Right On Cue, Apple Introduces New MacBook Pro Models

Chalk one up for the rumor mills -- Apple’s online store has sprung back to life Thursday morning, and new MacBook Pro models have been released which correspond exactly to leaks over the last few days.

Apple has released a new refresh of the MacBook Pro line on Thursday as widely expected, adding new dual-core and quad-core (a first for Apple’s notebooks) Intel processors, 3x faster graphics in the 15- and 17-inch models, ultrafast Thunderbolt (i.e., Light Peak) I/O and a FaceTime HD camera.

The big story with this week’s notebook refresh is the upgrade to Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge processors, including quad-core on certain 15- and 17-inch models that use the 2.2GHz Quad Core 2720QM and 2.0GHz Quad Core 2630QM CPUs. These processors also include Intel’s Turbo Boost 2.0 technology, so even apps that don’t take advantage of four cores will still see a boost in speed.

Light Peak is finally a reality as well, rechristened as Thunderbolt and using the Mini DisplayPort port. Intel’s Light Peak technology is anticipated to negate the need for USB 3.0 on computers that implement it, capable of 10 gigabits per second I/O, which is double the throughput of the current USB 3.0 spec.

Graphics performance also gets a boost with the new models, with an integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor now standard on all MacBook Pro models, which powers the new FaceTime HD camera capable of up to 720p video, as well as extending playback time for DVDs and iTunes movies. The 15- and 17-inch models get an extra boost by including high-performance AMD Radeon graphics processors for up to three times the performance of previous models.

The Apple Store is still down at this writing, but MacRumors has posted the pricing matrix for the new MacBook Pros:

-17" 1920x1200 Display. 2.2Ghz Quad i7. 4GB RAM. 750GB HD. AMD 6750M 1GB. $2499
-15" 1440x900 (1680 option) Display. 2.2GHz Quad i7. 750GB HD. AMD 6750M 1GB. $2199.
-15" 1440x900 (1680 option) Display. 2.0GHz Quad i7. 4GB RAM. 500GB HD. AMD 6490M 256MB. $1799
-13" 1280x800 Display. 2.7GHz Dual i5. 4GB RAM. 500GB HD. Intel HD Graphics. $1499
-13" 1280x800 Display. 2.3GHz Dual i5. 4GB RAM. 320GB HD. Intel HD Graphics. $1199

Now the only decision is, which one will you get?