Apple refreshes Macbook, Air and Pro

Announcement of the new line of Apple Macbooks, Mac Airs and MBPs have just concluded. Gizmodo and Engadget did a pretty awesome live coverage of the event so let me just summarize them and share a few thoughts.

A new Macbook Pro:
15.4″ display
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz, 2.53GHz and 2.8GHz
2GB or 4GB DDR3 RAM 1066MHz
250GB or 320 GB HDD
NVidia 9400M or 9600M GT 256/512MB DDR3
DVD Superdrive
Weighs 5.5 lbs
Price: $1,999 / $2,499

Upgraded Macbook Air:
13.3″ display
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6GHz or 1.86GHz (Centrino 2)
2GB DDR3 RAM 1066MHz
120GB HDD or 128GB SSD
Weighs 3.0 lbs
Price: $1,799 or $2,499

A new Macbook as well:
13.3″ display
Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz / 2.4GHz
2GB DDR3 RAM 1066MHz
160GB / 250GB HDD
NVidia GeForce 9400M
Slot-loading SuperDrice
Weighs 4.5 lbs
Price: $1,299 and $1,599

The old plastic Macbooks will still sell for a discounted price of $999 (until stocks are depleted). Some new changes they’ve introduced include:

• An aluminum unibody that makes the casing much stronger. I wish they did a comparative drop test to really see how touch it is.
• A new NVidia GPU + Chipset that makes the Macbooks a gaming machine. Problem though is that it cuts down battery life by 1 hour on the 9600M GT.
• Glass multi-touch trackpad without buttons! The whole trackpad is the button. Ugh, this will need a lot of finger re-training, IMO. Tactile or haptic feedback would have been better Initial reviews indicate there’s some tactile feedback on the trackpad so that’s a good thing.
• There’s also a new mini-display port, in lieu of an HDMI port, so you can hook it up to external monitors.

The Macbook Air got a very minor upgrade for the same price. That could drive the price of old version down a couple hundred bucks and make it more appealing.

And before I forget, these Macbooks still seem to be missing the much-needed exhaust vents — it’s going to be hot, hot hot (as in literally).