As always, what's best about Apple's iSight camera isn't the image quality, but the accompanying Photo Booth software, which is part of the OS. The Pro's iSight webcam delivered bright images with plenty of detail colors were warm, more so than with other webcams.

Only the 17-inch Pro has an ExpressCard/34 slot, but we can live with that omission since any USB mobile broadband modems can be plugged into this notebook. You also get two USB 2.0 ports (we'd like to see three), a Mini DisplayPort for connecting a larger monitor, a slot-loading DVD burner, an Ethernet jack, and headphone and mic ports. One is a FireWire 800 port, which enables you to back up to an external drive at blazing speeds (using Time Machine) the other is an SD Card slot, a long overdue feature for those who want to transfer photos cable-free from a digital camera. Like last fall's MacBook Pro, this 13-inch MacBook Pro's port selection remains modest, but includes two welcome improvements. While we would have preferred more bass, audio fidelity is certainly better than on most notebooks this thin.

The guitar riffs in 'Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground' were strong and powerful. The MacBook Pro's stereo speakers were more than loud enough when we played The White Stripes over Pandora. We wish that Apple offered an antiglare display as it does on the 17-inch MacBook Pro. Unfortunately, when we watched an episode of 30 Rock at full screen through Hulu, the glossy finish limited our viewing angles from the sides, as well as from the front with the lid dipped forward. Colors looked vibrant, and blacks appeared as rich shadows. The 13.3-inch (1280 x 800) LED-backlit display is plenty bright. A new feature keeps scrolling pages for a bit even after you've completed the finger swipe this makes it easier to move though large documents. When we used two fingers to zoom in and out of pages in Safari 4, the on-screen response was very quick and smooth. By pushing four fingers toward the top of the touchpad, we were able to fling windows up toward the top of the screen, exposing a clean desktop. The friction is slight, and we were able to effortlessly press down on the button without thinking about the fact that there's no dedicated touch button (nevermind two).Īlso, multitouch gestures work smoothly. The touchpad remains one giant button that doubles as the touchpad and the mouse button, and is the best in the business.

It's also backlit with an ambient light sensor, which comes in handy for low-light environments. While the keyboard on, say, the 17-inch MacBook Pro might be too large (and too recessed) for some hands, the 13-inch version's keyboard is comfortably placed. As always, the keyboard on the 13-inch MacBook Pro has a soft finish, and makes little sound when you type.

Mid 2010 macbook pro