Apple 17" MacBook Pro Notebook Computer

Design

Strength. Lightness. Beauty. Seamlessly Integrated

The MacBook Pro is machined from a single piece of aluminum, an engineering breakthrough that replaced many parts with just one. It's called the unibody. And the first time you pick up a MacBook Pro you'll notice the difference it makes. The entire enclosure is thinner and lighter than other notebooks. It looks polished and refined. And it feels strong and durable - perfect for life inside (and outside) your briefcase or backpack.

A Display Full of Bright Ideas

Everything Apple designers and engineers do, they do for a reason. They chose LED backlight technology for the MacBook Pro because it makes the display instantly bright and allows it to be incredibly thin. And at the top of the screen they hid the built-in FaceTime HD camera. So you see your friends and family in big, beautiful widescreen -- and as little of the camera as possible. The camera is even thinner than the one found in the iPhone 4!

Multi-Touch Trackpad -- It Just Feels Right

The Multi-Touch trackpad has no button because it is the button. That means there's more room to track and more room to click -- left, right, center, and everywhere in between. Apple designers and engineers spent countless hours considering things like sensitivity (how much pressure triggers a click?), audio feedback (what does the click sound like?), and friction over the smooth glass surface (what does it feel like?). The result is a trackpad that just makes sense to you -- and your fingers.

Magnetic Latch

Because the magnetic latch has no moving parts to snag, jam, or break, even opening and closing your MacBook Pro is a pleasure.

Easy Access to Connections and Ports

The connections and ports on MacBook Pro -- MagSafe power, Gigabit Ethernet, Thunderbolt, USB, and audio in/out -- are all smartly integrated on the same side of the notebook. So your cables stay neatly organized, and connecting and disconnecting your devices is easy and convenient.

MagSafe Power Adapter

The power cord is held in place magnetically, so if someone should trip over it, the cord disconnects harmlessly and your MacBook Pro stays put safely.

Thunderbolt Port

Thunderbolt lets you connect high-performance devices and high-resolution displays to a single, compact port. It even supports Mini DisplayPort devices -- such as your Apple LED Cinema Display or an HDMI adapter for your television.

Designed to Make an Impact -- Just Not on the Environment

Complete control over how the MacBook Pro is designed, how it's manufactured, and how it's packaged gives Apple an environmental edge. LED backlight technology preserves energy. Glass and aluminum are highly recyclable. The MacBook Pro is free of most harmful toxins. And the computer ships in packaging that's 34 percent smaller than that of the original MacBook Pro. That means fewer trees used for boxes and fewer planes, trains, and trucks used for transport.

Features

Next-Generation Quad-Core Intel CPU

The 17" MacBook Pro features a 2.3GHz i7 processor. With 3.4GHz Turbo Boost support and 8MB of cache, this CPU allows the computer to perform up to twice as fast as the previous generation.

The Graphics Performance You Need, When You Need It

The integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor -- now included across the MacBook Pro lineup -- handles the things you do every day. It encodes video quickly, making HD video calls with FaceTime possible. And it decodes efficiently, so you get long playback time for DVDs and iTunes movies.

For graphics-intensive applications, the MacBook Pro automatically switches to a high-performance AMD Radeon GPU. With up to three times the performance of the previous models, they let you see more frames per second in 3D games, or work on HD video projects with more speed and responsiveness than before.

Introducing Thunderbolt

Imagine accessing multiple streams of uncompressed HD video -- from your notebook -- at speeds that let you edit an HD feature film in real time. That's how Thunderbolt technology will connect the next generation of high-performance peripherals to the next generation of computers -- starting with MacBook Pro. Ultrafast and ultraflexible, the Thunderbolt pipeline is more than 12 times faster than FireWire-800 and up to 20 times faster than USB 2.0, and it offers unprecedented expansion capabilities. It changes what you can do on a notebook.

The Thunderbolt port will give you plug-and-play performance with a whole new world of Thunderbolt peripherals, as well as with the Apple LED Cinema Display and other Mini DisplayPort peripherals. You can daisy-chain as many as six devices, including your display. And with support for video and eight-channel audio, it's easy to connect HDMI-compatible devices -- like your TV and home stereo -- using the HDMI adapter that you may already have. Current VGA, DVI, and DisplayPort adapters are also supported.

FaceTime HD Camera

Get more of your friends in the picture with crisp, widescreen HD video. The FaceTime HD camera gives you three times the resolution of the previous camera -- perfect for the brilliant LED backlit display -- along with improved low-light performance. You and your friends can make 720p HD calls from one MacBook Pro to another. You can also make video calls to other Intel-based Mac computers, iPhone 4, or a camera-equipped iPod touch.

Multi-Touch Trackpad -- Be More Hands-On

The Multi-Touch trackpad is the most natural way to interact with what's on your screen, and the smooth glass surface gives you plenty of room for gestures. Pinch to zoom in and out, swipe to flip through photos, rotate to adjust an image, and much more. The buttonless design lets you click anywhere. And if you're coming from a right-click world, you can right-click with two fingers or configure a right-click area on the trackpad. The more you use the Multi-Touch trackpad, the more you'll wonder how you ever did without it.

A Long-Lasting Battery -- Charge Less, Do More

The MacBook Pro delivers amazing battery life. And that's with a more powerful CPU and faster graphics than ever before. An energy-efficient processor architecture with an integrated video encoder, along with automatic graphics switching, all help improve battery life. So you can expect to browse the web wirelessly for up to 7 hours on a single charge. Or take your entire creative studio on the road for live performances or a location shoot. Advanced chemistry and Adaptive Charging give you up to 1000 full charge and discharge cycles -- nearly three times the lifespan of typical notebook batteries. And because the MacBook Pro battery lasts up to five years, the computer uses just one battery in the same time a typical notebook uses three. That's better for you and for the environment.

Apple is now using more rigorous battery test than ever before. It measures the results you can expect in the real world -- like browsing your favorite websites in a coffee shop or catching up on the latest web videos. Even using this more stringent test, the MacBook Pro delivers amazing battery life. For your real life.

It's Very Well Connected

When you're out and about, the 802.11n wireless technology in MacBook Pro makes it easy to get connected just about anywhere. The MacBook Pro automatically finds available networks and allows you to join them with a click. Bluetooth wireless technology is also built in, so you can use your favorite wireless accessories right out of the box.

Ports with Possibility

With the Thunderbolt port, you can daisy-chain as many as six devices, including your display, to create a full-fledged workstation. Three USB 2.0 ports and a FireWire-800 port let you connect your iPad, iPod, iPhone, digital cameras, and external hard drives.

The computer's ExpressCard/34 slot makes it easy to install an expansion card. There are numerous types on the market, including 3G modems, eSATA cards, memory card readers, and more.

Burn DVDs Superfast

After using iMovie and iDVD to edit and apply the finishing touches to your home movie, use the 8x SuperDrive on MacBook Pro to burn it to DVD in no time. Since the SuperDrive writes to double-layer discs (DVDs with nearly 9GB of space), it's great for backing up data, too.

Performance

Quad-Core Intel Core i7 CPU

The computer features a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor and a recently-refined Intel chipset. So what does all that mean for the system? Bottom line: It performs up to twice as fast as the previous generation, breezing through demanding tasks like editing HD video, compiling audio, or rendering a multilayered image file. And since Mac OS X Lion is designed to take advantage of every processor core, it captures every last bit of performance from the processor.

Faster Single-Chip Microarchitecture

Whether you're watching a movie, updating your blog, or editing photos, data has to travel from place to place to be processed. The latest Intel Core architecture puts the processor, cache, memory controller, and graphics engine on a single chip. Since data doesn't have as far to travel, you get faster performance and greater efficiency.

Turbo Boost 2.0

Say you're using a processor-intensive application like Aperture 3 or Final Cut Pro that benefits from extra power. Turbo Boost is a dynamic performance technology that automatically increases the speed of the active cores -- up to 3.4GHz. Turbo Boost 2.0 is even more dynamic and efficient. By shifting core frequency in smaller increments than before, it allows the processor to manage performance without sacrificing efficiency. All this takes place behind the scenes, so your work just goes smoother and faster.

Hyper-Threading

Hyper-Threading is standard on every MacBook Pro. This technology allows two threads to run simultaneously on each core, so Mac OS X recognizes four on a dual-core processor. When you're running multiple applications at once, the processor spreads tasks more evenly across a greater number of cores.

Integrated Memory Controller

With faster access to memory, each core can get right to work on your data, rather than waiting for it to arrive. That's why the Intel Core architecture uses an integrated memory controller to connect fast 1333MHz memory directly to the processor. Together with 8MB of shared L3 cache, the integrated memory controller helps your applications run at peak performance.

Energy-Efficient Graphics

Thanks to the computer's microarchitecture, the graphics processor is on the same chip as the central processor and has direct access to L3 cache. That proximity translates into performance. The graphics processor also automatically increases clock speeds for higher workloads. An integrated video encoder enables HD video calls with FaceTime, while an efficient decoder gives you long battery life when you're watching DVDs or iTunes movies.

AMD Radeon HD 6750M GPU

When you need more performance for things like playing 3D games, editing HD video, or even running CAD software, the MacBook Pro automatically switches to discrete AMD Radeon graphics that let you see more frames per second and experience better responsiveness. With 1GB of dedicated GDDR5 video memory, this GPU provides up to three times faster performance than the previous generation.

Thunderbolt - Lightning Fast Data Transfer

Thunderbolt technology has arrived -- and the MacBook Pro is the first notebook to have it. Now one connection carries both DisplayPort and PCI Express. With two 10Gbps data channels, you can transfer data more than 12 times faster than with FireWire-800. And don't worry about a single drive or peripheral tying up the Thunderbolt port: You can daisy-chain as many as six devices, including your display. So with one tiny, streamlined port, you get lightning-fast transfer speeds and huge expansion capabilities.

Thunderbolt -- In Depth

Powerful Technology from a Powerful Collaboration.

Thunderbolt began at Intel Labs with a simple concept: create an incredibly fast input/output technology that just about anything can plug into. After close technical collaboration between Intel and Apple, Thunderbolt emerged from the lab to make its first appearance in MacBook Pro.

Intel co-invented USB and PCI Express, which have become widely adopted technologies for data transfer. Apple invented FireWire and was instrumental in popularizing USB. Their collective experience has made Thunderbolt the most powerful, most flexible I/O technology ever in a personal computer.

One Small Port -- One Giant Leap in Possibilities

The MacBook Pro gives you access to a world of high-resolution displays and high-speed peripherals with one compact port. That's because Thunderbolt is based on two fundamental technologies: PCI Express and DisplayPort.

PCI Express is the technology that links all the high-performance components in a Mac. And it's built into Thunderbolt. Which means you can connect external devices like RAID arrays and video capture solutions directly to MacBook Pro -- and get PCI Express performance. That's a first for notebooks. Thunderbolt also provides 10 watts of power to peripherals, so you can tackle workstation-class projects on the go. With PCI Express technology, you can use existing USB and FireWire peripherals -- even connect to Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel networks -- using simple adapters.

And because Thunderbolt is based on DisplayPort technology, the video standard for high-resolution displays, any Mini DisplayPort display plugs right into the Thunderbolt port. To connect a DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI, or VGA display, just use an existing adapter.

Performance and Expansion Never Before Seen on a Notebook

With 10Gbps of throughput in both directions, Thunderbolt I/O technology lets you move data to and from peripherals up to 20 times faster than with USB 2.0 and more than 12 times faster than with FireWire-800. Two 10Gbps channels on the same connector mean you can daisy-chain multiple high-speed devices and a display, without using a hub -- and without reducing performance.

High Performance on Display

Thunderbolt I/O technology provides native support for Mini DisplayPort displays. It also supports DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI, and VGA displays through the use of existing adapters. So you can connect your Apple LED Cinema Display or other existing display, along with multiple high-speed devices, all from a single port.

No Project Is Too Massive

Now you can create a professional video setup for your MacBook Pro, just as you would for your Mac Pro. If you're a video editor, imagine connecting high-performance storage, a high-resolution display, and high-bit-rate video capture devices to handle all the post-production for a feature film -- right on your notebook. Thunderbolt I/O technology allows you to daisy-chain up to six peripherals, such as the Promise Pegasus RAID or LaCie Little Big Disk, or five peripherals and an Apple LED Cinema Display.

And that's just the beginning. With Thunderbolt technology, peripheral manufacturers finally have what they need to take high-performance devices from workstations and top-of-the-line desktops to portable computers.

Software

Mac OS X

At the heart of every MacBook Pro -- and every Mac -- is Mac OS X, an operating system custom made for the Intel multicore processors and advanced graphics inside. The version of Mac OS X installed on this computer, Lion, is based on an entirely 64-bit architecture, and so are virtually all of the applications that come with a Mac. Translation: Everything you do on your MacBook Pro happens with dramatic speed and incredible overall performance.

Powerful Applications That Are Easy to Use

Because Apple makes MacBook Pro and the software that comes on it, everything works together perfectly. Becoming familiar with Apple applications takes almost no time because they all work in similar ways. So once you get the hang of one application, it takes little or no effort to master the others.

And Apple understands portable productivity. Which is why they include features -- like Exposé and Spaces -- to help you access everything on your MacBook Pro. With one keystroke or gesture, Exposé instantly tiles all your open windows, scales them down, and neatly arranges them in a grid, so you can see what's in every single one. And Spaces lets you group windows together within their own desktop, or space, that you can move between quickly. Create a space for work, a space for play, a space for whatever you like. Together, Exposé and Spaces give you a big advantage when you're multitasking on a notebook screen.

Wireless Networking -- Without the Work

See a network, join a network. With a Mac, getting online via Wi-Fi is just that easy. One click of the AirPort icon in the menu bar gives you a list of available networks. Select the one you want to join, enter the password, if necessary, and you're up and running.

One Thing a Mac Doesn't Do -- Get PC Viruses

Trojan horses, worms, e-mail viruses. The digital world can be a scary place. Thankfully, a Mac isn't susceptible to the thousands of viruses plaguing Windows-based computers. Mac OS X comes with built-in defenses that keep you safe, without any work on your part. And when a potential security threat arises, Apple responds quickly by providing software updates and security enhancements you can download automatically and install with a click.

Automatic Backup with Time Machine

Backing up is essential. Yet you probably don't do it as often as you should. That's why your MacBook Pro bears the burden of backing up for you. Time Machine, an application that comes on every Mac, automatically backs up your entire system to your external hard drive or Time Capsule. Time Machine keeps a spare copy of every file, and it also remembers how your system looked on a given day. So you can revisit your Mac as it appeared in the past.

Even the Everyday Stuff Is Amazing

Unlike a lot of PC notebooks, the MacBook Pro comes with everything you need to send e-mail, manage your calendar, organize your contacts, and more. And it's ready to do all these things minutes after you take it out of the box. That's because every Mac comes with Mail for sending and receiving e-mail, iCal for managing appointments and important events, Address Book for organizing your contacts, iTunes for all things entertainment, and other fun and useful applications you'll find yourself using every day.

The Mac App Store -- A Thousand More Reasons to Love a Mac

More than a thousand Mac apps are a click away at the Mac App Store. Find the ones you want and simply click to download and install. No more boxes. No more disks. No more hassle. You can browse apps by category or search for something specific. And you can easily keep your apps up to date, because your Mac will let you know when updates are available.

FaceTime. Now Making HD Video Calls

The MacBook Pro comes with the FaceTime HD camera and easy-to-use FaceTime for Mac software. Just click to make HD video calls from MacBook Pro to MacBook Pro. You can also make video calls to other Intel-based Mac computers, iPhone 4, or a camera-equipped iPod touch. Your calls will start in portrait view, but you can easily rotate to the new widescreen format. FaceTime automatically displays your contacts from Address Book, so you don't have to build a buddy list. And calls ring through to your Mac even when you don't have the FaceTime app open.

iPhoto -- The Best Way to Organize, Edit, and Share Your Photos

iPhoto is an easy-to-use photo application that makes it fast and fun to organize and find your pictures, as well as make them look their absolute best. With features like Faces, Places, and Events, iPhoto helps you keep track of your photos by who's in them and when and where you took them -- all in an immersive full-screen view. Use quick and simple editing tools to make so-so shots picture perfect with just a few clicks. iPhoto even lets you share your photos with the world with beautiful photo books and letterpress cards or online via Facebook, MobileMe, and Flickr.

iMovie -- Turn Your Home Movies into Home Blockbusters

Don't settle for boring home movies. With iMovie, you can transform the videos you shoot into your very own indie flicks. Create a Hollywood-style trailer that'll make your audience laugh, cry, and cheer for more. If you know how to drag and drop, you can make a movie in iMovie. It comes with Apple-designed themes that look fun and professional. Just choose one and iMovie does the rest, adding animated titles and sophisticated transitions automatically. Customize your screen gem further with your own words and audio.

GarageBand -- Creating Great-Sounding Songs Is Easy

Whether you're musically gifted or mostly curious, GarageBand is the application for you. Plug in your electric guitar or USB music keyboard and get ready to rock with virtual replicas of the most revered amps and stompboxes in the world, as well as over 100 software instruments. Just because you didn't grow up learning your A, B, and C sharp doesn't mean you can't. Basic Lessons teach you just that: the basics. Choose from 40 lessons that cover blues guitar, rock guitar, classical piano, pop piano, and more. Or get a private lesson from one of your musical heroes, like Sting or Death Cab for Cutie, with Artist Lessons. GarageBand even tells you how well you're playing in real time with a feature called "How Did I Play?"

The Environment

Efficient Power Supply

The MacBook Pro includes a highly efficient power supply that reduces the amount of power wasted when bringing electricity from the wall to your computer. Lower power consumption reduces energy bills and lessens the environmental impact of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

Advanced Power Management

Unlike a lot of Windows-based PC systems, the MacBook Pro uses energy-efficient hardware components that work hand in hand with the operating system to conserve power. Mac OS X activates sleep mode on already energy-efficient LED backlit displays. And it balances tasks across both central processors and graphics processors. Mac OS X never misses a power-saving opportunity, no matter how small. It even regulates the processor between keystrokes, reducing power between the letters you type. That's just one of many ways Apple manages small amounts of power that add up to big savings.

ENERGY STAR Qualification

The MacBook Pro meets the stringent low power requirements set by the EPA in their ENERGY STAR 5.0 qualification. ENERGY STAR 5.0 sets significantly higher efficiency limits for power supplies and aggressive limits for the computer's typical annual power consumption.

Fewer Toxins

The greatest environmental challenge facing the computer industry today is the presence of arsenic, brominated flame retardants (BFRs), mercury, phthalates, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in products. Apple engineers have worked hard to eliminate BFRs and PVC from MacBook Pro circuit boards, internal and external cables, connectors, insulators, adhesives, and more. And they've eliminated many other toxins that are a common part of notebook computer manufacturing -- choosing, for example, mercury-free backlighting and arsenic-free glass for the MacBook Pro display.

Smaller Boxes, Fewer Planes

The MacBook Pro ships in a package that is smaller than before. Smaller boxes are much better for the planet. Because smaller boxes mean that more boxes can fit on each shipping pallet. Which means more products will fit on each boat and plane. Which means fewer boats and planes are used, resulting in fewer carbon dioxide emissions. It's one seemingly minor change. But it has a major positive impact on our environment.

Recyclable Materials

Apple has minimized the waste when MacBook Pro reaches end of life through its ultraefficient design and the use of aluminum, which recyclers can reuse for other products.

EPEAT Gold Rating

The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, or EPEAT, evaluates the environmental impact of a product based on how recyclable it is, how much energy it uses, and how it's designed and manufactured. Through its innovative and environmentally friendly design, the MacBook Pro has earned the highest rating of EPEAT Gold.

Life Cycle Impact

Apple's life cycle analysis accounts for all emissions associated with their products. That includes raw material extraction, manufacturing, packaging, transportation, a three- or four-year period of use, and recycling. In the course of this analysis, Apple determined that more than 95 percent of their total greenhouse gas emissions come from the products they make.

Support

Tech Support

Have a problem with your Mac? Get support and advice at the Genius Bar, located at every Apple Retail Store. Apple also provides online tutorials, troubleshooting forums, and 90 days of phone support for users who aren't able to make it to an Apple store.

Optional AppleCare

Apple provides 90 days of free phone support and a 1-year limited hardware warranty on the computer. You can opt to add an AppleCare Protection Plan, at additional cost, which covers support and repairs for 3 years from the date of purchase. AppleCare can be purchased at any time within the first year of ownership of the computer.