Apple adds new Core 2 Duo chips to pro laptop line

Computerworld - Apple Computer Inc. today unveiled upgraded MacBook Pro laptops that now feature Intel Corp.'s new Core 2 Duo processors and hard drives offering up to 200GB of space. Apple officials said the new MacBook Pros are up to 39% faster than the models they replace, largely because of underlying changes to the architecture of the new processor.

Prices for the two models offered by Apple -- a 15-in. MacBook Pro that comes with a 2.16-GHz Core 2 Duo processor and a 17-in. version with a 2.33-GHz processor -- start at $1,999. The 15-in. model can also be upgraded to the 2.33-GHz Core 2 Duo processor. That model sells for $2,499, with the 17-in. version selling for $2,799.

According to Apple Product Manager Todd Benjamin, the 15-in. models are shipping today, and the 17-in. models will ship next week. Apple's MacBook Pro line was last updated with the introduction of the first Intel-based 17-in. model in April.

Pointing to last week's quarterly earnings report by Apple, Benjamin noted that the company sold 1.6 million computers in its latest quarter, 1 million of which were laptops. "Portables are doing really well, so we're thrilled to follow that up with a new lineup of MacBook Pros," he said in an interview.

"We have Core 2 Duo [processors] across the lineup, with the 2.33-GHz being the fastest Core 2 Duo out there," he said, noting that the new Intel chips offer twice the amount of Level 2 (L2) cache memory as the Core Duo processors used in the just-discontinued MacBook Pro models. The new chips have 4MB of L2 cache; the Core Duo chips had 2MB of L2 cache.

"When we look at [benchmark] testing, you see it's up to 39% faster than the fastest processors in the old model," Benjamin said. "We're moving from 2.16 GHz to 2.33 GHz, but clearly, 39% is more than just the [higher] clock speed."

He also said the new laptops are seven times faster than the Power PC-based PowerBook G4s offered by Apple a year ago.

"Where the rubber really hits the road is in professional applications," Benjamin said. "With Final Cut Pro, in rendering and encoding testing, this application is running up to 39% faster, and with Aperture -- for images [both] raw and JPEG -- it's 25% faster in our benchmark testing."

The new laptops come with double of the RAM of the previous models. The 15-in. version ships with 1GB of PC2-5300 (667-MHz) Double Data Rate 2 memory. The upgraded 15-in. and 17-in. models come with 2GB of RAM. All three support up to 3GB of RAM, but adding that memory boosts the price by $575 when bought through Apple.