Report reaffirms 13" Retina MacBook Pro still on track for 2012 launch

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Research firm NPD DisplaySearch says Apple is likely to release a Retina display-packing 13-inch MacBook Pro before the year is out, with production currently on schedule for sometime in the fourth quarter.

MacBook Pro


Analyst Richard Shim told CNET that Apple will be launching its second Retina display MacBook Pro offering later this year, reiterating earlier reports suggesting the laptop would be released in fall 2012.

Shim confirmed that the portable would boast a screen resolution of 2,560-by-1,600 pixels, expectedly lower than the 15-inch model's 2,880-by-1,800-pixel screen. The unit is also thought to be priced somewhere between the current top-of-the-line 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display and a high-tier 13-inch non-Retina model, though final cost is up in the air as the product is a new entry to Apple's laptop stable.

While only speculation, Shim believes Apple is planning on debuting the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display after the iPad mini announcement, which is rumored to be coming up later in October.

It was reported in August that 13-inch Retina displays bound for an as-yet-unannounced MacBook were being produced, with initial output volumes supposedly higher than the 15-inch model. If true, Apple is preparing for an onslaught of orders as the current MacBook Pro with Retina display saw stock shortages when it was first announced in June.

A number of reported "leaks" regarding the 13-inch laptop have been circulating since the first Retina display MacBook Pro was released, including supposed online benchmark scores logged in June and August.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 35


    Report reaffirms RUMOR that 13 inch Macbook Pro 


    with Retina display will launch this year

  • Reply 2 of 35
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member


    As with the 15" models, I would expect Apple to price the 13" retina so very close to the non-retina that customers will feel compelled to jump for the new model, which will have soldered memory and glued battery (ka-ching!)

  • Reply 3 of 35


    Running out of time for a fourth quarter 2012 launch...

  • Reply 4 of 35

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Proximityeffect View Post


    Report reaffirms RUMOR that 13 inch Macbook Pro 


    with Retina display will launch this year



     


    That's how the Internet works. If you shout "RUMOR!!!" loud enough into the Grand Canyon, you'll hear "RUMOR!!!" repeated a few seconds later, reaffirming it. image

  • Reply 5 of 35
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post

    Running out of time for a fourth quarter 2012 launch...


     


    Q4 just started. Unless you mean fiscal.

  • Reply 6 of 35
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Q4 just started. Unless you mean fiscal.

    Still running out of time. You can't reasonably launch in December. In the US, you really need to have your product on the shelf by Thanksgiving, but even that is a bit late for an Apple product that will need ramp up the supply, have the early adopters somewhat out of the way, and word of mouth to allow for free advertising. This is less of an issue with new Macs than with an iPad mini, but the assumed low cost of the iPad mini makes it easier to buy without much consideration.

    If we get a special event notice tomorrow, the 10th, it'll likely take place on the 17th with the earliest new product release on the 26th. That's about as close you really want to push it but there is always the unusual circumstance and Apple wanting to get something that prevents cheap tablet competitors from gaining any ground seems to me to be a powerful reason to push the threshold.
  • Reply 7 of 35
    isheldonisheldon Posts: 570member
    cpsro wrote: »
    As with the 15" models, I would expect Apple to price the 13" retina so very close to the non-retina that customers will feel compelled to jump for the new model, which will have soldered memory and glued battery (ka-ching!)

    Are people actually liking the 15" retina with all its issues? I keep reading to wait for the 2nd iteration after the kinks get ironed out.
  • Reply 8 of 35

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    Q4 just started. Unless you mean fiscal.



     


    "Time is up, Timmy, put your pencil down."


    "But the test ends at 10:55am"


    "It's 10:55am now, put your pencil down."


    "Yeah, unless you mean in Spain."

  • Reply 9 of 35
    igrivigriv Posts: 1,177member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by iSheldon View Post





    Are people actually liking the 15" retina with all its issues? I keep reading to wait for the 2nd iteration after the kinks get ironed out.


     

    #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }

    What issues? It is a wonderful machine. I use it twelve hours a day (easier on the eyes than anything else out there).


    #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }

     
  • Reply 10 of 35
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

    Still running out of time. You can't reasonably launch in December.




    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post

    "Time is up, Timmy, put your pencil down."


    "But the test ends at 10:55am"


    "It's 10:55am now, put your pencil down."


    "Yeah, unless you mean in Spain."



     


    Sure, but the rumor has always been "October", and it's just now October enough for an event invitation. Release later this month and boom, it's out. Big deal.


     


    I'm still hoping that if there's an event planned this month at all that it's a computer event for the 13" rMBP, new iMac, and Mac Mini, with no mention of iDevices anywhere. 

  • Reply 11 of 35
    isheldonisheldon Posts: 570member
    igriv wrote: »
    What issues? It is a wonderful machine. I use it twelve hours a day (easier on the eyes than anything else out there).
     

    Cool so no battery misreads?
  • Reply 12 of 35
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member

    Quote:


    I'm still hoping that if there's an event planned this month at all that it's a computer event for the 13" rMBP, new iMac, and Mac Mini, with no mention of iDevices anywhere. 



    Not even a tablet with a new connector???

  • Reply 13 of 35


    Originally Posted by boredumb View Post

    Not even a tablet with a new connector???


     


    Right, though it's a pipe dream at best.

  • Reply 14 of 35


    My only problem with this 13"rMBP is related to graphics.


     


    Will they go with nvidia/intel combo or intel only?

  • Reply 15 of 35
    cash907cash907 Posts: 893member

    Quote:


    It was reported in August that 13-inch Retina displays bound for an as-yet-unannounced MacBook were being produced, with initial output volumes supposedly higher than the 15-inch model. If true, Apple is preparing for an onslaught of orders



     


    Yeah, because THIS is the slimmer Macbook we asked for, not the 15" model they released. I travel a lot for my job, and I was so excited this spring when it seemed like rumors of a thinner refresh were true (the power of a MBP with the footprint almost reaching MBA size) only to be extremely disappointed when a 13" MBPr was conspicuously absent from the lineup. Though the extra screen area in nice, for someone like me that does 40% of his work with his laptop sitting on a tray table 30k feet in the air, the 15" is just too big.

  • Reply 16 of 35
    cash907cash907 Posts: 893member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    Still running out of time. You can't reasonably launch in December. In the US, you really need to have your product on the shelf by Thanksgiving, but even that is a bit late for an Apple product that will need ramp up the supply, have the early adopters somewhat out of the way, and word of mouth to allow for free advertising. This is less of an issue with new Macs than with an iPad mini, but the assumed low cost of the iPad mini makes it easier to buy without much consideration.

    If we get a special event notice tomorrow, the 10th, it'll likely take place on the 17th with the earliest new product release on the 26th. That's about as close you really want to push it but there is always the unusual circumstance and Apple wanting to get something that prevents cheap tablet competitors from gaining any ground seems to me to be a powerful reason to push the threshold.


     


    You know the original 2008 Unibody MBP came out on October 14th, and the Late 2011 MBP refresh was released October 24th, right? A 2012 release on the 26th would be in line with previous launches.

  • Reply 17 of 35


    stuff the retina, wot about my iMac with USB3 and IvyBridge

  • Reply 18 of 35
    igriv wrote: »
    What issues? It is a wonderful machine. I use it twelve hours a day (easier on the eyes than anything else out there).
     

    I would have to concur. While not quite using mine 12 hours a day, I have had zero issues with it, using both OSX and Bootcamp. Not sure why everyone thinks all products in a line are defective when less than 1% are reported to have issues. Granted zero percent with issues would be better, but not very realistic, I think.
  • Reply 19 of 35

    Quote:

    The unit is also thought to be priced somewhere between the current top-of-the-line 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display and a high-tier 13-inch non-Retina model


     


    In the UK that's over £1000 differential.


     


    I want / need this bad but anything over £1299 prices me out.


     


    Defo need dedicated graphics too.

  • Reply 20 of 35
    tipootipoo Posts: 1,141member
    Intel has a quad core mobile Ivy Bridge processor with the same TDP as the MBP 13 uses, I hope the Retina version gets that.

    Also the concern about Intel-only graphics is valid, on the 15" there is a very jarring lag with some UI animations like the green button resize or the calendar flip, like I can count 5-6 frames bad. If you force it to use the Nvidia card only, that is gone. Without the Nvidia card at all as a fallback there is limited room to improve that on the 13".
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