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.
February 24th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
hmm.. nice comments.
February 24th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
PS I forgot tell you my little box is a Shuttle XPC…
February 24th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
I was thinking of coming back to a Mac. I was a MacOS 7 user back in the 90’s. Went Windows and have looked over the fence from time to time. Adobe is a pain to use ill. & PhotoFlop wastes more of my time. With CorelDraw Suite I found my inner-child again 8) I have seen lots of problems with MPB’s on the net. Why on earth don’t they have a MM Card reader & Card Slots? Whats the deal with no Modem? PC Laptop has these are they too good for MacUsers??? This XP Pro User is on the fence and does not know which side to jump off on… PS I’m not a gammer…
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I just upgrade my macbook pro 2.16 ram to 3GB from 1GB, and i don’t think it’s faster than my 1GB. i open the illustrator cs3 which is usually very slow with 1GB, but in 3GB it’s just the same.
does anyone know why?
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
The macbook is a superb piece of kit, it just didnt meet your requirements..
Although i would have made a lot of the assumptions you have!
February 19th, 2008 at 5:07 am
I agree with Aronil & Simple Mindz. I luv apple products & really craze about them, I wish to have one of their products. But when coming to price point of view, Apple products are too high for a normal person. Also in PC, User can play around with the components, nothing will happen, since we have more of the second hand piece available in market, whereas in Apple, we need to start thinking when doing each action. I am a proud fan of Apple product, also a proud fan of PC saying that I own High configuration PC with me.
PrabhakaranG
February 16th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Hi.
Sounds like you MacBook Pro does not suck at all but that CS2 sucks!
Get CS 3 and see FAST performance! Be happy with you Mac man, a PC will seem like a stone after having been in the world of Mac for some more months!
Good luck and welcome to the world of real computing.
February 8th, 2008 at 9:38 am
The problem is the CS2. I had a lot of problems with CS2 too… I upgraded my software (and I have exactly the same computer as you) from CS2 to CSZ3 and it works perfectly.
PS: your tutorials are perfect. really.
February 5th, 2008 at 2:22 am
:D my macbook pro is hot too. Very hot when play flv player :((
January 27th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
I use a Macbook Pro, core2duo. My CS3 works perfectly fine though. And the Mac OSX really made my job easier, faster. Its been a year already and i never had a prob with over heating and all that stuff…considering i never removed the black foam cover everytime i use it. 2nd gen macbook pros work better… its been debugged already. once you go mac you’ll never go back. And yep do download “smcFan Control which is an application that allows you to make your fans spin faster to cool your notebook.” :-)