Apple Updates Retina MacBook Pro with New Processors, Drops Pricing on 13-Inch Models and High-End MacBook Air

Apple today announced that it has updated its Retina MacBook Pro lineup with new processors, also moving to lower pricing across the board on the 13-inch models.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display now starts at $1,499 for 128GB of flash, and $1,699 for a new 2.6 GHz processor and 256GB of flash. The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display now features a faster 2.4 GHz quad-core processor, and the top-of-the-line 15-inch notebook comes with a new 2.7 GHz quad-core processor and 16GB of memory.

macbook_pro_retina_13_1499The high-end 15-inch stock configuration now has the twice the amount of RAM that it had previously and the new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro prices are $200 and $300 cheaper than their predecessor models, respectively. Apple has also lowered pricing on SSD upgrades across the Retina MacBook Pro lineup, with the bump from 256 GB to 512 GB now costing $300 instead of $500 and the additional bump to 768 GB costing $400 instead of $500.

In addition to the Retina MacBook Pro updates, Apple has also lowered the price of the 256 GB 13-inch MacBook Air by $100, now starting at $1399.

Update: Apple has also eliminated the high-end stock configuration of the non-Retina 15-inch MacBook Pro, leaving only the base model starting at $1799. Customers can still configure the low-end model with all available options, meaning that the previous high-end configuration is still available, but it is no longer being promoted separately as a stock machine.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...

Top Rated Comments

JaySoul Avatar
155 months ago
So nobody was buying them...
Score: 60 Votes (Like | Disagree)
willmtaylor Avatar
155 months ago
So nobody was buying them...

Hah. Walk around a college campus, ANY college campus and see how long you can hold onto that thought. Nice try though.
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sky Blue Avatar
155 months ago
Hah. Walk around a college campus, ANY college campus and see how long you can hold onto that thought. Nice try though.

All the college kids have Retina MacBook Pros?
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jan1024188 Avatar
155 months ago
Gotta wait for quad core haswell based 13" rmbp with GT3 graphics...don't be fooled by 200 bucks discount now.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kobyh15 Avatar
155 months ago
They had to do this. The rMBPs are way too expensive, especially the 13". I'm waiting for Haswell though. I didn't think they'd drop the price until the Haswell refresh.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
azentropy Avatar
155 months ago
Nice, more in line with what it should be. However still waiting on the 13" rMBP to go quad-core, have discrete gpu and a 16gb option.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)