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New MacBooks Take The Heavy Out Of Metal
5:15 PM EDT Tue. Oct. 14, 2008
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The basic MacBooks, measuring less than an inch at their narrowest and weighing 4.5 pounds, come in two flavors. The first, featuring a 2.0GHz dual-core chip from Intel and a 160GB hard drive, goes for $1,299, while the second, priced at $1,599, has a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo and 250GB of on-board storage. Both basic configurations start with 2GB of DDR3 memory that's expandable to 4GB, no doubt for a pretty penny. Other upgrade possibilities include swapping in a 320GB hard drive or 128GB solid state drive, DVI, Dual-Link DVI VGA adapters for the Mini DisplayPort, as well as options for the Apple USB Modem, Remote and MagSafe Airline Adapter products, and the AppleCare Protection Plan.
The new MacBook Pros are also under an inch at their thinnest and tip the scales at 5.5 pounds. The 15.4-inch notebooks come in 2.4GHz, 250GB and 2.53GHz, 320GB varieties. The 2.4GHz model costs $1,999, features 3MB of shared L2 cache on its Intel processor and has 2GB of memory that upgrades to 4GB. The $2,499, 2.53GHz MacBook Pro starts with 4GB of memory and its Core 2 Duo boasts 6MB of L2 cache. Both versions, like the basic MacBooks and the new MacBook Airs, feature Nvidia GeForce 9400M onboard graphics, but the 15-inch MacBook Pros also throw in GeForce 9600M GT discrete cards for extra video playback pop. MacBook Pro upgrades are similar to the ones available on the basic MacBook, but 2.8GHz Core 2 Duos can also be had, and the standard 5400 rpm hard drives can be switched out for 7200 rpm devices.
Nice enough, but on Tuesday morning that was just build-up for the entrance of the Big Daddy in the MacBook Pro lineup. Built for HD playback and media creation, the $2,799 MacBook Pro has a 17-inch, 1920x1200 LED-backlit display, 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB of shared L2 cache, Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics with 512MB of GDDR3 video memory and a 320GB hard drive.
Apple's MacBook Air also got an update. Both refreshed models have 13.3-inch, 1280x800 LED-backlit displays and the new Nvidia integrated graphics chipset. The first, with a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 120GB hard drive, retails for $1,799, while the 1.86GHz version will sell for $2,499 and features a 128GB solid state drive.
The last new product unveiled Tuesday by Apple was a 24-inch, 1920x1200 LED-backlit widescreen display that docks to the MacBook lineup via Apple's new Mini DisplayPort, which is 10 percent the size of a full DVI connector. The Apple LED Cinema Display has a built-in iSight video camera, microphone and speakers, as well as three USB ports. It's set to hit retail shelves in early November and will be priced at $899.
