Apple today unveiled an entirely new MacBook family that redefines notebook design. At the same time, Apple is dramatically reducing the entry price for notebooks with advanced features such as all-metal enclosures and high-performance graphics by as much as €600, making them far more affordable. Both the new MacBook and the 15-inch MacBook Pro feature the new precision aluminium unibody enclosure, manufactured from a single piece of aluminium, making them thinner, more durable and remarkably beautiful. Every model in the new MacBook family also features advanced NVIDIA graphics processors, brilliant LED-backlit displays, and an entirely new glass Multi-Touch trackpad with 40 per cent more tracking area and support for additional Multi-Touch gestures. The entire MacBook family meets strict Energy Star 4.0, EPEAT Gold and RoHS environmental standards, leading the industry in eliminating toxic chemicals through brominated-flame-retardant-free materials, PVC-free cables and components, energy-efficient mercury-free LED-backlit displays, and arsenic-free glass.
“Apple has invented an entirely new way of building notebooks from a single block of aluminium. Equally important, they are the greenest notebooks in the industry,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “The new MacBook offers incredible features our users will love, including the stunning aluminium design, excellent 3D graphics performance and an LED-backlit display, while costing as much as €600 less than before.”
“Traditionally, notebooks are made from numerous parts. With the new MacBook, we have replaced all those parts with a single one: the aluminium unibody enclosure,” said Jonathan Ive, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Industrial Design. “The new MacBook’s precision aluminium unibody enclosure is machined from a single piece of aluminium. This makes the new MacBook substantially thinner, stronger and more robust, with an overall appearance we had not previously even dreamed possible.”
The new MacBook line features the powerful new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M. With 16 parallel processing cores, this revolutionary integrated 3D graphics processor delivers five times the 3D graphics performance of previous MacBook and MacBook Air models. Apple worked with NVIDIA to develop this groundbreaking graphics processor, and the new MacBook family is the first on the market to feature the chip.
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The new glass Multi-Touch trackpad on the MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro gives users almost 40 per cent more tracking area than before. It makes Multi-Touch gestures even easier, supporting actions such as pinching, rotating and swiping. New gestures can open Exposé or switch between applications. The entire trackpad surface is also a button, allowing users to move the cursor and click anywhere on the trackpad. Users can additionally enable various virtual buttons, such as right-click, through software.
Every member of the new MacBook family features an LED-backlit display that uses 30 per cent less energy than its predecessor and contains none of the mercury commonly used in display backlighting. The exceptionally thin displays, with a glass front that sits flush with the enclosure, deliver crisp images and vivid colours and are ideal for viewing photographs and video. Every display in the MacBook line uses entirely arsenic-free glass.
The new MacBook delivers the three features most requested by MacBook customers—a metal enclosure, high-performance 3D graphics and an LED-backlit display—at a price up to €600 below the €1,799 MacBook Pro, including VAT. At 2.41 centimetres thin and weighing 2.04 kilograms, the 13-inch aluminium MacBook is an exceptionally compact yet durable notebook, with prices beginning at €1,199 including VAT. The new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor delivers remarkable 3D graphics performance for a consumer notebook, up to five times that of the previous generation. The new MacBook is available in two configurations: a 2.0 GHz model with a 160 GB 5,400 rpm hard drive, and a 2.4 GHz model with a 250 GB 5,400 rpm hard drive and backlit keyboard.
The powerful 15-inch MacBook Pro is 2.41 centimetres thin and weighs just 2.49 kilograms, offering ultimate performance and extensive expandability in a remarkably portable design. Starting at €1,799 including VAT, the MacBook Pro features the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processor running at up to 2.8 GHz. Its new high-performance graphics architecture allows users to switch between the battery-saving NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and the powerful NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT processor. The new MacBook Pro is available in two configurations: a 2.4 GHz model with a 250 GB 5,400 rpm hard drive and a 2.53 GHz model with 320 GB of 5,400 rpm hard-drive storage.
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Apple is also updating the MacBook Air and 17-inch MacBook Pro. Measuring just 0.4 centimetres at its thinnest point and 1.94 centimetres at its thickest, and weighing only 1.36 kilograms, the MacBook Air now also ships with the new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor and an improved architecture for smoother, faster 3D gaming. The MacBook Air starts at €1,699 including VAT with either a 120 GB 4,200 rpm hard drive—50 per cent more capacity than the previous model—or 128 GB of solid-state flash storage. The 17-inch MacBook Pro retains its original aluminium design and now comes as standard with a high-resolution 1920 x 1200 LED-backlit display and a larger 320 GB hard drive or optional 128 GB solid-state flash storage.
Apple is setting new standards for environmentally friendly notebook manufacturing: every model in the new MacBook family receives EPEAT Gold status. Each MacBook aluminium unibody enclosure is made from highly recyclable aluminium and ships as standard with an energy-efficient, mercury-free LED-backlit display using arsenic-free glass. The new MacBook family meets strict Energy Star 4.0 requirements. The notebooks contain no brominated flame retardants and use only PVC-free internal cables and components.
