Archive notice: This article was originally published on October 15, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Both the new MacBook and the 15-inch MacBook Pro feature a new precision unibody aluminium enclosure machined from a single piece of aluminium, making them thinner, more durable and exceptionally attractive. Every model in the new MacBook family also includes advanced NVIDIA graphics processors, brilliant LED-backlit displays and an entirely new glass Multi-Touch trackpad with 40 percent more working area and support for additional Multi-Touch gestures. The entire MacBook family meets the stringent Energy Star 4.0, EPEAT Gold and RoHS environmental requirements, leading the way in eliminating toxic chemicals through the use of bromine-free flame retardants, PVC-free cables and components, and energy-efficient, mercury-free LED-backlit displays with arsenic-free glass.
“Apple has invented an entirely new way of building notebooks from a single piece of aluminium. Just as important, they are the greenest notebooks in the industry,” says Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “The new MacBook offers incredible features our users will love, such as the stunning aluminium design, great 3D graphics performance and an LED-backlit display, while costing up to €600 less than before.”
“Traditionally, notebooks are made from many parts. With the new MacBook, we replaced all those parts with a single one: the unibody aluminium enclosure,” explains Jonathan Ive, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Industrial Design. “The new MacBook’s precision unibody aluminium enclosure is machined from a single piece of aluminium. This makes the new MacBook significantly thinner, stronger and more robust, with an overall appearance we could not previously even have dreamed of.”
The new MacBook line features the powerful new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M. This revolutionary integrated 3D graphics processor, with 16 parallel processing cores, delivers five times the 3D graphics performance of all previous MacBook and MacBook Air models. Apple worked with NVIDIA to develop this groundbreaking graphics processor and is the first manufacturer to bring the chip to market with the new MacBook family.
The new Multi-Touch trackpad on the MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro is made of glass and gives users almost 40 percent more working area than before. It makes Multi-Touch gestures easier and simplifies operation with gestures such as pinching, rotating and swiping. New gestures can open Exposé or switch between applications. The entire trackpad surface also acts as a button, allowing users to move the cursor and click anywhere on the trackpad. Users can additionally activate various virtual buttons in software, including right-click.
Every member of the new MacBook family has an LED-backlit display that uses 30 percent less energy than its predecessor and completely eliminates the mercury normally used in backlighting. The extremely thin displays, with glass fronts that sit flush with the enclosure, deliver crisp images and vivid colours and are ideal for viewing photos and videos. Every display in the MacBook line uses entirely arsenic-free glass.
The new MacBook delivers the three features most requested by MacBook customers—an all-metal enclosure, high-performance 3D graphics and an LED-backlit display—at a price up to €600 lower than the €1,799 MacBook Pro, including VAT. At 2.41 centimetres thin and weighing 2.04 kilograms, the 13-inch aluminium MacBook is exceptionally compact and durable, with prices starting 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 MacBook with a 160 GB hard drive at 5,400 rpm, and a 2.4 GHz MacBook with a 250 GB hard drive at 5,400 rpm and a backlit keyboard.
The powerful 15-inch MacBook Pro is 2.41 centimetres thin and weighs just 2.49 kilograms, offering ultimate speed and extensive expandability in a remarkably portable design. Starting at €1,799 including VAT, the MacBook Pro uses the current Intel Core 2 Duo processor at speeds up to 2.8 GHz, while its new high-performance graphics architecture lets users switch between the power-saving NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and the powerful NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT processor. The new MacBook Pro is available in two models: a 2.4 GHz MacBook Pro with a 250 GB hard drive at 5,400 rpm, and a 2.53 GHz model with 320 GB of hard-drive storage at 5,400 rpm.
Apple is also updating the MacBook Air and 17-inch MacBook Pro. The MacBook Air, measuring just 0.4 centimetres at its thinnest point and 1.94 centimetres at its thickest while weighing only 1.36 kilograms, now also ships with the new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor and an improved architecture for more stable and faster playback of 3D games. The MacBook Air starts at €1,699 including VAT with either a 120 GB hard drive at 4,200 rpm—50 percent 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 ships as standard with a high-resolution 1920 x 1200 LED-backlit display and a larger 320 GB hard drive, or optionally with 128 GB of solid-state flash storage.
Apple is setting new standards for environmentally friendly notebook manufacturing: every model in the new MacBook family earns EPEAT Gold status*. Each MacBook unibody aluminium enclosure is made from highly recyclable aluminium and comes as standard with an energy-efficient, mercury-free LED-backlit display using arsenic-free glass. The new MacBook family meets the stringent Energy Star 4.0 requirements. The notebooks contain no brominated flame retardants and use only PVC-free internal cables and components.
The new MacBook, 15-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air feature a next-generation Mini DisplayPort optimized for connection to the new 24-inch Apple LED Cinema Display. The new display includes a built-in iSight video camera, microphone and speaker system in a sleek aluminium and glass enclosure. As part of the next-generation DisplayPort standard, Mini DisplayPort delivers a clear digital signal suitable for displays up to 30 inches. Mini DisplayPort is only 10 percent the size of a conventional DVI connector, fitting perfectly with the slim design of the new MacBook family. Adapters are available for using Mini DisplayPort with older VGA, DVI/HDMI or Dual-Link DVI displays.
