Mac-heads rejoice: the rumours are all true. Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled his company’s much-anticipated new MacBook line today, consisting of 13-inch and 15-inch models up to $NZ800 cheaper than their predecessors. Features include:

• No more cheesy plastic trim. A new “unibody” design that sees each of the notebooks cast from a single piece of aluminium. As well looking sleek, Jobs says the unibody makes the MacBooks thinner, tougher, and greener to manufacture.

• A glass trackpad that features a multi-touch interface, allowing users to “pinch” an image to zoom in, a la an iPhone screen, plus tricks like rotate and swirl. However, the remodelled trackpad is only available on the 15-inch model.

• Graphics punch to make gamers’ drool, with NVIDIA’s GeForce 9400Ms chip under the hood, which Jobs says will offer up to five times the 3D performance of its predecessors.

• LED backlit displays that Jobs says are 30% more energy efficient, and that feature arsenic-free glass. Along with the unibody, the displays help the new MacBooks to Energy Star 4 and EPEAT Gold rankings, which should make Apple board member Al Gore happy (Apple has previously been on Greenpeace’s hitlist for earlier MacBooks, and chemicals used in the 3G iPhone’s manufacture).

13-inch MacBook

The 13-inch MacBook (above) is 24mm thin and 320mm wide, weighs just under 2kg, and costs $NZ2,399 specc’d with a 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo  processor, 2GB of RAM (expandable to 4GB) and a 160GB hard drive. A 2.4GHz, 250GB model is also available for $NZ2,899.

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15-inch MacBook Pro

The second new model, the 15-inch MacBook Pro (above) is also 24mm deep, but weighs in at 2.49kg and is wider at 364mm.

Pricing starts from $NZ3,699 with a stonking 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM and 250GB hard drive. A step-up model features a 2.53GHz processor (which Apple says can be overclocked to 2.8GHz) and a 320GB hard drive for $NZ4,599 (the drives on all models are 5400rmp).

17-inch MacBook, MacBook Air spruced up

Apple has also upgraded its big-screen laptop, but the new version of the 17-inch MacBook does not get the new unibody design but gets beefier hardware options all round.

Similarly, the new version of the MacBook Air, also announced today, is physically identical to its predecessor, with the key enhancement under the hood being a new 128GB solid state hard drive option.<

Full techs and specs for the new MacBooks are as follows:

The 2.0 GHz, 13-inch aluminium MacBook, for a recommended retail price of NZ$2,399 includes GST, includes:
• 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
• 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
• 1066 MHz front-side bus;
• 2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
• 160GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
• Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
• built-in AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• two USB 2.0 ports;
• one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
• glass Multi-Touch trackpad; and
• 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.4 GHz aluminium MacBook, for a recomended retail price of NZ$2,899 inc GST, includes:
• 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
• 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
• 1066 MHz front-side bus;
• 2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
• 250GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
• Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• two USB 2.0 ports;
• one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
• glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
• 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options for the MacBook include the ability to upgrade to 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, a 250GB 5400 rpm, 320GB 5400 rpm hard drive, a 128GB solid state drive, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple USB Modem, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare® Protection Plan.

The 2.4 GHz, 15-inch aluminium MacBook Pro, for a recommended retail price of NZ$3,699 inc GST, includes:
• 15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
• 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
• 1066 MHz front-side bus;
• 2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
• NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics with 256MB GDDR3 video memory;
• 250GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
• Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• two USB 2.0 ports;
• one FireWire® 800 port;
• ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
• one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
• glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
• 85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.53 GHz aluminium MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of inc NZ$4,599 inc GST, includes:
• 15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
• 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
• 1066 MHz front-side bus;
• 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM;
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
• NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics with 512MB GDDR3 video memory;
• 320GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
• Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• two USB 2.0 ports;
• one FireWire 800 port;
• ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
• one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
• glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
• 85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options for the MacBook Pro include a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, the ability to upgrade to 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 250GB 7200 rpm, 320GB 5400 rpm or a 320GB 7200 rpm hard drive, a 128GB solid state drive, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple USB Modem, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

The 1.6 GHz MacBook Air, for a recommended retail price of NZ$3,299 inc GST, includes:
• 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit high resolution 1280 x 800 glossy display;
• 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
• 1066 MHz front-side bus;
• 2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM;
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
• 120GB serial ATA hard drive running at 4200 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• one USB 2.0 port;
• one headphone port;
• Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
• 45 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 1.86 GHz MacBook Air, for a recommended retail price of NZ$4,599 inc GST, includes:
• 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
• 1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
• 1066 MHz front-side bus;
• 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM;
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
• 128GB solid state drive;
• Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• one USB 2.0 port;
• one headphone port;
• Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
• 45 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options and accessories for the MacBook Air include the MacBook Air SuperDrive, Apple USB Ethernet Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple USB Modem, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter, Apple Remote and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

The 2.5GHz 17-inch MacBook Pro, for a recommended retail price of NZ$5,099 inc GST, includes:
• 17-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1920 x 1200 glossy display;
• 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
• 800 MHz front-side bus;
• 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM;
• NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with 512MB with GDDR3 video memory;
• 320GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
• DVI output port for video output (VGA adapter included);
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• Gigabit Ethernet port;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• three USB 2.0 ports;
• one FireWire 800 port and one FireWire 400 port;
• ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
• one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
• Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
• 85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.