Apple's popular MacBook Pro has benefitted from an upgrade, with a 13-inch version from $1,599 and a 15-inch model from $2,499.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro will include a Intel Core i5 processor based on Intel's Haswell architecture, and it's this latter feature that helps the new version last for nine hours when watching movies on iTunes, according to Apple.
It's thinner than its predecessor at 0.71-inch and weighs 3.46lbs, compared to 0.75-inch and 3.57lbs.
Other key upgrades include faster wireless courtesy of 802.11ac, Thunderbolt 2 and - perhaps the most interesting inclusion - PCIe-based solid-state drives.
The inclusion of PCIe-based drives should mean higher input/output of data, in turn speeding up performance - although the real test of this will come when we get a MacBook Pro into our Labs.
The 15-inch MacBook Pro lasts for eight hours according to Apple, and certain models ship with a dedicated GeForce GT 750 graphics chip. Alternatively, you can choose a version with integrated Intel Iris Pro graphics.
Those after the very fastest machines should note that the newer 13-inch MacBook Pro may be slower than the current one, based on laptops we've tested using Haswell architecture in the past two months - especially since the previous low-end MacBook Pro 13-inch included a 2.5GHz chip.
Dell rival
In what is unlikely to be a coincidence, Dell also announced a new workstation laptop today: the Precision M3800.
Available worldwide from 14 November, its price starts at $US1,799, undercutting the 15-inch MacBook Pro by $US200 (we don't yet have confirmation of Australian pricing).
The M3800 is 18mm thick and weighs 1.88kg, more than the 15-inch Pro, but Dell claims it lasts for 10hrs and 6mins on a single charge.
With a Intel Core i7-4702HQ quad-core processor and 16GB of memory, plus Nvidia's Quadro K1100M discrete graphics, it more than qualifies as a serious workstation contender.
The 15.6in display is available in resolutions up to 3,200 x 1,800, with the $US1,799 model including a more modest 1,920 x 1,080 display.
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