Apple updates laptop lines

It's Tuesday afternoon. It's time for an Apple upgrade

By Scott Snowden • Get more from this author

26th February 2008 13:54 GMT

Keeping with its tradition of launching new products each Tuesday - including recently the larger capacity iPod Shuffle, and the iPod Touch and iPhone memory upgrades - Apple has updated both the MacBook and MacBook Pro line-up.

Apple's MacBook Pro: now with 'Penryn' processors

The 15in and 17in MacBook Pro models now feature faster Intel Core 2 Duo processors running from 2.4GHz to 2.6GHz with 3-6MB of shared L2 cache, all running on 800MHz frontside buses. They have 200-250GB of hard drive storage, depending on the model, 2GB of 667MHz DDR 2 as standard, and Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics chips with 256-512MB of GDDR 3 video memory.

The two 15in and one 17in models also get the large multi-touch trackpad, first introduced with the MacBook Air last month.

The three new models of the MacBook get many of the enhancements of the MacBook Pros, but not the multi-touch pad. Their CPUs now run from 2.1GHz to 2.4GHz, dependent on model, all with 3MB of L2 cache. Again, 2GB of 667MHz DDR 2 memory comes as standard.

MacBook: multi-touch pad-less

The base model has a 120GB hard drive and a DVD-ROM/CD-RW optical unit; the rest have 160GB HDDs - 250GB with the black MacBook - and multi-format dual-layer 8x DVD burners, as do the MacBook Pros.

All the machines have 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR - 2.1 on the Pros - for wireless links, and Gigabit Ethernet for wired networking.

Available immediately, the new MacBook and MacBook Pro models start at $1099/£699 and $1999/£1299, respectively.