The 15.4" MacBook Pro Notebook Computer from Apple is a powerful notebook computer with an innovative aluminum unibody design. It is loaded with advanced power management features and an integrated battery -- they work together to provide up to 7 hours of wireless web browsing.
You may notice an unfamiliar logo next to one of the ports on the left side of the system. This is Thunderbolt, a high-speed interface that can move data at an amazing 10Gbps -- double that of USB 3.0. The Thunderbolt port doubles as a display output -- it shares the same physical form factor as a Mini DisplayPort. You can daisy-chain up to six devices, so you'll be able to connect high-speed external storage and an external LCD display via the same port!
The computer's 15.4" display features a LED backlight and a glossy finish. Its 1440 x 900 native resolution gives you ample screen real estate with which to work. You'll be able to output to an external display at up to 2560 x 1600 via Thunderbolt. Any Mini DisplayPort LCD will plug-in without the need for an adapter. If you have a display with DVI, VGA, or HDMI input, you'll only need to purchase an adapter cable for connection.
You'll be able to communicate with friends and family thanks to built-in support for FaceTime chat. The computer's FaceTime HD camera supports 720p HD video chat via the included app. You can make video calls to other Mac users with FaceTime, as well as to anyone with an iPhone 4 or an iPod touch model with a built-in camera.
The system is powered by a quad-core 2GHz Intel Core i7 CPU with 2.9GHz Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 support. The computer is loaded with 4GB of memory, a 500GB 5400rpm hard drive, and a SuperDrive DVD burner. You'll be able to connect to the Internet with ease via 802.11n Wi-Fi or wired Gigabit Ethernet. The MacBook Pro also features built-in Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, making it easy to use the system with wireless headphones, keyboard, mice, and other compatible peripherals. An SDXC slot is present, making it easy to download photos and videos from memory cards.
Graphics are handled by a hybrid system that gives you the best of both worlds in regards to battery life and performance. The MacBook Pro will use an integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU for light tasks -- such as web browsing and word processing. When more performance is needed -- for video games, HD video playback, or the like -- the system will switch over to the dedicated AMD Radeon HD 6490M. The Radeon features 256MB of staggeringly fast GDDR5 memory, which translates into pretty awesome performance.
The computer features a comfortable backlit chiclet-style keyboard, which features space between each key for improved accuracy and comfort when typing. It also sports a glass Multi-Touch trackpad with a clickable design. Rather than having a separate button for mouse clicks, the entire surface of the pad is clickable. This increases the active surface area, and allows you to quickly click, even if your finger is near the top of the trackpad.
What's more, the smooth surface fully supports Multi-Touch gestures -- you can tap the trackpad with one finger to click, with two fingers to right click, scroll through documents using two fingers, pinch to zoom, navigate through Safari or iPhoto with three-finger left and right swipes, or use two fingers to rotate a photo or PDF.
iLife '11 has a complete suite of digital creativity applications. Easy enough for anyone to use, iLife will help you edit your home movies, organize digital photos, and compose original music. iLife includes iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand.
The 64-bit OS features Time Machine backup, which automatically backs up system data to an external hard drive. It also features intuitive Cover Flow navigation, the powerful Spotlight search tool, and Quick Look document preview. You'll be able to use Boot Camp to run Windows on your Mac.
Due to Apple's OS upgrade, the preinstalled OS may be Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or OS X 10.7 Lion.
All Apple computers purchased on or after July 21, 2011 can be upgraded to Lion via free download from the Mac App Store within 30 days of purchase.
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.
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.
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.
The SDXC card slot on the supports up to 64GB cards and makes it a snap to transfer all those photos to and from your MacBook Pro, so you can edit and share them on the spot.
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.
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.
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.
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.