Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.4GHz) review

Performance
Moving to Intel's latest 2.4GHz mobile Core 2 Duo CPU -- part of the new Centrino Duo platform -- means the MacBook Pro's performance can stand up to that of the latest Windows Vista laptops, and the new LED-backlit display on the 15-inch model is more power-efficient than traditional LCD displays, resulting in better battery life.

'Quake 4' performance (in frames per second)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

1,024x768, 4xAA 8xAF

Apple MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz

65

Sony Vaio VGN-FZ180E

50.1

Apple MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo 2.3GHz

42.1

HP Pavilion dv6500t

23.8

Compared to other recent 15-inch media-friendly laptops, the MacBook Pro performs well, beating the HP Pavilion dv6500t and the Sony VAIO FZ180 in our Multitasking and iTunes encoding tests. It was also faster than last year's MacBook Pro, although the margins were not very significant, reinforcing our view that Intel's revamped Centrino Duo platform, while valuable, hasn't translated into significantly better performance.