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Macbook 13 inch vs Baseline Macbook Pro 13 inch

B

bpazolli

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 9, 2010
7
0
A friend asked me and looking around I couldn't find any posts on this subject specifically that was up to date. To my understanding the insides of the machine are very very similar not even differences in the FSB or Memory speeds from what I saw. What I could determine was;

Macbook Pro:
+Thinner & Lighter
+Unibody Metal
+Light up keyboard
+A couple more ports like firewire and sd card

and that was pretty much it. I mean this is just for the baseline obviously the macbook pro is the only option if you need better performance. Are these really significant differences or are there others I missed out?

I mean I personally love the unibody construction for its quality but really it surprises me that they have gotten to the point of being so similar. I'm pretty sure when I bought my macbook pro 2.26GHz there was a difference in the memory speed and front side bus of the macbook that made me pick it but I can't really remember now.

Benjamin Kosta Pazolli
 
the white MB has no glass screen and terefor is much less glossy and easier on the eyes,
 
aeboi said:
MBP 13" has 4GB ram
Click to expand...

I didn't really consider this cause in my mind such things can just be added latter. However just checked the Macbook can only have 4GB of memory while the Macbook Pro can goto 8GB. As well, the Macbook Pro has what apple calls "Stereo speakers with subwoofers" while the Macbook has just "Stereo speakers" so I assume that basically means the Pro has slightly better speakers. I know what a subwoofer is but I doubt any 13 inch laptop has anything really to get excited about.

Those issues are slightly more interesting but I think what apple is really doing is saying is you work in business you must pay extra so not to have a silly white thing and get a 'real' business laptop and everyone else can save money and buy the macbook.

Benjamin Kosta Pazolli
 
bpazolli said:
Those issues are slightly more interesting but I think what apple is really doing is saying is you work in business you must pay extra so not to have a silly white thing and get a 'real' business laptop and everyone else can save money and buy the macbook.
Click to expand...

I don't see where Apple says any of that.

It is all marketing. Do you want the extra features? If so than buy it. Plain and simple. It's not a "Student get a MB and Business get a MBP" thing, it is a get whatever you prefer thing.

Besides, no upgrade that the MBP receives is really that crucial in terms of productivity.
 
vant said:
I don't see where Apple says any of that.

It is all marketing. Do you want the extra features? If so than buy it. Plain and simple. It's not a "Student get a MB and Business get a MBP" thing, it is a get whatever you prefer thing.

Besides, no upgrade that the MBP receives is really that crucial in terms of productivity.
Click to expand...

Sorry if I didn't make that clear. That was what I was saying. It was all marketing. Apple clearly pushes the idea of the macbook pro as a professional laptop and the macbook as a consumer laptop. I think the price differentiation is based almost on this perception entirely rather than any real differences in hardware.
 
bpazolli said:
Sorry if I didn't make that clear. That was what I was saying. It was all marketing. Apple clearly pushes the idea of the macbook pro as a professional laptop and the macbook as a consumer laptop. I think the price differentiation is based almost on this perception entirely rather than any real differences in hardware.
Click to expand...

But not everyone working with a laptop need 8GB of RAM. Where I work, three people use a MacBook for their work just fine, it is mostly text based with some photos thrown in, but it works for them. I haven't seen their specs, but I doubt they have more than 2GB RAM.

Even though Apple uses the "Pro" moniker as a marketing term to sell "better" machines, not everyone falls for them, the MacBook is used in professional environments - work - too.
 
not really sure why it's such a surprise.

The diff between a Macbook and the 13" MBP is only $200 which of course gets you the aforementioned features.

They can't stack the juice of the 15" into the 13" presumebly because of power and space constraints, so adding the aluminum/glass/firewire etc is about as pronounced as the 13" can get.
 
Yes, it's only $200 difference and it's well worth it unless you just have to spend no more than $1000. Incidentally, the MBP has an ambient light sensor for the screen so it auto adjust brightness throughout the day. I love that feature. :)
 
Eddyisgreat said:
not really sure why it's such a surprise.

The diff between a Macbook and the 13" MBP is only $200 which of course gets you the aforementioned features.

They can't stack the juice of the 15" into the 13" presumebly because of power and space constraints, so adding the aluminum/glass/firewire etc is about as pronounced as the 13" can get.
Click to expand...

Actually they could have made the 2.66GHz version the base in the 13in MBP instead of leaving it at 2.4, maybe even have added the 2.8 to the list but they didn't.
 
You forgot to mention its also cooler to own a MacBook Pro than a MacBook :cool:

Anyway, on my 13" MacBook Pro I like that the unibody makes it very light and strong. Plus its thinner than I expected it to be, which is nice :D The light up keyboard is probably the main feature I'd miss on a MacBook. Oh, and I make use of the SD card from time-to-time.

I'd buy the MacBook Pro. Even if you feel you don't need the SD card, the backlit keyboard, the thinness, the lightweightness, the strengh, the backlit keyboard, you may regret it later on. And you may want to use one of those features later down the track ;)
 
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