Apple unveils new MacBook Pro line up

Apple unveils new Macbook line up
Apple unveils new Macbook line up

Apple kicked off WWDC 2009 by announcing the new MacBook Pro, with a battery that lasts 40 per cent longer than before.

It's promised that the new battery, now with a life of up to seven hours, has a lifespan of at least five years, which is clearly important as the battery itself is non-replaceable.

Promising a device that's just as thin and just as light as before, the new MacBook pro can last 1,000 recharges before replacement.

It's also got an SD slot on the front as well as an improved screen with 60 per cent richer colours, meaning a much deeper and more vivid screen.

Welcome to the family

The pick of the bunch is the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which starts at less than £1,000, with up to 8GB of RAM, a build in LED-backlit keyboard, FireWire and SD card slot.

The 15-inch screened version is available beginning at 2.53GHz processor for around £1,100 and a 250GB hard drive, with 4GB of RAM. You can customise up to a 17-inch model, also with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive and ExpressCard slot (no SD) for around £1,700.

The 15-inch version is available in up to 3.06GHz Dual Core 6MB Level 2 Cache, flavours, as well as up to a massive 8GB of memory for super fast processing and working speeds.

The new MacBook Pro, with a lovely unibody finish, will cost around £1,100 if it makes it over to the UK, which is a price drop of around £250, although it's possible that Apple won't give the UK the same discount offered to those in the US, where it goes on sale today.

Apple has also refreshed its MacBook Air range to include a faster processor for less cash.

The units, which apparently meet the EPET Gold standard and are rated at Energy Star v5 to make them among the world's greenest notebooks, have a 1.8Ghz processor for just $1,800 (£1,200).

This version includes a 128GB SSD, but if you prefer to pay just $1,500, you can get a MacBook Air with 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo processor and a 120GB HDD.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.