Apple introduces Santa Rosa-based MacBook Pros

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Apple on Tuesday updated its MacBook Pro line of notebooks with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, memory up to 4GB, LED backlit displays, and high-speed graphics in a lightweight, aluminum enclosure that is just one-inch thin.



The new MacBook Pro is available in 15-inch models with a new mercury-free, power-efficient LED-backlit display and a 17-inch model with an optional high-resolution display. All models include a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing on-the-go, Apple's MagSafe Power Adapter that safely disconnects when under strain, and built-in 802.11n wireless networking for up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g.



"With Intel Core 2 Duo performance, more memory and state-of-the-art graphics, this MacBook Pro is a portable powerhouse for creative and professional users," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Apple's notebooks have always led the industry in innovation with features like built-in 802.11 and the MagSafe Power Adapter, and now the industry's first 15-inch LED-backlit display is another step toward completely eliminating mercury from our displays."



Every MacBook Pro model includes an Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB of shared L2 cache, an 800 MHz frontside bus and 2GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory, running professional applications like Final Cut Pro 6 and Logic Pro 7 more than 50 percent faster than the original MacBook Pro with Core Duo. Delivering more realistic graphics for animation and gaming, every MacBook Pro now includes the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT and is more than 50 percent faster than the original MacBook Pro with Core Duo.



The MacBook Pro's lightweight, aluminum enclosure is just one-inch thin and is available in three models: 2.2 GHz and 2.4 GHz 15-inch MacBook Pro models, and a 2.4 GHz 17-inch MacBook Pro model. The new 15-inch MacBook Pro models feature a brand-new, power-efficient LED-backlit display and are the first of Apple's notebooks to transition to LED backlighting as part of the company's effort to eliminate the use of mercury in its products. The 17-inch model now offers a new optional 1920-by-1200 high-resolution display, providing over 30 percent more screen real estate than the standard 1680-by-1050 display.



Designed for mobile professionals, the MacBook Pro includes a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing on-the-go, Apple's MagSafe Power Adapter that magnetically connects the power cord to the MacBook Pro and safely disconnects when under strain, and the latest generation of 802.11n wireless networking for up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g. Every new MacBook Pro also includes built-in 10/100/1000 BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet for high-speed networking, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), a FireWire 800 and a FireWire 400 port, a backlit illuminated keyboard, an ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot for expansion solutions such as 3G wireless networking, and a DVI video output to connect up to a 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display.







The MacBook Pro comes with iLife '06, the next generation of Apple's award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications featuring iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, GarageBand and iWeb. The MacBook Pro also comes with the latest release of the world's most advanced operating system, Mac OS X version 10.4.9 Tiger, including Safari, Mail, iCal, iChat AV, Front Row and Photo Booth.



Pricing & Availability



The new MacBook Pro models are now shipping and will be available through the Apple Store, Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.



The 2.2 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US), includes:15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440-by-900 LCD display 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB 120GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 128MB GDDR3 memory DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately) built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display built-in iSight video camera Gigabit Ethernet port built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port one audio line in and one headphone out port, each supporting optical digital audio Scrolling TrackPad and illuminated keyboard the infrared Apple Remote and 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.4 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes:15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440-by-900 LCD display 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB 160GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 256MB GDDR3 memory DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately) built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display built-in iSight video camera Gigabit Ethernet port built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port one audio line in and one headphone out port, each supporting optical digital audio Scrolling TrackPad and illuminated keyboard the infrared Apple Remote and 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.4 GHz, 17-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,799 (US), includes:17-inch widescreen 1680-by-1050 LCD display 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB 160GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 256MB GDDR3 memory DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately) built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display built-in iSight video camera Gigabit Ethernet port built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot three USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port one audio line in and one headphone out port, each supporting optical digital audio Scrolling TrackPad and illuminated keyboard the infrared Apple Remote and 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.

Additional build-to-order options for the MacBook Pro include the ability to upgrade to a 160GB (5400 rpm), 160GB (7200 rpm), 200GB (4200 rpm) or a 250GB (4200 rpm) hard drive, up to 4GB DDR2 SDRAM, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter, Apple USB Modem, glossy widescreen display, 17-inch 1920-by-1200 high-resolution display and the AppleCare Protection Plan. Additional build-to-order options also include pre-installed copies of iWork '06, Logic Express 7, Final Cut Express HD 3.5 and Aperture 1.5.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 280
    blingemblingem Posts: 94member
    Score. The line starts here.





    ~Benny
  • Reply 2 of 280
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,037member
    Thanks for the super quick headline update. But, just a suggestion folks: Can we stop parroting Apple's headlines and slogans in the article subtitle/intro?



    Quote:

    Apple today updated its MacBook Pro line of notebooks with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, memory up to 4GB, and high-speed graphics in a stunning, lightweight, aluminum enclosure that is just one-inch thin.



  • Reply 3 of 280
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,037member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by blingem View Post


    Score. The line starts here.





    ~Benny





    Honestly, unless you have old equipment or want the high res 17", I fail to see the excitement. The speeds are barely improved. The specs are similar to the current gen. I have a last rev Macbook (current until today) and I see nothing that excites me other than maybe the LED display. No reason to upgrade for me, not that I expected there to be.
  • Reply 4 of 280
    bderwestbderwest Posts: 36member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    ...aluminum enclosure that is just one-inch thin...



    I call PR BULLSHIT! Nothing is one-inch thin. That's like Willard Goddamn Scott trying to tell everyone old people are 100-years young.



    Blarf! Write your own ledes!



    That being said. Damn. I want a LED-lit display. And a dual-layer DVD burner and a FW800 port would be nice. And n wireless.



    But I still love my CDMBP
  • Reply 5 of 280
    spindriftspindrift Posts: 674member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by segovius View Post


    Can we get some confirmation on that?



    http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/
  • Reply 6 of 280
    I dont understand why they arent using Robson. Maybe they are waiting for leopard to come out which could be optimized for it. Seems strange to me.



    I'll be interested to see how much power savings there are with the new chipset and LED backlight.



    I'm glad they went with nVidia also, they are so far ahead of AMD right now its not even funny.
  • Reply 7 of 280
    blingemblingem Posts: 94member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SDW2001 View Post


    Honestly, unless you have old equipment or want the high res 17", I fail to see the excitement. The speeds are barely improved. The specs are similar to the current gen. I have a last rev Macbook (current until today) and I see nothing that excites me other than maybe the LED display. No reason to upgrade for me, not that I expected there to be.



    How about 2 gigs of ram for the same price??? That upgrade used to cost $175. AND the free ipod nano.
  • Reply 8 of 280
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,481moderator
    Nice update but magnetic latches would have been nice as well as high res displays in the lower end models.



    But at least you get 2GB Ram now and the option of a 7200 rpm drive in all models. AND GPU UPDATES!!!!! And we get CPU bumps and Santa Rosa and LED displays.



    The 8600M GT is a nice card supporting DirectX 10 shader model 4 (Splinter Cell: Double Agent support at last). Unified shader core like the XBox 360. Hardware decoding of H264, VC-1 (don't know if the X1600 did this). 50% faster in benchmarks than the X1600.



    I'd say the update was pretty good overall. Much better than the craptacular Macbook update.



    I imagine we'll see these improvements in the iMac too.
  • Reply 9 of 280
    bdj21yabdj21ya Posts: 297member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacSuperiority View Post


    I dont understand why they arent using Robson. Maybe they are waiting for leopard to come out which could be optimized for it. Seems strange to me.



    I'll be interested to see how much power savings there are with the new chipset and LED backlight.



    There's no guarantee they're not using Robson. I could easily see them announcing this later when Leopard comes out, surprise! it's already on the machine you bought months ago.
  • Reply 10 of 280
    louzerlouzer Posts: 1,054member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by blingem View Post


    How about 2 gigs of ram for the same price??? That upgrade used to cost $175. AND the free ipod nano.



    Its not a reason to upgrade to the new computer. He's not arguing that its not a bad update compared to the previous specs, just that there's nothing to the update to warrant upgrading his MacBook.



    For example, a 15" MacBook at $1300 would be something. Some new features, like ExpressCard 5/4 or eSATA would be something. All that I can tell that's got oomph is the higher resolution display on the 17", and I think they upped the graphics card (but its so hard to tell with the video cards, it could be newer but worse then the last one, for all I know).



    The LED display is only a big thing if it (a) really ups the battery life (which it apparently doesn't, since, well, there's no mention of it by Apple), or (b) its so much brighter and better then the current models.
  • Reply 11 of 280
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SDW2001 View Post


    No reason to upgrade for me, not that I expected there to be.



    Then you were realistic. I'm amazed at all the wining over this update like it could have been any better. The LED backlighting may be nice. I'll need to see it in action to evaluate. The better graphics card is a nice little addition. Otherwise what else were people expecting? Anands recent evaluation of SR should have a been a signal to all that the performace improvements in this upgrade would be modest at best.
  • Reply 12 of 280
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    I'd say the update was pretty good overall. Much better than the craptacular Macbook update.



    Now that was a bummer update.
  • Reply 13 of 280
    louzerlouzer Posts: 1,054member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by backtomac View Post


    Then you were realistic. I'm amazed at all the wining over this update like it could have been any better. The LED backlighting may be nice. I'll need to see it in action to evaluate. The better graphics card is a nice little addition. Otherwise what else were people expecting? Anands recent evaluation of SR should have a been a signal to all that the performace improvements in this upgrade would be modest at best.



    I think, for what you get, waiting all that time is the problem for people. Most of the changes made (memory, graphics card) could easily be done on the fly during the course of the lifecycle of the product (or, hey, how about, once the component costs come down, Apple just lowers the price!).
  • Reply 14 of 280
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Louzer View Post


    (or, hey, how about, once the component costs come down, Apple just lowers the price!).



    Yes, this should be done. Especially for the mini which should be under $500 IMO.
  • Reply 15 of 280
    aegisdesignaegisdesign Posts: 2,914member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Louzer View Post


    The LED display is only a big thing if it (a) really ups the battery life (which it apparently doesn't, since, well, there's no mention of it by Apple), or (b) its so much brighter and better then the current models.



    6 hours on the 15" and 5.75 on the 17" now. What was it before?
  • Reply 16 of 280
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aegisdesign View Post


    6 hours on the 15" and 5.75 on the 17" now. What was it before?



    Holy shit it wasn't that much....
  • Reply 17 of 280
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SDW2001 View Post


    Honestly, unless you have old equipment or want the high res 17", I fail to see the excitement. The speeds are barely improved. The specs are similar to the current gen. I have a last rev Macbook (current until today) and I see nothing that excites me other than maybe the LED display. No reason to upgrade for me, not that I expected there to be.



    The CPU upgrade is to intel's new Santa Rosa platform which means a faster FSB in addition to other improvements, so the speed bump is going to be greater than just the clock speed would suggest. Also, the graphics upgrade is fairly significant, as is 2GB of RAM across the board. While few people are going to upgrade from the last gen, it is still a pretty nice upgrade.



    Although one thing I can't figure out about this update is, do they really expect people to spend $500 extra on 200MHz of performance, 40GB of storage, and 128MB of vRAM? Heck, you can get the extra storage as a BTO for $75, so that means you are paying $425 for a marginally faster CPU and GPU. That is just silly, even for proffesional users.
  • Reply 18 of 280
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,953member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacSuperiority View Post


    I dont understand why they arent using Robson. Maybe they are waiting for leopard to come out which could be optimized for it. Seems strange to me.



    So far, Robson has not proven to be useful.



    I'm surprised by the higher res display _option_. I didn't think Apple would offer it, though they do offer glossy vs. speckled display face.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BdeRWest View Post


    I call PR BULLSHIT! Nothing is one-inch thin. That's like Willard Goddamn Scott trying to tell everyone old people are 100-years young.



    It is irritating. I wonder how many people are influenced by that terminology. Not only that, the measurement is rounded down.



    In all, I think it's a pretty nice update, though I'd still go for a refurbished older model instead.
  • Reply 19 of 280
    rolorolo Posts: 686member
    The 15 goes from 5 to 6 hrs. battery life. Very good upgrade overall. Not good if you already have a recent C2D 'Book but fantastic if you're upgrading from a PB G4!



    Nice to finally see a 7200 rpm HD option! Of course, that delays it 4 to 6 weeks.
  • Reply 20 of 280
    gostangostan Posts: 15member
    This is a great upgrade for those of us (like myself) who are still using a PowerBook G4 1.5 (non Intel chip) version.



    In fact, I placed my order at for a 2.4 15 incher at 9:02 AM (edt) this morning with expedited shipping. It is expected to ship between June 6 -8 and to be delivered between June 8-13.



    Stan
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