We all expected some great news from recent Apple presentation, and we were right. Company presented some new laptops, renovations of their previous models and, of course, the star of the show - new MacBook Pro, which was the most expected release this time. Surely, Apple continued their politics of "leaked" photos days before the final event - this move greatly increased the anticipation of new MacBook lineup. Let's come closer to the news and review each novelty separately.We'll start from the most anticipated and significant upgrade - new MacBook Pro. It became much thinner, now its thickness is only 2.4 cm (0.9 inches). Its body is fully aluminum now, this makes it feel similar to MacBook Air and improves its durability. Apart from hardware changes, which include NVIDIA GeForce 9400M / 9600M GT GPU and optional SSD drive, new MacBook Pro has new glass trackpad, which is an evolution of all previous trackpad versions. It is 39% larger than previous models, has multi-touch for gestures, and is made from glass for silky-smooth travel. Steve Jobs also presented new four-finger gestures that can be used for Expose launch or task switching. New MacBook Pro is presented in two versions: cheaper one for 1999 dollars, which include 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 250 GB HDD, 2 GB DDR3 RAM and NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GPU with 256 GDDR3; and more expensive one for 2499 dollars, with 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB DDR3 RAM, 320 GB HDD and GeForce 9600M with 512 GDDR3 memory. All versions include 15.4 inch LCD with LED backlight and 1440 x 900 resolution, iSight webcam, AirPort Extreme WiFi capabilities, one Gigabit Ethernet port and one FireWire 800 port, ExpressCard/34 slot and Bluetooth 2.1. Apple claims that new MacBook Pro will have 5 hours battery life - if this is true, it is amazing for such strong characteristics.
MacBook lineup was refreshed with 13-inched MacBook, its features are similar to those of MacBook Pro, however, it is a bit cheaper. As always there will be two versions: cheaper one for 1299 dollars will be equipped with 2 GHz Core 2 Duo CPU and 160 GB HDD, more expensive one will come with 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo and 250 GB HDD for 1599 dollars. Both versions have 13.3 inch LCD with LED backlight, new glass multi-touch trackpad, 2 GB DDR3 RAM and GeForce 9400M GPU. 5 hours of battery life is announced, same as for MacBook Pro.
Sensation of the last year - MacBook Air, was also upgraded a bit to correspond with his larger brothers. New MacBook Air edition gained new GeForce 9400M GPU, 120 GB HDD / 128 GB SSD. Version with HDD and 1.6 GHz CPU will cost 1799 dollars, more expensive one with SSD and 1.86 GHz CPU - 2499 dollars.
Not only MacBook lineup was refreshed - Cinema Display lineup was upgraded too with new 24 inch LED backlighted LCD with iSight camera built-in. Its resolution is 1920 x 1200, mic and speakers are also built-in. USB hub and MiniDisplay port finish the list of its features. They ill be sold for 899 dollars, which is pretty much for LCD monitor, but this is Apple.This year's presentation was fully aimed at MacBook enhancement, and they are quite impressive. While not as revolutionary as MacBook Air launch, new MacBook Pro is definitely worth looking at. Let's hope that we'll see more interesting Apple news in the future.
