Part media center, part workstation, the Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch has been revered over the years by a nation of professional photographers and film editors, not to mention average media folks who can't get enough of this thin-bodied cinematic wonder. When the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Dual Graphics) and the MacBook 13-inch (Aluminum) launched with their "unibody" enclosures—in each case, a heavily promoted slab of aluminum that rids the frame of all detachable parts—a "uni-seventeen-incher" was clearly on the way. The Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch (Unibody) ($2,799 direct) is still the lightest and the prettiest media center laptop to house a maximum-resolution screen, and the changes are significant.
You probably would assume that the MacBook Pro 17-inch (Unibody) is simply a bigger version of the 15-inch MacBook Pro, but leave it to Apple to throw us yet another curveball. Although the elimination of the FireWire 400 port was to be expected, the battery latches—indicative of a removable battery—were nowhere to be found. That's because Apple fitted this rig with a high-capacity lithium polymer battery, which—controversially—can't (or shouldn't) be removed by non-Apple employees. With this new battery, Apple is touting 7 to 8 hours of battery life on a single charge—but that all depends on what you're doing on the machine.
No other media center can even come close to this system's thinness. Its dimensions of 15.5 by 10.5 by 0.98 inches (HWD) make it seem half as thick as either the HP HDX18t or the Sony VAIO VGN-AW190. Apple's unibody aluminum enclosure has gained wide attention. Without question, the MacBook Pro 17-inch (Unibody)'s design is jaw-dropping; what makes it even more impressive is the sense of security its rigid frame provides. Yet Apple has still managed to produce the lightest laptop in its class. At 6.6 pounds, this system is' roughly 2 pounds lighter than the HDX18t (8.7 pounds) and the AW190 (8.4 pounds) and lighter even than the Dell Studio XPS 16 (6.9 pounds), which has a smaller widescreen.
I love it when a screen fills the lid's entire "canvas," leaving barely detectable strips as borders. The 17-inch widescreen is magnificent; it's about as close to an edge-to-edge screen as one can get. The Apple 15-inch (Dual Graphics) and the 13-inch (Aluminum) have thicker borders, so the screens don't fill up their inner lids' full dimensions the way the MacBook Pro 17-inch (Unibody)'s does. Although the new panel is still an LED screen, it's a slight departure from its predecessor's. Apple is claiming a greater color gamut—up to 60 percent greater—for the new screen. Unlike the RGB LED screens (or colored LEDs) that illuminate the Dell XPS16 and the Lenovo ThinkPad W700, the MacBook Pro 17-inch (Unibody)'s screen uses white LEDs. It's a brighter, more sophisticated panel than the one in the previous 17-inch MacBook, more in line with Apple's desktop Cinema displays. Apple offers both glossy and matte (antiglare) screen options. Along with the wider color gamut, an antiglare screen is an important selling point for the MacBook's target audience, especially for professional photographers who need to judge colors on the fly. Though there's only one resolution, it's the highest possible for such a display: 1,920 by 1,200. (story Link)
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