Apple rolls out new MacBooks

Apple has rolled out new notebooks featuring its 'unibody' technology

Apple has delivered its widely speculated notebook refresh, featuring new additions to the high-end MacBook Pro and consumer MacBook lines, both of which sport new case designs and hardware features.

As was rumoured, the company is using a brand new case design and manufacturing process for both models.

The process involves cutting the entire outer shell for the casing from a single block of aluminium, resulting in a cleaner, tougher and more efficient casing, according to Apple.

"Traditionally notebooks are made from multiple parts. With the new MacBook, we've replaced all of those parts with just one part, the 'unibody'," explained Jonathan Ive, senior vice president of industrial design at Apple.

"The MacBook's unibody enclosure is made from a single block of aluminium, making it fundamentally thinner, stronger and more robust with a fit and finish that we've never even dreamed of before."

The revolutionary case design will also allow for a new glass trackpad, which is 40 per cent larger and supports new gestures that let a user perform a 'click' function from anywhere on the pad.

Apple fans will have to pay £949 to get their hands on the new 13in MacBook model, while the 15in MacBook Pro has a suggested retail value of £1,399. Apple also plans to drop the price of the 13in white MacBook to £719. In the US, pricing will be $1,299 for the new 13in model; $1,999 for the Pro version; and $999 for the white MacBook.

The MacBook Pro will add the option of a 128GB solid-state hard drive on built-to-order models. The option had previously been reserved for the MacBook Air.

Environmentally-friendly design is also a major selling-point for the company. Apple highlighted the use of mercury-free and arsenic-free materials in both models, as well as the higher recycling value of the new aluminium casing.

"Apple has invented a whole new way of building notebooks from a single block of aluminium," boasted co-founder and chief executive Steve Jobs. "And, just as important, they are the industry's greenest notebooks."