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Improvements and Innovations of the Next Generation 15 Inch Macbook Pro

Unibody

The MacBook Pro boasts Apple’s new Mac computer design concept: the unibody. The unibody is a laptop casing manufactured with incredible precision from a block of aluminium. The result is not only a laptop that looks fantastic with its brushed finish and smooth edges; it’s also more than capable of absorbing the rough and tumble of life on the move.

Furthermore, the unibody has enabled Apple to make the MacBook Pro lighter and thinner. This powerful, feature-packed laptop now weighs just 2.49 kg (5.5 pounds), and at its thickest point is 2.41 cm (0.95 inch).

The monitor

The MacBook Pro’s 15.4 inch monitor is still an LED backlit glossy widescreen with 1,440 x 900 pixel resolution. The fact that these specs haven’t changed is certainly no cause for concern because the quality is first-rate. Apple has managed to enhance it, however, with a glass front that stretches across the whole of the interior surface and does away with a metal frame. The glass looks better, is tougher and lasts longer. It’s also free from arsenic, a toxin released when glass is recycled.

Multi-Touch trackpad

Another striking feature of the MacBook Pro is the larger, more versatile trackpad. The smooth etched glass of the trackpad now has a surface area 39% greater than before. This gives you plenty of room for your fingers to make every trackpad signal.

These signals have also developed, and now incorporate some useful extras. Apple has introduced a four finger swipe, for example, that takes full advantage of the trackpad’s size increase. Swipe four fingers to the right or left, and you trigger Application Switcher. This allows you to view all your open applications. Swipe four fingers up or down, and you prompt Exposé to show desktop or all your open windows.

If you’re more used to right-hand clicking, the trackpad gives you the chance to do this by tapping with two fingers. It’s also possible to arrange for the trackpad to give you a specific right-hand click zone.

Current Mac owners will spot the lack of a button lying along the bottom of the trackpad. Apple has replaced this by simply turning the whole trackpad into a button. In other words, you can click the trackpad anywhere on its surface.

Mini DisplayPort

The new Mini DisplayPort connector on the MacBook Pro is a tenth of the size of a normal DVI port. It provides a fast, no-nonsense method of connecting the 24 inch Apple Cinema Display, or peripherals such as projection systems. Various Mini DisplayPort adaptors also enable you to connect VGA, DVI, and dual-link DVI monitors.

Cinema Display

Apple’s 24 inch LED backlit Cinema Display is the perfect complement to the new MacBook Pro. It’s just what you need if you’re making a presentation, or you just want the advantages conferred by a larger screen. Apple has also designed the Cinema Display so that you can connect and use the MacBook Pro as simply as possible. Similarly, you can disconnect with ease and walk away with the MacBook Pro at short notice.

The Cinema Display’s cable, for instance, branches into three connectors. One of these goes into the new MacBook Pro’s Mini DisplayPort; another plugs into a USB port; and the third is a MagSafe that you connect to the MacBook Pro’s Power Port. In other words, you can display your images on both the MacBook Pro and the Cinema Display; use the Cinema Display’s iSight camera, microphone, and speakers; and charge the MacBook Pro via an adaptor built into the Cinema Display.

NVIDIA graphics

Apple has teamed up with NVIDIA to produce an integrated graphics processor that’s ideal for professional applications and advanced games. The NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor comes with dual-link DVI support and, for the 2.4GHz 15 inch MacBook Pro, has 256MB of GDDR3 memory. The memory capacity doubles to 512MB on the 2.53GHz and 2.8GHz MacBook Pro models.

This isn’t the only graphics processor in the new MacBook Pro, however. Recognising that users will sometimes require less intensive power, Apple also installs the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with the main memory. This means you can save battery power by opting for the 9400M whenever you’re working on your day-to-day applications.

Storage

Storage on the new MacBook Pro has increased to 250GB on the 2.4GHz model, and 320GB on the 2.53GHz. Both of these hard drives run at 5,400 rpm, but you can opt to increase the speed to 7,200 rpm if you choose. There’s also a 128GB solid-state drive available.

The environment

Apple’s innovations continue with the MacBook Pro’s environmental credentials. Traditionally, laptop manufacturers have used brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in logic boards; PVC in cables; arsenic in glass components; and mercury in the CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamp) backlights of LCD monitors. Apple has successfully eliminated these toxins from the new MacBook Pro.

Apple has also worked hard to ensure every aspect of the design and manufacturing process considers environmental impact. As a result, the new MacBook Pro reaches the gold standard of EPEAT (electronic product environmental assessment tool). EPEAT measures the way in which a product affects the environment; the amount of energy it consumes; and the ability to recycle its parts. A gold rating is proof of Apple’s ecological commitment.

The new MacBook Pro also meets the exacting standards required to give it Energy Star status. In fact, the MacBook Pro uses just 33% of the electricity needed for one light bulb.

A high calibre product

The new 15 inch MacBook Pro has a range of exceptional features as well as industry-leading improvements in technology and green standards. With the unibody, it also has a remarkable design concept. Put all these innovations together, and you have a truly superior laptop.

About the Author

Ben T Wilson writes about Mac computers, such as  the imac computers.

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Macbook Pro User Guide

1) First steps (a) Unpacking

Remove your Mac Book Pro from the box and place it on a firm surface near an electric socket. In the box, you should also have

• an 85W MagSafe Power Adaptor
• a power cord
• a DVI to VGA adaptor

(b) Charging

Strip the plastic film from the 85W MagSafe Power Adaptor. Ensure the plug sits properly in the Power Adaptor and place it in the electric socket. Take the other end of the Power Adaptor lead and connect it to the magnetic MagSafe power port on the left-hand side of your MacBook Pro.

If the Power Adaptor lead won’t stretch to your nearest electric socket, remove the plug from the adaptor by pulling it up. Beneath the plug is a socket. Insert one end of the power cord into the adaptor socket and the other into the electric socket.

Please note: always disconnect your MacBook Pro from the electricity by pulling the plugs and not the leads.

An amber light on the MagSafe connector at the power port tells you the MacBook Pro battery is charging. When a green light appears, the battery is fully charged. If no light appears, check the connections and make sure you’ve switched on the electric socket.

(c) Basic features

When you open your MacBook Pro, you’ll find

• an iSight camera and camera indicator light at the top of the screen
• stereo speakers either side of the keyboard
• a power button on the right of the keyboard
• a microphone to the left of the keyboard
• a trackpad and a trackpad button

From left to right along the front edge of the MacBook Pro are

• an infrared (IR) receiver
• a sleep mode indicator light
• a display release button
• a slot-loading SuperDrive

From left to right on the left-hand side of your MacBook Pro are

• a MagSafe power port
• one USB 2.0 port (15 inch model); two USB 2.0 ports (17 inch model)
• an audio line in/optical digital audio in port
• a headphone out/optical digital audio out port
• an ExpressCard/34 slot

From left to right on the right-hand side of your MacBook Pro are

• a security slot for a cable and lock
• a USB 2.0 port
• a FireWire 400 port
• a FireWire 800 port
• a Gigabit Ethernet port (10/100/1000Base-T)
• a DVI port

Underneath your MacBook Pro is the battery. The battery has a row of indicator lights and a button.

2) Initial set-up (a) Setup Assistant

Switch on your MacBook Pro by pressing the power button. Setup Assistant will come up on the screen.

Setup Assistant takes you through the process of establishing your user account and your email and Internet details. If you have another Mac and want to carry files and applications from it to your MacBook Pro, Setup Assistant will show you how. If you want to transfer such information at a later date, use Migration Assistant instead.

• Select the Applications folder
• Open Utilities
• Double-click Migration Assistant

If you have another Mac you don’t intend to use in the future, and you’ve bought music, audiobooks, films or TV shows with iTunes, de-authorise the computer. For more details, go to the iTunes Help menu and select iTunes Help.

(b) Internet connection

You can connect wirelessly to the Internet using your MacBook Pro’s built-in AirPort Extreme facility. For more information

• go to the Menu Bar
• select Help>Mac Help
• search for “AirPort”

Alternatively, connect an Ethernet cable to the port on the right-hand side of your MacBook Pro. Place the other end in a cable modem, DSL modem or network.

For a dial-up Internet connection

• buy an external Apple USB Modem
• place it in one of your MacBook Pro’s USB ports
• connect a phone lead from a phone jack to the modem

(c) Sleep mode

Use the sleep mode on your MacBook Pro if you stop work for a short period. To start the sleep mode, you have the following choices:

• select Apple>Sleep on the Menu Bar
• close the screen
• press the power button and select sleep in the dialogue box
• select Apple>System Preferences; choose Energy Saver; set the timer

Please note: don’t move your MacBook Pro until the sleep indicator light on the front edge comes on. This tells you the hard disc has stopped. If you move the MacBook Pro with the disc still spinning, you can damage the disc and lose data.

To wake your MacBook Pro from sleep mode:

• open the screen if you closed it, or
• if the screen is open, press any key or the power button

(d) Shut down

If you’ve finished work on your MacBook Pro for the day, shut it down by either

• selecting Apple>Shut Down on the Menu Bar, or
• pressing the power button and selecting Shut Down in the dialogue box

3) Using the trackpad

With the trackpad, you can:

• scroll
• Click
• double-click
• drag
• move the pointer

To control the distance you send the pointer across the screen, adjust the speed of your finger on the trackpad:

• Move your finger slowly to send the pointer a short distance
• Move your finger fast to send the pointer further

Other features of the trackpad include the following:

• Two finger scrolling. Scroll in any direction by making the same movements with two fingers on the trackpad.
• Secondary or right clicking. Use shortcut menu commands by placing two fingers on the trackpad and clicking the trackpad button.

Some trackpad features apply to certain applications:

• Two finger rotating. By rotating two fingers on the trackpad, you can turn images and text.
• Two finger pinching. By pinching together and pushing apart two fingers on the trackpad, you can zoom in or out.
• Three finger swiping. Flick through a series of images or the pages of a document by swiping three fingers on the trackpad.

If you want to fine-tune and set trackpad options

• select Apple>System Preferences
• click Keyboard & Mouse
• click Trackpad

For more information

• select Help>Mac Help
• click Trackpad

4) Quick Mac OS X guide (a) Introduction

Your MacBook Pro has the Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard operating system. This controls your applications, files and peripheral devices, and works in a similar fashion to Windows.

(b) The basics

Your basic controls are the keyboard and trackpad. Windows users find they have to use the keyboard and trackpad fewer times on the MacBook Pro to achieve comparable results.

(c) Main features

To help you manage and navigate everything successfully on your MacBook Pro, there are four main features:

• Desktop
• Dock
• Finder
• Menu bar

Desktop

Desktop is your starting point each time you use your MacBook Pro. It stores items such as files and images.

The first icon you’ll come across on Desktop is the Macintosh HD (hard drive). Other icons appear when you use the various functions of your MacBook Pro. To view an icon’s files and applications, double-click it.

Also note that

• if you connect a device to your MacBook Pro, an icon appears on the Desktop

if you allow other users on your MacBook Pro, each one can have a Desktop

• when you run applications, Desktop always lies behind them

Dock

The Dock is a row of icons lying at the bottom of your MacBook Pro screen. Click on an icon to reach the files and applications it contains.

When a window appears on the screen, it has three buttons in the top left corner.

• The red button closes the window
• The yellow button minimises the window to the Dock
• The green button maximises and minimises the window’s size

Finder

The icon on the far left of the Dock is the Finder. Use the Finder to navigate and manage your MacBook Pro’s files and applications.

Menu Bar

The Menu Bar is a line at the top of the MacBook Pro’s screen.

With the Menu Bar, you can

• see recent work
• view and adjust settings and applications
• end applications
• interact with a programme
• log in and out
• put the MacBook Pro into sleep mode
• begin restart
• switch off your MacBook Pro

Customising desktop

To customise Desktop, select the System Preferences icon in the Dock or Apple>System Preferences on the Menu Bar. For more details of what you can do, select Mac Help and search for System Preferences or for the item you want to change.

5) Connectivity

Your MacBook Pro has a comprehensive range of ports for printers, phones, iPods, cameras, joysticks, hard drives and so on. As well as USB 2.0 ports, you have a FireWire 400 and a FireWire 800. These are ideal for connecting high speed devices such as video cameras.

The DVI port allows you to connect a monitor, TV or projector. If you have a VGA device, then simply use the supplied DVI/VGA adaptor.

Use the audio line in/optical digital audio in port to connect digital audio equipment or a microphone. Use the headphone out/optical digital audio out port for audio equipment, headphones or speakers.

The ExpressCard/34 slot accepts all standard 34mm ExpressCards. Please note that when you want to remove a card, push it gently first.

6) Battery

When you use the MacBook Pro without the MagSafe Power Adaptor, the time you can run the computer depends on your applications and the peripheral devices that are draining the battery’s power. You can save battery energy by removing unnecessary devices and by switching off your AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth® features when you’re not using them.

Press the button on the battery to check the energy level. The lights at the side of the button tell you how much charge you have left, if any. You can also inspect the battery level by simply checking the battery status icon in the Menu Bar.

The battery can be charged at any time. You’ll find you can charge it more quickly, however, when your MacBook Pro is in sleep mode or switched off.

If you want to replace a failing battery with a full charged one, always shut down your MacBook Pro first.

Mac computers

About the Author

Ben T Wilson writes about Mac computers, such as  the imac computers.