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.