MacBook Pro (17-inch)

The 17-inch MacBook Pro was the flagship of the MacBook Pro series. It first debuted in late April 2006 and replaced the 17-inch PowerBook G4, which had run its course for over three years.

1st generation
The first 17-inch MacBook Pro resembled the PowerBook G4, but was up to 5 times faster. Running at 2.16 GHz on an Intel Core Duo chip, the MacBook Pro is incredibly fast at memory-intensive applications. Other specifications changed little, with the notable removal of the modem port, an added USB port, and the introduction of the ExpressCard slot over the PCMCIA card slot. The brightness of the screen was increased.

2nd generation
In January 2009, a thinner second generation "unibody" model was introduced, in which the main exterior parts contained interior reinforcement, all machined from a single piece of aluminum. Processor speeds were increased to 2.66 GHz, with an option of 2.93 GHz.

Discontinuation
In 2012, Apple quietly discontinued the 17-inch MacBook Pro. In November 2019, the 16-inch MacBook Pro was introduced as the new high-end of the MacBook Pro line.