Apple has finally confirmed rumors of an upgraded MacBook Pro family by introducing new versions featuring next-generation processors and graphics, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology and a new FaceTime HD camera, replacing the old iSight.

According to the Cupertino giant maker, the new MacBook Pro line is up to twice as fast as the previous generation thanks to the latest dual-core and quad-core Intel Core processors.

Specifically, the 13-inch model features Intel Core i5 and Core i7 dual-core processors up to 2.7 GHz and Intel HD Graphics 3000.

The 15-inch and the 17-inch versions of the MacBook Pro have quad-core Core i7 processors clocked at up to 2.3 GHz, and AMD Radeon HD graphics processors with up to 1GB of video memory.

The 15-inch and 17-inch systems are aimed at high performance gaming, pro-video editing and graphics intensive applications, Apple said.

Confirming a recent hot rumor, new MacBook Pros all have a new I/O port - ‘Thunderbolt’.

Known as Light Peak technology, it was developed by Intel in collaboration with Apple to enable expandability. It is implemented as ‘Thunderbolt’ on MacBook Pro computers.

It features two bi-directional channels with transfer speeds up to 10Gbps each, delivers PCI Express directly to external high-performance peripherals such as RAID arrays, and can support FireWire and USB consumer devices and Gigabit Ethernet networks via special adapters, Apple explains in today’s official report.

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