Apple Launched the MacBook Pro 19 Years Ago Today

[MacRumors]

Apple launched the original MacBook Pro 19 years ago today.

Jobs announced the MacBook Pro at the Macworld Conference & Expo in 2006. It was the first Mac notebook to transition from PowerPC processors to Intel's Core Duo architecture. Designed to be an Intel-based replacement for the PowerBook line, the MacBook Pro took a similar aluminum chassis and added an Intel Core processor, a webcam, and the MagSafe power connector. Its display was 67% brighter than its predecessor, matching the luminance of Apple's standalone Cinema Displays.

Apple claimed that the Intel processors delivered "up to four times the performance of the PowerBook G4." The transition was supported by Rosetta, a software translation layer that allowed PowerPC applications to run on Intel-based Macs.

The original MacBook Pro came in two configurations, both with 15.4-inch widescreen displays offering 1440 x 900 resolution. The entry-level model featured a 1.67 GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 512MB of DDR2 RAM, and an 80GB hard drive, while the higher-end model boasted a 1.83 GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 100GB hard drive. Both models included ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics cards. The 15-inch model weighed just 5.6 pounds and was only one inch thick.

It also featured two USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 400 port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and an ExpressCard/34 slot for expandability. The exclusion of FireWire 800 in the initial 15-inch models drew criticism from some users, but this port was later restored in subsequent revisions. Initially only available with a 15-inch display, Apple introduced a 17-inch variant in April 2006.

Over the years, the MacBook Pro line evolved through various design and technological iterations, including the unibody construction in 2008, the Retina display in 2012, and the controversial Touch Bar in 2016. The transition from Intel to Apple Silicon in 2020 marked the end of the Intel-based MacBook Pro era, as Apple moved to its proprietary M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max chips.

Article Link: Apple Launched the MacBook Pro 19 Years Ago Today

 

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

Oh, the days of 2.5hrs of battery life.

NOT good times…. NOT.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I still love those keyboards, for whatever reason

Used one again over Christmas when cleaning out a room
It felt like "home"

 

[iObama]

Little middle school iObama walked into the expo hall at Moscone and was left speechless when they yanked the power adapter out of the computer without it moving. Lol truly revolutionary.

 

[Madhatter32]

I had a similar one with a DVD/CD ROM drive. No movie subscriptions needed.

 

[SethBoy]

Sounded like a mouthful then, and now the name just rolls off the tongue

 

[thefrost]

We have come a long way.

 

[turbineseaplane]

PowerBook is still a better name in my "book"

 

[BelgianChoklit]

My very first Mac was a late 2011 17" Pro. It was an awesome new experience for me coming from Windows. And it came with OSX Lion which introduced the feature to add more desktops. I recall being amazed to be able to use multiple desktop views swiping from one to the next. I had gone with the best CPU and 8GB of RAM and upgraded to 16GB and swapped the HDD for an SSD.

I recall the noise my classmates' HP laptops would make just opening the trash can while my MacBook Pro would stay quiet while running ArchiCAD, Photoshop and other software simultaneously. I used to make fun of their laptop sounds by looking out the window and and they would ask me what I was looking for and I would tell them I'm looking for a plane "is there an airstrip here?" because their HP's were sounding like plane engines.

 

[hj8ag]

Was such an exciting time as a Mac user. The intel switch was such a great move - glad we’ve moved on to Apple Silicon now, but was so great moving from stagnant powerpc chips to a platform with a future

 

[tomtad]

Still doesn't sound as cool as PowerBook somehow

 

[BelgianChoklit]

Oh, the days of 2.5hrs of battery life.

NOT good times…. NOT.

My first laptop was a Sony Vaio from 2009 and I kid you not, just before getting a MacBook Pro in 2011, my Vaio's battery lasted for literally 3 to 5 minutes while rendering nothing but the desktop. It was bloody awful.

 

[skitidetdu]

Imagine if Apple reintroduced the 17 inch laptop

 

[neuropsychguy]

Sounded like a mouthful then, and now the name just rolls off the tongue

There were a lot of people online who hated the name.

 

[thadoggfather]

All things considered, my favorite laptop design of all time.

This device and its drop in Intel successors were quite regal compared to the rest of the market.

 

[fathergll]

IB4 someone posts they are still using this running sequoia with opencore legacy patcher

 

[JonathanX64]

My very first Mac was a late 2011 17" Pro. It was an awesome new experience for me coming from Windows. And it came with OSX Lion which introduced the feature to add more desktops. I recall being amazed to be able to use multiple desktop views swiping from one to the next. I had gone with the best CPU and 8GB of RAM and upgraded to 16GB and swapped the HDD for an SSD.

I recall the noise my classmates' HP laptops would make just opening the trash can while my MacBook Pro would stay quiet while running ArchiCAD, Photoshop and other software simultaneously. I used to make fun of their laptop sounds by looking out the window and and they would ask me what I was looking for and I would tell them I'm looking for a plane "is there an airstrip here?" because their HP's were sounding like plane engines.

Your MacBook only stayed quiet because it was too busy frying the GPU under melting-hot temperatures inside: https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2...o-booting-grey-screen-amd-radeon-video-glitch

 

[rizzo41999]

This thing was solid. I remember how exciting the Core Duo and Core 2 Duo chips were

 

[TechRunner]

I switched from a PowerBook G4 to a shiny white 17" Intel iMac. My fondest memory is of the keyboard that came with the iMacs back then.

 

[Strigoi]

This thing was solid. I remember how exciting the Core Duo and Core 2 Duo chips were

Yeah! Dual cores in a laptop, I was so hyped! Got mine with the core 2 duo and it felt like pure witch craft. Alien tech, but then thermals on the NVIDIA GPU kicked in.

Insane how far we’ve come. I mean it now handles a M4 Max with 14 CPU and 32 (!!!) GPU Cores.

 

[minik]

For some reason, none of the Intel-based MacBook Pro won me over. I remember purchased the 13-inch MacBook Pro (non-retina and retina) models and immediately turn off by the low resolution display, gave them to my sister. The 15-inch model was too big and expensive, bought a 27-inch iMac instead.

 

[The_Auryn]

19 years and it's still the same basic design.

 

[Westside guy]

I had one of these - actually the first revision afterward, when they added FW 800. Thing was my workhorse for a lot of years... then it got repurposed as our media "server", a role it filled admirably for quite a few more years. It finally bit the dust ~ 2018-2019.

It was a great laptop for its time.

 

[Spock]

Such a massive upgrade over the PowerBook G4 that it replaced. As others of said though, I like the PowerBook name better.

 

[canadianreader]

The trackpad is so small plus a dedicated button 🤔 no thanks I much prefer today's tech