As someone that deals with computers all day long, I need to upgrade my hardware periodically as the applications get more complicated and my productivity starts to decrease. I try to get a new machine about every 2.5 years. My previous machine was a 15″ MacBook Pro right after the unibody redesign. The machine performed quite well and my SSD upgrade last year kept it going. There was nothing really wrong with the machine, but the new version of Xcode and the increased complexity of my projects began to cause me some frustration waiting for builds to complete.
When I started my new job, I wasn’t issued a new machine and didn’t ask for one as I wanted to wait for the next revision of MacBook Pros. When the new machines got announced, I put in my request and it was approved (slightly different from what I wanted, but still an impressive machine). I ended up with a 15″ MacBook Pro, 2.2 GHz Quad Core i7 processor, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, high density, matte screen.
Since I had an SSD in my last machine, the big changes for me were the faster processor (2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo vs. 2.2 GHz Quad Core i7) and more memory (6 GB vs 8 GB). The first thing I did when I got the new machine and set it up was to compile one of my projects. The project was taking 45 seconds to 1 minute to compile. On this machine, the compile took about 15 seconds! Sweet!
What more can I really say? Compared to my old machine, this thing screams, but I’m sure I’ll say it is slow in no time at all!
I haven’t had a chance to give it the full laptop treatment (take it on a trip and see how the battery performs), but my first impressions are quite positive. I don’t really measure app launching as some people do as I don’t launch apps all day long; the compile time is the number one performance boost that makes me glad that I got a new machine.
Pros
- It’s fast. There is no doubt about it, this machine can outperform a lot of desktop machines.
- Thunderbolt/DisplayPort can do audio out to an HDMI adapter which means I have one less connector to connect when I “dock” my machine.
- Built in SD card reader eliminates the need for me to dig out a reader when I need to configure my Eye-Fi card (I don’t transfer photos using the card, just over WiFi.
Cons
- It’s expensive. The price tag on this thing is something around $3000 which is a lot of money. However, if it was my own money, I would have gotten a similar machine as it is a tool that helps me earn money.
- The high density display is a bit hard to read.
- I’m undecided on the matte display; I’ve had glossy displays before and they work fine.
Summary
My “review” isn’t like the detailed reviews that Macworld publishes, but sometimes people just need a yes/no on buying something. I’ve been a fan of the MacBook Pro line for a number of years and this machine definitely doesn’t disappoint. However, when I get new machines, I like to get them immediately after Apple announces something significant and this upgrade with the Quad Core i7 is definitely one of those times. Luckily the major upgrades seem to coincide with when I want to upgrade.
For professional users, you can’t go wrong with a 15″ MacBook Pro, The size is right for the infrequent traveling I do, but is more than adequate for use as a desktop machine. I won’t get another desktop machine as the portability is worth so much to me even if I don’t use it all that often.