Apple yesterday unveiled a totally-renovated MacBook notebook computer family, featuring a new basic MacBook priced $750 lower than the latest MacBook Pro.

The new MacBooks and MacBook Pros have been totally redesigned around all-metal enclosures featuring what Apple CEO Steve Jobs calls a ‘unibody’.

The new 15 in. MacBook Pro
Note the single-piece unibody frame and ultra-slim display.

As Jonathan Ive, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, explained to reporters at the MacBook launch, “The MacBook’s unibody enclosure is made from a single block of aluminum, making the new MacBook fundamentally thinner, stronger and more robust with a fit and finish that we’ve never even dreamed of before.”

The new MacBooks also feature an updated NVidia video chipset driving new backlit LCD displays, which deliver what Jobs calls, “great 3D graphics.”

The new MacBooks also feature new glass MultiTouch trackpads that support additional touch functions — technology ploughshared from the iPhone.

And the new MacBooks are the greenest ever. Quoth the official new product announcement:

“The entire new MacBook family meets stringent Energy Star 4.0, EPEAT Gold and RoHS environmental standards, and leads the industry in the elimination of toxic chemicals by containing no brominated flame retardants, using only PVC-free internal cables and components, and using energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass.”

The new MacBooks range in price from C$1,399 / US$999 for the 2.1 GHz 13 in. entry-level model to the new the 2.5 GHz 17 in. MacBook Pro at C$2,999 / US$2,799.

The big picture

Apple also released a new 24 in. widescreen LED Cinema series display with new features designed to help it mesh with the new MacBook notebooks, as a high-end presentation team.

The new display incorporates an iSight Webcam, a mic and stereo speakers. Three USB 2 ports and an Apple Mini DisplayPort allow MacBook users to power their notebooks from the new display, which also comes with a MagSafe (snag-safe) power adapter.

Find out everything you’d ever want to know about the MacBook family at: Apple.com.