Apple updated the 15 and 17-inch MacBook Pros this morning. Changes were limited to mostly speed changes with a switch to the Intel Santa Rosa Core 2 Duo chip, offering speeds up to 2.4GHz. The 15-inch MacBook Pro sports a LED-backlit display while the 17-inch display remains CCFL-backlit. However, unexpectedly there is a high-resolution display offered with the 17-inch MacBook Pro. The high-resolution display comes with an awe-inspiring 1920x1200 resolution (the same resolution found on current 24-inch iMacs) and the upgrade only tacks on $100 USD to the price tag.

In addition to obvious performance benefits, the Intel Santa Rosa platform saves power by detecting load and throttling the front-side bus speed as necessary (Dynamic Front Side Bus Switching).

The updated MacBook Pros come with 2GB of RAM standard and support up to 4GB (nice). Updated graphics round out the package.

Much to my dismay, there was no appearance of an ultraportable MacBook Pro. Dell, however, released an ultraportable yesterday.