The good: Updated CPUs, improved battery life, adds touchpad gestures from the MacBook Air.

The bad: Small performance premium over the cheaper 13-inch MacBook; only 90 days of toll-free technical support; still no SD card reader.

The bottom line: A solid, if predictable, upgrade to the MacBook Pro line, but noteworthy for stealing the MacBook Air's best feature--expanded gesture controls for the touchpad.

Read full review of the Apple MacBook Pro »

By Dan Ackerman, CNET.com
Mar 11, 2008

Apple has made its first update to the venerable MacBook line since the introduction of the MacBook Air. Regular 13-inch MacBooks get the usual CPU upgrade, but the MacBook Pro line gets a notable internal overhaul--including new Penryn-class Intel CPUs, new touchpad gestures (lifted from the MacBook Air), and finally a backlit LED option for the 17-inch models, something already standard for 15-inchers.

Editors' note : This review is based on tests done by our sister site CNET.com. As such, please note that there may be slight differences in the testing procedure and ratings system. For more information on the actual tests conducted on the product, please inquire directly at the site where the article was originally published. References made to some of other products in this review may not be available or applicable in Asia. Please check directly with your local distributor for details.

Design

As we've come to expect, the new configurations hit the same price as the now-discontinued ones. More power for the same money is always welcome, but at S$3,088 (US$2,236.22) (we looked at the higher-end of two 15-inch configurations), we still think the cheaper 13-inch MacBook is a better overall value, outweighed only if you need either the larger screen or Express Card slot, or you can't live without the touchpad gestures.

Physically, the refreshed 15-inch MacBook Pro is identical to its predecessors, still only 24mm thick, but now that we've had time to get used to the thinner, lighter MacBook Air, it feels positively huge in comparison.

By now we're very familiar with the minimalist layout--open the lid and inside you'll find only a power button, a full-size keyboard, stereo speakers, a sizable touchpad with a single mouse button, and a built-in iSight camera. Despite our love for a clean look, we've also become used to having at least a few media control keys--attractive touch-sensitive media controls now regularly pop up on even the cheapest laptops.

Features

Possibly the biggest change is how the revamped trackpad is now works with multitouch gestures, much like the MacBook Air. Originally, you could do things like use two fingers to scroll through documents--now Pro users can use three fingers to go forward and back in Safari's browser history, and use a thumb and forefinger to zoom in and out of documents and photos--much like on the iPhone. We hope Apple will roll this out for the 13-inch MacBooks sooner rather than later.

The move to backlit LED displays happened in the last MacBook Pro revision, at least for the 15-inch models. This time around, the 17-inch models have it, too--but only as a S$160.50 (US$116.23) addon. The 15-inch display is 1,440 x 900, while the 17-inch is either 1,680 x 1,050 (standard) or 1,920 x 1,200 (LED). Apple touts the backlit LED displays as being both energy efficiency and mercury-free.

The MacBook Pro remains the only laptop we can think of with a FireWire 800 jack (along with the more common FireWire 400), useful for digital video fans, but we still think adding a simple SD card slot would be a huge plus for the Pro (and let's get that on the regular 13-inch MacBook, too, while we're at it).

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