Notebooks Guide

Compare This

Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, Intel Core i7-620M)

14 May 2010

The new MacBook Pro, along with automatic graphics switching in the 15- and 17-inch models, gives you dramatically longer battery life.

Tags: apple, intel core i7, 15-inch, macbook pro

Filter by Manufacturers

HWZ's Overall Rating: 9.0

Design:

Features:

Performance:

9.5

Value:

8.5

Mobility:

Extremely long battery life

Good performance

Expensive

<div id="reviews-list">
		<h2>More articles (2)</h2>
		<ul>
					<li class="current">
			<a href="/review-apple-macbook-pro-intel-core-i7-unleashed" alt="/product-apple-macbook-pro-15-inch-intel-core-i7-620m/review?review=36442">The Apple MacBook Pro: Intel Core i7 Unleashed</a>			</li>
					<li >
			<a href="/feature-apple-macbook-special-too-hot-handle" alt="/product-apple-macbook-pro-15-inch-intel-core-i7-620m/review?review=34134">Apple MacBook Special: Too Hot to Handle?</a>			</li>
				</ul>
	</div>
	
	<div id="product-review" class="article">
			<h2 class="header-green">The Apple MacBook Pro: Intel Core i7 Unleashed</h2>
		<span class="byline">Reviewed by Aloysius Low on Sunday, 23 May 2010</span>
		<div class="share">
	<div
		id="addthis_div_51a0684383119" 
		class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style"
		addthis:url="http://www.hardwarezone.com/review-apple-macbook-pro-intel-core-i7-unleashed"		addthis:title="The Apple MacBook Pro: Intel Core i7 Unleashed"	>
		<a class="addthis_button_google_plusone" g:plusone:count="false"></a>
		<a class="addthis_button_facebook"></a>
		<a class="addthis_button_twitter"></a>
		
		<a class="addthis_button_email"></a>
	</div>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
	window.addEvent ('domready', function ()
	{
 		//AddThis thing
		addthis_share = window.addthis_share || {};
		addthis_share.url_transforms = {
			add: {
				utm_source: 'addthis',
				utm_medium: 'referral',
				utm_campaign: 'addthis',
				utm_content: 'The%2BApple%2BMacBook%2BPro%3A%2BIntel%2BCore%2Bi7%2BUnleashed'
			}
		}
		
		addthis_config = window.addthis_config || {};
		addthis_config.data_track_clickback = true;
		addthis_config.data_ga_property = 'UA-166763-1';
		//window.addthis && addthis.toolbox (".addthis_toolbox");
		 
	});
//]]>
</script>		<div class="content resizeable">
						<div id="page-1" class="page">
		 		<h2 class="page-title">An Apple a Day</h2>
		 		<h3 class="page_title">An Apple a Day</h3>
<p>Every year, almost like clockwork, some things for Apple happen. A new iPhone is announced (or leaked really early by accident), a new iPod is released, and usually, some changes to its iMac and MacBook Pro line-up occur. In 2008, we saw the introduction of the aluminum unibody MacBook Pros while in 2009, we saw the MacBook Pros switch over to a non-removable battery format. Now in 2010, Apple has finally upgraded their offerings to embrace the newer Intel Core i5 and i7 processors for the 15-inch and 17-inch form factors.</p>
<p>The 13-inch gets a slight hardware bump but will still use the older Intel Core 2 Duo instead of the Intel Core i3 processors. It's probably due to the fact that NVIDIA doesn't have a license to interface with the newer Intel processors and Apple does want to offer a better graphics experience via NVIDIA's integrated chipsets as opposed to relying on Intel's own integrated HD graphics on the new processors. By doing so, Apple doesn't have to use discrete graphics for the 13-inch models and keep the cost and thermal design power of the entire platform low. Else both costs and cooling requirements will go up and would be tough to juggle in that form factor. Stepping up from the GeForce 9400M chipset previously, NVIDIA updated the GPU portion to incorporate the GeForce 320M (based on the same GT216 core as the desktop <a target="_blank" href="/view/1798">GeForce GT 220</a>) so it should be a lot faster than the older 13-inch MacBook Pro notebooks.</p>
<p>We've previously reviewed a 13-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro, so our review of a 15-inch MacBook Pro seems quite apt. Instead of going for an entry-level SKU, we've requested for the top of the line model, and our review unit is as decked out as it can be - Intel Core i7 (2.66GHz), 4GB DDR3 memory and NVIDIA graphics in the form of a NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M GPU and augmented by the processor's own Intel HD Graphics engine. We'll be running the notebook in our benchmarking session to see how it holds up, but let's first focus on aesthetics of the 15-inch MacBook Pro, which looks pretty similar to its predecessor without notable changes.</p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="298" width="500" alt="" src="/files/images/macbook1.jpg" title="Looking all familiar - the new 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro." /></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="335" width="500" src="/files/images/macbook02.jpg" title="Over on the right side, the slot-loaded optical drive." alt="" /></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="279" width="500" alt="" src="/files/images/macbook03.jpg" title="The left side features the MagSafe power port, Gigabit LAN port, FireWire port, two USB 2.0 ports, a Mini DisplayPort, SD card reader, audio input and headphone jacks." /></p>			</div>
		</div>
			<div class="pagination" >
		<span class="desc">Page 1 of 6</span>
		<ul>
			<li class="prevnext prev"><a href="/review-apple-macbook-pro-intel-core-i7-unleashed" class="disabled">&lsaquo; Prev</a></li>
			<li class="skip">
				<form id="PageAddForm" method="post" action="/go"><fieldset style="display:none;"><input type="hidden" name="_method" value="POST" /></fieldset>					<select name="data[Page][url]" class="page-selector" id="PageUrl">
<option value="/review-apple-macbook-pro-intel-core-i7-unleashed" selected="selected">An Apple a Day</option>
<option value="/review-apple-macbook-pro-intel-core-i7-unleashed/apple-inside">The Apple Inside</option>
<option value="/review-apple-macbook-pro-intel-core-i7-unleashed/performance-aspect">The Performance Aspect</option>
<option value="/review-apple-macbook-pro-intel-core-i7-unleashed/benchmarking-mac-os-x">Benchmarking in Mac OS X</option>
<option value="/review-apple-macbook-pro-intel-core-i7-unleashed/battery-life-and-portability-index-11">Battery Life and Portability Index</option>
<option value="/review-apple-macbook-pro-intel-core-i7-unleashed/apple-lust">The Apple of Lust</option>
</select>					<input type="submit" class="submit" value="Go" />				</form>			</li>
			<li class="prevnext next"><a href="/review-apple-macbook-pro-intel-core-i7-unleashed/apple-inside" class="">Next &rsaquo;</a></li>
		</ul>
	</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
	window.addEvent ('domready', function ()
	{
 
		var container = document.getElement ('#product-review'),
			content = container && container.getElement ('.content'),
			pagination = container && container.getElement ('.pagination'),
			form = pagination && pagination.getElement ('form'),
			menu = form && form.getElement ('.page-selector'),
			links = {
				prev: pagination && pagination.getElement ('.prev a'),
				next: pagination && pagination.getElement ('.next a')
			},
			page = -1,
			desc = 'Page {curPage} of {lastPage}'
		;

// Tag as Javascript-enabled
		pagination.addClass ('js');

menu.addEvent ('change', function (e)
		{
			var curPage = this.selectedIndex + 1,
				lastPage = this.length,
				url = this.get ('value'),
				pageContent = container && container.getElement ('.page')
			;

// Disable controls
			menu.set ('disabled', 'disabled').blur ();
			if (pageContent) pageContent.setStyle ('opacity', .5);

new Request.HTML ({
				'url': url,
				'method': 'get',
				'link': 'cancel',
				'update': content,
				'onSuccess': function ()
				{
					// Update controls
					menu.erase ('disabled');
					links.prev
						.set ('href', menu.getChildren ('option')[(curPage > 1)? curPage - 2: curPage - 1].get ('value'))
						[(curPage > 1)? 'removeClass': 'addClass'] ('disabled')
					;
					links.next
						.set ('href', menu.getChildren ('option')[(curPage < lastPage)? curPage: curPage - 1].get ('value'))
						[(curPage < lastPage)? 'removeClass': 'addClass'] ('disabled')
					;
					pagination.getElement ('.desc').set ('text', desc.substitute ({ curPage: curPage, lastPage: lastPage}));

captureIntraLinks ();
					new Fx.Scroll (window).toElement (container);
				},
				'onFailure': function ()
				{
					// Restore controls
					menu.erase ('disabled');
					if (pageContent) pageContent.setStyle ('opacity', 1);
				}
			}).send ();
		});
		$$([links.prev, links.next]).addEvent ('click', function (e)
		{
			e.stop (); this.blur ();
			if (!this.hasClass ('disabled'))
				menu.set ('value', this.get ('href')).fireEvent ('change');
		});
		form.addEvent ('submit', function (e)
		{
			e.stop (); this.blur ();
			menu.fireEvent ('change');
		})

// Capture all intra-page links and hook to js
		function captureIntraLinks ()
		{
			content.getElements ('a[href^="#"]').flatten().each (function (link)
			{
				var target = link.get ('href').substr (6).trim ();
				if (target && target.match (/^\d+$/) && target <= menu.length)
					link.addEvent ('click', function (e)
					{
						e.stop (); this.blur ();
						menu.selectedIndex = target - 1;
						menu.fireEvent ('change');
					});
			});
		}
		captureIntraLinks ();

// Trigger initial pagination state
		var target = location.hash && location.hash.substr (6).trim ();
		if (target && target.match (/^\d+$/) && target <= menu.length && target != page)
		{
			menu.selectedIndex = target - 1;
			menu.fireEvent ('change');
		}
 
	});
//]]>
</script>
				<div class="footer">
		
<div class="tags" style="">
	<span class="label" style="">Tags:</span> <a href="/product-guide/all/reviews/tagged/83-apple">apple</a>, <a href="/product-guide/all/reviews/tagged/457-intel-core-i7">intel core i7</a>, <a href="/product-guide/all/reviews/tagged/749-15-inch">15-inch</a>, <a href="/product-guide/all/reviews/tagged/808-macbook-pro">macbook pro</a></div>
		</div>
				</div>

<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
	window.addEvent ('domready', function ()
	{
 
		var section = $('tab-product-content-review'),
			dropdown = section.getElement ('#reviews-list'),
			tId = 0
		;

if (section && dropdown)
		{
			var list = dropdown.getElement ('ul'),
				links = list.getElements ('li a')
			;

dropdown.addClass ('js');
			list.set ('morph', { 'link': 'cancel' });

$$(dropdown, list).addEvents ({
				'mousemove': function ()
				{
					$clear (tId);
				},
				'mouseenter': function ()
				{
					list.set ('morph', {'duration': 'short'}).morph ({ 'opacity': 1 });
				},
				'mouseleave': function ()
				{
					tId = function () { list.set ('morph', {'duration': 'short'}).morph ({ 'opacity': 0}); }.delay (1000);
				}
			}).fireEvent ('mouseleave');

links.addEvent ('click', function (e)
			{
				e.stop ();
				//unescape the 'alt' prooperty
				var o = new Element('i', { 'html': this.get ('alt')});
				new Request.HTML ({
					'url': o.get('text') + '&as=ajax',
					'method': 'get',
					'link': 'cancel',
					'update': section.empty().grab(new Element('div')
						.addClass ('waiter')
						.grab (new Element ('span', {
							text: 'Please wait while we load your article ...'
						}))
					)
				}).send ();
			})

section.getElements ('.footer .comments a').addEvent ('click', function (e)
			{
				e.stop ();
				new Fx.Scroll (window).toElement ($('tab-product-details'));

var href = this.get ('href').match (/#.+$/), target = href && href[0];
				if (target)
					(function () { new Fx.Scroll (window).toElement ($(target.substr (1))); })
						.delay (3000);

$('tab-product-comments').getChildren ('a')[0].fireEvent ('click');
			})
		}
		if( $$('.image-caption-container').length < 1 )
		{	
			$$('.article .content img[title]').each (function (img)
			{
				// skip if title is empty
				if (!img.get ('title')) return;
			
				new Element ('span', {'class': 'image-caption-container'})
					.addClass (['left', 'right'].contains (img.get ('align'))? img.get ('align'): '')
					.set ('width', img.get ('width'))
					.replaces (img)
					.grab (img)
					.grab (new Element ('div', {
						'class': 'image-caption',
						'html': img.get ('title').trim ()
					}))
				;
				img.erase ('align');
			
				var link = img.getParents ('a');
				if (link) link.addClass ('captioned');
			});
		}
 
	});
//]]>
</script>

Notebooks Guide

Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, Intel Core i7-620M)

Filter by Manufacturers

You may also be interested in...