14 DAY TRIAL // Less than a day into the release of its revamped Pro laptops, Apple issued a software update which aims to improve stability for graphics-intensive apps and tasks, as well as to squash a number of bugs which, apparently, the company missed just before the systems’ introduction.
“This update is recommended for all 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro mid 2010 models and contains improvements for graphics stability for high-performance video and gaming applications as well as various bug fixes,” reads the description for “MacBook Pro Software Update 1.3” over at Apple’s Support Downloads section. Weighing in at a hefty 258.32 MB, the update is to be applied on systems running Mac OS X 10.6.3 (the latest version of Apple’s Snow Leopard operating system), and supports various languages.
Introduced yesterday in a manner typical to the Cupertino-based giant, the new systems are touted as three times faster and more productive than its predecessors. While the 13-inch MacBook Pro gains few extra points in most areas, it does boast what Apple calls a “10-hour battery,” which should ensure that Apple’s most popular Mac stays that way. For the 15-inch and 17-inch configurations, Apple went for the gold adding Intel Core i5 and i7 processors and Apple’s new automatic graphics switching technology, for the two graphics processors the systems include. The company also announced that the MacBook Pro glass Multi-Touch trackpad supported inertial scrolling at the moment.
Download MacBook Pro Software Update (Free)
While the systems sound attractive for most scenarios, gaming is not one of them, claims PC World.
The site’s Game On blog sees Matt Peckham stressing that “Apple's new MacBook Pro product performance page boasts a ‘13-inch MacBook Pro Graphics Performance’ chart that says it's ‘Up to 1.8x faster than previous-generation 13-inch MacBook Pro’, listing ancient (in game years) standbys like Doom 3, Call of Duty 4, Unreal Tournament 2004, and Quake 4, each with simplistic multipliers like '1.3x' or '1.8x'. (To be fair, the 13-inch MacBook Pro actually uses an even slower 320M.),” the blogger outlines […] as serious gaming machines, OS X-side or otherwise, the MacBook Pros are still big on GPU-related compromises,” goes what seems to be an informed opinion.
“...if you're looking for a serious gaming laptop that can run recent PC games in Boot Camp with desirable detail settings at respectable frame rates, you'll probably want to pass on Apple's latest ‘Pro’ family offerings,” is the bottom line over at PC World.