Wow! Today Apple announced new MacBooks, MacBook Pros, and an updated version of the MacBook Air. The new MacBook Pros finally ditch the case design inherited from the old G4 PowerBooks.
New Features of the MacBook Pro:
– An all-new aluminum enclosure made of a single slab of milled aluminum. The MacBook Pro’s new unibody shell is extremely rigid, light, and thin. The manufacturing process is apparently very efficient and environmentally responsible. Apple seems especially proud of this process, as it was highlighted several times throughout the “Spotlight Turns to Notebooks” event.
– All-new Glass Multi-Touch trackpad. There is no button — instead, the entire trackpad is the button. Without a separate button, the trackpad offers 39 percent more room to move on the silky glass surface for precise cursor control.
The Glass Multi-Touch trackpad supports two-finger scrolling, pinch, rotate, three-finger swipe, four-finger swipe, tap, double-tap, and drag capabilities. Use two fingers to scroll up and down a page. Pinch to zoom in and out. Rotate an image with your fingertips. Swipe with three fingers to flip through your photo libraries. Swipe with four fingers to show your desktop, view all open windows, or switch applications. If you’re coming from a right-click world, you can right-click with two fingers or configure a right-click area on the trackpad.
Apple software engineers apparently had a large part to play in the development of the trackpad. This is the largest, smartest, most ergonomic MacBook Pro trackpad ever.
– Mini DisplayPort — All Apple notebooks now feature the the Mini DisplayPort. This is a new industry standard that easily offers a digital connection to external displays, including large 30-inch models. It’s plug-and-play, like a USB port. With a $20 adapter, the ultracompact Mini DisplayPort supports VGA and DVI connections.
The Mini DisplayPort provides plug-and-play performance with the new Apple LED Cinema Display.
The Mini DisplayPort also supports dual display and video mirroring, with full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors.
I think the move to Mini DisplayPort is great – it makes the MacBooks 100% compatible with the 30” displays, is easy to use, and is a new industry standard. Yes, you’ll need an adapter to work with current DVI and VGA displays, but in the long run it’s worth it. Apple’s adoption of the Mini DisplayPort reminds me of when Apple adopted USB in the original iMacs. At first people were upset. Now, of course, USB is very widely adopted.
– New LED-backlit, low-mercury glass displays. These displays seamlessly go “right to the edge of the product.” The LED backlight is on instantly, it’s 30% more efficient than previous displays, and the colors and picture are brilliant and sharp from corner to corner.
Note that all displays are now glossy; there does not appear to be a configure-to-order matte option.
– New graphics. Every MacBook Pro has TWO new graphics cards installed, the brand new NVIDIA 9400 integrated graphics chip along with the NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor.
The integrated NVIDIA 9400 offers efficient, everyday performance with up to 5 hours of battery life. For video or image editing and other graphically intensive tasks, switch over to the discrete NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT processor. A new graphics architecture makes it easy to switch between these two processors.
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT features 256MB of GDDR3 memory on the $1999 2.4GHz configuration, and 512MB of GDDR3 memory on the $2499 2.53GHz and 2.8GHz configurations.
– The rigid aluminum keyboard webbing has been cut precisely to hold the keys. The keys are curved to “perfectly fit fingers.” The keyboard is also illuminated for working in low-light settings.
– Option for a 128GB Solid State Drive (SSD).
– Just like the MacBook and MAcBook Air, the new MacBook Pro now has a latchless magnetic enclosure.
New MacBook Pros are available with a 2.4GHz processor and 250GB 5400 RPM drive for $1999, or a 2.53GHz processor and 320GB 5400 RPM drive for $2499. An optional, custom-configured 2.8GHz processor is also available. There are also optional 250GB or 320GB 7200-rpm hard drives available.
All MacBook Pros also offer:
- 8x slot-loading SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
- MagSafe power port
- Gigabit Ethernet port
- One FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps)
- Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
- Mini DisplayPort
- Audio line in
- Audio line out
- ExpressCard/34 slot
- Kensington lock slot
- Built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking
- Built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
- Built-in iSight camera
- Built-in stereo speakers
- Built-in omnidirectional microphone (located under left speaker grille)
- Combined optical digital input/analog line in (minijack)
- Combined optical digital output/analog line out (minijack)
- Supports Apple Stereo Headset with microphone (COOL!)
- 15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with support for millions of colors
- 50-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery
- 85W MagSafe Power Adapter with cable management system
- 1066MHz frontside bus
- Built-in full-size backlit keyboard with 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys, including 12 function keys and 4 arrow keys (inverted “T” arrangement)
- Multi-Touch trackpad for precise cursor control; supports two-finger scrolling, pinch, rotate, three-finger swipe, four-finger swipe, tap, double-tap, and drag capabilities
- Height: 0.95 inch (2.41 cm), Width: 14.35 inches (36.4 cm), Depth: 9.82 inches (24.9 cm), Weight: 5.5 pounds (2.49 kg)
Click here to read more and pre-order the new MacBook Pro with free shipping!
