Apple’s newly refreshed MacBook Pro laptop line has apparently proven a success.
The 13-inch models – which now feature the Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics processor, the fastest currently on the market, according to Apple, and said to speed up the machine by 80 percent – have already sold out in some Apple retail stores, according to Apple Insider.
“Apple Insider’s checks with authorized resellers has found that while the high-end 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro models are in stock, none have the 13-inch model available, and stock of the low-end 15-inch MacBook Pro is limited,” the site reported.
On the Apple site, 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro models are listed as shipping within 24 hours of purchase, while the 13-inch models state shipping time frames of one to three days.
The 13-inch MacBook Pros additionally feature up to 10 hours of battery life and offer a choice of configurations: a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a 250GB hard drive for $1,199, or a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a 320GB hard drive for $1,499.
The higher-end 15- and 17-inch models feature what Apple describes as a “new automatic graphics switching technology,” which enables the machines to toggle between their two processors – the Nvidia GeForce GT 330 and Intel’s energy-efficient Core i5 and Core i7 processors – depending on the task being performed.
Apple reported that it’s also having a hard time keeping its new iPad in stock. After shipping half a million of the tablet devices during its first available week, Apple posted a good-for-us, bummer-for-you media advisory on its site April 14, stating that the iPad’s “runaway success” has forced it to make the “difficult decision” to delay the iPad’s international launch by one month.
Apple fans abroad can begin placing pre-orders for the iPad on Monday, May 10.
Apple shipped 1.4 million PCs in the first quarter of 2010, according to preliminary estimates released by Gartner on April 14. The figures offered Apple a 34 percent uptick from a year earlier. Gartner added that the iPad – which it does not count as a PC, and revenues for which did not figure into the quarter – nonetheless “added positive sentiment to the company.”
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