Apple MacBook Pro Summer 2009 review: Apple MacBook Pro Summer 2009

The aluminum chassis is essentially identical to the last 15-inch MacBook Pro. The construction starts with a solid block of aluminum, which is carved down, rather than a thin outer shell, which has had support struts added to it. The result is a light and thin, yet strong, chassis that feels solid and substantial. Except for the $999 white polycarbonate MacBook, Apple's entire laptop line now uses this type of body.

We're especially fond of the larger trackpad that uses multitouch gestures similar to those found on the iPhone. It offers a much larger surface area than most laptop trackpads, thanks to the elimination of a separate mouse button. While the entire trackpad depresses like a button, simple tapping, as on a Windows laptop, will also work once you turn that option on in the settings menu. Of the multitouch gestures, most useful perhaps is sweeping four fingers: left or right brings up the application switcher, while up hides all your active windows. Once you get used to that, going back to a regular trackpad is difficult.

The biggest news is probably that Apple has at long last embraced the simple joys of the SD card slot. After claiming for years that photographers could just use an external USB adapter to access their SD cards, the 13- and 15-inch Pros now include this very common component. The cost, however, is the ExpressCard slot, which is now found only on the 17-inch Pro. Most people used their ExpressCard slots, if at all, for card-reading adapters or mobile broadband antennas. While we use SD cards, even in our dSLR camera, several pro photographers have reminded us that Compact Flash cards are their preferred format.

The 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU in our review unit is a bump up from the 2.5GHz version we saw in the last high-end 15-inch MacBook Pro. The least expensive configuration still has that 2.53GHz version, but an extra $300 (for a total of $2,599) adds an optional 3.06GHz processor--the fastest one you can get in an Apple laptop. While our MacBook Pro had a clear advantage over both the 13-inch MacBook Pro and previous 15- and 13-inch MacBooks, most users can feel comfortable using any of the current Intel processors Apple offers for basic Web-surfing, productivity, and multimedia playback.

Besides that dedicated GeForce 9600M, the new Pro also included the same integrated GeForce 9400 GPU found in the 13-inch MacBook. The settings menu has two power options: for high performance or for longer battery life. Choosing high performance turns the 9600 chip on, while choosing longer battery life turns it off, leaving you with just the integrated chip. The switch made virtually no difference in our standard benchmarks, although those interested in high-end video and photo editing may see a more practical benefit.

One frustration remains about this entire process: switching between GPUs is simple, requiring only a button press on the power options menu, but the changeover isn't totally transparent. You have to log out and log back in, requiring you to close all your apps and save your data.

The new battery in the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros is nonremovable, but Apple claims the system can last up to 7 hours while surfing the Web, and somewhat less for DVD playback. To assuage concerns about the sealed battery, the company says the new models are good for at least 1,000 full recharge cycles--which they estimate to be about five years of use. We were able to run the system for 5 hours and 5 minutes on our video playback battery drain test, with the GPU set for the better battery life option. That's about an hour longer than last year's 15-inch MacBook Pro, and an impressive result.

Apple has an above-average reputation for support, along with a series of accessible retail stores (as long as you live in a market served by one). But MacBooks continue to include a standard one-year parts and labor warranty, with only 90 days of toll-free telephone support. This, along with the proprietary nature of Apple's products, makes purchasing an extended Apple Care warranty almost a necessity, at $349 (or $249 for 13-inch laptops) for three total years of coverage.

Juice box

Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch
Off (watts)	0.63
Sleep (watts)	0.8014
Idle (watts)	19.772
Load (watts)	65.4
Raw (annual kWh)	75.96
EnergyStar compliant	Yes
Annual operating cost (@$0.1135/kWh)	$8.62