Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
While the MacBook Pro 2.8Ghz is undoubtedly a sumptuousness purchase , the breathtaking speed it provided makes it a compelling purchase . While we would advise a certain amount of caution over buying this system , rather than a regular MacBook Pro 2.53GHz motorcar ; if you want the very best laptop computer on the market , then pay this amount is the only agency to get it .
Whenever Apple set in motion a range of computers , it always volunteer customers a chance to upgrade constituent upon purchase . And the novel unibody MacBook Pro is no exception .
Most Macworld referee would be more than happy with the MacBook Pro 2.53GHz , but some of us just need as much power as we can get .
The organization we are look at here is a MacBook Pro 2.53GHz that has been upgraded with a quicker Intel Core 2 Duo processor , better hard ride and the maximal amount of memory .
It ’s stock practice for Apple to declare oneself customers to chance to upgrade processors , hard cause , and other components of its hardware course . These configure - to - order ( CTO ) systems are not generally found on the shelves of your local Apple Store ; rather , you customize your order right away from Apple ’s online store . The new MacBook Pro models unblock by Apple last month cover this CTO tradition , giving customers the choice of regularize a souped - up laptop computer .
We ordered a specially - configure MacBook Pro of our own . We believe this glide slope move over you a good idea of the type of performance fringe you’re able to get for spend the optional
As a refresher course , the MacBook Pro model released in October feature a new unibody grammatical construction , DDR3 RAM , Nvidia ’s Hybrid SLI engineering which uses two graphic poker chip - a GeForce 9400 M integrated in the motherboard plus a discreet GeForce 9600 M GT . The standard MacBook Pro configuration we ’ve already tested and reviewed come with either a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor , 2 GB RAM , and a 250 GB arduous drive in the £ 1,399 fashion model or a 2.53GHz Core 2 pair processor with 4 GB RAM and a 320 GB campaign in the £ 1,749 offer .
If you do n’t mind spend an excess £ 210 , though , you may upgrade to a 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo processor . Other options for the MacBook Pro include a degraded 7,200 - rpm hard parkway ( £ 34.99 off if you downgrade to 250 GB of capacity , or an extra £ 35.01 if you want 320 GB running at a faster 7200rpm ) as well as a state - of - the - nontextual matter ( and expensive ) 128 GB solid - state movement that costs an extra £ 350.01 for 60 percent less capacity than the 320 GB 5,400 - revolutions per minute drive find in the standard 2.53GHz arrangement .
We test a 15 - in MacBook Pro with a 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo CPU , 4 GB of DDR3 RAM and a 320 GB 7,200 - rpm hard drive ( full cost : £ 1,994 ) . As expected , our tests show this to be one lively laptop .
Configure-To-Order MacBook Pro Tests
Macworld ’s Speedmark 5 scores are comparative to those of a 1.5GHz Core Solo Mac mini , which is assign a score of 100 . Adobe Photoshop , Cinema 4D XL , iMovie , iTunes , and Finder scores are in moment : second . All systems were running Mac OS X 10.5.2 with 2 GB of RAM , unless otherwise indicated . The Photoshop Suite trial is a set of 14 written undertaking using a 50 MB file cabinet . Photoshop ’s remembering was set to 70 percent and History was put to Minimum . We memorialize how long it took to interpret a scene in Cinema 4D XL . We used Compressor to encode a 6 minute , 26 second DV single file using the videodisc : Fastest Encode 120 minutes – 4:3 setting . In iMovie , we put on the Aged Film Effect from the Video FX . menu to a one - minute movie . We convince 45 minutes of AAC audio files to MP3 using iTunes ’ High Quality stage setting . We used Quake ’s median - frames - per - second score ; we tested at a resolution of 1,024 by 768 pixels at the Maximum scope with both audio and art enabled . We duplicated a 1 GB folder , created a Zip archive in the Finder from the two 1 GB files and then unzip it.—MACWORLD LAB TESTING BY JAMES GALBRAITH , CHRIS HOLT , AND JERRY JUNG
In Speedmark 5 , our overall scheme performance bench mark , our CTO MacBook Pro posted a 12 per centum higher score than the standard 2.53GHz MacBook Pro with its 4 GB of RAM and 320 GB 5,400 - rpm hard drive . The custom 2.8GHz organisation was 13 per centum faster than the 2.53 GHz MacBook Pro in our Photoshop run suite and 15 percent faster than that model in our Cinema 4D examination . The 7,200 - rpm voiceless drive also helped the usance MacBook Pro make a Zip archive of a 2 GB leaflet 16 percent faster than the 2.53 MBP ; it was 20 percent quicker when unzipping the file .
We also compared this latest CTO MacBook Pro with another specially - configure laptop computer , a 15 - inch model with a 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo chipping from June 2007 . The 2.6GHz MacBook Pro featured 2 GB of slower DDR2 RAM and a 160 GB hard drive . The new CTO model send a 26 percentage advance in Speedmark scores , with faster termination across the board highlighted by a 36 - percent faster Photoshop score and a 22 - percent quicker Compressor score .
To see how well this tradition laptop compares to a desktop scheme , we compared the resultant to a 2.66GHz 20 - inch iMac with 2 GB RAM and a 320 GB 7,200 - rev drive . Our CTO laptop performed very similarly to this £ 949 all - in - one screen background , with the 2.8GHz MacBook Pro top the iMac by just 2 pct in Speedmark 5 . The laptop finished just one 2d quicker in Photoshop and iTunes MP3 encode tests , two seconds quicker in iMovie , and three arcsecond faster in our Cinema 4D depict test .
Pitting the configure MacBook Pro head to head against a 2.8GHz 8 - core Xeon Mac Pro with 2 GB RAM and 320 GB 7,200 - rpm strong drive , we see that the £ 1,749 Mac Pro enjoys a 19 percentage reward in Speedmark 5 scores . Individual test show large differences in central processor - intensive tests like Cinema 4D , where the Mac Pro finished in one - third the time of the 2.8GHz MacBook Pro and 44 percent quicker in our Compressor MPEG encoding exam . The MacBook Pro ’s 4 GB of RAM helped it link up the Mac Pro in our Photoshop tests , and , in many of the other tests , the outcome were very close . The CTO MacBook Pro even edged past the Mac Pro by one second when travel rapidly a 2 GB folder test and by 10 second when unzipping the same archive .
There ’s one other standard MacBook Pro contour — a 17 - inch poser powered by a 2.5GHz Core 2 dyad chip . It ’s arrived in our research lab and we ’ll have the benchmark presently .
