I’ve swapped the 4GB of RAM and 320G 7200 RPM drive from my MacBook into the new MacBook Pro. It feels a bit faster than the MacBook, even when using the GeForce 9400M video. I haven’t tried switching to the 9600M GT yet. The display is really gorgeous – much brighter and better contrast than the MacBook. On the other hand, the new MacBook Pro does feel very big & bulky.
After swapping the hard drive, you would expect all of the software to still work. However, Adobe Photoshop CS4 and a few other applications including Fluid Mask 3 seem to be tied to either the machine serial number or MAC address, so they were no longer activated when I tried running them on the new MacBook Pro. Furthermore, Photoshop told me that I had too many activations and refused to let me activate it.
I figured out how to regain one activation from my old MacBook Pro, which I never deactivated and is going to a new owner tomorrow. I was able to boot from a backup drive on that machine, and Photoshop then let me deactivate it.
I’m still waiting for a response from Virtus about Fluid Mask 3.
