Apple 13in MacBook Pro to fall into line this autumn
Nurse, the screens
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, a stockbroker, has a good record on forecasts: he accurately predicted the launch of the 15in MacBook Pro with Retina Display just before the machine's announcement. He also correctly said Apple would kill off the 17in MacBook Pro.
Now he's saying a 13in version will be out in the autumn, MacRumors notes.
Such a move is no great stretch of the imagination, mind. Apple has 13in and 15in MacBook Pros. It has unveiled the next version of the latter - the former must surely be superseded likewise.
13in MacBook Pro with Retina Display: coming in October?
Apple, we guess, would have done so already if it could be assured sufficient numbers of ultra-high resolution display panels to meet demand. Had it been able to reach a comparable price point to the current generation of screens, it would probably have canned the existing 13in and 15in MacBook Pros too.
Pricing the current 15in retina machine high, in part by equipping it exclusively with solid-state storage - want more? Hook up a fast, capacious Thunderbolt drive, or more than one - helps dampen demand while the display production process catches up.
Indeed, Kuo notes that the 13in machine will use "a lower-yield retinal display than the 15in version", so Apple will spend the time stockpiling screens or waiting for the production process to mature sufficiently for the display price to come down to a sensible level.
That will happen, Kuo reckons, in September, paving the way for an October launch.
Hat tip to MacRumors: it has spotted a reference to a 'MacBookPro10,2' in an online battery benchmark data archive. The 15in retina machine is the 'MacBookPro10,1'. ®
COMMENTS
I have a 3 1/2 YO unibody Macbook, and would love to have bought a new 'ultrabook' type laptop, but for the silly prices and especially, lousy screen resolutions. I have absolutely no love for Apple, but this could be one thing that would actually convince me to consider one of their machines again.
I can't believe that the other PC makers have missed the boat so badly in this area of development. Is Apple really the only company that can innovate even a little?
A 13" notebook with retina display would be great
I do not care who makes it, but if I can get my hands on a good 13" notebook with hi-res display, and nVidia GPU (recent one (for CUDA)) I will be very happy indeed (especially as the boss should pay). A machine like that is really great as a portable workstation and demo machine for hi-res image processing. I know our code runs on OS-X, so I am completely agnostic about the manufacturer. I do suspect that the usual suspects (ASUS, please make one) will follow suit, and produce competitors. Then it will be all about price/performance and build quality.
MBP/Air differentiation
If the 13" MBP goes retina, then having Airs with dual core + integrated graphics + 'normal' screens and MBPs with quad core, discrete graphics and retina displays would seem a logical differentiation. The new MBPs would also seem to be slightly better off ports wise.
If other laptop manufacturers start releasing Air type laptops with decent screens, I'd imagine that the next logical step would be for Apple to push the Airs to retina, but leave them thinner, integrated graphics/dual core and less ports. Perhaps that's what they'll do with the airs next year. If the retina display yields are becoming more economic by October, they should be pretty good by the next Air refresh.
Good
Good to finally see someone lean on the logjam
I just had an on-line chat with a 'droid at Dell, and they are still only offering 768 vertical pixels till you get to around 1800 dollars, then they grudingly admit a couple at 1080.
ps: the droid kept saying "1080p"
New design paradigm
Actually will be a 13" model but that measurement does not reflect screen dimensions.
In point of fact, the new MacBook Pro won't have a screen. Apple is once again showing the way to elegance of form and simplicity of operation by eliminating the visual complication and frustrating content of a display.
Operation of the device will consist of placing it on a surface and staring at it intently; users will find they need make very little adjustment to the new paradigm.
Sometime next year Apple will provide a unified, seamless user experience across its entire range by eliminating the keyboard from the MacBook and the display from the iPhone. The resulting featureless slabs of plastic and metal-- sold in various sizes-- will be the ultimate expression of refined design sensibility, and coincidentally will be wildly profitable as they will require no electronic components for proper operation.
