Apple's entire MacBook Pro range was updated in April 2010, with the 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros moving to Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors. The 15-inch MacBook Pro range gets three new models, featuring 2.4 and 2.53GHz Intel Core i5 chips, and the 2.66GHz Intel Core i7 version reviewed here.

The new processors offer technologies that substantially boost their performance, making them significantly faster than the previous 15-inch MacBook Pro line-up's 2.53, 2.66 and 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo processors.

The graphics have had an upgrade too. The Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor is no longer used as Intel's Core i5 and Core i7 chips have their own in-built Intel HD Graphics. The discrete GPU is now an Nvidia GeForce 330M, up from a GeForce 9600M GT.

Apple's recent notebook upgrades have boosted the MacBook and MacBook Pro's specifications without substantially increasing the price. The mid-2010 upgrade continues this trend, though a small raise is incurred.

This top-of-the-range 15-inch MacBook Pro retails at £1,799 in the Apple Store, up from £1,736 for the previous high-end model.

But can any laptop be worth almost £1,800? Thankfully, although at the luxury end of the notebook market, there's enough to like about the 2.66GHz Intel Core i7 15-inch MacBook Pro to make it worth the asking price.

13 inch model

LONG LIFE: The 13-inch MacBook Pro now offers up to 10 hours of wireless charge, with the 15-inch model lasting eight to nine hours