MacBook Pro is 20: A look back
Over the weekend, Apple's professional notebook line celebrated an anniversary. Much has changed since its inception – from Intel to Apple Silicon.
MacBook Pro from 2006: The PowerBook had served its purpose.
(Image: Apple)
Apple's MacBook Pro celebrated a special anniversary over the weekend: the model line has been on the market for exactly 20 years. At one of its then-usual keynotes, Apple first presented the initial devices as successors to the PowerBook G4 on January 10, 2006. CEO Steve Jobs introduced the new series by speaking of a “nasty little problem” that needed to be solved with the PowerPC machines: sufficient performance in a compact enclosure. Apple had never managed to build a portable G5 computer, as its TDP (thermal design power) value would have been unsuitable. The switch to Intel processors therefore fit particularly well, as x86 devices were significantly more competitive back then than they are today (more on that later).
MacBook Pro as “one more thing”
The company also took the opportunity to rename the new device line: the PowerBook became the MacBook Pro. Although the name was initially met with amusement – “Mac-book Professional” sounded a bit strange – it quickly caught on, similar to the iPad. At the Macworld San Francisco keynote, the MacBook Pro was a typical “one more thing,” meaning a product that had been long awaited and then appeared as a “surprise” at the end of the event.
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Apple offered two configurations: one with a 1.67 GHz Core Duo, 512 MB RAM, and an 80 GB hard drive, and another with a 1.83 GHz Core Duo, 1 GB RAM, and a 100 GB hard drive. Both machines had a 15.4-inch screen and no unibody enclosure yet. After the 15-inch model, (huge by today's standards) 17-inch models followed a few months later. In May 2006, the first MacBook (without Pro) appeared as the successor to the iBook G4. In 2009, the smaller model was also “pro-ified.”
From Intel to ARM
Many important technologies debuted in the MacBook Pro. These included the MagSafe power adapter connection introduced with the first model, the high-resolution Retina displays, or the aforementioned unibody design, where (almost) the entire enclosure was milled from a single aluminum block, increasing durability. Meanwhile, there were also unfortunate experiments, such as the annoying butterfly keyboard, which developed into a recurring defect, or the OLED strip “Touch Bar,” which never caught on with users.
However, arguably the most significant development was Apple's ARM switch in 2020. Alongside the MacBook Air and Mac Mini, the MacBook Pro was among the first machines to receive an M1 processor. Apple Silicon ensured that the devices ran significantly cooler and faster, as at that time, x86 technology had reached its limits, at least from Apple's perspective.
The first MacBook Pro M1 still resembled the Intel MacBook (with few USB-C ports), but with the M1 Pro and M1 Max from October 2021, there were significant improvements: finally, diverse ports again, even if the enclosure became slightly thicker. Now users are waiting for the next “one more thing,” namely the switch in display technology to OLED, after Apple has primarily focused on integrating new M-chips recently. Currently, there are indications that this could happen in the fall.
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