New 'Intel-inside' MacBook Pro hits the market

New 'Intel-inside' MacBook Pro hits the market

Apple Inc. has started shipping its new MacBook Pro, the second in its line of Intel-based Macintosh computers. The launch has already raised the share price of the company.

Apple Inc. announced on Tuesday that it has dispatched the first lot of its MacBook Pro laptop computers. However the company has also admitted that it would take some time before the build up of orders is cleared up.

“Their announcement this morning that they have begun shipment of the MacBook Pro (has) alleviated concerns about speculated delays in shipment,” said Steve Lidberg, an analyst with the Pacific Crest Securities. “This is a transitional quarter for them and the market is reacting to that.”

Apple announced last year in June that it will switch from IBM processors to Intel processors. It launched in January its first Intel-based Macintosh PC, iMac G5, which is a desktop computer. The company plans to completely switch-over to Intel by the end of 2007. With the monumental shift to Intel, Apple plans to capture an increased share of the PC market. The company will also benefit from Intel's strength in marketing.

The MacBook Pro is equipped with the 'Core Duo Processor' chip of Intel. Apple claims that the new Mac laptop is four times better than its IBM-based predecessor PowerBook G4. Apple had previously announced that the higher-end MacBook Pro would have a 1.83 GHz chip but the company has updated it to a 2.0 GHz chip. The speed of the lower-end model has also been increased from 1.67 GHz to 1.83 GHz. The former model is priced at $2,499 while the latter at $1,999.

The shares of the company increased almost five percent to hit a session high of $67.91 in the Nasdaq 100 Index on Tuesday. Intel's shares also went up by a 1.28% in Nasdaq.