Apple MacBook Pro 13in - 2009 Edition (MB990B/A) Comments

SD card reader? what? the notoriously myopic steve jobs has relented and allowed such an imperfection to be added?

Good review.

It Would be expensive at 2/3rds the price for those stingy specs. But for those willing to pay the price and forgo the inevitable style over power when comparing any other laptop in that price bracket, well...it sure is a stunner.

I'm not saying it's not a great little machine because, well, it is. The new features rectifying the problems of the 2008 MacBook at a tad lower price point is of course welcome. (No denying that room for 8 gig in a 13 incher is very nice indeed.)

But this is not a "Pro". It can't be. Last I looked 'pro' means 'professional', and professionals need dedicated graphics. Aesthetic bells and whistles aside, the graphics chips were always the substantiative feature that separated the regular consumer need from the professional one. Photographers, graphic designers, video editors especially when rendering and writing huge files need the extra grunt from their graphics and processor - and this is what truly merits the "Pro" label, not that now nearly everything looks the same. And if "Pro" is meant to mean top of the line, isn't it a bit odd that this is now the majority of Apple's laptops - 3/5?

The rebranding decision seems to be a mostly political one. No matter how beautiful last year's MacBook reimagining was, asking for over 900 quid for a laptop that didn't even have a FireWire port was pretty outrageous, and I seem to recall not being the only one who thought so. Now that Apple has seen the wrath of the community for one of the worst spec decisions in a long time, they've managed to sneak it back in and justify the backtrack with the new name.

So now we have the rather strange situation where everyone's a Pro - even when they're not. (Cough - it's not a Pro or a price drop if you remove the MBP 15's dedicated graphics - cough.) This begs the question then, where does that put the furture of the actual MacBook? We're not blind. We know there's still one, rather dated, rather lonely looking MacBook left. And while the upgrades there have also been a pleasant bonus, we also know it's number's almost up. So what next? Any ideas? The supreme less-is-more con of the Air is certainly not worthy of the MacBook throne, lest its ridiculous price point remains. So if a 13 incher is now "Pro or 900 quid, does the next MacBook have nowhere to go but even further down with even less screen real estate, lower internal specs, and yes much much cheaper? As per the constant salivations over the grape vine, it sounds like a netbook to me too.

How easy is it to change the hard disk and memory in this model yourself? Can either be done without voiding the warranty? Thanks

I think Apple are just about there, I'm damn tempted with the latest model!

10 for design? You serious?
-1 for non-replaceable battery
-1 for SD card that sticks out
-1 for screen that cannot be used outside (this is a 'pro' PC that can only be used indoors)
...

I just got one of these last week, my first Mac. Really dithered on buying because it seemed overpriced compared to a similar spec PC, however I have discovered you get what you pay for, it's freakin awesome.

there should have been a flap for the sd card, like the express card flap, to keep that clean look.

and placing the headphone jacks on the other side to allow room for one more usb port couldn't have hurt that much. (or have them vertically mounted).

there are many "pro" laptops around that don't have dedicated graphics, and unless you want overheating issues i'd keep it with an integrated chip while in a 13 inch chassis. (have you felt how hot pc world's dell studio xps 13 laptops can get while on display? last month.)

hell, lenovo's 13 inch laptops for the "elite" have integrated gma graphics, and hp's 13 inch pro boook doesn't have anything dedicated either.

I bought a 13" MacBook last November/December and the only thing it was missing from a personal point of view was the SD card reader and intergrated HSDPA.

Apple are nearly there, although I couldn't quite justify splashing out on another MacBook quite so soon!

I am glad they haven't changed the design, it's faultless. One thing I'd like to see is the option of a non-glossy screen for 13 & 15 inch Mac's. According to the Apple Store, only the 17" MacBook Pro gives you the option.

Great review, sounds like a truly awesome machine. Surely there'd be little reason to go down to the plastic Macbook with the 13" MBP available at this price point. Which makes me wonder - what on Earth will Apple do with the Macbook 'line'? They've pretty much killed it!

@Ben

Loads of students will still go for the cheaper MacBook because it's, err, cheaper. So I don't think that line of quite dead yet!

Typo!

*So I don't think that line is quite dead yet!

Yeah, odd that, there's an entire range of MBP's but only one MB. It's almost as if Apple have an idea for something new in the consumer line that they want the MB brand for but need to ensure their 'traditional' laptop market is covered first....

As for the removable battery 'issue' I really think that's being blow out of proportion. How many people REALLY buy 2 batteries and do swap outs? A small handfull of buyers most of whom tend to be the most vocal complainers on the 'net. For the vast majority it's a good trade off and replacing the battery as and when it does die isn't much more expensive than just getting a spare anyway. Let's just hope Apple have solved the battery swelling issues that plague the old MBP.

The problem with the white Macbook's is in time you get stains on the area below the keyboard where you constantly rest your wrists. And mine and my wife's old Macbooks have also cracked at the edges of those areas too. This is one reason why I went "Pro". I always advise anyone to steer clear of the white ones now, especially with this cheaper "Pro" now on the market.

i think it looks great and even the price is quite reasonable. if i hadn't bought a laptop a few months ago i'd be very interested.

i'd have to run win7 though.

I am so close to buying one of these... I've just spent £90 or so on some bits to increase the longevity of my Asus Z71 (400 FSB Pentium M that overclocks to something mad like 2.4ghz with a flick of a jumper, 2gb RAM and a speedy WD Scorpio Black HD) but I still fear that Team Fortress 2 will run like poop.

Anyway, while I was doing my research I came across this -

http://mantia.me/blog/macbook-pro-thousands-of-colors/

While I couldn't give a monkeys, I'm sure those that make a purchase with the intention of doing graphic design and the like on the machine could be phased.

I bought one of these two weeks back. I had never used a Mac before and has a beautiful and brilliant Vaio SZ which I have been using since 2006 with no problems at all (even to the biometrics suite), and I was waiting to buy the latest Z series with Win7 when its launches in October 09, but two weeks ago when I popped into the apple store to get a feel I was won over by the ease of use of OSX. This MBP is brilliant in all aspects save for two, (1) it heats up so fast in your lap, even when you use it for simple word processing. I was told that this is because the fan is constantly on in this MBP (strange, cos fan is supposed to cool this thing not heat it up) and was told by support people that I need to download a software to control the rpm settings for the fan as there are no manual utility interface bundled with the MBP. (2) there is no fingerprint reader! This is the only problem that I have. The battery lasts for an average 5 hours (give or take 20 mins) at 60% brightness and keyboard illumination and wifi turned off! My Vaio SZ which boasts a battery time of 6 hours takes 4 hours to fully charge but only gives battery life of about 1 hour 40 mins! Although heavier at nearly 2kg than Vaio SZ, this MBP is much better in other ways including the awesome touchpad. So as a new convert to Mac after using a pc for most of my adult life, I think I have never experienced the perfect marriage of hardware and software in a Pc before! I would not give a 10 for design though, thats being very charitable!

@KoolMoss

My 13" MacBook usually runs very, very cool and silent, but during this hot period of weather we've had, I noticed that it was heating up. Today is much cooler and my MacBook is running as I have come to expect. I guess the weather played a part here....

My Vaio Z series runs hot all the time which is the only annoying thing about it as the laptop is pretty much perfect. The fan can also make a bit of a racket. This is where the MacBook's come into their own because even when they start to 'sweat' they don't make any noise.

Um... where are the touchpad buttons?.. :3

I have the unibody macbook from late last year,also known as the Macbook Collectors Edition:)

The new 13 Pro is even better

lol @ the guy getting all worked up over the name pro

@mjaffk

The whole pad is a button: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OIwcMWA2oI

@Ironduke

I'm more All Worked Up about Apple's marketing manipulation covering up the fact that they left a whole bunch of FIreWire users out in the cold and have now basically dreamt up the smarmiest way of reintroducing it without the hassle of admitting they were wrong in the first place.

At the risk of sounding like the annoying, "It's Not a Netbook" guy, it's not a Pro.

Bought one two weeks ago and took it to Holland for the past week.

Excellent

As has and will continue to be said "You get what you pay for."

lol @ Golden Guy

who are u to say what a pro is?

its what the individual gets out of it.

And before you start bleating about dedicated gfx, alot of the cards apple use in its machines are underclocked mid range crap compared to what PC owners Get due to apples high margins.

The fact is the macbook pro 13 is a great stylish allround 13" notebook its far superior to the old top line blackbook, I had one of them too.

Considering that this laptop is only 13" screen size and is hyped as "all alumninium", I am surprised that it is still weighting as much as 2kg. Panasonic for example has as longa go as the Y2 and Y5 models many years back, managed to deliver 14" screen + DVD-RW and still come in at 1.6Kg. Where is the progress here?

@Ironduke

I don't have a problem with what it is, I have a problem with how they're selling it. Apple have a knack for delaying standard features or removing still useful ones, and then they get a whole bunch of credit for when they play catch up or reinstate them. And now they've decided to get round the controversial omissions of the "Collector's Edition MacBook" by just shifting the goalposts. The Damian Phone sort of takes the biscuit. The recessed headphone jack - what was that about? This long for copy and paste, MMS, a 3 meg camera? Are we supposed to roll out the red carpet if they add micro SD to that too?

In answer to your query, uh I'm the consumer so I think that gives me a bit of say in what's "Pro" and what's not. In short :
Great laptop, sleazy PR.

@kanu

Apple needs to ensure their lines do not overlap each other. The Air is about 1.3KG if I remember correctly. If the 13" MBP was only 1.5KG, why would people buy the Air?

The Air is overpriced for what it is and the biggest threat to the Air would be the 13" MBP if it weighed less.

@GoldenGuy, Apple have a knack for delaying standard features or removing still useful ones,

They removed firewire, realized they made a mistake and re-implemented it. There not making a big deal of it, you are.

@I'm the consumer so I think that gives me a bit of say in what's "Pro" and what's not.

Erm, it's just a naming scheme, I've a feeling that's Apple decision, no matter how much Ego you have.

To Ed's comments: the Panasonic Y series is made of magnesium composite and it weight 1.5kg - at least my Y5 does. You might want to go and ponder the periodic table and come back with another excuse. Maybe brush up on the laptop biz as well. There is a lot of insight to be learned that would be more useful in reviews than ambulance-chasing Steve Jobs instead. Particularly as I believe this website even "reviewed" the Y5 and took a junket to Japan on Panasonic's tab.

To those claim "segmentation" as an excuse: that is bizzare. Apple's "strategy" is to have one over priced product and then weaken the others to "protect" the niche of milking fashion victims? If this is the case, one has to wonder why then this website isnt informing consumers of that directly.

Whatever the story, neither of these are excuses for a "cutting" edge lapptop weighing a fll 25% more than it need to.

@Kanu - the Panasonic Y series is made of magnesium composite and it weight 1.5kg

Without a battery of course, nearly 2kg with. You could get a smaller battery, but then you'll get less hours.

Anyway, at least you had fun with your periodic table.

Sorry, but I use the Y5M myself right now, purchased direct from a japanese importer 2.5 years ago. It is 1.56Kg exactly and yes that includes the standard slim battery, a DVD-RW and a 14" screen at 1400x1050 pixels.

And with a new battery it gave me a legit 8 hours batetry life WITH wifi on. The claim was 12 hours but it does 8 legit.

So much for the "innovation" of the MacBook. In fact with what the 3 year old Y5 does at 1.56kg, I am tempted to ask why exactly the MacBook "Air" has to weigh as much as 1.3kg, let alone the MacBook Pro.

Speaking of this Macbook "pro", it isnt just the Panasonics that beat it. Before the Panasonic Y5, I owned a Fujitsu S6231 with 13" screen, purchased about 5 years ago in the US. That one weighed 3.75lbs without the modular DVD-RW and 4lbs exactly with it. That converts to 1.8kg with DVD-RW.

Again, I ask you, hellooo - where is the innovation here? This smells to me like people are being fleeced. And it aint just because journalists dont know their periodic table. :-)

@Kanu: This smells to me like people are being fleeced.

Maybe, but if these people are happy with there purchase then what's your problem?. Your Y5M seems a mighty fine machine, and I'm glad your happy with it. But why are you and a few others so angry at Apple products?, I just really don't see the point. I agree that to some extent with Apple your not getting Value for money sometimes, but please don't assume because you don't like there products that everyone else who buys them is some sort of moron. I certainly don't believe you were in buying the Y5M so please try and show the same sort of respect.

Andy, what then do you say to the fact that the 5 yr old Fujits, which is by no means a specialized prodct, weighs 1.8 kg?

Today Fujitsu produces a 14" version still only at 4.1 lbs:
http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=S6520
It costs $1300, again this is not a niche or exclusive product. So what is your next excuse now? I have heard them all, so far. but they are not convicing.

As for the Y5 it cost me just over 1800 dollars or so when I got it on Conics.net, nothing near the 1700 GBP you claim for the Y7.

So again instead of folks claiming I am slamming Apple, I suggest you ask the question: where is the innovation in all this time, when the only thing this Powerbook can really claim as an innovation over a 5 yr old fujitsu is a fancy touchpad?

This is the sort of question one would hope to get from journalists, but sadly they are AWOL on that line of questioning. Rather they seem to be more focused on feeding the fuel of a consuner frenzy, than helping ask the hard questions. And when challenged all I hear are a littany of excuses that suggest to me they are not even all that knowledgeable about the product, which is how we got in the periodic table discussion.

Most of all, its funny to hear people say I am victimising Apple. But he fact is that I actually owned an Apple laptop back when they were actually producing creidble and good value ultraportable laptops, something like 10-15 years ago when I had a Powerbok Duo. t 4.2 lbs that was a lead over competitors. Today we have this 13" macbook pro having made little progress in weight and actually lagging considering you can find 14" laptops that give you more.

So there is no point going the ref herring path. I know these products - I have used them for ages - and its not a question of Apple bashing when I ask why the journalist who are supposed to be asking critical questions are NOT doing so and worse yet, bending over backwards with excuses.

@Kanu, Most of all, its funny to hear people say I am victimising Apple.

Sorry Kanu, it's obvious that's what your doing. I've no idea why, as has been said plenty of times before, it'a a free world and as such allows you to buy a Y5M, and if that makes you happy then all the better for it. The MacBook is by far not perfect, and I'm sure the Y5M has it's faults too. But tell me this, have you found anybody else berating the Y5M in such a way that you are the MacBook?, apart from ED of course who's reply is giving an example of what your doing.

It wouldn't be so bad if you where discussion the pro/cons of the product, but your not doing that, your just ranting and letting of steam. Why not say what you think would improve the MacBook, what's it's lacking etc. Like I say, I'm sure it's not perfect but the way your going on is if it's the worst laptop ever made.

Whoa, Ed... DNFTT

;)

Pff - and you think I'm losing my head over the Pro argument. The MacBook-NOT-Pro or whatever you wanna call it is still good value for money when you consider the pre-loaded suite of apps you get with it that seamlessly blend together. Now I know that point has been rammed home by several people, but it seems to be suspiciously dodged in this conversation.

I say that as someone who doesn't even take it for granted at the level of the 17 incher - it's still a uniquely well-integrated experience between iPhoto, iMovie, iChat, Address Book, etc. etc., compared to anything on a PC. It's intuitive, and very friendly compared to PC, not to mention that the odd time you have to install a better program - VLC instead of Quicktime, aMSN for Messenger etc., installation is a hell of a lot less hassle.

My SIGNIFICANT branding issues aside, Apple's entire laptop range does offer great value for money at least on a software front, even if the OS X premium can be a little overstretched at times - partially rectified I'd say with the upcoming Snow Leopard upgrade with GCD which *is* a big deal even if no one sees it yet, for a very small amount of money.

Just to play Devils Advocate one more time - and it's not to stir it because I genuinely want to know the answer to this - why have you never properly reviewed the MacBook Air. The only thing close to a review we ever got was Mr. Emersen's "Style Over, Well Everything!" news article dated 17.1.09

http://www.trustedreviews.com/editorial/2008/01/17/Style-over-well-everything/p1

It's the one time I've questioned TR's motivations surrounding Apple, and the only answer I got - that it was too expensive to obtain - doesn't exactly cut it for a reee-vieeewww siiite.

I've never had a mac and just bought this machine... it's a great piece of kit I agree with the review.

I am happy that I didn't buy a dull black brick of a laptop instead of trying something new after 15 years of pc's and windows exclusively. I think most other brands are lacklustre in comparison to apple. I might have bought a sony but they are too expensive for a decent model. I could have bought other brands for a few hundred pound less with more power/capacity yes, can't argue with that, but looking at what's available, then I would have been disappointed in a few ways. In respect of the mac, here's my views, and I'm a fan of both microsoft and apple for various reasons so it's without bias that I offer this:

- Battery Life. Do I care I can't remove the battery, no, I've rarely had to in 10 years of owning thinkpads. Today the battery lasted a good five hours.

- Trackpad. Simply Superb. I was nervous about losing my thinkpad trackpoint, but actually the multi-touch capabilities combined with the features of mac os make me instantly more productive.

- Backlit keyboard. How many of those are out there and how useful are they.

- Screen. Great. Good quality, a bit reflective, but adds to the experience.

- Style. Superb.

- Build Quality. Superb.

- Keyboard. Great.

- Connectivety. Good. Missing a few tricks however.

- Software. Great.

- Experience. Fantastic.

Personally I'm happy with paying a bit more to get alot more than many other brands out there are offering. Each to their own I suppose. I'll hedge my bets that the apple haters out there haven't tried an apple.

Going online for < £800!!!

That's a hell of a deal! Is it too good to be true?

http://www.laskys.com/computing/laptops_and_pdas/laptops/apple_mb990b_a.html#wrap-all

(No I'm not affiliated with them - just thought it was going to be interesting to potential buyers)

Cheers, Hoff