Core 2 Duo Apple MacBook Pros Announced (At Last!)
posted Tuesday, October 24th, 2006 by Andy Gore
Go figure. Apple makes an enormous stink about downloadable movies and tweaked iPods, but just a month later lets slip what is quite possibly the most anticipated product announcement of the year with nary a press release: Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro portables.
That’s right, the oft-rumored MacBook Pro upgrades slinked out the back door like a whipped cur. Sometimes I wonder if Apple remembers that for many of their customers (the ones willing to fork over thousands for just one product), the Mac is still where it’s at. And we’ve all been waiting… and waiting… and waiting for them to get the Core 2 Duo into a portable.
Still it’s here and it looks to be pretty darned sweet: My personal favorite configuration offers the aforementioned Core 2 Duo clocking in at 2.33 GHz, an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics subsystem with 256MB of dedicated SDRAM, 2GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, 6x SuperDrive (dual-layer DVD burner), and a 15-inch screen for $2,499. There’s also a lower-end 15-inch and higher-end 17-inch configuration plus a short list of customizable features like drive storage and whether your screen has anti-glare coating, all available for your shopping pleasure at store.apple.com. You can pre-order now with a promise of delivery early next month.
Other niceties that make their debut on Apple’s new notebooks: Integrated iSight camera, Front Row and an Apple Remote. The MacBook Pros continue to offer FireWire 800, optical digital audio and 1000BASET Ethernet. The chassis remains identical to its Core Duo predecessor, but who cares? With all that speed all anyone’s going to see is a blur when your shiny new portable blows their doors off.
Only one mystery now remains: Apple says the new MacBooks only come with 801.11g wireless networking built in. But, as some users have reported of their new Core 2 Duo iMacs, it remains to be seen if Apple will quietly upgrade their portable to pre-802.11n. Will you win the wireless lottery? Will I? Will anyone? Only time will tell.
