Apple Bumps MacBook Pro with Processor, Graphics, Storage Upgrades
Apple today quietly released a minor update to its MacBook Pro line, offering upgraded processor, and in some cases graphics and/or storage options at the same price points as the previous models. Portions of the improved specs had been leaked to 9to5Mac by reliable source Mr. X late yesterday.
Among the key changes:
13-inch MacBook Pro:
- Processor options move from 2.3 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 and 2.7 GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 to 2.4 GHz and 2.8 GHz options.
- Hard drive options offer increased capacity, moving from 320 GB in the low-end configuration and 500 GB in the high-end configuration to 500 GB and 750 GB respectively.
15-inch MacBook Pro:
- Standard processor options move from 2.0 GHz and 2.2 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 to 2.2 GHz and 2.4 GHz options. The high-end custom processor option at 2.3 GHz has now become a 2.5 GHz option.
- For discrete graphics, Apple had previously offered the AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 256MB of memory on the low-end configuration and the Radeon HD 6750M with 1GB of memory on the high-end configuration. Apple has now moved the 6750M to the low-end configuration with 512 MB of memory and given the high-end configuration a Radeon HD 6770M with 1 GB of memory.
- The previous build-to-order option of a 500 GB hard drive running at 7200 rpm has been bumped to a 750 GB drive at the same speed.
17-inch MacBook Pro:
- Processor speeds have been bumped from a base 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7 with a 2.3 GHz upgrade option to a 2.4 GHz base processor with a 2.5 GHz option.
- Graphics have been improved from the AMD Radeon 6750M with 1 GB of memory to the Radeon HD 6770M, also with 1 GB of memory.
- The previous build-to-order option of a 500 GB hard drive running at 7200 rpm has been bumped to a 750 GB drive at the same speed.
Top Rated Comments
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17 weeks ago
other than the 6GB L3 vs. 8GB L3 that is!
I think they updated the HDD from 320 kb to 500kb as well
17 weeks ago
SSD prices are still laughable... MBA definitely offers a fair bang for its buck.
17 weeks ago
This is a lot more than last year's mid-cycle bump up. Not sure what some people were expecting but Apple were never going to do anything radical.
17 weeks ago
I'm surprised by the bump in GPU too.
I wonder whether the iMac will also see a minor speed bump this year? Intel will be releasing the Core i7-2700K soon as a bump to the Core i7-2600K. The iMacs could also use some 64MB cache HDDs and a 3TB option.
I wonder whether the iMac will also see a minor speed bump this year? Intel will be releasing the Core i7-2700K soon as a bump to the Core i7-2600K. The iMacs could also use some 64MB cache HDDs and a 3TB option.
17 weeks ago
4GB RAM in 2011?
Come on, Apple! We need 8GB RAM as standard configuration!
I'd wager most users don't.
17 weeks ago
I'm confused... how can the 17" have been "bumped up" to 2.5 GHz i7 maximum, when my 2010 17" MBP is 2.66 GHz i7?
2010 Macbook Pro 17" 2.66ghz I7 is a dual core
these are Quad Core. MAJOR difference.
17 weeks ago
What kind of bump will this be on benchmarks? 20%?
Not going to see 20% from these bumps. More like 5-10... maybe. Look at it like a slight refresh of the line until Ivy Bridge comes out around March/April. THAT will give you the 20%+ bump.
I do like that they finally updated the 15" model to have more VRAM. 256mb was so anemic. 512 is still a little on the small side, but is at least acceptable.
17 weeks ago
Glad to see improvements at the same price.... just wish I could have them on MY computer :rolleyes: oh well.. I'm happy with what I have.
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