15.4-inch display
2.2GHz or 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
5.4 pounds
8x double-layer-burning SuperDrive
One FireWire 400
One FireWire 800
Two USB
ExpressCard/34
Up to 200GB hard drive
Gigabit Ethernet
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
Built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n
Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
Illuminated keyboard
Scrolling trackpad
Just about a month-and-a-half after Steve Jobs’s surprisingly unsurprising announcement at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco that the first two Intel-based Macs to be rolled out would be the iMac and the MacBook Pro—the apparently newly renamed PowerBook—MacBook Pros finally started arriving at eager users’ doorsteps. The six-week gap between announcement and arrival was plenty of time for rumors to grow.
There were rumors that the floor models available at MacWorld were mere prototypes and that the final design of the MacBook Pro was not even finished yet. There were rumors of chip shortages. There were even rumors that excessive demand was driving long shipping delays that apparently no one who had ordered immediately after MacWorld was experiencing whatsoever. Luckily, these rumors appear to have been unsubstantiated, and the MacBook Pro started shipping last week exactly as expected.
Well, there was one exception. A mere day before they were originally slated to start shipping to the masses, Apple bumped the chip speed of both the high- and low-end models of the MacBook Pro from 1.83GHz to 2.0GHz and from 1.67GHz to 1.83GHz, respectively (with a 2.16GHz version available for built-to-order machines). While mystifying, no one was arguing with that, even if it did push everyone’s shipping back by one more week.
That said, they’re all finally rolling out, with the 2.0GHz versions shipping first and then the 1.83GHz versions in short pursuit. Here at the Orbiting HQ, we acquired a 1.83GHz MacBook Pro for review and have had an eventful time doing so.
“Apple’s notebooks have always led the industry in innovation withfeatures like built-in 802.11 and the MagSafe Power Adapter, and nowthe industry’s first 15-inch LED-backlit display is another steptoward completely eliminating mercury from our displays.”
Designed for mobile professionals, the MacBook Pro includes a built-iniSight video camera for video conferencing on-the-go, Apple’s MagSafePower Adapter that magnetically connects the power cord to the MacBookPro and safely disconnects when under strain, and the latestgeneration of 802.11n wireless networking for up to five times theperformance and twice the range of 802.11g. Every new MacBook Pro alsoincludes built-in 10/100/1000 BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet for high-speednetworking, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), a FireWire(R) 800and a FireWire 400 port, a backlit illuminated keyboard, an ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot for expansion solutions such as 3G wireless networking, and a DVI video output to connect up to a 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display.
The MacBook Pro comes with iLife ‘06, the next generation of Apple’saward-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications featuringiPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, GarageBand and iWeb. The MacBook Pro alsocomes with the latest release of the world’s most advanced operatingsystem, Mac OS(R) X version 10.4.9 Tiger, including Safari, Mail,iCal, iChat AV, Front Row and Photo Booth.
