This article is a part of our Extensive Hands-on Review of Apple MacBook Pro Review -
- Detailed MacBook Pro Overview
- Keyboard & Trackpad
- Screen Display Graphics
- Hardware Performance
- Pros & Cons
- MacBook Pro 15? Vs MacBook Pro 17?
The Keyboard
The keyboard shows pretty good changes, firstly being changed to the chicklet/depressed type which we see in the Macbooks, and secondly its backlit. One of the best additions to the Pro series, the black keys in the dark are backlit with beautiful white light in contrast. Now you won’t need the bright atmosphere to see what you are typing. I loved the option of setting the brightness of the key lights, which I would have called a disaster if the light was fixed at certain brightness for always. The keys are well distantly placed to each other, and as always the on-key shortcuts of function keys are well set. You can set the brightness, backlit brightness, expose windows, turn on/off the media, play with the volume using the various function keys. Apple saved itself by giving a black-key idea to the Macbook Pro, as the white would have been a flop.
The Trackpad
You can’t just call it a simple trackpad. Its not a WYSIWYG thing, as that single bar of click is good enough for many functions, thanks to the multitouch option. The entire trackpad is a button, where ever you press, makes a click. But as few claimed, there is nothing like the right end of the trackpad leading to right click (unless you setup a particular area for right click, in the system preferences). You will have to use 2 fingers together and click the pad, to produce the right click. Remember the previous Macbooks and Pros? They had a click
button in the extreme bottom, and a touch-sensitive pad. But here, you will miss the touch experience, but the large trackpad is worth it. A big room to swipe your fingers around.
The silky glass surface is smooth, and non-frictional so the fingers were easily moving on. Pinching in and out would zoom out and zoom in, and 2 fingers used together scrolls the page up, down and sidewards.
Pictures in iPhoto can be rotated by using the fingertips and using 4 fingers together and swiping left/right can help you switch through the apps and view all the open applications. Swipe the 4 fingers up and down to activate expose. Now after using the single trackpad, I would so miss the same on the regular Macbook, although it has the touch sensitive pad.