MacBook Pro

Designed by Apple, Inc., the MacBook Pro is a laptop capable of running Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux operating systems. Apple assigns the Pro label to the model in order to differentiate it from a "regular" MacBook. This "Pro" (or "professional") model is generally more powerful and therefore aimed towards professionals who feel they need more power and additional features. As such, the MacBook Pro is considered the top end of the MacBook family.

Apple refreshes the internal components of the Macbook Pro with some frequency in order to make sure it has the latest technology. Not all of these updates include changes to the MacBook Pro's physical casing. Instead, Apple chooses more often to refresh the internals of the device. According to the Apple news site, macrumors.com, an average of 200 days has historically occurred between updates of the MacBook Pro.

Latest Version

Announced on April 13, 2010, Apple announced the latest MacBook Pro update. It was a refresh of the internal components and did not feature any kind of radical redesign of the laptop's exterior. Speculation and rumors concerning the update were found all over the internet throughout the weeks leading up to the actual release of the laptops. Sites like MacRumors.com and AppleInsider.com were among those who occasionally posted news articles containing such information.http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/04/13/apple_releases_new_macbook_pros_with_intel_core_i7_i5_processors.html

Processor

• The refreshed line of MacBook Pros feature faster processors across the line. The faster processors used in the machines are still manufactured by Intel. The 13" model received a bump up in the speed of its Core 2 Duo processor. The 15" and 17" are now each available with Core i5 and Core i7 chips.http://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/13/inside-apples-new-macbook-pro/
• This update is significant, as these last two models were previously only available with Core 2 Duo processors. Although the Core chips have a slower clock speed on paper, they are said to perform somewhere around 50% better than the CPU's they replaced.

Graphics

• All the models have had the graphics processing chips refreshed. The new chips—designed by NVIDIA—also come with increased memory. For example, the 15" and 17" models are available with either 256MB or 512MB of dedicated memory. These last two models are powered by the GeForce GT 330M chipset, but also have an onboard, integrated Intel HD graphics processor.
• Additionally, the new NVIDIA dedicated chips can apparently be switched seamlessly back and forth between the MacBook Pro's integrated graphics chip.http://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/13/inside-apples-new-macbook-pro/

Battery Life

• Another updated feature is improved battery life. Apple advertises that the new battery should last ten hours long on the 13" model. For the 15" and 17" models, the battery will last a bit shorter—somewhere between eight and nine hours long.http://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/13/inside-apples-new-macbook-pro/

Additional Updates

Display

• The display on the 15" Pro model now has the option of being upgraded to a display with an increased resolution of 1680px by 1050px. 1440px by 900px resolution—the previous maximum resolution—is still available as well.http://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/13/inside-apples-new-macbook-pro/
• The 17" model does not see any changes to its resolution in this update: It maintains its previous screen resolution of 1900px by 1200px

Hard Drive Size

• The hard drive size has been updated to reflect the newest hard drives available. When ordering the updated Pro model, one can now add a hard drive that is up to 500GB.
• On the 15" and 17" models, the 500GB hard drive is also available with a speed of 7200-rpm, replacing 5400-rpm models.http://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/13/inside-apples-new-macbook-pro/

Inertial Scrolling Feature

• The trackpad of the MacBook Pro has also been slightly upgraded. It still features the multi-touch capabilities and now also has inertial scrolling. This feature is already found in devices like Apple's iPhone. It enables a person to more naturally scroll around.
• For example, the feature might be used within a web browser when a user "flicks" his or her finger up or down the trackpad. In this example, the website would scroll in the desired direction and eventually come to a stop after appearing to loose all of the "inertia" generated by the initial finger swipe.

Previous Updates

On June 8, 2009, Apple revealed the an updated model of the MacBook Pro. The aluminum MacBook was re-branded to be the 13-inch MacBook Pro. All of the MacBook Pros now have non-removable batteries. The 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros now include a SD card slot instead of an ExpressCard/34 slot, which is still present on the 17-inch MacBook Pro.