MBP i7 (2 cores) to i7 (4 cores)

[n8236]

There's been a ton of reviews on the MBP, but I wanted to give owners of the previous 3 generations of MBPs to hear it from me because I've owned them all since. But I will primarily focus on mainly the comparison between this and last gen's MBP. Method won't be metrics, but mere observations.

Keyboard:
How amazing this keyboard feels! WOW! I type a lot and the tactile feel on this thing is just outstanding. The feedback is a little stiffer than the last gen, but w/o being too stiff. Just right, i love it!

Performance:
Haven't done extensive testing or usage, but from pure "feel," the speed is a tad higher, but what I am amazed about is how smooth everything stays when multi-tasking. It used to be that w/ VM Fusion on, either OSX or Windows had performance lag, but w/ this new MBP, it's much more viable for both OSes to use and transition between.

ThunderBolt:
I dun have any TB devices, but I do have 3 external HDs which I would luv to ugprade to TB. I currently use my 3 exts for Time Machine, a bootable clone and storage drive. If the speed is what they claim it is, I would be switching to it very soon

 

[DarwinOSX]

Good to hear. OS X loves multiple cores as does pretty much any Unix based system.

I think we'll see TB devices just as soon as they can get them out. Too much money to be made waiting and the storage manufactures could use it.

 

[sydenham]

Thanks for the review, it was very insightful. I like the way you described the new machine without trying to sensationalise it. I am so tempted to sell my 2010 for the new model. Thunderbolt should be pretty amazing when the peripherals and external hard drives start rolling out. I think this might possibly be the best update in 3 or 4 years.

 

[mcvaughan]

I just ordered my quad-core MBP today. I'm also coming from a dual-core i7 MBP and use VMware Fusion extensively. Can't wait to see the performance bump!

 

[sydenham]

It will be ridiculous when the new Sata 3 SSDs are released. Woohoo.