Apple unveils new MacBook range, but no price cuts for Australians

Apple is enjoy trumpeting its new features, and there’s plenty on offer, including higher resolution displays, improved graphics, glass trackpads and bigger hard drives.

As predicted yesterday Apple has announced improved features and new prices for its MacBook line of portable computers.

Apple is enjoy trumpeting its new features, and there’s plenty on offer, including higher resolution displays, improved graphics, glass trackpads and bigger hard drives.

Apple is also bragging about a “breakthrough” in the way the laptops are built, with the casings cut and tooled from aluminum, without the need for a stronger skeleton fused to the insides.

Despite US writers going into overdrive about rumours of the price of the basic MacBook being slashed from $US1099 to well under $US1000, Apple has only cut the price of the cheapest US MacBook to $US1000.

In Australia, the cheapest MacBook remains an updated white model priced at $1649. The cheapest MacBook with the new features starts at $2099, while the MacBook Pro laptops start at $3199. The base price of the MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro will increase by 10%, 16% and 18.5% respectively.

These rises appear to because of the weak Australian dollar because, after exchange rates and GST, these prices are only a 5% premium on the US.

One area that has disappointed commentators is Apple’s decision not to enter the netbook market with a cheap, low spec internet focused laptop to compete with the Asus EeePC or Dell Mini 9. This isn’t surprising as Apple generally avoids the low-margin tech sectors.

Overall, the new product range freshens up a product range that was falling behind the PC market and will keep Mac fans happy while maintaining Apple’s margins and position in the market.

That said, it’s hard to see any new compelling reason for Windows users to switch.

Read more on Apple.