By Iljitsch van Beijnum, from Ars Technica :

A few days ago, Ars reviewed the new 17″ MacBook Pro. Most of that review also applies to the new 15-inchers, but there is one aspect to the latest incarnation of the 15″ MacBook Pro that warrants another look: the LED-backlit screen.

When I started up my new 2.2 GHz 15″ MacBook Pro this morning, I wasn’t immediately struck by the brightness of the screen. Sure, it was brighter than the screen of the PowerBook I was replacing, and maybe even a bit brighter than the CRT that still decorates my desk, but not by a huge margin. Then again, it was a cloudy day, so no sun to wash out the image on the screen. However after it had gotten dark, I launched an investigation into rumors that the iSight now has a 1.3 megapixel resolution. (It doesn’t. Too bad.) Initially, the iSight images were too dark to be useful. So I thought I’d increase the screen brightness, thinking that maybe that would illuminate my face. Did it ever. I almost had to squint because of the barrage of photons sent my way. You can actually video conference in complete darkness, with only the display to light your face. So, yes, it’s bright. Apple says that the brightness is the same as the previous model, but remember, I’m upgrading from a nearly four-year-old PowerBook. Also, the screen goes to full brightness immediately. No warming up. The keyboard backlighting is also very bright and is a bit on the purple side.

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