Oct 15

New MacBook Pro Notebooks!

Still curious about the new MacBook Pro? I bet you are, and so am I, so let's take a look at the new boys in Apple's camp, shall we? Today, we'll talk about the two new MacBook Pro laptops, the new MacBooks and, finally, the surprise of the month - the 24-inch LED Cinema Display. Ready or not, here we go...

...with the slightly redesigned MacBook Air. Basically, we're talking about the following changes:

- the new "brick" construction, gives us a case milled from a solid aluminum block, instead of a combination of aluminum and plastic pieces, as it was the case so far

- NVIDIA's new GeForce 9400M mainboard and graphics chipset allow up to 5X the video performance of the GMA X3100 video found in the previous model

- pricing on the new MacBook Air will be $1,800 for a version with the 1.6GHz CPU and 120GB disk drive, while $2,500 will give you a 1.86GHz CPU and 128GB solid-state drive

- expected to start shipping in November, preorders are taken through the Apple Store already

Ok, so this is the "new" MacBook Air, but what about the new MacBook Pro notebooks? Metal & glass, these are the keywords, my friends, but only these without the rest of the details wouldn't help much, so here we go... the new MacBook Pro features the following:

- a new construction process of the case, similar to the one mentioned above for the MacBook Air

- a new, multitouch glass trackpad, 39 percent larger than earlier ones and designed so that the entire pad works as a button

- glass is also being used for the LCD display

- all connections have been moved to one side, now including gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800 and two USB ports, as well as an ExpressCard slot, while wireless receivers support Bluetooth and 802.11n Wi-Fi

- apart from the new SSD drive option, the new MacBook Pro features both 9400M and 9600M GT graphics chips by NVIDIA, which operate together in a hybrid SLI mode

- the two new models are both measuring 15.4 inches, and they come for $1,999 - packing a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, 256MB dedicated graphics memory, and a 250GB hard drive, while the $2,499 system has a 2.53GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, 512MB graphics memory and a 320GB hard drive

When talking about the new MacBook, things are just as I expected. We're talking about a new MacBook Pro, without the "pro" features, leaving us with only NVIDIA 9400M integrated graphics, 13.3 inch LCD, a metal body with all ports to a side, glass trackpad, LED screen backlighting and backlit keyboard. While the FireWire ports are completely missing, the options include up to 4GB of RAM, as well as a 320GB hard drive or a 128GB SSD.

The new MacBook notebooks available are the $1,299 one, which uses a 2GHz processor, 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive, but leaves aside the backlit keyboard, while the $1,599 machine comes with everything loaded, a 2.4GHz CPU, and a 250GB hard drive.

Now, there was one more thing...oh, yeah, the 24 inch Cinema Display! If you ask me, I think every display larger than 21 inch should come with a wireless kit as a bonus, since I find it rather strange to sit on your chair facing a huge LCD, instead of lying on your bed with a wireless keyboard and mouse.

Anyway, here's the features list of the new display from Apple:

- a new mini-DisplayPort connection for attaching the latest MacBooks

- 1920x1200 pixels resolution, with 16.7 million colors

- iSight camera and microphone built in with stereo speakers, all fed via a single cable

- LED backlighting is used for better colors and energy savings

- the display is mercury-free

- USB connectivity, with a built-in 3-port USB 2.0 hub, as well as a MagSafe power connector

This beauty comes for $900, and will start shipping next month from the same online Apple Store I mentioned earlier. If you're not located in the US, you should ask your local Apple dealer...or wait.

These being said, I think we covered the new MacBook Pro, as well as the remaining goodies introduced by Apple yesterday. If you have anything to say about them, please go ahead and drop your comments below. Speaking for myself, I think this update of the MacBook line is much better and more interesting than the one they performed on the iPods, but this is just a thought...