Apple MacBook Pro MA464LL/A 15.4" Laptop (2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo, 1 GB RAM, 100 GB Hard Drive, SuperDrive)
You've seen improvements in notebook performance before - but never on this scale. The Intel Core Duo powering MacBook Pro is actually two processors built into a single chip. This, combined with myriad other engineering leaps, boosts performance up to four times higher than the PowerBook G4. With this awesome power, it's a breeze to render complex 3D models, enjoy smooth playback of HD video, or host a four-way video conference.Intel Core Duo is the first chip built using Intel's groundbreaking 65-nanometer process - resulting in transistors so small, you could fit a hundred inside a single human cell. With smaller distances for electrons to travel, and two processors designed to share resources and conserve power, Intel Core Duo achieves higher levels of performance as it uses fewer watts. Which is what makes it possible to design a super-powerful MacBook Pro that's only one inch thin.When Mac technology makes something easy, it's hardly news. So here's more non-news for MacBook Pro owners: software just works. If you see the Universal logo on a new application, that means it will run on Intel- and PowerPC-based Mac computers. For most existing applications, you simply do what you've always done: double-click them. Thanks to the Rosetta technology in Mac OS X, they look and feel just like they did before.Product Details
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Editorial Reviews
From the Manufacturer
Powered by a dual-core Intel engine. Up to four times the speed of the PowerBook G4. Eight times the graphics bandwidth. With built-in iSight for instant video conferencing on the move. And Front Row with Apple Remote to dazzle everyone in the room. Wait no more.
 Side view of the MacBook Pro. Ports include one FireWire 400, two USB 2.0 ports, and ExpressCard/34 slot. |
New engine, same soul
This is the first Mac notebook built upon the revolutionary new Intel Core Duo--which is actually two processors (up to 2.16 GHz) engineered onto a single chip. It provides 2 MB of Smart Cache, L2 cache that can be shared between both cores as needed. It delivers higher performance in 2-D and 3-D graphics, video editing, and music encoding. And the new engine is only part of the story. MacBook Pro has a frontside bus and memory that, at 667 MHz, runs faster than any previous Mac notebook. It’s the first Mac notebook with PCI Express, a Serial ATA hard drive and the ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 for superfast graphics performance.
Embedded reporter
Sit down. Click on someone's iChat icon. And video conference from anywhere in the world. Though you can barely see it, there's an iSight camera built into the thin bezel just above the display. So now you can conference with associates during the day and chat with the kids at night. iChat AV lets you video chat with up to three other people simultaneously. And when you go head to head, you'll see your colleague more clearly, thanks to the VGA resolution made possible by the superfast Intel Core Duo. MacBook Pro also comes with Apple's new Photo Booth application, a fun program that lets you take warped and Warholesque snapshots. With the new iLife '06 (included, of course), you can even record movies with iSight right into iMovie, then use the new iLife's newest application, iWeb, to create a video blog entry or podcast in just a few clicks.
 The new MagSafe Connector prevents the MacBook Pro from being pulled off your desk. |
Road show
The first notebook to deliver the Front Row media experience, MacBook Pro makes it easy (and rather spectacular) to showcase your latest creations. Whether you're at the client's office, on location, or back at your hotel room, you just use the Apple Remote to control your videos, music, movies, and more. Front Row lets you quickly navigate through your work and play from anywhere in the room. You can even use the Apple Remote to navigate through Keynote presentations.
Do something. Say something. Make something.
MacBook Pro comes with iLife '06, a suite of easy-to-use applications that make it easy for anyone to make postcards, calendars, DVDs, websites and podcasts. Even professionals with proficiencies in high-end applications can appreciate the ease of creating initial compositions. Or posting pictures, videos, and commentary of current events almost before they happened. Enjoy the freedom of the press on MacBook Pro.
What's in the box
MacBook Pro; power adapter with MagSafe Connector, AC wall plug and power cord; lithium-polymer battery; Apple Remote; DVI to VGA adapter; install/restore DVDs; printed and electronic documentation.
Customer Reviews
I'm never going back to Windows
At first, my dad got me an Acer laptop, which crashed within a month of my getting it. My mom, being the practical one, decided that I needed a Mac. They went to CompUSA and got a full refund for that worthless hunk of plastic. When they came home, they said that it turned out I couldn't have a laptop, then they grinned broadly and uncovered a MacBook Pro. I was delighted. I sat down and turned it on. From the moment I saw the welcome screen, I knew I had a winner on my lap. That was in 2006.
It's now 2007 and my MacBook Pro is still the best computer in the family. The only change is some additional software and a RAM upgrade to 2 GB. I love my Mac. I use it every day and whenever I show my projects to Windows users, they freak out, saying how I must have spent months reading books about how to do that stuff. I tell them that it was easy - at least with a Mac. Whenever I use a school computer, which has Windows XP, I can't believe how incredibly stupid the designers must have been. There's all sorts of programs that came with my MacBook Pro that the school AT brags about having bought for the Windows XP computers. Furthermore, those programs that came free with my MacBook Pro are much better than those that had to be added onto Windows XP and costed scores of dollars each.
I think that if you're a frustrated Windows user, but you think you can't get a Mac because of incompatibilities, you NEED to get a Mac. Trust me - I do all my schoolwork on my Mac and it comes out looking gorgeous. If I need to transfer it to a school computer, I just click the export button. For instance, I did a report on Pages. After I was done, I clicked File -> Export -> PDF -> Continue... Then I chose where to save my PDF, I waited 10 seconds, I saved it to my USB memory device, I plugged it into a school computer, and voila! Also, I love making presentations in Keynote. After I finish, I export the presentation in PowerPoint format. Finally, the DVDs you can make with iDVD are, to be blundt, absolutely gorgeous. I did a documentary for school in iMovie HD, I set up a main menu with iDVD with Play Documentary as the button you select to play my documentary, and I burned it to a DVD. When I presented it to the class, everyone gasped when they saw how professional my DVD looked. I even had credits at the end of the documentary, just like the Hollywood movies. I got an A, of course.
Here some facts about the programs that come with any Mac:
Address Book- You can import and export contacts from most email clients - very handy. Also, it is fully synced with Mail so you only type a few letters of someone's name and then Enter to make them a recipient.
Automater- If you're doing the same thing over and over again, stop that right now. Take 30 seconds, give or take, to tell Automater to do it. Wait another 30 seconds and the whole thing is done. It's like having your own little robot inside your computer.
Chess- Play chess with either the computer or a friend on the other side of the world. Mac has had this for two years now and Windows Vista, which just came out, is claiming to not have copied this feature. Right. I've used both OSs and Vista's Chess is almost identical to Mac's. Hmmm...
Comic Life- A doodler's dream. You can make your own comics and then print them out. Very professional looking and easy.
Dashboard- The definition of convenience. Read news, control iTunes, play Hangman, squeeze a whoopie cusion (my personal favorite), check the time, calculate a number, type on a virtual Post-it note, translate something into another language (very useful for me since I live in Japan and I don't speak Japanese), look up the definition of a word, etc. [Also, in Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard, the next release of OS X, you can make your own dashboard widgets; this will be similar to making your own gadget on your iGoogle page]
GarageBand- Record your own music, edit it, group it into tracks, put it on iTunes for all users to download, make your own CDs, etc.
iCal- Solution to a busy person's dream. Automatically color-codes your appointments based on what category they fall into and shows events as a visual block of time, bigger for longer events, smaller for shorter events. Syncs with your iPod so you can check your calender, for instance, in Starbucks when a colleague asks what time would be best for a meeting. You can subscribe to people's calendars online so their events automatically appear in iCal. Includes a To-Do list, sorted by priority.
iChat- Social person's dream. Text-chat with anyone, and you hear a little noise when they say something so you can work while waiting for a response. Audio-chat with anyone and you can talk like you're on the speakerphone. Best of all, video-chat with anyone, go into full screen mode, and you feel like you're sitting at a very reflective table, talking to all of them. [Coming in Leopard- present Keynote presentations and other documents to people via iChat. They also see a little icon of you, narrating the presentation. Also, you can add a backdrop so it looks like you're, well, anywhere you want to be. Finally, you'll be able to use those Photo Booth special effects on yourself while video conferencing.]
iDVD- Is it Hollywood or is it not? That difference will be very tiny when you make a DVD with iDVD. You can choose what music to play in the main menu by simply dragging the song name from the media browser onto the menu. Also you can select whether to have a widescreen or standard orientation for your DVD. Finally, you'll be able to navigate the DVD's menus just like in store-bought Hollywood DVDs - with your DVD remote. All functions of a regular DVD movie are included with iDVDs. They work with any DVD player.
iMovie HD- Again, is it Hollywood or is it not? You can add high-quality special effects to your movies and you can even use your built-in iSight camera to record yourself. You can also adjust volume levels for music or narrations to play at. Add transitions between pictures and videos. Insert the perfect song. Narrate the whole thing to make a documentary. Et Cetera. The bottom line is that you'll be able to show friends a Hollywood movie and your movie and they won't be able to tell the difference.
iPhoto- A reminicer's wildest dream. Use professional tools to make your photos look simply beautiful. After you've done that, make a photo album. Design your own greeting card. Make a calendar for your kitchen. Prepare a slideshow to show on your television, via the Appple TV. Once you've done that, click Buy. Your creation gets shipped to your front door (or someone elses, if you want) and it has been printed on top-quality photo paper with the best ink availible. As simple as 1-2-3.
iSync- You can syncronize your contacts and calendar with your Bluetooth-enabled cell phone. Very convenient.
iTunes- Easily find and download millions of songs, albums, movies, TV shows, news report podcasts, etc. Also import music from CDs and manage your iPod.
iWeb- Your one-stop-shop for making gorgeous Web sites. For example, a Web site I spent a few hours on looks ten times better than the one our school AT has been working on for years for our school, using Windows.
Mail- Leaves Outlook in the dust. Automatically sorts your mail into different folders and lets you instantly search your entire mail history.
Photo Booth- Take pictures of yourself using one of sixteen special effects and then either email them, set them as your iChat icon, or import them into iPhoto for editing and other things.
Sherlock- Just like its namesake, it's a one-stop-shop to find ANYTHING on anything, including on your computer, a network, the Internet, or anywhere else you need to.
Stickies- Post-It notes you can leave anywhere on your screen. Variety of uses.
Activity monitor- the Apple version of the Windows Task Manager, although this can show you the current status of every hardware component of your computer, including current RAM usage and hard drive usage.
Grapher- Wonderful tool for algebra students. Type in an equation, exactly as it appears, and it graphs it for you. Save the graph as an image, find the coordinates of any point on the graph, etc. Also, you can type in data sets. Finally, you can choose from five different appearences for your graph.
Printer Setup Utility- Hub for every printing device connected to your Mac, its current jobs, its ink levels, its specifications, etc.
VoiceOver Utility- Reads whatever text you want it to. Choose from a couple dozen different voices for your Mac to read in.
When I saw the price for this laptop, I told myself that no one would buy it because it's too expensive. After an entire year of flawless performance and wonderful results, I reversed my opinion. This Mac was worth every penny, and you'll agree, too, once you push the On button.
Beautiful, not compatible with many programs, battery problems, neat/elegantly made software
I wanted to be one of those cult followers of Mac--I really wanted to make the switch from PC to Mac and be blown away by the difference. Unfortunately, my experience has been the opposite.
I have been to the Mac store over a dozen times in the year I have owned it, and while everyone recognizes that my internet and several applications run like a one legged man with a twisted ankle, they have not been able to find the problem. I sent it away to be repaired, and it was returned with a new hard drive...a new hard drive that broke down within two days. I sent it back and have been too scared to send it away again for fear of another problem. With it's third hard drive, second battery, second charger cable, and a couple of new keys on the keyboard, my Mac remains impressive on the outside, something people complement and marvel at, saying they wish they had it, but in the meantime, my internet force quits, Word is slow, Powerpoint is useless, and streaming radio and video are a thing of the past. My husband's cheap ($400) laptop works faster, which makes me cringe everytime I see those commercials and think of the thousands I paid. And still no solution.
It's features are gorgeous and sleek--everything you would expect from a company with such a stylish image, but god is it skin deep. I wish I could give it a better rating...
Update: Getting more memory helps. The basic amount is not enough to do anything, really, but after having gotten 2 Gigs of it, things have improved. If you buy one, make sure it has enough; otherwise, be ready to pay for more.
Also, the battery has problems. I had to have it replaced once within the first few months of owning it (brand new), and now, after having the computer 1.5 years and the battery for only one, it happened again and I am now on my third battery. They are not Meant to be disposable, and yet, they are.
Also, the charger cable, while innovative in that your computer won't fall off the desk if someone trips on it, is also a bit fragile. I'm on my second one of those as well, and the wire is really loose and is starting to fail to charge sometimes. I'll probably need to replace it in a few weeks.
The good news? Mac has the BEST service I've ever gotten on any product, and provided you get Apple Care, you'll be in great hands. They fixed 90% of the problems and were friendly and generous with their time on it!
Hot (literally) Laptop
I love Macs, and this one delivers. It also delivers lots of heat. I have had the hard drive and battery replaced after just 9 months, and the power cord caught fire right at the MagSafe connector to the computer.
Recommend buying a three yr. protection plan if you are buying an Apple laptop. By the way, due to heat issues, they no longer call them laptops, and recommend against using them on your lap or touching any body part.
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