The new Macbook Pros announced today from Apple are, in the main, evolutionary rather than revolutionary in terms of the business environment - slightly faster CPUs, larger hard disks, multitouch trackpad technology from the Macbook Air, better casing - none of these are going to require across-the-board upgrades. However, two things in particular stand out.

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Macbook, Macbook Pro, Cinema Display

Firstly, it’s good to see Apple laptops come with a sensible amount of memory in their default configurations. The lower-end Macbook Pro comes with 2Gb, and the higher with 4Gb. This saves the immediate memory order that needed to be done when ordering a new Macbook Pro, and effectively reduces the cost. In fact, only the remaining White Macbook comes with 1Gb by default. Laptops with a sensible amount of memory included by default is a very welcome step for Apple.

Secondly, and most importantly, the new Apple Cinema display is a compelling and beautiful combination with the new Macbooks and Macbook Pros. A simple three-cable combination that powers your laptop, extends the screen to the display on your desk, and acts as a USB hub for your desk-based devices is a fantastic idea, and cleverly reduces desktop cable clutter. While it’s ideally suited to the new laptops, it looks as if it will work just as well with existing Mac laptops too, with an adaptor if necessary. We fully expect these to fly off the shelves. They effectively make the Macbook Pro and the Macbook the only sensible choices for an office desktop machine, except in the cases where an individual has very large processing or storage requirements.

So, for business, Apple have clarified their product lines - more than ever before there are clear and easy choices for particular business need. This is good news and a good move.