New MacBook Pro line-up confirmed, Thunderbolt technology inside

New MacBook Pro announced
New MacBook Pro announced

Apple has confirmed the existence of its new MacBook Pro line-up, with the 13, 15, and 17-inch models coming with next generation processors and graphics, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology and a new FaceTime HD camera.

Available now from the Apple Store, the new MacBook Pro range is the company's greenest line-up ever and is up to twice as fast as the previous generation.

Read: Hands on: New MacBook Pro 2011 review

Speaking about the new range, Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said: "The new MacBook Pro brings next generation dual and quad Core processors, high performance graphics, Thunderbolt technology and FaceTime HD to the great design loved by our pro customers.

"Thunderbolt is a revolutionary new I/O technology that delivers an amazing 10 gigabits per second and can support every important I/O standard which is ideal for the new MacBook Pro."

The new MacBook Pro line-up prices begin at £999 for the 13-inch version. Specs for the 13-inch model include either an Intel Core i5 and Core i7 dual-core processors up to 2.7 GHz and Intel HD Graphics 3000.

The 15-inch screen and 17-inch screens feature quad-core Core i7 processors up to 2.3 GHz and AMD Radeon HD graphics processors with up to 1GB of video memory.

Thunderbolt from the blue

And what of this Thundebolt I/O magic Apple speaks of? Well, this ups transfer speeds of data, with the two bi-directional channels clocking up to10Gbps each.

Apple is calling this technology "a new standard for high performance I/O".

The MacBook Pros also have FaceTime, feature Apple's aluminium unibody chassis, Multi-Touch trackpad, LED-backlit widescreen display, illuminated full-size keyboard and 7-hour battery.

Price-wise, if you wanted the 15-inch model, then this starts at £1549, while the 17-inch model is available from £2099.

For more details go to www.apple.com/uk/macbookpro.

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.