Apple Introduces 17-inch MacBook Pro

Apple® unveiled its new 17-inch MacBook™ Pro notebook computer featuring the Intel Core Duo processor and an all new system architecture that delivers up to five times the performance of the PowerBook® G4. The new 17-inch MacBook Pro features a stunning aluminum enclosure just one inch thin, weighs only 6.8 pounds, includes a built-in iSight™ video camera for video conferencing on-the-go, and the breakthrough Front Row media experience with Apple Remote. The new 17-inch MacBook Pro also features a MagSafe™ Power Adapter, invented by Apple especially for mobile users.

"The 17-inch MacBook Pro delivers the speed and screen area of a professional desktop system in the world’s best notebook design," said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With Intel’s state of the art dual-core processor, the new 17-inch MacBook Pro delivers unrivaled performance in an innovative, sleek, one-inch thin design."

The new 17-inch MacBook Pro includes a 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo processor that delivers dual-core performance in a breakthrough power-efficient design, making it ideal for use in MacBook Pro’s thin and lightweight design. The new 17-inch MacBook Pro is up to five times faster than the 17-inch PowerBook G4, running industry standard benchmarks* and offers an all new system architecture including a 667 MHz front-side bus that is four times as fast as the PowerBook G4 and 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory expandable to 2GB that is twice as fast as the PowerBook G4.

Every new 17-inch MacBook Pro includes the same great Apple innovations as the 15-inch MacBook Pro including a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing on-the-go using Apple’s award-winning iChat AV, or recording a video Podcast or iMovie® using iLife® ‘06. Every MacBook Pro also includes Photo Booth, Apple’s fun-to-use application that lets users take quick snapshots with the built-in iSight video camera, add entertaining visual effects and share their pictures with the touch of a button. Featuring Apple’s breakthrough Front Row media experience, MacBook Pro gives customers a simple way to enjoy their digital lifestyle content including music, photos and videos from across the room using the Apple Remote. With Front Row, MacBook Pro customers can effortlessly access shared iTunes® playlists, iPhoto® libraries and video via Bonjour™, Apple’s zero configuration wireless networking built into Mac OS® X.

Every MacBook Pro comes with Apple’s MagSafe Power Adapter, designed especially for mobile users that makes charging the notebook’s battery easier than ever by magnetically coupling the power cord to the MacBook Pro. The MagSafe Power Adapter safely disconnects from the notebook when there is strain on the power cord, preventing the notebook from falling off its work surface. Every MacBook Pro also includes Apple’s Sudden Motion Sensor that is designed to protect the hard drive in case of a fall.

Designed for business and creative professionals, the new 17-inch MacBook Pro includes a 36 percent brighter display to make reading text and viewing images even easier and an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 PCI Express graphics with 256MB of dedicated GDDR3 graphics memory for demanding professional applications, and a Scrolling TrackPad to easily scroll through long web pages or pan across large photographs. Providing industry-leading connectivity and high-performance I/O, every new 17-inch MacBook Pro also includes a FireWire® 800 port, a FireWire 400 port, three USB 2.0 ports, optical and digital audio input and output, built-in Bluetooth 2.0 EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), and integrated AirPort Extreme 54 Mbps 802.11g WiFi wireless networking.**

Every MacBook Pro includes iLife ‘06, the next generation of Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications featuring iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD®, GarageBand™ and iWeb™, a new iLife application that makes it super-easy to create amazing websites with photos, blogs and Podcasts and publish them on .Mac for viewing by anyone on the Internet with just a single click. All the iLife ‘06 applications run natively on the new Intel-based MacBook Pros for maximum performance.

Every MacBook Pro also comes with the latest release of the world’s most advanced operating system, Mac OS X version 10.4.6 "Tiger" including Safari™, Mail, iCal®, iChat AV, Front Row and Photo Booth, running natively on Apple’s Intel-based notebook line. Mac OS X Tiger includes an innovative software translation technology called Rosetta that lets customers run most Mac OS X PowerPC applications seamlessly.*** Intel-based Mac® customers have more than 1,500 Universal applications to choose from and the list is growing each day with hundreds of developers including Adobe, Quark and IBM’s Lotus division announcing support for Mac OS X Intel-based applications. An updated list of Universal applications for Mac OS X is available at guide.apple.com/universal.

Pricing & Availability
The new 17-inch MacBook Pro will begin shipping next week through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers including Safe Harbor Computers.

The 2.16 GHz, 17-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,799 (US), includes:

17-inch widescreen 1680 x 1050 LCD display with 300 cd/m2 brightness;
2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo processor;
1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB;
120GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8x SuperDrive™ with double-layer support (DVD R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
PCI Express-based ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory;
DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately);
built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
built-in iSight video camera;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR;
ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
three USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port;
one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
Scrolling TrackPad and illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensor;
the infrared Apple Remote;
68 watt hour lithium polymer battery; and
85 watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.

Additional build-to-order options for the 17-inch MacBook Pro include 100GB (7200 rpm) hard drive, up to 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, Apple USB Modem, and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

*Based on estimated results of industry-standard SPECint and SPECfp rate tests. SPEC is a registered trademark of Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC); see http://www.apple.com/macbookpro for more information.
**Actual speed will vary based on range from the base station, environmental conditions and other factors.
*** See http://www.apple.com/rosetta/ for information on Rosetta supported Apple software. Contact the manufacturer directly for 3rd party software.

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