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It’s been many years since I’ve needed a new machine, but the time has come. My PowerBook, the last generation of PowerPC machines produced by Apple, was finally showing its age. Many applications are starting to release as Intel-only rather than Universal (see Adobe). The upcoming version of OSX, Snow Leopard, is meant to optimize the operating system on Intel machines. Even surfing the web had become a painful process—the surest sign that a computer is taking its final useful breaths.

In short, the time had come. But the PowerBook served me well for many years, so I thought I might help a couple fence-sitters figure out what will happen when they upgrade to a brand spankin’ new Apple MacBook Pro laptop.

Build quality
I’m fairly certain I could throw this laptop out of a plane—not that I’d want to—and it would land in one piece. The aluminum unibody shell feels ultralight but indestructible (bend but don’t break, Grasshopper). My PowerBook felt sturdy but this thing is Superman in comparison. Watch the mesmerizing Jon Ive movie to see how he’s learned to apply Apple’s Reality Distortion Field to something as simple as a computer shell. And yet that seemingly insignificant detail makes all the difference in weight and strength.

Trackpad
My wife hates the trackpad for its finicky precision with her hands and longer fingernails. I don’t have nails, so I pretty much love it. The new gestures (demoed in an amazing Sys Prefs video) are great, and the sheer area of the pad is the biggest I’ve seen.

Keyboard
Slightly more plastic-feeling keys than a PowerBook, but they don’t seem like they’d break any time soon. They still have back-lighting and might be easier to depress than the metal ones. Feel a little cheaper though.

Screen
Yeah, they just came out with an anti-glare matte option. I don’t care. I’m a designer and I haven’t had a problem yet with the glossy screen. I prefer it honestly (heresy!). The color is rich and vibrant in comparison to any LCD I’ve seen.

Speaker grilles
It’s insane how tiny the speaker-grille holes are. Seems stupid, but again, those tiny details make the overall shell that much more refined. And the sound quality is a major step up from my old laptop.

Battery Indicator
There’s a little button on the side of the MacBook which, when pressed, lights up a line of small lights to display the current battery charge at a glance. So cool. The battery itself, I can attest, does indeed go between 7-8 hours on a single charge, which is mind-blowing. Again, there’s a movie (yeah Apple’s pretty good at the marketing thing).

Available ports
This pissed me off. Apple removed a USB port and FireWire 400 slot (Hey Apple, FireWire is your invention and didn’t arrive that long ago). FireWire 800 wires cost $45…not cheap at all. Also, I had to buy a bunch of connectors to get my only-previous-generation Cinema Display to plug into this new machine’s proprietary MiniDisplay slot. What a load of crap. I ended up dropping bills for that FW800 wire and a portable USB expansion set.

Migrating Users
Back to awesome: I was able to wirelessly transfer multiple users and all my applications in a few short hours—flawlessly—to the new computer. Even remembered and updated all my bookmarks, preferences, etc.

Application compatibility
Everything works. Even my old, non-Universal (cracked) copy of Quark for OSX. Only two apps (SnapzPro X and Handbrake) needed to be updated, and Adobe just needed a quick update before I was back in business with CS3. For real, that’s amazing.

So overall, a month’s worth of use on this computer and I’d say I love it. I would heartily recommend this machine to anyone looking to buy, as long as you understand the few drawbacks of external compatibility and plan accordingly.

15″ MacBook Pro (Mid 2009):