Apple expected to launch 13" Retina MacBook Pro by early Oct.

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Apple will bring a high-resolution Retina display to its 13-inch MacBook Pro with a product update set to launch this October, according to one insider.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI shared in a note with AppleInsider on Thursday that he expects Apple to ramp up production of a 13-inch next-generation MacBook Pro with Retina display in September. That would allow the product to hit stores in early October, in time for the holiday shopping season.

Kuo was the first to indicate that Apple would retire its 17-inch MacBook Pro, and that the 15-inch next-generation MacBook Pro with Retina display would be sold alongside the previous-generation MacBook Pro with lower-resolution display and thicker design. Both of those details proved true this week at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference.

Apple has the "highest hopes" for the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, according to Kuo. But Apple was likely unable to unveil the new product at WWDC this week because of a low yield rate and greater assembly difficulty, he said.

Like the next-generation Retina display MacBook Pro, the 13-inch variety is expected to lack an optical disc drive and rely solely on solid-state flash memory storage. Kuo expects the screen to have a resolution of 2,560 by 1,600 pixels, and he said the 13-inch model will be slightly thinner than the 15-inch model, at 18 millimeters.

MacBook Pro


The next-generation 13-inch MacBook Pro is not expected to have discrete graphics like its 15-inch counterpart, but will instead rely on Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics. Kuo also expects it to have an Intel Ivy Bridge processor with a clock speed greater than 2 gigahertz.

As for the just-released 15-inch Retina display MacBook Pro, Kuo said that Apple should have about 300,000 units of the next-generation notebook available to sell this month, a number that he called a "moderate" amount.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 116
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member


    The lack of a discrete GPU really keeps me from considering the current 13" MBP.  It'll keep me from considering a 13" MBP Retina as well.


     


    Ah well.

  • Reply 2 of 116
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    nht wrote: »
    It'll keep me from considering a 13" MBP Retina as well.

    How do you know it won't have one?
  • Reply 3 of 116


    Now this is something I would buy. 15 inch is a little too big and bulky, but 13 inch would be perfect. I would replace my Air with this. 




    A discrete GPU would be really good to have on something like this though, then it would be viable for gaming. Currently, I can run Starcraft II on my Air, but it sounds like it will take off into space and feels warmer than my toaster oven. I would like for any computer replacement to handle StarCraft II without breaking a sweat or with only moderate uptick in temperature and noise (on low settings of course).

  • Reply 4 of 116
    saareksaarek Posts: 1,520member
    I've not upgraded my current MacBook Pro 13" due to the crud intel graphics that Apple ships. I'd certainly be up for the new Retina 13" but if it's got the same intel chip then I won't buy. A professional grade machine should never have to rely on intel graphics.
  • Reply 5 of 116
    bounoubounou Posts: 12member


    Sounds about right, new iMac and Mac Mini in 4-6 weeks and a 13 inch retina for 3-4 months from now.

  • Reply 6 of 116
    pedromartinspedromartins Posts: 1,333member
    AH..

    can't wait for apple to completly kill the dvd reader and then put a bigger battery and a nice GPU to drive another retina display :)

    learn from the past but kill the old.. embrace the new.
  • Reply 7 of 116


    If they're going to differentiate it from the regular 13-inch Pro, then a discrete graphics card would be desirable. You're attracting customers who are willing to pay a bit more for performance and more cutting-edge features. On a related note, I wonder if such a machine could even run the Retina display at satisfactory performance using integrated graphics? 



    I could easily see them selling a Retina 13-inch MBP for say, $1,599 for the 256 GB model. 512 MB video card, 2x USB, 2x Thunderbolt, SDXC. 

  • Reply 8 of 116

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by saarek View Post



    I've not upgraded my current MacBook Pro 13" due to the crud intel graphics that Apple ships. I'd certainly be up for the new Retina 13" but if it's got the same intel chip then I won't buy. A professional grade machine should never have to rely on intel graphics.


     


    To be honest, the "Pro" moniker doesn't mean a whole lot. I'd bet the 13-inch "Pro" is their most popular model for students, teachers, and office workers doing nothing more than Office, Safari, and Mail. 

  • Reply 9 of 116
    koifimkoifim Posts: 3member


    I hope the resolution is wrong, because if it isn't it will suck. That means the screen will still be 1280 * 800, which is too small for my needs. Why not make it 1440 * 900, just like the Air and the (R)MBP.

  • Reply 10 of 116
    tmallontmallon Posts: 39member


    do i wait,   humm, I looked at the 15 inch today,  the 15 inch with the flash drive opened iphoto much faster, same photos size on both unit's that 5400 RPM driver is a killer..  and the screen looks crappy on the non rettna compared..

  • Reply 11 of 116
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Integrated graphics = worthless.
  • Reply 12 of 116
    dagamer34dagamer34 Posts: 494member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by acslater017 View Post


    If they're going to differentiate it from the regular 13-inch Pro, then a discrete graphics card would be desirable. You're attracting customers who are willing to pay a bit more for performance and more cutting-edge features. On a related note, I wonder if such a machine could even run the Retina display at satisfactory performance using integrated graphics? 



    I could easily see them selling a Retina 13-inch MBP for say, $1,599 for the 256 GB model. 512 MB video card, 2x USB, 2x Thunderbolt, SDXC. 



    For all intents and purposes, the 13" Pro as it currently is is dead and likely outsold by the 13" Air for many reasons. I also don't see how you can stick in a dedicated GPU while cooling the system efficiently and having good battery life. The Intel HD 4000 runs a retina display just fine, since on the current 13" Air, it can power the internal display and 2 Thunderbolt displays. That's far more pixels than one Retina display.

  • Reply 13 of 116
    dagamer34dagamer34 Posts: 494member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pmz View Post



    Integrated graphics = worthless.


    Worthless for gaming, fine for everything else. Moral of the story? Don't game on a laptop, you'll always be disappointed if not now, then in a year or two.

  • Reply 14 of 116


    meh.. it will still be alot more expensive than the macbook pro 13 we now have, about 400 USD more!


     


    I'll stick with buying an Air since i only do Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and occasionally iMovie, but next time (2-3 years) i expect all mac's to be retina Display and a bit cheaper then the retina model, then i'll upgrade again, not now.

  • Reply 15 of 116
    zeromeuszeromeus Posts: 182member


    Looking at the current pricing scheme, I can guess that the 13" MBPR will start at $1,599


     


    Here are the patterns:


     


    13" MBP starts at $1199


    15" MBP starts at $1799


     


    15" MBPR starts at $2199


     


    Price difference between the 13" and 15" = $600


    Price difference between the 15" MBP and MBPR = $400


     


    So... $1199 + $400 = $1599


    and.. $2199 - $600 = $1599


     


    In other word....


     


    $1199 + $600 = $1799


    $1799 + $400 = $2199  for current 15" MBPR


     


    Now downgrade the current MBPR from 15" to 13" will look like this...


     


    $2199 - $600 = $1599


     


    Or upgrade the current 13" MBP to 13" MBPR would look like this...


     


    $1199 + $400 = $1599


     


    The current 13" MBA costs $1199...


     


    I'm not sure I'd want to spend an extra $400 for slight speed increase and a better screen.  What are your thoughts?


     


    On the other hand, the current 13" MBA with 256GB of SSD costs $1499...


     


    So if I wanted that, then it's not so bad to add a minor speed bump and a retina screen for $100 more...


     


    Still, $1599 is out of my affordability range. :(

  • Reply 16 of 116


    This is going to get interesting.  Clearly, Apple will do away with the old-style 13 MBP at some point.  But, what about the 13 Air?  Can Apple have both the 13 Air and 13 Retina in the product line?  I think the 13 Air will be gone before the old-style 13.  In this case, I am guessing Schiller will follow the same specs and pricing strategy for the 13 Retinas as the 13 Airs.  So, two models with same processors as the old-style 13 MBPs, no discrete graphics.  Lower model with 4GB onboard RAM and 128GB SSD at $1,199. Upper model with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD (option for 512GB) at $1,499.


     


    Apples-to-apples, the Retina 13 will be cheaper than the old-style 13.  Just as it is with the 15 MBPs.  They will sell a ton of these at Christmas.

  • Reply 17 of 116
    zeromeuszeromeus Posts: 182member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleGreen View Post


    This is going to get interesting.  Clearly, Apple will do away with the old-style 13 MBP at some point.  But, what about the 13 Air?  Can Apple have both the 13 Air and 13 Retina in the product line?  I think the 13 Air will be gone before the old-style 13.  In this case, I am guessing Schiller will follow the same specs and pricing strategy for the 13 Retinas as the 13 Airs.  So, two models with same processors as the old-style 13 MBPs, no discrete graphics.  Lower model with 4GB onboard RAM and 128GB SSD at $1,199. Upper model with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD (option for 512GB) at $1,499.


     


    Apples-to-apples, the Retina 13 will be cheaper than the old-style 13.  Just as it is with the 15 MBPs.  They will sell a ton of these at Christmas.



    If Apple were planning to kill the 13" MBP or MBA, they wouldn't have updated those this year.  Update anyway to throw us off their track?  Most unlikely...  I think the 13" MBP and MBA will live until at least next year if not longer.  The 13" MBPR is coming this October, so Apple wouldn't update a product line just for 4 months, let alone 2 product lines.

  • Reply 18 of 116

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by acslater017 View Post


     


    To be honest, the "Pro" moniker doesn't mean a whole lot. I'd bet the 13-inch "Pro" is their most popular model for students, teachers, and office workers doing nothing more than Office, Safari, and Mail. 



     


    Apple already has the new MB Air for tasks like Office, Safari, & Mail and handles them very well. So the Pro moniker does (or should mean something).

  • Reply 19 of 116
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Koifim View Post


    I hope the resolution is wrong, because if it isn't it will suck. That means the screen will still be 1280 * 800, which is too small for my needs. Why not make it 1440 * 900, just like the Air and the (R)MBP.



    If the (R)MBP does 1920x1200 (which it does in its most highly-scaled mode), then the 13.3" (R)MBP should do 1680x1050.

  • Reply 20 of 116
    red oakred oak Posts: 1,087member


    Zeromeus - Great summary.  Thanks   

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