A couple of weeks ago now, I decided that it was time to upgrade my MacBook Pro to a newer model with much more power seeing as the Creative Suite had been running increasingly sluggish on my old one. Since my MacBook Pro is my primary work machine, it is important that it is powerful enough to do what I need it to do while being light enough for travel.
What did I get?
I ended up opting for the 15″ MacBook Pro with a 750 GB normal hard drive and 4 GB memory from Apple, which I will be bumping to 8 GB myself shortly. The machine has the 2,2 GHz i7 processor and sports a full 1GB VRAM as well, which will be great for heavy-lifting in Photoshop. To top it off, I chose the high-res screen (1680×1050) although in glossy, since I have become used to it and quite like it.
How well does it work?
So far I have pretty much just gotten set up on it, installing new apps and moving files over to it. There are a couple of things that strike me with this one, compared to my previous MacBook Pro.
1. The extra real-estate is nice!
Sure, it is normally the case when you get a new screen, but it seems that the high-res version now available is just perfect. It might be close to the small-side, but I find that it works very well, providing that extra resolution that you need when doing graphics design.
2. More Dampened Keyboard
I seem to notice that the keyboard has been slightly more dampened on the new model, compared to my old. The trackpad is the same way too, much quieter when you click physically. Nothing to complain about here. I am always for quieter keystrokes.
3. The Battery Makes Such A Difference
The new machine promises a 7h battery life in Apple’s better battery test. I cannot begin to say how much of a difference this makes. I have been suffering with, at best times, a two-hour battery life on the old model, while always on the best graphics card (switching required a login). The upgrade is almost worth it for the battery time alone, especially when traveling.
Right now, I am very happy with the performance of this machine and I am very happy that I decided to get it. Once I get settled in and upgrade the RAM, I’ll let you know how it runs with the Adobe Creative Suite.
