My MacBook Pro Sucks
September 10th, 2006 Filed in: Reviews, Mac Jump to commentsI recently bought a new MacBook Pro (my first Apple computer). Yes, I am one of the switchers. I have been a PC user for a while until Apple introduced Intel-based Mac notebook. I was tempted by the MacBook Pro and brought a 15.4-inch display, 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo, with 2GB of RAM (upgraded from 1GB). After couple hours of fun playing around with the Mac OS X, I installed Adobe CS2 and did couple test runs. I was so disappointed on its performance. It even runs slower than my old PC laptop (1.5GHz Centrino with 1GB RAM). That is impossible since the new MacBook has 2.16GHz CPU with 2GB of RAM. I thought it could be my Adobe software issue. So I went to install Macromedia Studio 8 to see how it perform. Same result - slow.
I got frustrated and did a quick search on Google. I found this review from MacWorld. Apparently, neither Adobe CS2 nor Macromedia Studio 8 supports Intel-based Macs (running on Rosetta) yet. Fortunately, Adobe has announced that they will fix this issue to support Intel-based Mac computers in the next versions. So, if you are planning to get a MacBook Pro as your work computer, you’ll be better off waiting until Adobe release the next version of Creative Suite.
Note: Universal application like Safari, iLife and Mail are running fine and smoothy on my MacBook.
Update
June 6, 2007
I’m now using Adobe CS3 on my MacBook and they run very nice. However, I still have problem with the heat issues (extremely hot when charging). I heard the second generation released in Oct 2006 is faster than my first generation and the heat issue is resolved.
January 6th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
BTW, not for nagging Adobe, but have you noticed there is no Illustrator CS3? You think it’s coincidence the Illustrator is the most problematic on the CS2?
January 6th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Hey People.
I read (most of) the comments above, and I’m sort of amazed none of you have even referred to the updates at apple’s DL website. I say this because of the comments of shutting down MacBooks, because this issue CAN BE SOLVED by updating both SMC and EFI firmwares in the laptop. Actually there is an update for most models, including iMacs, and I’ve experienced some improvement with CS2 at Tiger 10.4.7 and 10.4.8.
You should try them:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/
And on ‘what the heck is a firm-that?’ go here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93772
Cheers!
January 6th, 2007 at 9:25 am
You should post a picture of your desktop setup
January 4th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Hey, yes im one of those “wannabe” mac switchers.
I’ve been looking into the Macbook Pro and still dont know if I want to buy another Windows based computer. Do any sort of games like Counter Strike or Battlefield 2 run ok on the pro?
January 4th, 2007 at 1:27 am
Hi, I was wondering when running CS2 on OSX, is it more important to have more RAM or to have a better video card.
I am getting a 24in Imac.
January 3rd, 2007 at 9:43 am
Everyone is complaining that Mac BookPro sucks, but at the end I think that 60% of all post are from people who actually don’t have Mac. I am long time PC user, and I will probably switch to mac, so PC and “fake MAC” users don’t think that I am attacking anyone.
January 2nd, 2007 at 7:34 pm
Also, the intergrated graphics card doesnt seem too powerful, is that a concern for photoshop and illustrator, or is that something that only gamers should worry about?
January 2nd, 2007 at 7:33 pm
yo
Im very tempted by the new mac book, not the pro, the standard version. Im a wannabe ’switcher’ but am a little concerned by a few of these comments. Im am a graphic designer who travels a lot and i need a laptop that can run photoshop and illustrator without any problems, will the standard mac book with a gig of ram be the right purchase?
Would appreciate your advice….
December 30th, 2006 at 12:51 am
You will also notice Apple does not call the MacBook a laptop but a notebook due to the heat issues. There are a few apps out there to help you control the fan speed and cool your Mac a little better. A coolpad can also help with the heat problem.
I have a dual Intel iMac with 2g memory, no problems yet in PS2. It is about as fast as my 17″ 1.67ghz ppc Powerbook g4 with 1.5g of memory. Dreamweaver 8 is buggy with larger php files on the Intel though.
December 29th, 2006 at 2:41 pm
The problem is that it’s a PPC binary that was ported over to the x86 architecture, hence the optimizations that were once there for the PPC are now gone and you’ll get something that’ll run slower than the builds intended for Windows (patched vs native). It’s not the macbook, it’s the software.