My Daily Computer
On July 14, 2009, I received a Macbook Pro (13 inch, Mid-2009 model). This is the first unibody aluminum Macbook that was produced. I chose to get this computer, as I had been playing with iOS (then called iPhone OS) as well as Hackintoshes. I had grown fond of OS X (then Mac OS X).
Despite this, however, I had my heart set on the HP Pavilion tx2000, as the idea of turning the screen around to make it into a "tablet" interested me. During the deciding process, though, I came across this video detailing the design of the unibody Macbook Pro.
I had been a fan of the operating system, but seeing that video made the dots connect. This was the computer for me. At least, that's the romanticized version of the story. The only problem was the classic problem that anti-Mac users have been toting for years: the price.
I was able to pickup the laptop for only ~$1000, which is relatively cheap in the Macbook space. Despite me being very attached to the computer initially, I did not expect it to last me into college (that is, I thought that when I went to college in 2011, I'd surely be getting a new computer again).
Fast forward six years. SIX YEARS, can you believe that? That's more than a quarter of my life! I am still rocking the same Macbook Pro. I've upgraded the RAM, added an SSD, changed the battery, and even swapped out the DVD drive for another hard disk. Here are all the specs (original and upgraded over the last 6 years):
| Spec | Original | Upgraded |
|---|---|---|
| Screen | 13.3-inch (1280 x 800) | N/A |
| Processor | 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo | N/A |
| Memory | 2 GB | 8 GB |
| SSD | N/A | 250 GB |
| Hard drive | 160 GB | 750 GB |
| Operating system | Mac OS X Leopard | OS X El Capitan |
The processor is super old for this day and age, but the computer still functions quickly and is still as lovely as ever. The biggest impact in terms of speed was adding the SSD.
Now, that's not to say I haven't been looking at new computers: The Retina Macbook Pro, when it was announced, is basically just a slimmer, higher resolution, and faster version of this laptop. And the "New" Macbook that was just announced is power efficient and super portable.
Despite these new new releases, an upgrade seems like it would still be more of a horizontal move. Despite the new bodies, the internals would be realtively the same. The only real thing I could see receiving a huge performance boost would be compilation time, but even then it's not so bad currently.
So, I'm not sure what I set out to prove/do with this post. A lot of people give Macs a lot of flack for being so pricey with only the illusion of higher quality being promised– I really don't think that's the case, and I'm certain people that truly think that must never have tried one.
Anywaaaaaaaay that's all.