Apple Takes the Wraps Off New 17-Inch MacBook Pro

Apple Vice-President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller on Tuesday unveiled the company's new 17-inch MacBook Pro, which, at 0.98 inches thick and 6.6 pounds, is the thinnest and lightest 17-inch notebook in the world, he said. It features a FireWire 800 port, three USB 2.0 ports, an ExpressCard 34 slot, a SuperDrive, and Gigabit Ethernet and mini DisplayPort connectivity. It also has a glossy display, which can include an anti-glare option for an additional US$50.

The 17-inch MacBook Pro also features the glass trackpad found on the new MacBooks, a 2.93GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of RAM, with capacity for up to 8GB, and a 320GB hard drive, with 128GB and 256GB SSD options. Unfortunately, the new laptop's form factor necessitated the inclusion of a non-removable battery, but Mr. Schiller showed a video that explained how the its battery that can handle up to 1,000 recharges, with adaptive charging that reduces wear-and-tear. It also lasts longer than its predecessor: eight hours with the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated video chipset or seven hours with the NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics card.

The new laptop will ship in late January with a $2,799 price tag. It's available in one customizable configuration.