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MacBook Pro Finally gets Intel’s Core 2 Duo Processor
27/10/06
The highlights:
* Clock Speed up to 2.33 GHz
* 7x faster than the PowerMac G4 notebooks released one year ago
* Hard drive starts at 120GB — this is where the current MacBooks top out — and is configurable for up to 200GB
Although Apple computers are usually generations ahead with PC design, they have been a bit behind in raw computing power. Have been, because Apple, without warning and without a big press build up, released MacBook Pros with the Intel Core2 Duo Processor earlier this week. A lot of people have been waiting for these beauties to come out, and they don't disappoint, offering a 39 percent performance boost, speed boost, double memory and a FireWire 800 port in the same one-inch shell.
[Although you might want to double check those numbers, bloggers are writing good thing about this update:
- The performance increases for people using well-written multithreaded applications are much better than for running typical single-threaded stuff. Basically all of Apple's software is well-written multithread applications, so it benefits really well from Core 2 Duo's improvements
- Each core is running at least 6% faster than with the Core Duo from the 4MB L2 cache alone. The floating-point performance is better too, so applications using floating point will see a bit more improvement. There are new SSE instructions for vector processing, so audio/video processing software can get performance gains from that - if the software is designed to take advantage of the new SSE instructions. Add to all of that the new 64bit capability, and you have the potential for big performance gains.]
Apple's release of the new Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro did more than just raise the performance of their portables. The new energy efficient, faster, Core 2 Duo Processors in the MacBook Pro are now the major difference between the consumer MacBook and the professional MacBook Pro. Up to the release of the Core2Duo MacBook Pros, MacBook laptops offered the best price/performance ratio in the Mac world. The only advantages the MacBook Pro use to have over the MacBook, was a larger screen, better video and the ultra cool Aluminum casing,. But now with the new Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro and all the other extras (see full specs below) it is well worth investing in the Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro.
There are two 15-inch models that are available today weighing-in at 5.6 lbs. One is a 2.16 GHz and sells for $1,999, then there is a 2.33 GHz for $2,499. The 17-inch MacBook Pro (6.8 lbs) is available starting next week for $2,799.
Full Specs:
The 2.16 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US), includes:
-- 15.4-inch widescreen 1440 x 900 LCD display with 300 cd/m2 brightness;
-- 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor;
-- 1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 3GB;
-- 120GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
-- a slot-load 6x SuperDrive(TM) with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
-- PCI Express-based ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 128MB GDDR3 memory;
-- DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately);
-- built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
-- built-in iSight video camera;
-- Gigabit Ethernet port;
-- built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;
-- ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
-- two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port;
-- one audio line in and one headphone out port, each supporting optical digital audio;
-- Scrolling TrackPad and illuminated keyboard;
-- the infrared Apple Remote; and
-- 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.
The 2.33 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes:
-- 15.4-inch widescreen 1440 x 900 LCD display with 300 cd/m2 brightness;
-- 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2Duo processor;
-- 2GB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 3GB;
-- 120GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
-- a slot-load 6x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
-- PCI Express-based ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory;
-- DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately);
-- built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
-- built-in iSight video camera;
-- Gigabit Ethernet port;
-- built-in Airport Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;
-- ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
-- two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port;
-- one audio line in and one headphone out port, each supporting optical digital audio;
-- Scrolling TrackPad and illuminated keyboard;
-- the infrared Apple Remote; and
-- 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.
The 2.33 GHz, 17-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,799 (US), includes:
-- 17-inch widescreen 1680 x 1050 LCD display with 300 cd/m2 brightness;
-- 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor;
-- 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 3GB;
-- 160GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
-- a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
-- PCI Express-based ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory;
-- DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included,Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately);
-- built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
-- built-in iSight video camera;
-- Gigabit Ethernet port;
-- built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;
-- ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
-- three USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port;
-- one audio line in and one headphone out port, each supporting optical digital audio;
-- Scrolling TrackPad and illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensor;
-- the infrared Apple Remote; and
-- 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.
Sources: gizmodo, zdnet, trustedreviews
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