MacBook Pro Index

13″ MacBook Pro (June 2009)

13-inch MacBook Pro

Overview

The long-awaited replacement for the 12" PowerBook has finally been delivered. The 13" MacBook Pro takes the successful Unibody MacBook, ups the speed a bit, and adds an SD Card slot and FireWire, a feature the Unibody MacBook lost (in this case, it's FireWire 800).

Following the example set by the first 17" Unibody MacBook Pro, the entire MacBook Pro line now has built-in batteries. In the case of the 13" MacBook Pro, that battery is rated at 7 hours.

The new model puts all the ports on the left side, leaving the right side for the SATA SuperDrive.

The glass trackpad is the same one found in the previous generation of MacBook Pro models. It supports 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-finger gestures. The entire trackpad functions as the mouse button.

The 13" MBP uses the same keyboard as the MacBook Air, complete with backlighting. The black keys look sharp with the aluminum enclosure, and the new MacBook Pro only comes with a glossy screen.

The new model comes in 2.26 GHz and 2.53 GHz versions. 160 and 250 GB hard drives are standard. 2 GB of RAM is standard on the 2.26 GHz model, 4 GB on the 2.53 GHz one (8 GB is the maximum the MBP supports). Memory and the hard drive are easily accessed from the bottom of the computer.

Editor's note: The next two paragraphs are from the profile of the previous version of the MacBook Pro. At this time we do not know if they apply to the new Unibody model.

Note that the built-in display is only capable of 18-bit color, not the full 24-bit color you might expect.

Unlike early MacBooks, where every USB port could provide 500 mA of power, only one USB port provides full power - the port closer to the front.

The Apple Remote is a US$20 option.

Closed Lid Mode: All Intel 'Books support "lid closed" (or clamshell) mode, which leaves the built-in display off and dedicates all video RAM to an external display. To used closed lid mode, your 'Book must be plugged into the AC adapter and connected to an external display and a USB or Bluetooth mouse and keyboard (you might also want to consider external speakers). Power up your 'Book until the desktop appears on the external display and then close the lid. Your 'Book will go to sleep, but you can wake it by moving the mouse or using the keyboard. The built-in display will remain off, and the external monitor will become your only display. Since all video RAM is now dedicated to the external monitor, you may have more colors available at higher resolutions.

To resume use of the internal display, you need to disconnect the external display, put the computer to sleep, and then open the lid. This will wake up your 'Book and restore use of the built-in display.

Intel-based Macs use a partitioning scheme known as GPT. Only Macintel models can boot from GPT hard drives. Both PowerPC and Intel Macs can boot from APM (Apple's old partitioning scheme) hard drives, which is the format you must use to create a universal boot drive in Leopard. Power PC Macs running any version of the Mac OS prior to 10.4.2 cannot mount GPT volumes. PowerPC Macs won't let you install OS X to a USB drive or choose it as your startup volume, although there is a work around for that.

Battery life is claimed to be 7 hours of wireless productivity.

Details

Mac OS

Core System

Video

Drives

Expansion

Physical

Online Resources

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Opinions expressed are those of their authors and may not reflect the opinion of Cobweb Publishing. Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all.
  Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2013 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Low End Mac, LowEndMac, and lowendmac.com are trademarks of Cobweb Publishing Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, Mac Pro, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
  Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it, and we don't share the information we have with others. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Custom Search

FollowLow End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Macon Facebook

Low End Mac Reader Specials

Quantcast

Quantcast

Quantcast

Quantcast

Quantcast

Quantcast

Quantcast

Quantcast

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
Cult of Mac
Shrine of Apple
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac Museum
Deal Brothers
DealMac
Mac2Sell
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End Mac FAQ

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
Macgo Blu-ray Player
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeatMedia. For price quotes and advertising information,please contact at BackBeat Media(646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

�