The 17-inch Mac Book Pro Has Arrived

Well, it looks like the rumormongers were spot on, as Apple today unveiled the much-anticipated 17-inch MacBook Pro. The top of the line Mac portable is a powerful monster, sure to please those who need both power and mobility.

The machine features a huge widescreen 17-inch display that can support the same 1680 x 1050 of the iMac, and comes bundled with the same software as the other MacBook Pros. However, the most notable thing about it is that it has everything that users were missing from the smaller models, such as a FireWire 800 port and a fast, 8X SuperDrive.

�The 17-inch MacBook Pro delivers the speed and screen area of a professional desktop system in the world�s best notebook design,� said Philip Schiller, Apple�s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing in the press release. �With Intel�s state of the art dual-core processor, the new 17-inch MacBook Pro delivers unrivaled performance in an innovative, sleek, one-inch thin design."

The new 17-inch MacBook Pro will begin shipping next week through the Apple Store, Apple�s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

The 2.16 GHz, 17-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of US$2,799, includes:
� 17-inch widescreen 1680 x 1050 LCD display with 300 cd/m2 brightness
� 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo processor
� 1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB
� 120GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor
� slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD�RW/CD-RW) optical drive
� PCI Express-based ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory
� DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately)
� built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display
� built-in iSight video camera
� Gigabit Ethernet port
� built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
� ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot
� three USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port
� one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog
� Scrolling TrackPad and illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensor
� the infrared Apple Remote
� 68 watt hour lithium polymer battery
� 85 watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter