MacBook VS MacBook Pro, what differences are there?

Here I will lay out the differences, MacBook VS MacBook Pro. This article will show you the main difference between those two computers and should help you in you decision process. Please note that this guide compare the Aluminum MacBooks so the white plastic macbook will be left out for the time being in this Mac laptop comparison. This guide is a little bit out of date because the 13-Inch Aluminum MacBook is actually now a MacBook Pro. But they can still be compared of course !

Build quality

Both MacBooks have the same type of aluminum enclosure. Apple laser cut the casing from a single piece of aluminum and this is why the Macbooks feel so robust and sturdy. You get the same type of robust feeling with all of them.

The screen

MacBooks 13.3-inch screen is a LED backlight glossy display that have a resolution of 1280x800. The 15.4-inch MacBook Pro screen have a resolution of 1440x900. This is also a glossy LED backlight screen. The 17-inch MacBook Pro have the biggest screen and resolution. The resolution is 1920x1200 LED backlight and you have the option to select an Antiglare option for the 17-inch screen.

Some have said the screen quality with the older 13.3-inch MacBook have been a bit lower when MacBook VS MacBook Pro have been discussed and compared side by side. It is often noticed if you watch movies with a lot of dark areas. The dark scenes is much more visible and vibrant with the MacBook Pro. However the MacBooks screen is still very bright and have gorgeous bright colors. It is all about personal preference. Since Apple re made the 13-Inch Aluminum MacBook Pro it has also got a much better screen, so this problem has now been fixed.

Trackpad and keyboard

All Mac laptop computers have the same type of keyboard and the same type of glass multi-touch trackpad. However the 2.0GHz 13.3-inch MacBook does NOT have backlit keyboard. If you want backlit keyboard you will have to move up to the more expensive 2.4GHz 13.3-inch MacBook. The MacBook Pros have backlit keyboard. Apple have got a little criticism of this in the MacBook VS MacBook Pro discussion.

CPU speed and Memory

13-Inch Aluminum MacBook Pro
All MacBooks have the same 1066MHz frontside bus speed. However they have different CPU speeds and memory. With the 13.3-Inch MacBook you have as of this writing two options. You have the 2.26GHz and the 2.53GHz version. Both of them supports officially up to 8GB of RAM and they have 3MB shared L2 cache.

15-Inch Aluminum MacBook Pro
Here you have four CPU speed options. 2.53GHz, 2.66GHz, 2.8GHz, 3.06GHz (6MB L2 Cache with the 3.06GHz option). The 15-Inch MacBook Pro supports up to 8GB Memory according to Apple.

17-Inch Aluminum MacBook Pro
The 17-Inch MacBook Pro gives you two CPU speed options. 2.8GHz and 3.06GHz. It can support up to 8GB of RAM.

Graphic Card

13-Inch Aluminum MacBook
Both 13.3-Inch MacBooks have NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics, they use 256MB of ram and share that with your main system memory. It is not dedicated RAM on these cards.

15-Inch Aluminum MacBook Pro
This MacBook have NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT with 256MB or 512MB of GDDR3 memory. The basic cheapest 15-Inch MacBook Pro only have the 9400M card.

17-Inch Aluminum MacBook Pro
Here you get NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT with 512MB of GDDR3 memory. Plain and simple.

Ports and connections

In the MacBook VS MacBook Pro discussion Apple have been criticized about the removal of the firewire port from the 13.3-Inch model. However Apple came to their senses and reinstated the firewire port again. Also they did remove the ExpressCard slot from the 15-Inch MacBook Pro and put an SD Card reader there instead, and also in the 13-Inch model. If you need the ExpressCard slot you will have to move up to the 17-Inch MacBook Pro.

13-Inch Aluminum MacBook
The following ports are available: Magsafe power, Ethernet, two USB 2.0 ports, Mini DisplayPort, Audio in/out, Firewire 800, SD Card Slot.

15-Inch Aluminum MacBook Pro
The following ports are available: Magsafe power, Ethernet, two USB 2.0 ports, Mini DisplayPort, Audio in/out, Firewire 800, SD Card Slot.

17-Inch Aluminum MacBook Pro
The following ports are available: Magsafe power, Ethernet, Firewire 800, three USB 2.0 ports, Mini DisplayPort, Audio in/out, ExpressCard/34.

Summary

I didn't include any hard drive comparison because they are generally the same. And you can basically put whatever hard drive you like in all of these notebooks anyway.

I hope this MacBook VS MacBook Pro article help you a little when you are deciding what to get. The guide will be updated when Apple release new and updated versions of their computers. Should you find an error in the information I appreciate that you contact me and let me know. Good luck in choosing your next computer :)