Apple’s 45nm Refresh: New MacBook & MacBook Pro
by Anand Lal Shimpi on February 29, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Mac
What’s New?
1) Mobile Penryn: The MacBook and MacBook Pro now both use 45nm Penryn based Core 2 Duo CPUs. The chipset and rest of the platform remain identical. We’ll be measuring the impacts of this on performance battery life.
2) Multi-touch Track Pads: The MacBook Pro now gets the same multi-touch functionality as the MacBook Air.
3) More Video Memory on the MacBook Pro: The GeForce 8600M GT Apple uses in the MacBook Pro now comes with either 256MB or 512MB of GDDR3 memory, up from 128MB - 256MB in the previous MacBook Pro. The base MacBook continues to use Intel’s X3100 integrated graphics and uses system memory (up to 144MB) for its frame buffer.
4) Bigger Hard Drives: Both the MacBook and MacBook Pro now come with larger 2.5” HDDs standard. Reasonable sized SSDs are still too expensive to realistically offer. I’ve got a 128GB SSD back at the office, I’ll be taking a look at its impact on battery life after CeBIT.
5) Slightly Updated Keyboards: The function key layout has been updated a bit and is now identical to the desktop and MacBook Air keyboards. The base MacBook does not get a backlit keyboard unfortunately.
The improvements to the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines are largely evolutionary, but they do come at no additional cost so it’s tough to complain about that.
| New Penryn MacBook Pro 15" | Old Merom MacBook Pro 15" | New Penryn MacBook | Old Merom MacBook | MacBook Air | |
| Dimensions | H: 1.0" W: 14.1" D: 9.6" |
H: 1.0" W: 14.1" D: 9.6" |
H: 1.08" W: 12.78" D: 8.92" |
H: 1.08" W: 12.78" D: 8.92" |
H: 0.16-076" W: 12.8" D: 8.94" |
| Weight | 5.4 lbs | 5.4 lbs | 5.0 lbs | 5.0 lbs | 3.0 lbs |
| Screen Size/Resolution | 15.4" / 1440 x 900 | 15.4" / 1440 x 900 | 13.3" / 1280 x 800 | 13.3" / 1280 x 800 | 13.3" / 1280 x 800 |
| CPU | Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz - 2.6GHz (45nm Penryn) | Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz - 2.6GHz (65nm Merom) | Intel Core 2 Duo 2.1 - 2.4GHz (45nm Penryn) | Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 - 2.2GHz (65nm Merom) | Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6 - 1.8GHz (65nm Merom) |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (256MB - 512MB) | NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (128MB - 256MB) | Intel GMA X3100 (144MB UMA) |
Intel GMA X3100 (144MB UMA) |
Intel GMA X3100 (144MB UMA) |
| Memory | 2GB - 4GB DDR2-667 | 2GB - 4GB DDR2-667 | 1GB - 4GB DDR2-667 | 1GB - 4GB DDR2-667 | 2GB DDR2-667 (fixed) |
| HDD | 200 - 250GB 2.5" 5400RPM SATA 200GB 7200RPM SATA |
120 - 250GB 2.5" 5400RPM SATA 200GB 7200RPM SATA |
120 - 250GB 2.5" 5400RPM SATA HDD | 80 - 160GB 2.5" 5400RPM SATA HDD | 80GB 1.8" HDD or 64GB 1.8" SSD |
| Optical Drive | Integrated SuperDrive | Integrated SuperDrive | Integrated Combo drive or SuperDrive | Integrated Combo drive or SuperDrive | Optional External USB SuperDrive |
| Networking | 802.11a/b/g/n 10/100/1000 Ethernet |
802.11a/b/g/n 10/100/1000 Ethernet |
802.11a/b/g/n 10/100/1000 Ethernet |
802.11a/b/g/n 10/100/1000 Ethernet |
802.11a/b/g/n |
| Built in iSight | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inputs | 2 x USB 2.0 1 x FireWire 400 1 x FireWire 800 1 x ExpressCard/34 1 x Audio in 1 x Integrated mic |
2 x USB 2.0 1 x FireWire 400 1 x FireWire 800 1 x ExpressCard/34 1 x Audio in 1 x Integrated mic |
2 x USB 2.0 1 x FireWire 400 1 x Audio in 1 x Integrated mic |
2 x USB 2.0 1 x FireWire 400 1 x Audio in 1 x Integrated mic |
1 x USB 2.0 1 x Integrated mic |
| Outputs | 1 x Audio 1 x dual-link DVI |
1 x Audio 1 x dual-link DVI |
1 x Audio 1 x mini-DVI |
1 x Audio 1 x mini-DVI |
1 x Audio 1 x Micro-DVI |
| Battery | 60WHr | 60WHr | 55WHr | 55WHr | 37WHr |
| Price | $1999 | $1999 | $1099 | $1099 | $1799 |
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Anand Lal Shimpi - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
You are correct, the base MacBook only has limited support for gestures on the trackpad. I've updated the article to reflect the correct information :)Take care,
Anand