Helen Johnson

Rejoice! Apple have finally updated the 17-inch MacBook Pro to the new aluminum unibody design.

The big advancement that Apple is all excited about is the new long-lasting, non-removable battery. The new battery will apparently last up to 8 hours, which is pretty amazing. By making the battery non-removable they were able to make the battery bigger by using the extra space that was used for the casing etc.

The 17-inch MacBook Pro has also received the same upgrades as the 15-inch version that came out a few months ago, like the new style keyboard, the LED-backlit widescreen display and multi-touch trackpad. One extra they have added for the 17-inch version is the upgrade option for a 17-inch Hi-Resolution Antiglare Widescreen Display (for an extra AU$90.00). I will have to see what the reviews are of this option, but I would probably get it. I use my MacBook Pro for work, and while glossy screens do look pretty, the non-glossy screen that I have on my current 17-inch MacBook Pro is so nice and crisp and clean to work on.

Apple are really pushing that this is a very “green” notebook as it uses highly recyclable components and is even more energy efficient then before.

While I don’t really like the change to the Mini DisplayPort (it means shelling out an extra AU$45 for a DVI converter), the updated design and placement of the connections and ports is great. They have moved all of the connections (USB, Mini Display Port, Firewire, Ethernet etc) to the left side. The optical drive has also been moved and is now on the right side at the back. I think this is really great (for right handed people like me at least) because now if you are using an external mouse it doesn’t get tangled in monitor or network cables.

And the best part (for me anyway) is the new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT which hopefully means no more problems like with the old NVIDIA 8600M GT.

Now all I have to do is wait the month or so for them to hit Australian shores (the Australian Apple store website has pre-ordering available with shipping in 3-4 weeks) and save up the AU$4,499 base price!