Apple dilate its laptop computer oblation beyond the august PowerBook assembly line Tuesday , with the release of theMacBook Proportable data processor . Announced by Steve Jobs during his Macworld Expo tonic , the MacBook Pro is the first laptop from Apple to use an Intel - construct chip , the Intel Core Duo mainframe .
Apple claims the MacBook Pro deliver up to four times the functioning of a PowerBook G4 , with Apple CEO Steve Jobs hailing it as the fast notebook ever . The 5.6 - Egyptian pound organisation is housed in a one - column inch thick aluminum enclosure and features a 15.4 - inch LCD screen that ’s 67 percent brighter than the PowerBook ’s screen ; Apple say the MacBook Pro ’s presentation is as bright as the company ’s screen background Cinema Displays .
The company will volunteer two versions of the MacBook Pro — one with a 1.67GHz Intel Core Duo processor , and the with a 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo processor . A new iMac , also announced at Macworld Expo , features Intel processors as well . The system computer architecture has been altered for faster functioning — the laptop boast a 667MHz frontside bus , that is four times as fast as the PowerBook G4 . The new laptop computer also send with 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM retentiveness , twice as fast as the old PowerBook . The 1.67GHz role model ship with 512 megabyte of random memory while the 1.8GHz example has 1 GB set up ; both system can arrest up to 2 GB of RAM .
The MacBook Pro come with a built - in iSight video tv camera , iChat AV , iLife ’ 06 , the Apple Remote , and Front Row , the multimedia system direction software stick in last year . MacBook Pro also admit Photo Booth , an covering that lets users take quick snapshots with the built - in iSight telecasting camera , add ocular consequence , and share moving-picture show with the touch of a button .
The new notebook also debuts Apple ’s MagSafe magnetic power connecter , designed especially for mobile drug user . The MagSafe baron connecter makes charging the notebook ’s shelling easier by magnetically coupling the power cord to the MacBook Pro . The MagSafe power connection safely disconnects from the notebook when there is song on the office corduroy , help oneself to foreclose the notebook computer from fall off its work surface if the power cord is unwittingly yanked .
Each MacBook Pro add up standard with an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 PCI limited artwork carte du jour , feature either 128 M or 256 MB of consecrated GDDR3 computer graphic computer memory . The MacBook Pro models also include built - in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR ( Enhanced Data Rate ) , incorporate AirPort Extreme 54Mbps 802.11 g WiFi wireless networking , a scrolling TrackPad , and Apple ’s Sudden Motion Sensor technology for protecting the backbreaking drive in case of a spill .
While Apple is taking orders now , the MacBook Pro wo n’t start shipping until February . The 1.67GHz , 15 - inch MacBook Pro sell for $ 1,999 , while the 1.83GHz is priced at $ 2,499 . Build - to - decree options will be available as well .
Though Apple project to have Intel processors in all of its hardware by the remnant of 2006 , thePowerBook G4remains available in 12 - inch , 15 - inch , and 17 - in configurations . Those models remain available for purchase at Apple’sonline storage .
update at 3:14 ET to include information on PowerBook G4 availability .
