After weeks of a growing chorus of rumours, leaks and anecdotal evidence, Apple today announced a series of updates to its popular MacBook Pro line of laptops.

(Credit: Apple)

The biggest changes are all under the hood, as first reported on CNET. The entire updated line now offers Intel's latest Sandy Bridge CPUs, which debuted last month.

Just as significantly, the new MacBook Pros are also the first products to feature Intel's new Thunderbolt technology (formerly known as Light Peak). The Thunderbolt tech is envisioned as a sort of unified successor to USB, FireWire and DisplayPort, allowing peripherals to hypothetically carry data and video at 10Gbps. The Thunderbolt port on the MacBook Pros looks identical to (and is backwards-compatible with) existing DisplayPort connections, and — with the proper adapter cable — should also be able to interface with HDMI connections as well.

The third big change is in the laptops' internal graphics processor. Instead of the Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics previously found in these systems, the default graphics come from Intel's HD 3000 GPU, which is the improved, integrated graphics that come bundled with the current Sandy Bridge generation of Intel's Core i-series processors. For the larger 15- and 17-inch models that include discrete graphics, the GPUs now come from AMD instead of long-time rival Nvidia.

The new MacBook Pros also get a new higher-resolution FaceTime HD camera. As the name implies, Apple is also bringing the iPhone's FaceTime video-calling software to the Mac.

Like the previous MacBook Pro line, these new models all start with a minimum of 4GB of RAM, and the lowest-end 13-inch MacBook Pro gets a hard-drive bump from 250GB to 320GB.

Click here for hands-on images of the new range. The base models for the MacBook Pro line are now as follows:

13-inch MacBook Pro

13-inch MacBook Pro

15-inch MacBook Pro

15-inch MacBook Pro

17-inch MacBook Pro

Customised configurations offer faster CPUs, larger hard drives (up to 750GB), solid-state storage (up to 512GB), more memory (up to 8GB DDR) and better screens (anti-glare/higher resolution).

Stay tuned for hands-on impressions of the new MacBook Pro hardware, as well as benchmark testing and full reviews.

Via CNET