17″ Apple MacBook Pro Released

Apple IntelLooks like Apple has released the 17-inch MacBook Pro. Looks like the rumor sites nailed this one, although some were off about another prediction. The reason why I mentioned the 17-inch MacBook Pro, is that many were expecting the oft-rumored 12-inch PowerBook/iBook replacement, supposedly a 13.3-inch widescreen “MacBook” to have already come out, and to have come out before the 17-inch MacBook Pro.

Some of the differences over the 15-inch – three USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 800 port, and an 8x Dual-Layer SuperDrive. Otherwise the resolution, graphics, etc., are the same (and ThinkSecret pointed out the price is close or the same to the high-end 15-inch version).

As I mentioned, many predicted the 13.3-inch MacBook or whatever – very strange that it hasn’t popped up, because it’s basically replacing two popular ultraportable models, and more importantly (for Apple), now is the time to be releasing products geared towards the education market. Once that is released, then they will have wrapped up their Intel transition for the consumer desktops (iMac/Mac mini) and their notebooks, leaving only the high-end workstations/servers to migrate.