Going Pro

A few days ago, John Gruber wrote:

Also, in Mac news, I’d bet a small amount on a refresh to Apple’s notebook lineup, with a branding change where the “MacBook Pro” designation is used for all aluminum models,and just plain non-Pro “MacBook” is used for plastic models.

Gruber was right. The new 13-inch based notebooks both have backlit keyboards and FireWire 800 ports. The 15-inch got a new display panel, but lost its ExpressCard/34 Slot. All of the machines are faster, built-in batteries (like the 17-inch model) and all 3 sport lower prices.

The 13- and 15-inch models both have an SD card slot, a first for Apple.

So what does this all mean? The first thing that came to mind was “They’ve finally replaced the 12-inch PowerBook.” With the lower price points and faster processors, these machines are a better deal than ever. I think that 13-inch MacBook Pro is going to be a best-seller in no time - which is what Apple needs.