Apple MacBook Pro MC118B/A Reviews: Mac OS X 15.4" Screen Laptop computer

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Precision aluminium. The new gold standard.
Carved from a single block of aluminium, the MacBook Pro is a true engineering achievement. Its unibody enclosure is the product of precise machining. From the thumbscoop to the now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t sleep indicator light, no detail is unaccounted for. The end result is a notebook that’s not only breakthrough, but thin, light, polished and refined. The unibody also makes MacBook Pro more durable than ever. So you can throw it in your briefcase or messenger bag and pull it out at an airport, at school, at the office or on location without a second thought.

Unibody Enclosure
Every MacBook Pro starts life as a single piece of aluminium.

The longest-lasting Mac notebook battery ever.
Built right into each of the new MacBook Pro notebooks is a breakthrough battery that lasts dramatically longer and does so without increasing the size or weight of MacBook Pro. On a single charge, the battery in the new MacBook Pro lasts up to 7 hours (8 hours on the 17-inch MacBook Pro)1 and can be recharged up to 1000 times.2 That’s compared with only 200 to 300 times for typical notebooks. Advanced chemistry and Adaptive Charging allows the battery to maintain charging capabilities longer and determines the optimal way to charge the battery’s cells. Because the battery lasts up to five years, MacBook Pro uses just one battery in the same time a typical notebook uses three. That makes for less waste. And that, in turn, makes for one environmentally friendly battery.

Breakthrough Battery
A built-in battery powers MacBook Pro for up to 7 to 8 hours on a single charge.

Graphics in full force.
The MacBook Pro reaches a new level of high-speed, high-end game-playing power. Not to mention pure performance for graphics-intensive applications like Aperture and Motion. The power-saving NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor inside every MacBook Pro is great for everyday performance, while delivering long battery life. The 17-inch MacBook Pro and select 15-inch models include the NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics processor, providing you with turbocharged performance for the most graphically intensive tasks.

A display of brilliance.
The moment you open your new MacBook Pro you’re greeted by glorious, full screen brightness. But that’s only one gleaming quality of the glossy LED-backlit widescreen display. It offers a 60 percent greater colour gamut than previous generations for richer, more vibrant colours. And anything you view — including the ultrathin display itself — is a spectacular experience. The seamless glass enclosure makes this display strong and durable. And the display is power efficient and mercury- and arsenic-free, so it’s greener than ever.

Even the keyboard is advanced.
The rigid aluminium keyboard webbing has been cut precisely to hold the keys. And the keys are curved to perfectly fit fingers. The result? Pure typing bliss. The keyboard is also illuminated, so when you’re in low-light settings, such as airplanes or conference rooms, you can always see what you’re typing.

Backlit Keyboard
An ambient light sensor activates the illuminated keyboard in low-light conditions.

It all just clicks.
The first thing you might notice — or not notice — is the button. The entire trackpad is the button, so you can click anywhere. Without a separate button, the spacious trackpad gives your hands plenty of room to move on the large, silky glass surface. Use two fingers to scroll up and down a page. Pinch to zoom in and out. Rotate an image with your fingertips. Swipe with three fingers to flip through your photo libraries. Swipe with four fingers to show your desktop, view all open windows or switch applications. If you’re coming from a right-click world, you can right-click with two fingers or configure a right-click area on the trackpad. The more you use the Multi-Touch trackpad, the more you’ll wonder what you ever did without it.

Everything fits.
Each MacBook Pro comes standard with a large hard drive with up to 500GB of storage capacity,3 so there’s plenty of room for your photo libraries, video projects and files. Or you can choose a 128GB or 256GB solid-state drive, which has no moving parts for enhanced durability. MacBook Pro also features ample high-speed 1066MHz DDR3 memory, with support for up to 8GB of RAM, so you can run more applications at once and quickly access your data and media.

Think fast.
Inside the 13-inch MacBook Pro is a fast Intel Core 2 Duo processor running at up to 2.53GHz, with the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro reaching speeds up to 3.06GHz. The processor is based on groundbreaking 45-nm process technology and advanced Core microarchitecture. With the 1066MHz frontside bus and 3MB of shared L2 cache (up to 6MB for the 15- and 17-inch models), MacBook Pro runs applications faster and more efficiently than ever before.

Ports with possibilities.
Every MacBook Pro is iPod, iPhone, digital camera and external hard drive ready. If it has a cable, there’s a place for it. You’ll find two USB 2.0 ports (three USB 2.0 ports on the 17-inch MacBook Pro) and a FireWire 800 port for connecting faster peripherals. The Mini DisplayPort is a perfect fit for the Apple LED Cinema Display. MacBook Pro even recognises what you plug in, so you don’t have to install new drivers.

From camera to computer. In an instant.
Transfer your photos and videos to and from your MacBook Pro just as fast as you’re able to take them. Built into the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro is a new SD card slot, so you can edit and share your photos and digital video on the spot.

Your studio to go.
With the latest 802.11n wireless technology built into MacBook Pro, you’re always seamlessly and effortlessly connected to the wireless world out there, at home and at work.4 MacBook Pro automatically finds available networks and allows you to join them with just one click. Bluetooth capabilities are also built in, so brilliant accessories can become your wireless accomplices. With a built-in battery that lasts longer than ever before, you can do everything you need to do, where you need to do it.

Burn DVDs superfast.
After editing and applying the finishing touches to your home movie masterpiece in iMovie and iDVD, use the ultrafast 8x SuperDrive on your MacBook Pro to burn it to DVD. And because the SuperDrive also writes to double-layer discs (DVDs with nearly 9GB of space), it’s great for backing up data.

iChat screens
Be everywhere at once.

iSight Camera
Cleverly integrated — almost hidden — at the top of the MacBook Pro display is an iSight camera. Use it with iChat and you can be anywhere without actually being there. Video chat with up to three of your friends, share a video with a colleague or present to a client.5 Use iSight with Photo Booth for fun photo effects. And there’s no need to waste valuable primping time installing software or configuring the camera. Like everything Mac, iSight just works.

• More info at Apple's website
• User manual