Apple updates MacBook Pro with Penryn; Multitouch (updated)
Apple today announced an upgraded MacBook Pro notebook based on Intel's Penryn processor and featuring a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor with 512MB of VRAM and a Multi-Touch trackpad.
MacBook Pro configurations include:
- MacBook Pro 15" 2.4GHz, 2GB, 200GB 5400RPM, 256MB VRAM US$1,999
- MacBook Pro 15" 2.5GHz, 2GB, 250GB 5400RPM, 512MB VRAM US$2,499
- MacBook Pro 17" 2.5GHz, 2GB, 250GB 5400RPM, 512MB VRAM US$2,799
Probably the single biggest feature in the new MacBook Pro is the move to Intel's latest mobile processor – Penryn. Intel announced the new chip in September 2007 and began shipping it in January. You can read more about Penryn in my piece Inside Intel’s Penryn Processor. From Apple:
The Intel Core 2 Duo runs on 45-nm process technology at speeds up to 2.6GHz with up to 6MB of L2 cache. Its SSE4 vector engine handles 128-bit computations in a single clock cycle, accelerating data manipulation by simultaneously applying a single instruction to multiple data.
Apple's MacBook Pro performance page lists some impressive benchmarks for the new NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT GPU:
The combination of a 16-lane PCI Express architecture and the powerful graphics processor brings a new level of realism to MacBook Pro users.
The 16x full-screen anti-aliasing, 128-bit High Dynamic Range rendering, and texture fill rate of up to 8.2 billion textured pixels per second provide unrivaled picture quality and lifelike contrast and tone for next-generation 3D animation and games. The new MacBook Pro graphics performance is up to 2.3 times faster than that of the original Core Duo-based MacBook Pro.
Unfortunately, we didn't get any cool goodies like a Blu-Ray drive, new enclosure or built-in 3G wireless, but then again, Apple has to keep something for the next model, right?
The new models are listed a shipping "within 24 hours" from the Apple Store.
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