“We’ve developed new battery technology that is better for the user and better for the environment,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, in the press release. “Apple’s advanced chemistry and innovative technology deliver up to eight hours of use on a full charge cycle and up to 1,000 recharges.”
Apple uses advanced chemistry, intelligent monitoring of the system and battery, and Adaptive Charging technology to create a revolutionary new notebook battery that delivers up to eight hours of wireless productivity on a single charge and up to 1,000 recharges without adding thickness, weight or cost to the MacBook Pro’s incredible design.* The longer battery lifespan equals fewer depleted batteries and less waste, which is better for the environment.
The new 17-inch MacBook Pro includes an ultra-thin, widescreen glossy 1920 x 1200 display with 78 percent more pixels than the 15-inch MacBook Pro and a 60 percent greater color gamut that delivers desktop-quality color in a notebook. The LED-backlit display has brilliant instant-on performance, uses up to 30 percent less energy and eliminates the mercury found in industry standard fluorescent tube backlights.
Measuring just 0.98-inches thin and weighing 6.6 pounds, the 17-inch MacBook Pro is the world’s thinnest and lightest 17-inch notebook. The 17-inch MacBook Pro is the most powerful Mac notebook yet with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors available up to 2.93 GHz, up to 8GB DDR3 main memory and a graphics architecture that allows users to switch between the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor for better battery life and the powerful NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics processor for higher performance. The new 17-inch MacBook Pro includes a 320GB 5400 rpm hard drive standard with a 320GB 7200 rpm hard drive and 128GB and 256GB solid state drives as options. As with the rest of the new MacBook family, the 17-inch MacBook Pro includes a next generation, industry-standard Mini DisplayPort to connect with the new Apple LED Cinema Display featuring a 24-inch LED-backlit widescreen display with a built-in iSight® video camera, mic and speakers.
The new 17-inch MacBook Pro joins the aluminum unibody MacBook family in setting new standards for environmentally friendly notebooks with every model achieving EPEAT Gold status.** Each MacBook unibody enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and comes standard with energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. The new MacBook family meets stringent Energy Star 4.0 requirements, contains no brominated flame retardants and uses internal cables and components that are PVC-free. The battery in the new 17-inch MacBook Pro provides additional environmental benefit because its extended lifespan means fewer depleted batteries resulting in less waste. Depleted batteries can be replaced for $179 which includes installation and disposal of your old battery in an environmentally responsible manner.
The new 17-inch MacBook Pro will be shipping at the end of January and will be available through the Apple Store® (http://www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of US$2,799, and includes:
• 17-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1920 x 1200, glossy display;
• 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
• 1066 MHz front-side bus;
• 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM;
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
• NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics with 512MB GDDR3 video memory;
• 320GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
• Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
• built-in AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• three USB 2.0 ports;
• one FireWire® 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible);
• ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
• one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
• glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
• built-in, 95WHr lithium polymer battery; and
• 85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
Build-to-order options for the 17-inch MacBook Pro include a 2.93 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 8GB 1066 MHz DDR 3 memory, 320GB 7200 rpm hard drive, a 128GB or 256GB solid state drive, anti-glare display for $50 (US), Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan.
A properly maintained Apple 17-inch MacBook Pro battery is designed to retain 80 percent or more of its original capacity during a lifespan of up to 1,000 recharge cycles. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings.
More info: 17-inch MacBook Pro
ALL batteries have a life span at which point they quit holding a decent charge. This new battery method is no different and is no more “planned obsolescence” than any other battery operated device. In the world of consumer electronics MOST rechargeable devices do NOT have replaceable batteries. I don’t blame people for being wary of this new method, but if the performance claims are accurate AND if Apple provides an efficient replacement program, then I think you will see a new trend in portable PCs.
Oh, I left out the best news, the battery life extension. I only ever get a few hours out of my current battery (and I don’t have a spare anyway), so this is good news. 5 hours would do me most of the time, so “8” is even better.
I’m still pissed about the 5400RPM HDD and single Firewire port though
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Hmm; battery… Let’s see: when a removable battery dies, there will surely be a number of people who will just throw it away (i.e. in the garbage, ending up in an ordinary landfil) and buy a replacement one. When a built-in, non-removable battery dies, you HAVE to take it to Apple and have it RECYCLED by Apple. Again; removable battery: shorter lifecycle, more aluminium in it (for the casing), more other stuff (circuitry for the charge indicator, etc). Non-removable battery: double the life cycle, less aluminium (no special casing), no additional circuitry. Now remind me again, how is a non-removable battery WORSE for the environment…???
Another thing: 1,000 cycles, equaling 1,000 days. Now how is this less than 3 years??? How many days in a year does a normal person work? In a normal country, it cannot be more than 240 (five days per week, 49 weeks per year, excluding the bare minimum of 3 weeks of vacation / time off / holidays). So, even if you work the legal maximum of 240 days per year, it is still more than four years. And, as Sunlokyee said, on 1,001st cycle, the battery still won’t be dead.
I’m really curious to meet a person for whom 7-8 hours of battery life per day won’t be enough.
Not to mention that in more reasonable environment, the number of working days in a year is closer to 220 (two weeks worth of national holidays, 5-6 weeks worth of vacation/personal time off), giving us almost 5 years worth of reasonable battery life.
How do you pull the power on a laptop with a built-in battery?
you are a dick. global warming is BS.
Apple uses software to sell their hardware.
There were very nice/slick features added to the software that comes with each computer. Making the computer more useful.
Yes it is gorgeous hardware, but most people do not buy Apple hardware just to run windows.
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It’s the software, OS X, iLife, etc. that really counts.
“The non-replaceable battery would have been an absolute deal killer for me… as I’m certain it is today for a lot of others, particularly those of the power-user, road-warrior variety.”
Do you carry 2 or 3 batteries around with you? Is it a deal killer because you really literally chew through multiple batteries in one go, or are you just dubious of the claim “8 hours of life” and 3x longer battery recharge life?
In the world of consumer electronics MOST rechargeable devices do NOT have replaceable batteries.
In the world of consumer electronics most rechargeable devices do not cost $2800.
Maybe it’ll prove to be a great design, but the idea of being completely at Apple’s mercy is a bit daunting. “We don’t service that model anymore, you’ll have to buy a new MacBook…”
When a built-in, non-removable battery dies, you HAVE to take it to Apple and have it RECYCLED by Apple.
There are ways of getting that battery out.
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My opinion of the new 17″?
“Anti-glare” is not the same as matte, it’s in-between matte and glossy. What it suggests to me is a anti-glare film has been applied by Apple to otherwise glossy screen computers, thus the $50 extra/BTO option. It remains to be seen if the anti-glare is enough or just bait to upgrade.
Apparrantly a lot of complaints to Apple about glossy screens has finally fallen upon someone’s ears, but of course it only applies to the 17″ MBP. The rest of Apple’s line-up is ignored, I suggest more outrage and complaints about glossy screens.
The sealed non-user replaceable battery seems to have a life of 1000 days, which equates to 3 years. Which so happens to be the end of a 3 year AppleCare warranty. So the suggestion to upgrade is there and of course one has to go to a Apple Store and pay a large fee to have their battery replaced. IMO Apple is trying hard to keep people coming into their stores, to keep the drool factor alive and get people to impulsive buy.
The fact of the matter is processors can’t be made to go any faster without incurring a huge amount of heat thus complicated cooling. We now have duo core processors with a shared bus which the speed of the bus restricts the performance of the processors.
So we now buy computers based upon how many CORES it has per processor and the bus speed. And for this 17″ MBP price, it should be at least a dual quad core with a 2000MHZ FSB per processor.
I don’t see many people dropping a huge wad on the new 17″ MBP, not in this economy.
one has to go to a Apple Store and pay a large fee to have their battery replaced. IMO Apple is trying hard to keep people coming into their stores, to keep the drool factor alive and get people to impulsive buy.
Certain automakers have tried this form of “secondary income” and “repeat business”. It doesn’t work.
Believe me, when you’re at the dealer having a costly repair done, the LAST thing you’re in the mood for is buying — from them, anyway.
It looks really nice but $2800 for it seems pretty expensive.
My $3000 2004 MBP has had a 7200 RPM 360 GB upgrade, that was $600.
More RAM to 4 GB, that was another $300.
A spare battery, forget how much. Aperture 1 and 2, $4000 worth of iTunes music.
Vista and XP installed under Fusion 2.0 for another $1000.
Anyway I’ve spent nearly $2000 more to max this puppy out, because I cherish the wonderful matte screen.
I’m not upgrading anytime soon, and unfortunatly if this machine bites it, it will have to be a sorry $600 vista laptop and transfer of itms/mp3ed files.
Still would be the same result I’m using the computer for now, except photo retouching…
just farting around but oh I got such a superior machine!
Hey all you “give me matte screens or give me death” guys:
You can all STFU now.
(but something tells me they won’t…)
You can all STFU now.
Which seems to be Apple’s take in charging for anti-glare film (versus a true matte screen).
OldMacHead:
Not quite correct. They say the battery has about 1,000 cycles, not days. This translates to at least 4 to 5 years of lifetime, before the capacity begins to noticeably drop (assuming you completely discharge the battery every single working day of battery’s life, and don’t discharge it on the weekends/ holidays/ vacation days).
And to the anonymous coward who signed his post with @james (you are a dick. global warming is BS.):
As everybody on this planet with a pulse and a brain knows today, global warming is a very real and acute problem. No amount of saying otherwise will change that.
I’m very much amused by the chatter of the ‘pro-matte’ crowd regarding the new anti-glare displays, before any of them ever had a chance to actually see one in person.
Do you think it might actually make sense to withhold your judgement until you had a chance to see it, or would it be too much to expect from someone as righteous as you?
Dude, the world is in a recession, possible a depression.
You intro a $3k (including tax) computer for almost that charges an extra $50 for the non glare screen that used to be a standard item, has no user swappable battery and lacks a DVI or FireWire port. Really nice. Don’t hold your breath waiting for me to order one of these turds.
Netbooks are the thing right now and as PC notebooks get cheaper and cheaper, you keep moving the Mac price point higher even as you cheapen the product with integrated graphics. This is not the way to make market share.
Note to Steve:
You missed the FireWire port on this laptop – it’s there. DVI is a 90’s technology and, much like USB, will soon be everywhere. Too bad Apple always has to blaze the trail.
Reality Check:
Matt simply isn’t selling. Apple kept it on their pro line as long as they could, but it just isn’t profitable anymore. Since the numbers of matte displays sold is so minuscule, it’s just to expensive to make them in such small numbers, so they have to offset part of the cost by sharing it with the consumers. As for this anti-glare option, let’s just wait and see what they look like before passing definitive judgements.
Predrag “As everybody on this planet with a pulse and a brain knows today, global warming is a very real and acute problem. No amount of saying otherwise will change that.”
Since when did this thread about 17″ Mac Book become a platform for Environmentalist activism?
You want to have a discussion about this take it elsewhere.
As to your comments on the battery, I suspect that for most people this integrated battery will be amazing. Adaptive recharging and 40% more battery capacity just by making it integrated vs all the wasted space associated with a removable battery, is a huge win.
Even people that carry extra batteries around should consider this. Do you really want to give up 40% battery size and capacity just so you can carry around an extra expensive, heavy, and bulky battery?
As everybody on this planet with a pulse and a brain knows today, global warming is a very real and acute problem. No amount of saying otherwise will change that.
Of course no amount of saying will change anything. Just look outside!!
My region (upper Midwest, semi-Siberia) had near-record snowfall in December, and we’re expecting near-record cold next week. This is global warming?
As for the new MacBook, maybe I’ll buy one just to huddle around the heat. That eight hour runtime should produce some decent BTUs.
“Frostbite”, global warming is “global” so while you may be having a cold snap, statistically speaking the Midwest is on average about 6 degrees warmer than it was 30 years ago. Get your head out of your…
“@James”, I’ll bet you think the holocaust was a lie as well? Global warming is real and our behavior is to blame. Apple is acting just like any other corporation. “Reality Check” is dead on. they are cutting mfg costs, and locking in users, w/o care or concern for the envir impact. But they’ll continue to spin it to make themselves look like they care.
And for what its worth, rendering video or crunching big PS files drains the batteries much faster than surfing the web. You cannot always have a car with a power inverter or a generator when shooting and cutting video on site.
My estimates on how long the battery will likely last are certainly not based official lab tests. But since when does any Mfg, Apple included not inflate or embellish their marketing claims? You never get what they say you’ll get. And yes I cycle my batteries as Apple suggests. They’re still dying sooner than Apple claimed.
Milan, isn’t it better to recycle just a battery than a perfectly good computer? Certainly recycling aluminum uses less carbon than smelting new, but it still has to be recycled more frequently if the product strategy is to steer the customer into a new machine more frequently.
I knew some sad sack would call me a MS employee. So anyone that has the audacity to criticize what Apple does works for MS? We’re still on that? For the record, I have been a hard-core mac user for 15 years. At work my coworkers think of me as a Mac head. I am not, I am a realist, and I do not take things at face value, ever. My org buys well over 100k in Apple HW and software every year. I manage several dozen Macs and a handful of PCs. Yes the Macs are overall better machines and less trouble prone. But that is not to say Apple can do no wrong.
“Frostbite”, global warming is “global” so while you may be having a cold snap, statistically speaking the Midwest is on average about 6 degrees warmer than it was 30 years ago.
Which means it’ll be -24 instead of -30. A real heat wave.
The only folks with their heads in their nether regions are those who blindly accept global warming, blindly accept that it’s caused by CO2 emissions, and basically propose to shut down our civilization in the name of your 6 degrees of average warming.
30 years isn’t even a BLIP on the geological timetable. Our scientific knowledge is too primitive, and even a 100 year scale too short, to proceed with draconian changes in how we live. Imagine if we’ve would’ve pushed forward with changes based on global cooling theory from the 1970’s!!
Now, I’m not saying global warming shouldn’t be studied. It should. But we need to fully understand warming AND cooling if we’re to act effectively. Anything less is fear mongering and manipulation.
So how do you get inside this thing if something does go wrong. Which can happen, there will be part inside made by a variety of companies.