MacBook Pro Early 2008

The Apple MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.5 15-Inch (Early 2008/Penryn) is equipped with a 45 nm "Penryn" 2.5 GHz "Core 2 Duo" processor (T9300), containing two independent cores, a 6 MB shared on-chip level 2 cache, and an 800 MHz frontside bus. It includes 2.0 GB of 667 MHz PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM, a 250 GB (5400 RPM) hard drive with "Sudden Motion Sensor" technology, and an 8X dual-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW SuperDrive. Graphics are powered by an NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM and dual-link DVI support, displayed on an antiglare 15.4-inch LED-backlit widescreen 1440x900 active-matrix screen (a glossy version was a build-to-order option).

Externally, the 15-Inch "Early 2008/Penryn" MacBook Pro models are almost identical to the previous "Mid-2007/Santa Rosa" systems, except for the keyboard and trackpad. The keyboard retains ambient lighting but loses the embedded numeric keypad, replaces the right-side enter key with a second option key, and has new function key mappings. The trackpad now supports "multi-touch gesturing" (including two-finger scroll, pinch, rotate, swipe, tap, double-tap, and drag). The "MagSafe" connector and iSight camera are still present, but the previously included Apple Remote became a US$19 add-on.

Connectivity remains comprehensive, featuring the same ExpressCard/34 slot, AirPort Extreme (802.11a/b/g/n), Gigabit Ethernet, a FireWire "400" port, a Firewire "800" port, two USB 2.0 ports, optical digital audio in/out, and DVI out. Bluetooth is updated to version 2.1+EDR.

Internally, these "Early 2008/Penryn" models feature slightly faster, more energy-efficient 45 nm "Penryn" processors compared to the 65 nm "Merom" chips in the "Mid-2007 Santa Rosa" series. They also offer larger 6 MB level 2 caches (on 2.5 GHz and faster models, unlike the 3 MB cache on the 2.4 GHz model), more video memory (256 MB or 512 MB versus 128 MB or 256 MB), and larger standard hard drives.

Apple also offered this model with a 2.6 GHz "Core 2 Duo" (T9500) processor via custom configuration for an additional US$250.

Released in early 2008, this 15-inch MacBook Pro represented a solid evolution from its predecessor. It featured a 45nm Penryn processor with a 6MB L2 cache, which improved both performance and power efficiency. A particularly notable feature was the trackpad's support for multi-touch gestures, a feature first introduced on the MacBook Air, which significantly enhanced user interaction. The graphics capabilities were also bolstered with 512MB of video memory for the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT, enabling it to handle more demanding graphical tasks. While there were no major design changes, these internal upgrades improved reliability and comfort for professional work, earning the model widespread user approval.