15″ Macbook Pro – Model A1278

The MacBook Pro “Core 2 Duo” 2.53 13″ (SD/Firewire 800 ) features a 45 nm “Penryn” 2.53 GHz Intel “Core 2 Duo” processor (P8700), with two independent processors “cores” on a single silicon chip, a 3 MB shared “on-chip” level 2 cache, a 1066 MHz frontside bus, 4 GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM (PC3-8500) installed in pairs (two 2 GB modules), a 250 GB Serial ATA (5400 RPM) hard drive, an 8X DL “SuperDrive”, an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M “graphics processor with 256 MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory”, integrated iSight, and an LED-backlit 13.3″ widescreen TFT active-matrix “glossy” display (1280×800 native resolution).

Connectivity includes AirPort Extreme (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, Gigabit Ethernet, a Firewire “800” port, two USB 2.0 ports, the same “combined optical digital output/headphone out (user-selectable analog audio line-in)” port used by the iPhone, a “Mini DisplayPort” that supports an external display at 2560×1600, and an SD card slot.

Although this model is packed in essentially the same “Unibody” case design — one milled from a single block of aluminum — as the 13-Inch “non-Pro” MacBook that it replaced, it has the same backlit keyboard and “no button” glass “multi-touch” trackpad with support for “four-finger” gestures and programmable “zones”, and a very similar internal architecture, there are notable differences as well. The “Mid-2009” 13-Inch MacBook Pro models support more RAM, have an improved display (said to have “60% greater color gamut”), and have a non-swappable battery design that provides 7 hours of battery life (up from 5 hours). They also add the aforementioned SD card slot and a Firewire “800” port but drop the previously standard optical digital audio input capabilities. This model is a bit faster and is configured with more standard RAM as well.