Apple MacBook Pro 15 inch 2011-10 MD318

Specifications

Price comparison

Reviews for the Apple MacBook Pro 15 inch 2011-10 MD318

80% Apple Fall 2011 MacBook Pro 15 15.4-inch Thin and Light Laptop PC
Source: Comp Reviews Archive.org version
Apple's Fall 2011 refresh of the MacBook Pro 15 doesn't really change much of this influential laptop design. It still offers the same solid and stylish aluminum chassis design synonymous with Apple's products. What they have does is bumped up the quad core processor to a faster model and more importantly, updated the graphics processor to be a bit more relevant than the past model.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 11/07/2011
Rating: Total score: 80%

80% Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Late 2011)
Source: PC Mag Archive.org version
The Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (late 2011) is an effective refresh, beating out competitors and previous MacBooks alike while maintaining the look, feel, and price of previous iterations. It offers beefier hardware, improved performance, new software, and the best user experience around. If price is an issue, or if you're a devoted Windows user, then the former Editors' Choice Dell XPS 15z (Microsoft) is probably the better choice for you. If you want more entertainment options, like a Blu-ray drive or a 1080p display, the Asus N55SF-A1 gives them to you for less. But if you want a computing experience that's as intuitive as it is powerful, the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (late 2011) is the desktop replacement laptop to beat and the new Editors' Choice for the category.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 10/27/2011
Rating: Total score: 80%

80% Apple MacBook Pro Fall 2011
Source: CNet Archive.org version
The latest round of updates to Apple's popular MacBook Pro line were modest enough that they simply appeared on the Apple Web site with little fanfare beyond a basic press release. A MacBook Pro is a significant investment, especially when adding in optional upgrades. Cost aside, there's not a better choice (there are, however, some close ties) for an all-around powerhouse that will work in the home, the office, and in between.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 10/27/2011
Rating: Total score: 80% performance: 90% mobility: 90%

Comment

Series:

The Retina display is a display which has high enough pixel density that the human retina can’t distinguish individual pixels and was first introduced as a cutting edge technology together with the iPhone 4. Thanks to the retina display, the iPhone 4 was called "Best device in its class" by The Wall Street Journal, and "Best smartphone on the market" by Engadget. The MacBook Pro with Retina display introduced at the WWDC in San Francisco in June 2012 is a separate product line, independent of the original MacBook Pro and should continue the success of the iPhone.

Apart from just the retina display, this new laptop also features a new design similar to that of the MacBook Air, but without Super Drive as well as Ethernet and FireWire 800 ports. Unlike the original MacBook Pro series with standard hard drive, it includes a Solid State Drive. In short, every technological advantage of Apple are concentrated on this new MacBook Pro with Retina display, from the amazing display found in the iPhone, iPad to robust system performance of the MacBook Pro as well as the portability, design and flash storage - this laptop has it all.

In particular the retina display is the sharpest computer display and outclasses every other laptop or computer display by far at the time of its introduction. It is that important that Apple even decided to  call this laptop "MacBook Pro with retina display". In fact, the display alone outweighs the biggest disadvantage of the new MacBook Pro, the price – it's Apple we are talking about. If you can afford the steep entry price, this is the most amazing laptop money can buy.

AMD Radeon HD 6750M:

Essentially a renamed Radeon HD 6650M but with faster GDDR5 memory.

Modern games should be playable with these graphics cards at low settings and resolutions. Casual gamers may be happy with these cards.

» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.

Intel Core i7: The Intel Core i7 for laptops is based on the LG1156 Core i5/i7 CPU for desktops. The base clock speed of the CPUs is relatively low, but because of a huge Turbo mode, the cores can dynamically overclock to up to 3.2 GHz (920XM). Therefore, the CPU can be as fast as high clocked dual-core CPUs (using single threaded applications) but still offer the advantage of 4 cores. Because of the large TDP of 45 W / 55 W, the CPU is only intended for large laptops.  

2675QM: Fast Quad-core processor clocked at 2.2-3.1 GHz based on the Sandy Bridge architecture with an integrated graphics card and dual-channel DDR3 memory controller. » Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.

15.40":

15-inch display variants are the standard and are used for more than half of all laptops.

The reason for the popularity of mid-sized displays is that this size is reasonably easy on the eyes, often allows high resolutions and thus offers rich details on the screen, yet does not consume too much power and the devices can still be reasonably compact - simply the standard compromise.

Apple: Apple is a US company founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, the company is known for its innovative products such as the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, and manufactures computers and consumer electronics as well as operating systems and application software. Apple is also a leading provider of software and services such as the App Store, iTunes and iCloud.

Apple has earned a reputation as a company that focuses on design and ease of use. As for their notebooks, they are mostly in the high-priced segment, have their own operating system, but also run Windows on the newer Macbooks.

Apple is one of the most valuable companies in the world and has a loyal following of customers and fans. The company also has a strong presence in the entertainment industry, with services like Apple Music and Apple TV+. In 2023, Apple had an approximate 8% market share of global PC sales, ranking it 4th after Lenovo, HP, and Dell.

80%: This rating is not earth-shattering. This rating must actually be seen as average, since there are about as many devices with worse ratings as better ones. A purchase recommendation can only be seen with a lot of goodwill, unless it is about websites that generally rate strictly.

» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.

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