WWDC Highlights: A Closer Look at Apple's Newest Products

WWDC: Apple Announces iPhone 3G S, MacBook Pros, and More

Apple took the wraps off its next generation iPhone at Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco . It also unveiled new MacBook Pros, announced updates to Mac OS Snow Leopard and Server software, and lastly made Safari 4 available for PC users.

There was no Steve Jobs, as some had hoped and predicted. In fact some were wondering, is that it?

Here is a roundup of what was announced.

Meet the New MacBook Pro Family

Apple new line of MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops include 13-inch, 15-inch, and 17-inch models featuring a built-in battery with 40 percent longer battery life, according to Apple. Apple touts its newest notebooks as the company’s greenest notebook lineup to date.

MacBook Pros Ship with Great Standard Features

Each of the MacBook Pros announced today sport LED-backlit displays, Apple’s unique glass Multi-Touch trackpad, an illuminated keyboard, an SD card or ExpressCard slot, FireWire ports, and NVIDIA graphics.

MacBook Pros Get Greener, Are More Affordable

Every new MacBook Pro features an advanced built-in battery that lasts up to 7 hours (8 hours on the 17-inch MacBook Pro) on a single charge. That’s about 2 hours more than previous models. Apple is also claiming its new MacBook line is recycle friendly (we are waiting for the details to see what that means).

Apple says its new MacBook Pro family line, with prices starting at $1199, is its most affordable line ever, with some models up to $300 less than the previous generation.

MacBook Pro 13-Inch

Apple’s new 13-inch MacBook Pro features an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor and is available in two models: One with a 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive priced at $1199, and another with a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive priced at $1499.

MacBook Pro 15-Inch

The 15-inch MacBook Pro line now features a seven hour built-in battery, an SD card slot, and a LED-backlit display. The entry-level price is $300 less than before. The new 15-inch MacBook Pro is available in three models: a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a 250GB hard drive and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics ($1699); a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a 320GB hard drive, and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT graphics ($1999); and a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a 500GB hard drive, and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT graphics ($2299).

MacBook Pro 17-Inch

The 17-inch MacBook Pro includes an eight hour built-in battery, an ExpressCard slot, a “brilliant” LED-backlit display, 4GB of RAM, and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT graphics. The MacBook Pro 17-inch now includes the faster 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and a larger 500GB hard drive ($2499).

Apple Releases Safari 4 for the PC

Safari 4 is Apple’s next version of its Web browser for OS X and Windows users. On Monday Apple updated the 4.0 version of its Safari browser to run on PCs. Safari 4 has been available as a public beta since February for Macs. The 4.0 version also adds the Nitro Javascript engine, which is aimed at improving Safari’s speed.

You can download the Windows OS compatible version of Safari 4.0 here.

Apple Unveils Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Snow Leopard, the next major update to OS X, will be available in September. However, OS X 10.6 will only work on Intel-based Macs, leaving the owners of aging PowerPC-based hardware without the ability to upgrade.

Snow Leopard will cost Leopard users $29 ($49 for the family pack) when it ships in September.

Apple Introduces Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard

Apple on Monday announced a “Developer Preview” of Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard, a new version of its server software based on the same underpinnings as its next-version Mac operating system release. Snow Leopard Server, like its client counterpart, is expected to be released in September, and comes with a $499 price tag.

Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard runs up to twice as fast as the Leopard version of Mac OS X Server, according to Apple. It’s a full 64-bit UNIX server that sports a number of new features, including Podcast Producer 2 (see image above), which helps to automate the creation and publishing of podcasts in conjunction with the Podcast Composer application, and Mobile Access Server, which provides secure access to firewall-protected network services for the Mac and the iPhone.

– Peter Cohen, Macworld.com

iPhone 3G S Coming June 19

Apple’s all-new iPhone, the iPhone 3GS, comes with voice control, better battery life, encryption, and speed to burn. It hits stores June 19.

“The ‘S’ stands for speed,” Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, told Worldwide Developers Conference attendees during Monday’s conference-opening keynote.

The new phone sells for $199 for the 16GB version and $299 for a 32GB model. The current iPhone 3G will drop in price to $99 as of today.

WWDC Highlights: A Closer Look at Apple’s Newest Products