Core Group, distributor of Apple in SA, has announced that the new Apple MacBook will soon be locally available. The improved version of the MacBook now boasts a new, resilient polycarbonate unibody design that features an LED-backlit display. It also has a glass multi-touch trackpad and Apple’s built-in battery which has a claimed battery life of up to seven hours. Apple also states that the battery that they’ve developed has almost three times the lifespan of conventional notebook batteries.

The new MacBook sports a 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB RAM, a 250 GB hard drive, and a NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics card. Mac OS X Snow Leopard does the operating and iLife, Apple’s software application for managing photos, making movies and producing and learning to play music, also comes preinstalled.

Green innovations also feature on the MacBook, such as its energy efficient LED-backlit display, which is mercury-free and fashioned out of arsenic-free glass. The MacBook is also constructed out of recyclable materials. It is available from the ZA Store on pre-order for R11499 incl VAT.

Apple has also unveiled the world’s first multi-touch mouse. The multi-touch Magic Mouse allows you to navigate using intuitive finger gestures as apposed to the usual mouse buttons, scroll wheel or scroll ball via its multi-touch top surface. It comes standard with the latest iMacs and will later on be available for purchase from the ZA Store.