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Apple MacBook Pro: 17-inches of Pure Lust

By Aloysius Low - 19 Mar 2009

Honey, Where's My Battery?

Honey, Where's My Battery?

With the exterior pretty much the same, it's really what's inside that makes a difference. As we pointed our earlier, there's no removable battery on the MacBook Pro and you'll find neither a latch in sight nor a removable cover on the back.

Look Ma! No latches or removable batteries!

Let's take a look at the hardware. Like the 15-inch MacBook Pro, the 17-inch MacBook Pro shares much of the same hardware and we're talking about the same Intel Core 2 Duo processor running at 2.66GHz with an option for a 2.93GHz model. Memory wise, while the 15-inch Pro version can be configured up to 4GB, the 17-inch MacBook Pro comes default with 4GB and the option to support up to 8GB (something the 15-inch model lacks). For storage needs, the 17-inch MacBook Pro uses a 5400RPM 320GB hard disk with options for a faster 7200RPM model or a 256GB SSD. This will likely cost a lot more, but if you're already buying an Apple product, then we guess you would be prepared.

Moving on to the graphics department, the 17-inch MacBook Pro sports a very familiar NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics that's used in quite a few laptops these days, including the 15-inch MacBook Pro. What sets the MacBook Pro notebooks apart from the others is the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics that the unit has thanks to the NVIDIA chipset it uses. While there isn't Hybrid SLI involved in the MacBook Pro line, both 15-inch and 17-inch notebooks come with the option to switch to the integrated graphics for better battery power conservation. Though how effective this is remains to be explored in our next section.

Lastly, weighing in at just 2.99kg means that the 17-inch MacBook Pro is, according to Apple, the lightest and thinnest 17-inch notebook in the world. Well, we couldn't find any lighter or thinner 17-inch notebooks at the moment, so Apple probably holds the throne for now (and for probably quite a long while to come).

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