As you might expect (and saw earlier in our ), given the minor bump in processor speed, the latest 17-inch MacBook Pro doesn't exactly leave its predecessor in the dust. In fact, for most tasks in benchmarking suite, the differences between 2.66GHz and 2.8GHz are barely noticeable--a few seconds here and there. The result is a Speedmark improvement of only 3 percent, from 249 to 256, compared to the February model.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing. In day-to-day use, the 17-inch MacBook Pro, like the ( Macworld rated 4 out of 5 mice ), offers impressive performance for a laptop. In fact, with the exception of hard-drive-intensive tasks, which are slowed by the 5,400 rpm laptop hard drive, moving from my Mac Pro to this MacBook Pro didn't result in a noticeable drop in performance. That says a lot about the performance of Apple's current notebooks.

Similarly, the battery life of the latest model is essentially unchanged from its predecessor's. But, again, that's not a ding by any means. The 17-inch MacBook Pro's battery life increased when Apple integrated its in the February model. That model clocked in at 4 hours, 20 minutes in our standard test, which involves looping a full-screen video file with the display at full brightness, Energy Saver settings set to never sleep, and using the lower-powered GeForce 9400M graphics. The latest model lasted almost exactly as long: 4 hours, 18 minutes.

I also tested the MacBook Pro under lighter use, similar to that of Apple's official battery testing: surfing the Web over a wireless connection and using office-productivity apps, such as Microsoft Excel and Word, with the display set to half brightness. (During this test, there were occasional periods where the laptop wasn't actively being used; however, the computer and screen never went to sleep.) Under those conditions, the 17-inch MacBook Pro ran continuously for a jaw-dropping 8 hours, 20 minutes, which should be long enough for many people to overlook the fact that they can't swap the battery in the field for a fresh one. And because of the technology in this battery, Apple says it should last for around 1,000 charges, enough for about 5 years of typical use.