Three new additions arrived in the Apple Store today in the form of the new Mac Pro with the Intel ‘Nehalem’ Xeon Processor, and both the iMac and Mac mini desktops were spruced up with a faster processor and twice the memory for the iMac line.
The new Mac Pro, which starts at €2,299 (inc VAT), is twice as fast as the previous generation, according to Apple. It also has an updated interior to make expansion easier, and comes with bigger and better graphics technology.
The new Nehalem processors run at speeds up to 2.93GHz and have an integrated memory controller with three channels of 1066MHz DDR3 ECC memory for up to x2.4 the memory bandwidth.
The Mac Pro comes with both a Mini DisplayPort and DVI port, which means out-of-the-box support for the 24-inch Apple LED Cinema Display and the 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display, as well as other DVI-based displays.
The new iMac line, which starts at €1399 for the 20-inch, has faster Intel Core 2 Duo processors across the entire range, and memory has been doubled up with up to 1TB storage available.
So that’s 2GB of memory for the 320GB 20-inch model, while the rest now have 4GB memory with a hard drive ranging from 640GB to 1TB.
The new Mac mini – with dimensions of 6.5 x 6.5 x 2-inches – starts from €599. It features NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics for up to five times better graphics performance than before, Apple said.
As the mini uses less than 13W of power at idle, which is up to 10 times less power than a typical desktop PC, it claims to be the most energy-efficient desktop in the world.
All new Mac refreshes come with the iLife and iWork 09 software bundles.
By Marie Boran
