Apple MacBook Pro (17-inch, 2.33GHz) review

Performance
While the Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro significantly outperforms the older Core Duo version, the performance of the 15- and 17-inch Core 2 Duo models was essentially identical -- which is to be expected, as they share identical processors, RAM and hard drives (although the default configurations call for a smaller hard drive in the 15-inch model).

We did see a significant boost over the non-Pro version of the MacBook, which includes a slower 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, in both the Photoshop CS2 and the iTunes encoding tests. As with any current Core 2 Duo laptop, the MacBook Pro is more than powerful enough for running productivity and multimedia applications and tackling basic photo and video editing, as well.

The ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 GPU, the same one found in the previous generation of Core Duo MacBook Pros, isn't going to make this a blazingly fast gaming laptop, but in Quake 4 running at a resolution of 1,280x1,024 pixels, we got a very playable frame rate of 32.8fps. Gaming is not the first thing that springs to mind when one thinks of Macs, but thanks to Boot Camp, the utility that allows users to run a partitioned installation of Windows XP on their Intel Macs, you'll be able to play many popular PC games on this hardware.

In our DVD battery-drain test, we got 3 hours, 2 minutes of battery life from the MacBook Pro. Three hours for a laptop with a 17-inch screen is excellent, especially since the battery is not an extended model that sticks out from the back of the system. The battery is larger, however, than the 15-inch MacBook Pro's, which explains why both systems had nearly identical battery life even though the 17-inch model has a larger display to power.

Adobe Photoshop CS2 image-processing test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

In seconds

Apple MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo (15.4-inch 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)

286 

Apple MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo (17-inch 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)

293 

Apple MacBook Pro Core Duo (2.0GHz Intel Core Duo)

515 

Apple iTunes encoding test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

In seconds

Apple MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo (17-inch 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)

128 

Apple MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo (15.4-inch 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)

129 

HP Pavillion dv6000t

183 

Apple MacBook Pro Core Duo (2.0GHz Intel Core Duo)

189 

3D gaming performance (in fps)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Quake 4 1,024x768, 4xAA 8xAF

Apple MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo (17-inch 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)

46 

Apple MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo (15.4-inch 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)

42