Being the new owner of a solid aluminum body Macbook Pro, I wanted to give a first hand opinion of what to love about the new Apple laptops, and what to hate about them. I will start with the bad news first.

What to Hate About the New Apple Laptops

  1. Leading off my list is how the glossy only option is available on both the Macbook and the Macbook Pro. Many people prefer a matte screen option, especially on the Pro models. Matte screens offer truer colors. This is very important to designers and photographers as they need to see true shades of colors for their work. I came from a matte screen model to a glossy screen model expecting to have issues, but I am really surprised at how much it is not a factor for me.
  2. Number 2 on my list is one that has not been talked about much. I have noticed that the new Macbook Pro sound quality on the built-in speakers is not near the quality it was on the previous model. What I believe is the problem is that the holes in the speaker greats on the new model are much smaller then the last model. This is causing flat sounding audio.
  3. Next on my list of the top 5 things to hate about the new Apple laptops is the lack of firewire 400 on the Pro and the lack of Firewire 400/800 on the Macbook. Firewire is a great technology that allows high speed transfers from video cameras and external hard drives. Having the firewire 800 on the Pro line is great, but many devices only offer 400, so this causes people to buy yet another adapter from Apple.
  4. The 4th item on my list is the weight issues. From the time you pick up the box on either the Macbook or Macbook Pro, you will realize that the device gained some weight during its upgrade. During the Apple keynote, Steve jobs discussed how the new “Brick” manufacturing process saved weight from the base of the computer. This is 100% true, the aluminum sections of the new laptops are much lighter then the previous model. The overall increase in weight comes from the large piece of glass that apple installed over the back lit LCD displays. This is a large and sturdy (thick) piece of glass, which probably accounts for close to 50% of the overall weight of the computer.
  5. The final item on my list of reasons to hate the new Apple laptops is how apple has sealed the glass, the LCD, and the aluminum backing that makes up the screen. On past models, if you broke the LCD, all you had to do was replace the LCD with the new model, you will have to replace the entire lid, glass, aluminum, and LCD. This could get a bit pricey for some. I guess I will just have to take extra special care of my new Macbook Pro.

What to Love About the New Apple Laptops

  1. First on my list of what to love about the new Apple laptops is the addition of the easy swap hard drive. With laptops taking over as most peoples main computers, extra storage is a must for most. I personally have over 100GB of music and growing, so it is very important that I have the ability to expand my hard disk space as needed.
  2. Next on my list is the new much quieter optical super drive. Apple has changed the brand and style of the optical superdrive in both the Macbook and Macbook Pro. The model offers a much quieter superdrive with no loud clicks like the previous model. For most, this doesn’t matter, but on my previous model Macbook Pro, I was always concerned that the super drive was breaking because of the loud clicking noises.
  3. Third on my list is one some people will notice and other might not. The new elevated position pf the ambient light sensor that controls the the backlit keyboard and the auto dim function for the LCD. This is one minor improvement that I am very much liking. I use to have the problem of my hands covering the sensor which was located under the speaker grills. With it located up high, I find that it work much better in the elevated position where is can more accurately detect the lighting in the room.
  4. The 4th item on my list is the most obvious. It is the much sturdier and sexy new uni body aluminum design. The new “brick” style of manufacturing the aluminum bodies for the Macbooks has really helped to provide what feels like a much sturdier design. The palm wrist don’t sag like they use to, and you don’t have to worry about denting it as easy as on the pas Macbook Pro.  Oh, and as I already said, these things just look sexy!
  5. The final item on my list is the black backlit keyboard. Alot of previous MBP owners were dreading the day that the Macbook Air black chicklet keyboard would come to the Macbook Pro. I for one, love the new keyboard. The main thing I enjoy, is how much easier it is to see the letters and symbols on the keyboard when the backlight is NOT on. The white lettering on the silver keys just didn’t work for me. I also prefer the feel of the chicklet keys when typing.

Well, that does it for my list, what would your list consist of? Are you a fan of the new aluminum uni body Macbooks and Macbook Pros?