MacBook Pro i7 review, 15 - Inch (Intel Core i7)

The 15 Inch MacBook Pro i7 is the computer that replace my 13 Inch MacBook Pro and the desktop gamer PC I had standing downstairs. I use my computer for a little gaming (Starcraft 2 anyone...?), editing and cataloging images. Produce music / tutorials using Apple Logic and all the usual stuff like surf the web. Listen to music, communicate with friends, family and so on.

No Design Changes

Apple keeps the unibody design and it doesn't surprise me. Aluminum and glass are pretty timeless design-wise if you ask me and it works very well for a laptop like this. When you hold the computer it feels sturdy and it stands out quality-wise. It looks just like the earlier model but with updated processor, graphics card and so on. It is a bit sharp on the edges though.

Intel Core i7

MacBook Pro i7 use the latest CPU from Intel replacing the older Core 2 Quad CPU. With all hardware upgrades this is a faster CPU compared to the earlier generation. It also runs a little bit cooler and require less power, thus conserving battery time.

I decided to put some heavy load on this machine and check how hot the CPU got. I downloaded Folding@home and let it run for about 1 hour maxing out all four threads. The temperature stabilized around 80 - 82 degrees celsius. I could hear the fans spin but it made less noise than I thought it would make.

Simple Benchmark

I used Cinebench R11.5 to benchmark the CPU, view the results below. Check other reviews for GeekBench or Xbench scores.

2.53 points, not to shabby for a laptop but still a bit lower than expected.

Gaming

I would like to call myself a casual gamer. I don't play every game that comes out, there is just no time for that with three small kids and a full-time day-job. However, Starcraft 2, World of Warcraft is some of the games I play. The MacBook Pro i7 will run Starcraft 2 okay, in my opinion. It is playable with graphic settings on medium at 1440x900 (native) resolution. If the main interest is gaming you wouldn't buy a Mac in the first place. Apple should include more high performance graphics in their computers. Especially now when Steam is available.

Terabytes of storage!

This computer ships with 500GB of storage. I decided to replace that drive with an Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid drive instead. This hard-drive have an 4GB SSD chip onboard where it automatically place data often used by the OS. This makes the computer feel a lot faster. The system is controlled within the drive itself, not the operating system. It doesn't matter if you use Windows or Mac OS X or Linux ... it doesn't need any drivers!

It wont beat a real dedicated SSD drive, but it is a good compromise. Best of both worlds.

Now I sit here with an 500 GB drive left over, what to do with that one? I know, replace the internal DVD drive with the hard drive instead! It is possible to do so. The product is called MCE OptiBay. The MCE OptiBay replaces the machine's internal SuperDrive with my leftover hard-drive. Thus making the total storage capacity 1TB, in a laptop. Thats nice wouldn't you say?

Closing Words

With the Core i7 CPU and the ability to have 8GB RAM in this MacBook Pro i7 I am hopeful it will be enough for me the coming years. The only thing I want is for Apple to give us higher performing graphics cards in these laptops. I don't care if it shortens the battery life. When you pay premium price for a machine like this you would like to have some premium hardware in all areas as well. It isn't a dealbreaker for me, but for someone else it might.