time - for the MacBook Pro again in addition to the internal one:
Matrox Graphics - CAD and GIS - TripleHead2Go
So with two external monitors (those would need to be able to run at 58Hz, though!) plus the internal one you could have 3*1920*1200 = 5760*1200!
Great tip, thanks. I've been looking for something like that for my home setup.
----
To keep this on-topic, does the MB also have 7,200 RPM HD capability? The MBP does.
Canon 5D Mark II, 5D + EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS + EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II + Tamron AF28-75mm f/2.8
Klaus From Germany, joined Jul 2001, 20845 posts, RR: 55 Reply 17, posted (5 years 2 months 3 weeks 5 days 18 hours ago) and read 2137 times:
Quoting JeffSFO (Reply 16): To keep this on-topic, does the MB also have 7,200 RPM HD capability? The MBP does.
The MB has an extra-simple way to swap the harddisk: Simply remove the battery, unscrew the RAM cover bracket and you can pull out the harddisk by a tab.
If you want and if the harddisk fits the mechanical and thermal specifications, you can of course swap in a faster one.
Replacing the harddisk in a MacBook Pro is substantially more difficult (which could of course be seen as a security feature when carrying critical data, but swapping in a larger or faster one is also a lot less convenient than on the MB).
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As for the aboce mentioned I/O ports, the MBP has an ExpressCard slot (PCMCIA successor) which the MB doesn't offer.
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