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Apple spruces up MacBook Pro series

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On June 8, 2009, 2:39 PM

During this year’s WWDC Apple announced a significant breath of life to their MacBook laptop series. The changes bring a completely revamped 15” MacBook Pro, and upgrades to the 13” and 17” models. Also, undergoing a name-change, the 13” MacBook is now officially a member of the MacBook Pro family.

All of the models now include a built-in battery, which provides up to 7 hours of battery life – a dramatic 40% increase. Other mutual features include an LED-backlit display with improved color intensity, an illuminated keyboard, an SD card or ExpressCard slot, a FireWire 800 port and Nvidia graphics.


The 13” model kicks things off with base components including a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB DDR3 RAM, an Nvidia GeForce 9400M and a 160GB HDD. Pressing forward, the stock 15” MacBook packs a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB DDR3 RAM, a GeForce 9400M/9600M and a 250GB HDD. At the head of the pack, the 17” features a 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB DDR3 RAM, a 9400M and 9600M with 512MB VRAM, and a 500GB HDD.

Prices have come down across the board. The 13” starts at $1,200, the 15” at $1,700, the 17” at $2,500 and the MacBook Air at $1,500 – all of which are available now.

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User Comments: 6

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  1. I missed the keynote, but I did read some updates on macrumors.com, the prices are still higher than I'd like to see (aren't they always?). But I could get a 15" MB for less than I spent on my Powerbook several years ago, and I don't think I'm missing out too much compared to the Pro line.

    Back when I got my Powerbook there was a huge difference in the specs compared to an iBook, but now I don't think that gap is quite as significant (Pro vs nonpro).

  2. Staff

    The 13-inch MacBooks are now also Pro models as a result, since the differentiation based on specs was too small to make it work. I just hope the new smaller Pros can now match the screen quality of the 15-inch models...

    [link]

    Comparing prices I guess is fair if you are looking at your personal finances and want to compare the impact of buying a laptop then and now, but you could as well say Apple was forced to cut prices to remain competitive with other players in the market.

  3. I think that they upgraded the screens a week or 2 ago, silently. So its likely they didn't downgrade them again. I believe the unibody MBs were getting the same screen as the MBA.

  4. Finally, some more competitive prices!

  5. LOL at built in batteries, period.

    They do look sexy though...

  6. Why not a Compact Flash card reader ? or better still, a multi-card reader like many Windows computers ?

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