Oh, don't act so surprised. A refresh of Apple's long-in-the-tooth
MacBook Pro line was pretty much the only sure thing slated for today's event, and Apple certainly delivered. As for looks, you probably
know the score by now: chiclet keyboard, Air-inspired aluminum stylings, and a glossy screen that's flush with a new iMac-like black bezel (there's no non-gloss option for the purists out there). What's new is confirmation of a multi-touch glass trackpad, which suspiciously rids the computer of a single mouse button and adds some new gestures like app switching. Apple's also put in some effort on slimming down the computer, bringing it down to a mere 0.95-inches thick (though at 5.5 pounds it's a hair heavier than the original), but much of the real excitement happens under the hood. There's a new internal structure, that rumored "brick" of aluminum that helps Apple make the new Pro thin, strong and leaves room for the real goodies: the specs. Apple's using NVIDIA's new 9400M GPU + chipset 1-2 punch for integrated graphics, supplemented by 9600M GT switchable discreet graphics chip for heavy lifting, and pumping out those graphics over a Mini DisplayPort connector, if you'd like to supplement the LED backlit screen. As expected there's an SSD option, with drive accessible underneath the battery. The 15.4-inch base model retails for $1999, with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM and both GPUs. Step up to $2499 and you get a faster CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 320GB HDD. The 17-inch MacBook Pro comes in a similar configuration with a 2.6GHz processor, starting at $2799, but sans the redesign and GPU love. Hit the jump for a breakdown of the configurations.
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2.4GHz MacBook Pro (MB133LL/A) - $1,999
- 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 3MB L2 cache, 1066MHz System Bus
- 2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 memory
- 250GB 5400 rpm HDD
- NVIDIA GeForce 9600M graphics processor, 256MB GDDR3 memory
2.53GHz MacBook Pro (MB134LL/A) - $2,499
- 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 6MB L2 cache, 1066MHz System Bus
- 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 memory
- 320GB 5400 rpm HDD
- NVIDIA GeForce 9600M graphics processor, 512MB GDDR3 memory
Shared Specs:
- Precision aluminum unibody enclosure, 14.35 x 9.82 x .95-inches, 5.5 pounds
- 15.4-inches LED-backlit display, 1440 x 900 resolution
- 8x Slot-loading SuperDrive
- Multi-Touch glass trackpad
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor
- Mini DisplayPort output port with support for DVI, VGA, and dual-link DVI
- Built-in iSight camera, stereo speakers, microphone
- Optical digital input / analog line in/out
- Built-in AirPort Extreme WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1
- 2 USB 2.0 ports
- Gigabit Ethernet Port, 1 FireWire 800 port
- ExpressCard/34 slot
- Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard & iLife '08
- 5 Hour Battery life
In The Box:
- MacBook Pro
- Display Cleaning cloth
- 85W MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug, and power cord
- Lithium-polymer battery
- Install / restore DVDs
- Printed and electronic documentation
