MacBook Pro: Warts and All

The MacBook Pro is a beautiful machine, but do Steve Jobs and Co. actually use it for anything more than checking email at their desks? Seriously, I use my MacBook Pro (MBP) for real work, not just as a netbook, and I wonder, is it really designed to be a workhorse?

Non-Removable Battery

Despite all the hoopla about the wonderful seven-hour battery life, in my real life usage that has been more like 3.5 hours. Take now for instance, I've been sitting here for about half an hour and the battery's already drained 14% with 2:57 remaining. Even that wouldn't be a problem if I could easily swap out the battery.

With the load I put on my MBP its battery life will be much shorter than quoted no matter which laptop I use.  Afterall I have tried trimming down the menu bar apps I have running but even so three of them are big juice suckers: Safari, Firefox and Parallels. The cheap solution is to shutdown apps. That works now, while I'm only using it to type this. But normally I am either doing web development or design, and I need these applications to run at once.

Next week I have to make a seven hour train trip (3.5 hours each way). I had been hoping to use the time productively. Looks like I'll be reading a book for half of it.

I understand Apple looked at the figures and saw only a small percentage of folks were buying second batteries. But today I upgraded my hard drive, and really, it would have been a piece of cake for Apple to make an on-the-go replaceable battery. It wouldn't have made it any thicker. If you doubt, take the back off your MBP and have a squizz.

The battery in the MBPs can be swapped out but it requires a screwdriver and a bench. It's not really something you want to undertake on a train. And I do wonder how you can pre-charge the battery anyway.

So I'll share the blame for the short life of my battery, but it's Apple's fault that I can't carry a spare.

Glossy Screen
Opinions about the glossy screen tend to be polarized. I used an iMac for all of last year with a glossy screen and had no complaint. But it was always in the one place so reflections could be minimized permanently, but I think more importantly, with its large 24" screen, reflections didn't affect as much area of the screen.

The same reflection on an MBP, eg. a window, can cover up to a third of the screen, whereas on the iMac, it might only be a tenth of it.

Getting back to battery life, the glossy screen sucks battery life too. I know it shouldn't, but when the reflections are a problem, you have to turn the screen brightness up.

Ironically, just today, Apple added matte as an option to the 15" MBP. But the Apple folks just don't get it, do they? Do they really use their own products or just use them as pretty props? The laptop that needs the matte option the most is the 13" MBP. It is the one that is most likely to leave the desk, to be used out and about, where reflections will be everywhere.

The 17" MBP will leave the desk least, yet it got the matte option first. That is because the professionals made the most noise.

I'm not a professional but I want to make some noise, because in some circumstances the glossy screen renders my 13" MBP almost unusable. I don't even bother trying to use it outdoors or with my back to large windows. The only time it's not a problem is when I'm at my desk. But the rest of the time I'm tilting the screen or the computer, trying to minimize reflections. And when I try to show people something on my screen, we all have to get pretty much directly behind it, because it acts as a mirror when viewed at an angle. The matte option should be available on all MacBooks, but especially the smaller ones.

Sharp Edges
When you use the MBP as a laptop, it quickly becomes evident that the edges are sharp and uncomfortable to rest against. In a perfectly ergonomic environment you should be able to use it with resting your hands. But as a laptop, where you could be at any old angle, it's nigh impossible.

Hot Hottie
If Steve Jobs sat with his MBP on his lap for any length of time he'd have to call the fire brigate — it gets damn hot! It's winter down here and parts of the MBP get almost too hot to touch, and certainly too hot to rest against bare skin for any length of time. So I shudder to think what it will be like in summer!

Despite all these inconveniences I do love my MacBook Pro. At 13" it's an excellent size—exceptionally portable, but the screen is still plenty big enough to do serious work while on the go, at least as long as I can see around the glare.