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Apple revamps MacBook as 13in MacBook Pro

Apple today unveiled a new-look MacBook that ditches the familiar white and black plastic styling and becomes just a small-screen MacBook Pro.

The 13.3in MacBook has the same look and basic specs as the 15.4in MacBook Pro, also announced today.

MacBook 08

That means an aluminium body, LED-backlit display set under a glossy black bezel, multi-touch glass trackpad, new mini-DisplayPort connector, side-mounted slot-loading multi-format DVD burner and Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated chipset.

As expected, there are two models: one with a 2GHz Core 2 Duo CPU with 3MB of L2 and 160GB hard drive. The second bumps the processor to 2.4GHz, ups the HDD to a 250GB model and adds - clearly a luxury item, this - a backlit keyboard, which really should be standard across the line.

MacBook 08

Why? We've seen more people go 'wow' over MacBook Pro and Air backlit keyboards than any other Mac feature - it's a great marketing tool, and Apple's not using it as effectively as it could.

Back to the MacBooks: both have 2GB of 1066MHz DDR 3 memory. The two models are priced at $1299/£949 and $1599/£1149, respectively. Keen buyers can upgrade the memory to 4GB, the HDD to either a 320GB model or a 128GB SSD.

Apple described DVI, dual-DVI and VGA adaptors as optional accessories, so they're definitely no longer in the box.

Not keen on the new look? Apple also updated its old-style white MacBook with a faster processor today, too, for $999/£719.

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