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Apple must have thought its notebook line was thoroughly broken to update every model at once. We hadn't discounted the fact it might do that, but in fairness the only range in dire need of an update was the MacBook Pro. It's taken until now for the 15in model to shrug off its PowerBook clothing, which was looking more dated by the day. What a shame the 17in edition hasn't followed its lead.

So does rolling out the new design on the MacBook, too, mean Apple had acknowledged imperfections in the existing design? If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's the cracks that can appear at the front of the wrist-rest, which can lead to splinters breaking off beneath your palms (I know - I had to fix them on mine with Sellotape), the dirt that collects on the magnets that hold it closed in transit, the grease the builds up on the trackpad...

You'd think

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those issues would be enough to see the original MacBook gone for good. But it's not, and for two very good reasons. First, the new MacBook is clearly more expensive to build. This is the 'transition product' that CFO Peter Oppenheimer talked about back in September, warning analysts that it would impact the company's revenues. Retaining the white MacBook allows Apple to plug a hole at the bottom of the line-up with a sub-£800 entry machine. And second, by bringing users on at this low, imperfect level, it makes the unibody models something to which they can aspire and one day upgrade.

That's why the new 17in MacBook Pro, which is technically the top of the range yet apes its predecessor's looks so precisely that you would never know it's been upgraded, is an inexplicable anomaly. Which existing 17in MacBook Pro owner would want to upgrade to something slightly more powerful but visually identical? And which 15in MacBook Pro owner would want to swap their machine for a comparatively underpowered larger model?

The 17in MacBook Pro is now the weak point in Apple's notebook line-up, when it should really be its crowning glory. It was never going to be a mass-market machine, but it is the machine Apple should use to show off, by using the extra space afforded by its wide body to pack in some impressive components.

Sadly, it hasn't, which perhaps explains why it's disappeared entirely from the MacBook Pro pages on Apple's own site.