Although most businesses stick with the safety of Windows-based PCs, Apple’s range of MacBooks will always tempt those executives looking to make an impact.

Constructed from a single block of aluminium, known as a unibody, the new 15in MacBook Pro is yet another win in terms of design. And although it is no way near as portable as the MacBook Air, at 2.49kg it will not weigh business users down too much on trips away from the office.

Apple has perhaps taken its penchant for style a little too far with the screen, though. We found the extra-glossy coating to be incredibly prone to reflections from nearby lighting. It is not such an issue in office environments, but outdoor use will definitely cause problems.

However, thanks to being LED-backlit, it is less of a drain on the battery and Apple reckons you should get four and a half hours out of it – we’ll verify this in our forthcoming full review.

During our initial tests we noticed the MacBook Pro does get fairly warm on the underside, even during light usage – something that could cause discomfort if used for extended periods on a lap.

The eagle-eyed among you will notice there’s no obvious mouse button – instead, the whole trackpad now acts as the button, allowing you to perform single- or double-clicks no matter where your finger is. And, in something of a shock move, you can set it up to recognise right-clicks, or a second-click, as Apple calls it. However, we did find the button action to be uncomfortably stiff towards the top edge of the trackpad.

Our sample is the faster of the two 15in MacBook Pros, with a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo processor and 4GB of Ram. It also benefits from two Nvidia graphics chips - during intensive use you can use the 9600M GT chip, but in less demanding applications you can opt for the integrated 9400M alternative, giving battery life a boost in the process. However, you need to manually switch between the two and then log off before the change will take effect, which is a pain.

There is no doubt the MacBook Pro has some impressive new features, but whether this will be enough to persuade high-end corporate users to make the switch from Windows is another matter. And at £1,749 for this 2.53GHz model it is expensive - we suspect most Mac-focused businesses will opt for the cheaper, non-Pro version.