For $200 you can upgrade the 15-inch MacBook Pro to a 128GB drive (most likely a 3Gbps Samsung based SSD). The good news is Apple's SSD pricing isn't horribly unreasonable, at least at the beginning. If you're going to buy any new machine, especially if you're paying top dollar for something you expect to feel fast, you definitely need an SSD. Installing applications while browsing the web and copying files just seems to slow to a crawl compared to my SSD equipped MacBook Pro. The drive features two 320GB platters (obviously not all in use for the 500GB capacity), and an 8MB cache.Īll of my personal systems use SSDs and in testing the new MBP with a hard drive I can only say that the move back is more painful than ever. My review sample came with a 5400RPM Toshiba MK5064GSXF.
The more traditional Macs (MBP, Mac Pro, iMac) continue to ship with mechanical hard drives by default, the late 2011 update is no different. In practice the panel looks just as good and seems to get just as blindingly bright as my personal 15-inch.Ĭolor quality and gamut are virtually identical as well, no surprises here: The combination of the two actually results in a slightly higher contrast ratio than what we measured on the early 2011 models. While the Air models still don't have quite as high quality a panel as the Pro, at least there aren't any wide variations in what constitutes white on these panels.īrightness is down a bit compared to the high-res panel we looked at earlier this year, but so are black levels. Note the out-of-the-box white point across the 11-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Air and 15-inch MacBook Pro:Īpple wants to deliver as consistent of an experience as possible across its product line.
If this is going to be a workhorse, and you have good eyesight, get the high-res version.Īs always, Apple calibrates its panels at the factory. Aesthetically I prefer this panel (I'm the rare case that isn't bothered by gloss) and the lower resolution is easier on my eyes, but for productivity I do feel the 1680 x 1050 upgrade is worth it. Built-in 63.The display hasn't changed since earlier this year, although this is the first 15-inch 2011 MacBook Pro that I've tested with the standard resolution (1440 x 900), glossy panel.Support for Apple iPhone headset with microphone.Combined headphone/line in (supports digital output).802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking IEEE 802.11a/b/g compatible.4GB, 8GB or 16GB of 1333MHz DDR3 memory.2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with 3MB shared 元 cache or 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 processor with 4MB shared 元 cache.320GB or 500GB Hard drive or 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB SSD.13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with support for millions of colors.Battery: The battery is certainly replaceable, even though Apple doesn't consider it to be "user serviceable." See the Battery Replacement guide above for complete replacement information.When installed, your additional hard drive will mount on your desktop just like an external hard drive. The optical drive can easily be replaced with a second hard drive or SSD using an optical bay hard drive enclosure. Additional Storage: With the growing popularity of flash memory and cloud storage, you may find yourself rarely using the SuperDrive in your MacBook Pro.
Be advised, at the moment you need to use a piece of software to enable trim, called Trim Enabler-this involves some risk.
For a full list of available upgrade options, check out our selection of MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Early 2011 hard drives. You can easily upgrade the drive to 750 GB, 1 TB or a lightning-fast solid state drive. Hard Drive: 320 or 500 GB hard drives came standard with the Early 2011 MacBook Pro 13" Unibody.You can upgrade to any combination of two 4 GB or 8 GB modules for 8, 12, or 16 GB of total RAM. If your MacBook Pro is still running with only the stock RAM, upgrading will provide a dramatic performance boost. Memory: The MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Early 2011 comes with 4 GB RAM standard, and accepts a maximum of 16 GB.There are a number of components in the MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Early 2011 that can be cost effectively upgraded.