MacBook Pro(17-inch, 2009 Early)

Background

Announced in January 2009, the MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009) adopted the aluminum "Unibody" case design of its smaller sibling, the MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008), along with many of the same architectural improvements. These included the glass-covered, clickable multi-touch trackpad, faster bus speed, a Mini DisplayPort, and two fully independent graphics chipsets. The most notable change to the MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009) was to the battery. Instead of including a replaceable battery, which had been standard on Apple notebooks since the original PowerBook 100, Apple chose to embed a custom-designed, built-in battery, capable of up to 8 hours of use on a single charge. Apple claimed that the integrated battery would retain 80 percent or more of its original capacity for up 1,000 recharge cycles, making replacement a non-issue for most customers. Depleted batteries could be replaced (and recycled) by Apple for $179 U.S. The MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009) shipped in a single configuration, with a 2.66 GHz processor, 4 GB of RAM and a 320 GB hard drive, for $2,799 U.S. Built-to-order options included a faster 2.93 GHz processor, up to 8 GB of RAM, a 320 GB 7200 RPM hard drive, and 128 or 256 GB solid-state drives.