A couple of other things to note:
1) The new retinas are designated "MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013)" and "MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013)" and are each replacing "MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012)" and "MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012)" which were discontinued as of this announcement. I would imagine that this is done in the same fashion as the Late 2011 MacBook Pros were done (namely a mid-term release in which very little is changed but it is still seen, in Apple's timetable, as a new rev.). Early 2013 retinas still use Ivy Bridge.
2) The only parts that are different between the Early 2013 Models and the 2012 retina models are (a) the logic boards, (b) the bottom case, (c) the flash storage, and (d) The RIO. All other parts are the same between the 2012 and Early 2013 retina models. So sayeth, GSX; straight from the horse's mouth, if you will.
3) Apple's prices on all mSATA blades has dropped (whereas their prices on 2.5" SATA drives has not), as such all machines with this type of SSD drive in them (2012 iMac, 2012 MacBook Air, Early 2013 retina) now have cheaper upgrade prices.
4) That being said, technically, this is the "next rev" of retina and the cMBP technically survived it. I suppose I should've renamed this thread and poll "Will the cMBP survive past Haswell". Meh. Either way, I predict that as soon as Apple has an excuse to (a MacBook Air update or another minor MacBook Pro line-up shuffle), they'll axe the 15" cMBP entirely and that the 13" cMBP will remain in its Mid 2012 form alongside the Haswell retina MacBook Pros, perhaps in a single dual-core Ivy Bridge i5 or i7 model before being discontinued permanently leaving the retina MacBook Pros as the only MacBook Pros.
I believe you are correct. There is a possibility they'll keep it as a lower cost model, but I'm not holding my breath. In light of the changes to the 15" rMBP I think I'm changing my stance. I may in fact buy the retina now. Still not 100% convinced but I am leaning that way.
Really, the 15" retina offerings are all only 100MHz faster than their Mid 2012 retina/current non-retina counterparts. It is nice that they put 16GB of RAM as standard on the $2799 model. I'd say that the 100MHz difference between 15" cMBP offerings and 15" rMBP offerings isn't enough to sway the differences between the two form factors either way.
Hmmmmm. I'll be quite sad to see the cMBPs go... but I suppose Apple and tech has to move on.
It is in their nature to do that. Agreed regardless; the cMBP may very well have been their best engineered laptop ever.
You was right about the top end 15" non retina model going/being removed.
Well, it's only gone as a sales model. As far as a model with those specs, you can still get it; Apple hasn't discontinued making machines with those parts, you're just limited to CTO orders. That's fair. Plus the $1799 price-point is much more valuable to Apple for their notebook line than the $2199 price-point, in which Apple has a retina model available. This further cements, in my mind, the theory that when Haswell comes out, this low-end 15" cMBP will be replaced by a low-end 15" retina with no discrete GPU and running only Haswell's Intel HD 4600 (which is said to be comparable in performance to a 512MB VRAM-equipped GeForce GT 650M) and that'll be that as far as the 15" cMBP is concerned.
I've long thought that the 15" rMBP is gone with the Haswell update this July. I agree that they might keep the 13" cMBP around a little longer, but wouldn't be surprised at all if it is simply the mid-2012 version unchanged, similar to what they did with the white MacBook. Like the MacBook, it might also be an education-only option.
Even after this week's price drop, there is still some room for maneuvering on Apple's part. The 13" Air with 256GB can probably drop another $100 to fill the $1299 slot. It's also possible the base rMBP drops to $1299. Remember, Apple has multiple sources for the displays, and as the technology matures the yields will improve. Haswell might enable them to sell a base 15" rMBP without a discrete GPU, filling in that price point, as well.
Completely agreed. It seems as though they are playing their 13" MacBook Pro cards very very carefully as that is their self-proclaimed best-selling/most-popular Mac ever. Whereas, I think they probably are of the feeling that they needn't stagger the 15" MBP transition out quite as long as the 13" MBP transition. Still though, as someone who is quite happy with his Mid 2012 15" cMBP and who didn't want a Mid 2012 15" rMBP, I'm not complaining. By the time I buy a retina-display MacBook Pro in five years, I'll be 100% ready for the concessions that I wasn't ready to make this past year.
I was a bit surprised by 2. Technically, you can go to Apple's website, and configure the base rMBP with a 2.5GHz processor and 256GB SSD for $1699. Why, I don't know, since that's the same price as the 2013 with a 2.6GHz processor. You can also configure it with the 2.9GHz i7 vs the 3.0GHz i7 on the upgraded model. Perhaps it is just a misprint, but that's an odd mistake for Apple to make and be up on the site for so long. I just tried on the store, and notice that they are different part numbers.
The only valid reason I could think of to customize the base 13" is if you want the i7 but don't need 256GB of SSD.
Yeah, that image you posted is incredibly bizarre, but I tried it and it is repeatable. I wonder what the deal there is. Or if it's secretly an error and that the low-end 13" rMBP should also be a 2.6GHz Dual-Core Ivy Bridge i5. I'll bet that'll throw retailers (if not consumers) for a loop.
