Apple Announces New MacBook Pro, MacBook, and MacBook Air

Apple just released a complete refresh to the MacBook Pro as well as a new upgraded Macbook. Both of these notebooks offer a revolutionary solid brick manufacturing process similar to the MacBook Air, where the notebook body is formed from a single block of aluminum. This new body is lighter and stronger than the previous body and frame. A new feature unique to both of these models are a larger glass surface multitouch touchpad where the entire surface is your touchpad button, no longer needing a separate control. Users lose any tactile feedback, but at least they won’t have problems finding that single button.

$1,999 MacBook Pro Specifications:

• 15.4” LED-backlit display
• 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (3MB L2 Cache)
• 2 GB 1066MHz DDR3 memory
• Hybrid Graphics (NVIDIA 9400M Integrated/ 9600M Dedicated with 256MB)
• 250GB Hard Drive
• Slot-Loading SuperDrive

$2,499 MacBook Pro Specifications:

• 15.4” LED-backlit display
• 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (6MB L2 Cache)
• 4 GB 1066MHz DDR3 memory
• Hybrid Graphics (NVIDIA 9400M Integrated/ 9600M Dedicated with 512MB)
• 320GB Hard Drive
• Slot-Loading SuperDrive

The new Apple MacBook Pro also offers an easier solution for accessing both the hard drive and battery bay, with a single opening on the bottom of the case. Unlike the last design which required you to completely tear apart the notebook to upgrade or replace the hard drive, this method take only a matter of minutes.
The MacBook Air was also given a model refresh, bumping from the older Intel X3100 integrated graphics to the newer NVIDIA 9400M integrated graphics.

$1,799 MacBook Air Specifications:

• 13.3” LED-backlit display
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics
• 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (6MB L2 Cache)
• 2 GB 1006 MHz DDR3 memory
• 120GB SATA hard drive

$2,499 MacBook Air Specifications:

• 13.3” LED-backlit display
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics
• 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (6MB L2 Cache)
• 2 GB 1006 MHz DDR3 memory
• 128GB SSD

The bread and butter Macbook also saw a model refresh with an upgraded 13.3” model that looks like a shrunked MacBook Pro. This model offers the same solid aluminum block carved down to a lightweight chassis design, as well as the all-glass multitouch touchpad.

$1,299 MacBook Specifications:

• 13.3” LED-backlit display
• 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (3MB L2 Cache)
• 2 GB 1066MHz DDR3
• NVIDIA GeForice 9400M Integrated Graphics
• 160GB hard drive
• Slot-loading SuperDrive

The standard MacBook will still be offered for a $100 lower price starting at $999. Overall the new models look impressive with the newer chassis design, which should offer much stronger notebooks. The move to super glossy screen overlays and no touchpad buttons will be interesting, but I will hold back any comments until I see it in person.