Apple Bumps MacBook Pro with Processor, Graphics, Storage Upgrades

late 2011 mbp 13
Apple today quietly released a minor update to its MacBook Pro line, offering upgraded processor, and in some cases graphics and/or storage options at the same price points as the previous models. Portions of the improved specs had been leaked to 9to5Mac by reliable source Mr. X late yesterday.

late 2011 mbp 15 17
Among the key changes:

13-inch MacBook Pro:

- Processor options move from 2.3 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 and 2.7 GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 to 2.4 GHz and 2.8 GHz options.

- Hard drive options offer increased capacity, moving from 320 GB in the low-end configuration and 500 GB in the high-end configuration to 500 GB and 750 GB respectively.

15-inch MacBook Pro:

- Standard processor options move from 2.0 GHz and 2.2 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 to 2.2 GHz and 2.4 GHz options. The high-end custom processor option at 2.3 GHz has now become a 2.5 GHz option.

- For discrete graphics, Apple had previously offered the AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 256MB of memory on the low-end configuration and the Radeon HD 6750M with 1GB of memory on the high-end configuration. Apple has now moved the 6750M to the low-end configuration with 512 MB of memory and given the high-end configuration a Radeon HD 6770M with 1 GB of memory.

- The previous build-to-order option of a 500 GB hard drive running at 7200 rpm has been bumped to a 750 GB drive at the same speed.

17-inch MacBook Pro:

- Processor speeds have been bumped from a base 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7 with a 2.3 GHz upgrade option to a 2.4 GHz base processor with a 2.5 GHz option.

- Graphics have been improved from the AMD Radeon 6750M with 1 GB of memory to the Radeon HD 6770M, also with 1 GB of memory.

- The previous build-to-order option of a 500 GB hard drive running at 7200 rpm has been bumped to a 750 GB drive at the same speed.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro

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Top Rated Comments

ikir Avatar
185 months ago
Wow they changed also the gfx card, not bad for a minor update/speed bump!
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kyjaotkb Avatar
185 months ago
other than the 6GB L3 vs. 8GB L3 that is!
I think they updated the HDD from 320 kb to 500kb as well
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kyjaotkb Avatar
185 months ago
SSD prices are still laughable... MBA definitely offers a fair bang for its buck.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AdeFowler Avatar
185 months ago
Nice updates in my honest opinion.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bigjobby Avatar
185 months ago
This is a lot more than last year's mid-cycle bump up. Not sure what some people were expecting but Apple were never going to do anything radical.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Steve121178 Avatar
185 months ago
4GB RAM in 2011?

Come on, Apple! We need 8GB RAM as standard configuration!

I'd wager most users don't.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)