Mac's first Intel-driven laptop: A taste of speed

I'm a laptop guy. I've used a laptop as my main computer for the better part of a decade because I can take it anywhere and have enough processing power to do what I want.

However, like most PowerBook G4 owners, I've watched with envy as Apple Computer's desktops have outpaced the portables. I can still perform most every task I need on my aging 1.25 GHz PowerBook G4, but a certain level of pokiness has crept into my day.

Now, though, I can look forward to speedier portability. In updating its laptop line, Apple took the power out of the PowerBook name and fed it directly into the heart of the new MacBook Pro (www.apple.com/macbookpro), the company's first portable computer to feature an Intel processor.

The MacBook Pro looks and feels like the 15-inch PowerBook G4 that it replaces, clad in aluminum and weighing the same 5.6 pounds. It's slightly wider (14.1 inches) and shallower (9.6 inches), but still fits in the padded compartment of my computer bag. (The 12-inch and 17-inch PowerBook G4 models are still available, though Intel-powered models will no doubt replace them later this year.)

The MacBook Pro comes in two configurations: a 1.83 GHz model for $1,999, and a 2 GHz model for $2,499; the machine I tested was equipped with a 2.16 GHz processor, which is a $300 build-to-order option. Both feature a 15.4-inch display with 1440 x 900 pixel resolution, 667 MHz frontside bus and ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphic card with either 128MB or 256MB of memory. The 1.83 GHz model includes an 80GB hard drive and 512MB of memory, while the 2 GHz model sports a 100GB hard drive and 1GB of memory.

Apple touts a performance increase of four to five times that of the 1.67 GHz PowerBook G4, attributable to the Intel Core Duo processor, but for the most part, the MacBook Pro feels like using a PowerBook G4.

Inside MacBook Pro

Processor: 1.83 or 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo processor

Memory: 512 SODIMM, two slots support up to 2GB of SODIMM

Ports: One Firewire 400 port at up to 400 Mbps, two 480-Mbps USB 2.0 ports, ExpressCard/34 slot

Battery: 60-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery

Communications: Built-in 54-Mbps AirPort Extreme wireless networking, built-in Bluetooth 2.0, built-in Ethernet

Display: 15.4-inch TFT display

Storage: 80GB hard drive (for 1.83 GHz model), 100GB (for 2.0 GHz), SuperDrive (DVD, RW/CD-RW)

Weight: 5.6 pounds

Price: $1,999 (1.83 GHz model), $2,499 (1.0 GHz model)

Stick with me for a minute, though, because that's actually a good thing.

For most tasks, such as viewing Web pages in the Safari browser, managing my calendar in iCal, or working in the Finder, I noticed snappier performance in general, but nothing that spun my head — at first.

Part of the reason for my initial ho-hum impression is that the Intel architecture requires software developers to re-engineer their applications to take full advantage of the new processor. Many of the programs I use, such as Eudora for e-mail and Microsoft Word for word processing, have not yet been made "Universal" (able to run natively under a PowerPC or Intel processor), so the system uses a technology called Rosetta to translate the code written for a PowerPC processor into code the Intel processor understands.

The performance is perfectly adequate, unless you need the best bang out of applications such as Adobe Photoshop. Developers are revising their software, and already hundreds of programs have been updated; some of the heavy hitters such as Microsoft and Adobe have not yet announced a timeline.

Performance gains

But when I did some tests with the included iLife '06 applications — which are all Universal applications — I was surprised at the results. For example, adding a title in iMovie HD 6 took 25 seconds to render on my older 1.25 GHz PowerBook G4 and 13 seconds on the MacBook Pro. That's a welcome increase, to be sure, but I also rendered the title on a year-old dual-processor 2.3 GHz Power Mac G5 (not to be confused with the current dual-core 2.3 GHz model), which clocked in at 12 seconds.

Encoding an iDVD project took 6 minutes on both the MacBook Pro and the Power Mac G5, and 16 minutes on my PowerBook G4. Since Apple hasn't been comparing the Intel speeds with its Power Mac G5 desktop iron, I wasn't expecting the MacBook Pro to operate in near parity.

These results are exciting because they suggest that operating an Intel-powered Mac will speed up as we move toward a Universal playing field. And having a laptop that can keep up with desktop hardware increases the MacBook Pro's life span.

Apple is promising to have its entire computing line running Intel hardware by the end of the year, which rightly instills caution in many Mac users who have weathered processor and system migrations in the past. But so far, this latest change is happening smoothly. For people who don't need cutting-edge speed but want a machine that will serve them for several years, the MacBook Pro offers the Mac OS X experience they're using now — with the advantage that we can look forward to increased performance overall.

Brighter screen

The Intel processor isn't the only thing new with the MacBook Pro. The exterior may be familiar, but a number of key differences stand out. Two in particular would make me want to upgrade even without the speed gains.

First, the brightness of the 1440 x 900 pixel screen is much improved, now rated at 300 nits (an unfortunate name describing units of luminance), according to Apple. That's comparable to Apple's Cinema Displays, which is good news for people like me who work with an external display connected to a laptop so that one screen isn't dramatically dimmer than the other.

The second feature is an innovation so obvious that I'm surprised it's taken this long to appear on a laptop. Instead of a normal power plug that attaches to the side of the computer — a normal plug that can slingshot your laptop across the room if you trip on the cord — the MacBook Pro features the MagSafe connector, a magnetized plug that pops off harmlessly if snagged (yes, I tried it several times, and the MacBook stayed put on the table).

The downside is that you can't use old PowerBook or iBook power adapters if you want more than one. But MagSafe is so cool and so right that you will only cringe, not cry, if you pay $79 to buy an extra power adapter.

Like the Intel-based iMac released in January, the MacBook Pro also includes a small iSight video camera built into the bezel above the screen, which makes it easy to participate in iChat videoconferences, and because of the computer's faster processor, the MacBook Pro can also host multiple-person video chats, something previously requiring a PowerPC G5 processor.

An infrared remote control and Front Row software can play back media such as music, photos, videos and DVDs. The latest Front Row update brings the capability to stream content from any computer on your network, instead of having all of your media files residing on one machine.

MacBook goodies

The MacBook Pro also comes with a Sudden Motion Sensor, a DVD-burning SuperDrive (though it's capable of burning at 4x speed, not the 8x speed available on PowerBooks), backlit keyboard, AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, and optical and analog audio in and out; these have been standard features on PowerBooks for several generations, which is why I think it's important to note that these "also-ran" features are still more than what you get on many competing laptops.

Amid the changes, a few things have quietly disappeared compared with the PowerBook G4. The S-Video connector is gone, but you can purchase a $19 Apple DVI to Video Adapter to replace it. FireWire 800 is also absent. And Apple also decided to do away with the built-in modem, which is unfortunate.

Company reps point out that you can buy the $49 Apple USB Modem, but that's one more thing to carry in what for most people are already overstuffed bags. True, I've only used my PowerBook's modem a few times in the past year, but when I did, I really needed to use it. According to Apple, however, we live in a broadband world, so I'm stuck with another dangling dongle to misplace. Still, for most people those omissions aren't big deals.

The MacBook Pro is Apple's first Intel-powered laptop, and it's a success, delivering the Macintosh experience with speed and potential to spare.

Jeff Carlson and Glenn Fleishman write the Practical Mac column for Personal Technology and about technology in general for The Seattle Times and other publications. Send questions to carlsoncolumn@mac.com. More Practical Mac columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists.