MacBook Pro 2011 Review - Review of the MacBook Pro 2011 Models

The MacBook Pro early 2011 models are far and away one of the best speed bumps in a product design that Apple has released yet. With up to double the processor performance, due to the new Sandy Bridge Intel processors, and the new Thunderbolt port for extremely fast interconnection of external devices, the new MacBook Pros are set to be some of the best portable Macs yet.

Some Mac users may be disappointed with the lack of a matte finish display option in the 13-inch model, or better SSD options that provide higher performance and more reasonable pricing. Even so, these MacBook Pros are certain to be winners.

The 2011 MacBook Pros received new Sandy Bridge processors from Intel, and the very first use of Thunderbolt, Intel's I/O implementation formerly known as Light Peak. The new MacBook Pros concentrate on performance, with Intel i5 and i7 processors based on the new Sandy Bridge architecture. And to ensure that you can keep those processors humming along, the new Thunderbolt port can support data rates up to 10 Gbps bidirectional. That's two streams of 10 Gbps data occurring at the same time.

MacBook Pro Processors

Apple is using Intel i5 and i7 Sandy Bridge-based processors in the MacBook Pro lineup. The 13-inch model comes equipped with either a 2.3 GHz dual-core i5 or a 2.7 GHz dual-core i7. The 15-inch model offers three quad-core i7 processor choices: 2 GHz, 2.2 GHz, and 2.3 GHz. The 2.3 GHz option ups the L3 cache from 6 MB to 8 MB. The 17-inch model offers the same 2.2 and 2.3 GHz quad-core i7 processors.

All processors in the new MacBook Pro lineup utilize hyper-threading, allowing the processor to run two concurrent threads per processor core. To the OS, the dual-core processor looks like it has 4 available cores, and the quad-core appears to have 8 cores. In addition, turbo boost, another Intel technology, can temporarily boost processor clock speeds up to 3.4 GHz, to further increase performance when needed.

Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt is the new name for Intel's Light Peak, an I/O technology that Intel, with a little help from Apple, has been working on for a few years. Thunderbolt is a bidirectional high-speed interconnect, able to operate at 10 Gbps. Originally, the connection cabling was to be fiber, but the first-generation implementation uses copper wiring. Apple is the first to use Thunderbolt, for attaching a second monitor to a MacBook Pro, and for data, such as external hard drives, RAID arrays, and cameras. Thunderbolt can be daisy chained, so you can drive a display while simultaneously pulling data from an external drive. Thunderbolt supports up to 6 daisy-chained devices.

Graphics

All models include Intel's integrated HD 3000 graphics. The 15- and 17-inch models get additional graphics horsepower in the form of either an AMD Radeon HD 6490M or an AMD Radeon HD 6750M. Models with the AMD Radeon HD 6750M will be the best graphics performers, outpacing last year's models with up to a 3x improvement in graphics performance.

FaceTime

The MacBook Pro's built-in camera is now capable of recording at 720P for HD resolution, making FaceTime calls even more enjoyable and higher quality.

What Hasn't Changed

You will be hard pressed to notice a difference physically between current and previous MacBook Pro models. Aside from the new Thunderbolt port and the lack of a mini DisplayPort (Thunderbolt takes its place), the overall design looks the same. And that's a good thing, because the MacBook Pro layout is certainly one of the most appealing notebooks designs around.