New MacBook Pro Gives Apple Edge On Business PC Rivals

The new Intel-processor-based MacBook Pros, which feature much improved graphics and longer battery life, are a direct assault on the standard PC mobile business market dominated by PC makers like Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo. Apple resellers said the new MacBook Pro systems' price/performance make them an attractive buy for business users.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro, which is priced starting at $1,199, features the new Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics processor for up to 80 percent faster graphics and a 10-hour built-in battery.

The new 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models, meanwhile,are up to 50 percent faster than the previous systems.

The entry level 15-inch MacBook Pro, which is based on a 2.4GHz Intel Core i5 processor, features Nvidia GeForce GT 330M and 320-GB hard drive and is priced starting at $1,799.

The new 17-inch MacBook Pro features a 2.53GHz Intel Core i5, Nvidia GeForce GT 330M and 500-GB hard drive for $2,299.

Mark Gregory, president and CEO of MacAuthority, a Nashville, Tenn., chain, said he sees the new MacBook Pro models growing Apple's share of the corporate market. He said it is easier to sell Apple into the corporate market than it was several years ago due to the release last year of Apple's powerful Mac OS X Snow Leopard operating system.

The biggest challenge, Gregory said, is getting Apple on the approved vendor list, giving employees an option to choose either a Mac or a PC. "It's not as hard as it used to be," he said. "Snow Leopard helped a lot. The problem is a lot of the gatekeepers are old-school guys not familiar with the Mac."

MacAuthority's corporate sales are up 40 percent this year over the same period one year ago, said Gregory. What's more, he said, the corporate market now accounts for about 30 percent of MacAuthority's total annual revenue.

The new MacBook Pro line features the same technology, including Intel processors and Nvidia graphics, that industry-standard PC makers are using in their products. The new MacBook Pros, for example, feature Intel Core i5 and i7 processors (based on Intel's state-of-the-art 32-nanometer process), integrating the memory controller and Level 3 cache for faster access to system memory.

The MacBook Pro line, which all come with Mac OS X Snow Leopard and out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange, are available immediately from Apple resellers and Apple's own retail stores.