The first thing that grabs our attention about Apple is the minimalist design of its products. The Macbook Pro being reviewed today, is built on this same philosophy. Its body comes in a classy silver matte finish. This silver theme is prevalent around the laptop from the lid to the areas around the keyboard and the LCD panel. The Macbook Pro is enclosed in an aluminum frame which is surprisingly light. It may sound like an odd choice but Apple has managed to carry it off to perfection. The laptop feels quite sturdy and will be more resistant to rough usage as compared to the normal plastic that is used on the Macbook.

The laptop’s physical body is built on the same minimalist vein that we have already spoken about. Opening the lid, we were quite pleasantly surprised to find only a single external button i.e. the power button. This is quite unusual as laptops in this size normally have a plethora of function buttons that serve different purposes such as disabling the Wi-Fi radio, switching between external and laptop display and other options. There is a webcam present too namely the iSight which sits above the LCD panel.

The Macbook Pro does not skimp on its comfort factor. In case you are wondering what we are talking about, we are referring to the keyboard and keypad. The keyboard on the Macbook Pro is probably the best we have ever worked on. The keys are actually as soft as silk and provide excellent tactile feedback with the correct amount of elevation. The touchpad in a similar vein is properly recessed and has right balance of smoothness and texture to give you a good experience and not give you wrist pain.The LCD panel on the Macbook Pro is a 15 inch bright panel with a native resolution of 1440x900 (16x10 aspect ratio). This provides an excellent working screen area. The anti-aliasing of fonts offered by OSX is top-notch and this makes web surfing a totally different experience.

In terms of peripheral connectivity the 15-inch Macbook Pro offers fairly comprehensive range of options. It has 2 USB 2.0 ports, 2 Firewire slot (400 and 800 MHz), a mini-Dvi connector with a range of plugs to connect to them to external devices and an Expresscard slot for wireless broadband expansion. Wireless connectivity is rounded up by the Airport extreme Wi-Fi chip and Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR. For wired connectivity there is a 1 GB Ethernet jack that is present. Apple in a good move has unlike other manufacturers chosen to equip the Macbook Pro with a good audio subsystem. The laptop has two large speakers that surround the keyboard and provide great playback.