The Macbook Pro is getting an upgrade; new Intel Core 2 Duo Penryn processors are coming in 2.5 and 2.6GHz flavors. These new laptops are bundled with a Mac-specific model of the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB of GDDR3 RAM. The lesser Macbook has also received an upgrade, but only the Macbook Pro is getting the much-rumored multitouch interface. Unofficial sources have been saying that the multitouch interface was only a software upgrade away, and Apple was about 100 days late on its average updating time for laptops.

The new Core 2 Duo versions are supposed to be about 50% faster than previous models, with the bonus of added power efficiency. Of course, the 8600M GT video card and multitouch technology are big updates, although it would have been nice if the multitouch was on the regular Macbook as well. In addition, the top of the line 17″ screen now comes with the option of LED backlighting, a must for power consumption, and the Apple Remote is $19.

Moving on to prices, there is still a considerable difference between the Macbook and the Macbook Pro:

2.1GHz
13-inch white MacBook $1,099 (US)

2.4GHz
13-inch white MacBook $1,299 (US)
13-inch black MacBook $1,499 (US) (Aluminum instead of plastic housing)

15-inch MacBook Pro $1,999 (US)

2.5GHz
15-inch MacBook Pro $2,499 (US)
17-inch MacBook Pro, MSRP $2,799 (US)