![A photo of the new Apple Macbook Pro's packaging, showing the 'Thunderbolt' I/O port. <i>Image credit: [[xref:http://www.mac4ever.com/news/60807/la_photo_du_nouveau_port_thunderbolt/|Mac4Ever.com]]</i>](https://www.idgcdn.com.au/article/images/740x500/dimg/m_img_37365.jpg)
A photo of the new Apple Macbook Pro's packaging, showing the 'Thunderbolt' I/O port. Image credit: [[xref:http://www.mac4ever.com/news/60807/la_photo_du_nouveau_port_thunderbolt/|Mac4Ever.com]]
Apple rumour Web site Macrumors has posted pictures of the new Macbook Pro notebook, revealing updated processing and graphics components and a new input/output port called Thunderbolt.
Pictures and information that were originally posted on French site Mac4Ever and German site fscklog were collated on Macrumors, with a translation of the specifications revealing roughly similar specifications to the outgoing model.
| Apple Macbook Pro comparison | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Apple Macbook Pro 13in (late 2009) | New Apple Macbook Pro 13in (early 2011) | ||||||
| Price | $1449 | $ TBA | ||||||
| CPU | 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, dual core | 2.3GHz Intel Core i5, dual core | ||||||
| Graphics chipset | NVidia GeForce 320M, 256MB shared memory | Intel GMA HD 3000 integrated graphics, 384MB shared memory | ||||||
| Internal hard drive | 250GB, 5400RPM | 320GB, 5400RPM | ||||||
| RAM | 4GB DDR3 RAM, 1066MHz | 4GB DDR3 RAM, 1333MHz | ||||||
| Display resolution | 1280x800 pixels | 1280x800 pixels | ||||||
| I/O ports | Gigabit Ethernet, SDHC card slot, FireWire 800, 2x USB 2.0, Mini DisplayPort, audio I/O | Gigabit Ethernet, SDXC card slot, FireWire 800, 2x USB 2.0, 'Thunderbolt' I/O, audio I/O | ||||||
The photos of the new Macbook Pro show what is believed to be the base 13in configuration, which should have a similar retail price-point to the outgoing $1449 model. The updated model gains a larger hard drive and newer graphics and CPU components, using Intel's Sandy Bridge chipsets. The same 4GB amount of RAM remains, but is rated at a higher clock speed. Pictures on the Mac4Ever Web site show a partial view of the new notebook sporting a trackpad that looks larger than the current model's multitouch setup.
Other notable inclusions in the alleged latest iteration of the Macbook Pro include an SDXC-compatible SD card slot, allowing memory cards of up to 2TB capacity to be used, and an input/output port that the Apple packaging calls Thunderbolt. Visually similar to the pre-existing Mini DisplayPort standard used by Apple, reports indicate that this new connection bus could be based on Intel's high-speed Light Peak technology. The Apple iSight camera has been renamed FaceTime HD.
The new Macbook Pro has already drawn criticism from Ars Technica for its screen resolution — the 1280x800 pixel unit has the same resolution as the outgoing model, whereas the more recently released 13in variant of the Apple Macbook Air has a higher-quality 1440x900 pixel display.
No pricing information is available yet, but Apple is expected to make an announcement on the price of the new Macbook Pro on Thursday.
