Meet the new MacBook Pro family – better chips, better graphics cards

While the iPad is grabbing eyes and headlines, Apple have just beefed up one of their core offerings by releasing a new family of MacBook Pros. And these are available in the UK.

What are the updates then?
Key updates only come on the 15″ and 17″ models. Here’s the low down:

– Faster chips: the 15″ and 17″ Airs will get new more powerful dual-core chips, the Intel i5 and i7, which should boost peformance by up to 50% on programmes like Final Cut Pro. The difference is a 10% improvement when running basic programmes.
Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors also feature Turbo Boost which kicks in during processor-intensive applications like Final Cut Pro, and dynamically increases the speed of one or both cores, taking a 2.66GHz MacBook Pro all the way up to 3.33GHz.
The 13″ has an Intel Core Duo processor.

– Better NVIDIA graphics cards: the new 15- and 17-inch MacBooks come with a an NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics processor — the fastest graphics card ever in a Mac notebook. It’s more powerful and more energy efficient than previous generation. These Macs automatically switch graphics cards according to what you’re using. Giving you better battery life or better graphics depending on what you’re using. The 13″ MacBook Pro stays on Nvidia’s 320M graphics processor.

– Battery life No drastic leaps here, but it seems slightly improved. Hitting about 8-9 hours on the higher specced 15″ and 17″, it’s 10 hours for the 13″ Pro.

Cost?
The cheapest one you can get is the 13″ with the 2.4GHz Intel Core Duo chip and a 250 gb hard drive – £999.
To get the benefit of the updates without breaking the bank: get the 15″ with an i5 processor and standard storage – £1,649.00
And to go top of the range: get the 17″ Macbook with a i5 processor which will set you back £1,899.00.

see all on apple.com/uk