MacBook Pro, 2006

• Upon its debut on January 6, 2006, the MacBook Pro laptop incorporated a screen that measured 15 inches. A larger, 17-inch laptop arrived on April 24, 2006. The five processor choices came from Intel Corp.'s Core Duo, the dual-core division of the Core brand that debuted in the same month as the MacBook Pro. Other main features included a system memory range of 512MB to 2GB; a hard drive that offered between 80GB and 200GB of data storage space; an Apple-branded SuperDrive for playing and recording CDs and DVDs, which has remained throughout the computer's production run; and an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 GPU with 128MB or 256MB of built-in memory.
  
  

MacBook Pro, 2007

• On June 5, 2007, Apple began offering 2GB as the only installed system memory choice for the MacBook Pro; and the ATI video/graphics card was replaced by the Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT, which provided 128MB, 256MB or 512MB of built-in memory. Also, the five processor choices offered throughout that year came from the Intel Core 2 Duo, which had succeeded the Core Duo in mid-2006. The hard disk drive now offered 120GB or 160GB of storage space.
  
  

MacBook Pro, 2008

• On February 26, 2008, Apple stopped offering the 17-inch MacBook Pro, thus leaving the 15-inch version as the only size choice. Also, the company ditched the 128-MB version of the Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT and data storage space is bumped up to 200GB and 320GB. Later that year, on October 14, 2008, Apple got rid of the 256-MB Nvidia card choices as well, thus leaving the 512-MB version as the only GPU configuration choice; and a 4-GB system memory choice was introduced. Also, the company replaced 200GB with 250GB, and it began offering a solid-state drive option, which was costlier but quieter and less susceptible to physical shock than traditional hard drives. The five CPU choices available in 2008 still came from the Intel Core 2 Duo division, albeit different entries and model numbers from the previous year.
  
  

MacBook Pro, 2009

• The MacBook Pro continued its processor technology basis on the Core 2 Duo throughout 2009, with the number of choices increased to seven; as well as retaining the 2-GB and 4-GB system memory options. The 17-inch version made a comeback on January 6, 2009. Also, Apple now offered two Nvidia GPUs: the GeForce 9400M and the GeForce 9600 GT, part of the next generation of the GPU manufacturer's video/graphics cards. The 9400M offered 256MB while the 9600 GT provided 256MB or 512MB. On June 8, 2009, Apple introduced the 13-inch laptop, which became the smallest version of the MacBook Pro. By this point, the maximum data storage space offered was 500GB.
  
  

MacBook Pro, 2010 to Present

• At the time of publication, the MacBook Pro remains available in three sizes: the 13-inch, the 15-inch and the 17-inch. The processor is either the mid-range i5 or the top-level i7 of the Core brand, which has become Intel's premier consumer-oriented CPU brand. The i5 and the i7 are notable for their built-in Intel HD Graphics chipset for basic graphics processing; they complement the 256-MB Radeon HD 6490M or the 1-GB Radeon HD 6750M video/graphics card from semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices. The debut of these chips occurred on April 13, 2010. The GPUs arrived on February 24, 2011, the date in which the maximum data storage choice was increased to 750GB. The system memory is set at 4GB.