If you are replacing your hard drive with another hard drive or an SSD, it might be wise to replace the cable proactively.Įditor’s note: The next two paragraphs are from the profile of the previous version of the MacBook Pro. 128, 256, and 512 GB SSDs are extra cost options.Ĭaution: There is an issue with all 20 pre-Retina 13″ MacBook Pros – the hard drive cables are subject to failure due to the way they are routed. 4 GB of RAM is standard, and it can be upgraded to 16 GB. The new model comes in 2.3 GHz i5 and 2.7 GHz i7 versions.

The black keys look sharp with the aluminum enclosure, and the 13″ MacBook Pro only comes with a glossy screen. The 13″ MBP uses the same keyboard as before, complete with backlighting. The entire trackpad functions as the mouse button. It supports 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-finger gestures. The glass trackpad is the same one found in the previous generation of MacBook Pro models. In testing, the Early 2011 models generally match or outperform the 2010 models. The new models are rated at only 7 hours of battery power, down from 10 for last year’s models, due to changes in the way Apple measures battery life. The 13″ MacBook Pro also takes some steps backward: The Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics give way to integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics, which uses 384 MB of system memory (up from 256 MB in last year’s model). Thunderbolt can be used for video, hard drives, and networking, and adapters let you connect FireWire and USB devices.Īpple has improved AirPort performance by building three WiFi antennas into the Early 2011 MacBook Pros, allowing three channels with 150 Mbps bandwidth for a maximum bandwidth of 450 Mbps. Thunderbolt is 12 times as fast as FireWire 800, over 20 times as fast as USB 2.0, and twice as fast as USB 3.0, which Apple seems in no hurry to adopt. The hot new technology for this generation is Thunderbolt, a 10 Gbps data connection that uses the Mac’s Mini DisplayPort. These dual-core mobile CPUs have a 3-4 MB Level 3 cache shared by both cores and, thanks to Turbo Boost architecture, should be significantly more powerful than the Core 2 Duo processors they replace despite a tiny change in rated CPU speed. The Early 2011 model migrates from the dated Intel Core 2 Duo to Intel’s newer Core i5 and i7 CPUs. Apple took some big steps forward with the refreshed 13.3″ MacBook Pro.

Macbook pro early 2011 13 screen