Apple has refreshed its lineup of 13, 15 and 17 inch Macbook Pros with a host of new updates. The line up gets Intel’s new Sandy Bridge based Core i5 and i7 processors. Apple also seems to have at least temporarily bid goodbye to Nvidia with it adopting ATI’s Radeon HD 6000M graphics. Other new inclusions include the arrival of FaceTime HD cameras and lastly, Intel’s new Thunderbolt I/O interface. The 13 inch and the 15 inch versions come in two versions while the 17 inch gets a single version only.
Design wise, they remain pretty much the same with the Unibody make still remaining stylish and contemporary. The Thunderbolt connector endows the MacBook Pro with a phenomenal 10 Gbps of bandwidth speeds. More on Thunderbolt here.
13 –inch
While the 13 inch models did not receive much of an update last time around, this time things are different. They were stuck with the now ageing Core 2 Duo processors. They have now been upgraded to Core i5 and i7 processors. As for the pricing, the base model is priced at $1,199 while the top of the line version costs $500 more at $1499. The base version gets a 2.4GHz dual-core Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive. The higher end version gets a 2.7GHz dual-core Core i7 CPU and a 500GB hard drive. The 13 inch Pros don’t get dedicated graphics like its larger cousins. Instead, it gets Intel’s HD 3000 integrated graphics which is said to be more powerful than current versions.
15 – inch
The 15-inch MacBook Pro gets the new Core i7 processor and dedicated AMD Radeon HD 6000M graphics. The 15 inch versions start at $1,799. This one gets an i7 quad core processor running at 2 Ghz. The graphics is handled by the AMD Radeon HD6490M chip with 1GB of VRAM. Storage is handled by a 500GB hard drive. Slightly up the price ladder is the one that costs $2,199. This gets a faster processor running at 2.2GHz. The graphics ship gets updated to 6750M and the storage upped to a 750GB hard drive. Other options include a 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB SSD configurations.
17 –inch
The most desirable Macbook Pro, the 17 inch version is priced at $2499. It gets the same processor as the one seen on the higher end 15 inch version, AMD Radeon 6750M graphics, and a 750GB hard drive. Of course, the SSD option is available for this version too. All these new versions are shipping in the US starting today.
[Update]
Apple has just reveled the India specific pricing for the new Macbook Pro line up. Here are the details:
The 13-inch MacBook Pro is available in two configurations: one with a 2.3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 and 320GB hard drive starting at Rs 69,900 Inc VAT (Rs. 66,571.43 ex VAT); and one with a 2.7 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 and 500GB hard drive starting at Rs 84,900 Inc VAT (Rs 80,857.14 ex VAT). The new 15-inch MacBook Pro is available in two models: one with a 2.0 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon HD 6490M and 500GB hard drive starting at Rs 104,900 Inc VAT (Rs 99,904.76 ex VAT) and one with a 2.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon HD 6750M and 750GB hard drive starting at Rs 124,900 Inc VAT (Rs 118,952.38 ex VAT). The new 17-inch MacBook Pro features a 2.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon HD 6750M and 750GB hard drive and is priced at Rs 142,900 Inc VAT (Rs 136,095.24 ex VAT).
