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

[Yebubbleman]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned or not, but here are a couple of facts about these:

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) The only thing that has changed about the non-retina models is that the high-end non-retina 15" MacBook Pro, as a SKU, has been discontinued. Otherwise, it is possible to still order that configuration as well as options like the 2.7GHz/8MB Cache processor via CTO options. The Mid 2012 13" non-retina remains entirely unchanged. All non-retina models are still designated as "Mid 2012".

4) 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.

5) Given points 1) and 3), it is likely that the Haswell MacBook Pro refresh will happen around August and that the non-retina models will not be invited to the party. My prediction is that when Haswell makes it to the MacBook Pro, the 15" non-retina will be discontinued and that the 13" non-retina will stick around in the form of a single model that, in and of itself, is not updated to Haswell and instead sticks with Ivy Bridge until finally being discontinued.

[Suraj R.]

The $1499 price point for the 13 inch rMBP is very attractive, only slightly more than the high end 13 inch MBA. I'd consider it but I want quad core aha.

[31 Flavas]

How are the cMBP and rMBP noise wise? I have a Gateway P-7811FX 15" C2D laptop circa 2007-2008. Even at idle the CPU fan is on constantly at a medium-ish level. It's not anything bad, you can very easily and effectively ignore it, but it's still present. At idle, I'd like it to spin down further or entirely off as is reasonable.

Are MBPs quiet?

Ideally, I'd like to replace it with a 13" rMBP, but all they have is Intel HD 4000 graphics. Anyone know how the noise level is the 15" c/rMBP with the 650M graphics?

[gibkibonzo]

Originally Posted by KPOM

This is a mid-cycle refresh, much like what Apple did in November 2011, except that it was accompanied by a change in pricing structure. Mobile Haswell chips are still scheduled to come out in the summer, and I expect we'll see another refresh in July.

Not exactly. Haswell is scheduled to kick off at the end of May/beginning of July - that's only desktop chips so far. There might be at least a couple more months before we see the mobiles, then probably another couple or so before Apple actually implements them. I'd rather expect an Autumn full refresh, Sep-Oct.

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Originally Posted by andy9l

I'm on 8GB RAM now (2010 iMac). This iMac has, in this single session, been powered on since Sunday evening. I'm a web/mobile app developer, so run some reasonably resource hungry applications. My RAM is still sitting at 3.6GB FREE (not including the 680MB currently inactive).

Please tell us again how you definitely utilise 16GB+ of RAM on a daily basis.

Try out After Effects. But wait... first of all you might want to check what OS you're using. Perhaps Snow Leopard or lower in 32-bit mode?

[reserves]

Originally Posted by Yebubbleman

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.

Informative post, however what is RIO ?

And also what are the changes to the logic boards, bottom case and flash storage?

Just received a MBP 2.6/16GB/256GB today and wondering if it's worth returning.

[KPOM]

Originally Posted by 31 Flavas

Are MBPs quiet?

Ideally, I'd like to replace it with a 13" rMBP, but all they have is Intel HD 4000 graphics. Anyone know how the noise level is the 15" c/rMBP with the 650M graphics?

I have the 13", and it is virtually silent almost all the time. It's in stark contrast to the MacBook Air, in which the fans were regularly going full speed.

[reserves]

Originally Posted by KPOM

I have the 13", and it is virtually silent almost all the time. It's in stark contrast to the MacBook Air, in which the fans were regularly going full speed.

I'm on my 3rd 15" Retina (various issues)

The first one, I NEVER heard the fan ever, and I was doing some fairly intensive stuff with Virtual machines etc.

2nd one, turned it on and the fans took off, super loud, they rarely come on but when they do it's horrific.

Only just got the 3rd one out the box, fans went on straight away, not as loud as 2nd one, but quite surprised they needed to kick in and were audible,

[Candlelight]

Originally Posted by Squilly

That's an HDD though, the disk in a rMBP is an SSD.

Yes I know. Storage is more important to me than speed at this stage.

[Squilly]

Originally Posted by Yebubbleman

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned or not, but here are a couple of facts about these:

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) The only thing that has changed about the non-retina models is that the high-end non-retina 15" MacBook Pro, as a SKU, has been discontinued. Otherwise, it is possible to still order that configuration as well as options like the 2.7GHz/8MB Cache processor via CTO options. The Mid 2012 13" non-retina remains entirely unchanged. All non-retina models are still designated as "Mid 2012".

4) 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.

5) Given points 1) and 3), it is likely that the Haswell MacBook Pro refresh will happen around August and that the non-retina models will not be invited to the party. My prediction is that when Haswell makes it to the MacBook Pro, the 15" non-retina will be discontinued and that the 13" non-retina will stick around in the form of a single model that, in and of itself, is not updated to Haswell and instead sticks with Ivy Bridge until finally being discontinued.

Thanks. I wonder if the Haswell event will be next February instead of the speculated August.

[Aluminum213]

Haswell isn't supposed to be available till fall for mobile, AT THE EARLIEST, so I can see why Apple did this little bump

[moderngamenewb]

Originally Posted by bbydon

14 days

Ugh that stinks. I just got my 13inch Retina on christmas with 512GB and 2.9 i7 processor. Where I am, we don't have an Apple Store, but we have a 3rd party Apple Certified store, so I'm thinking of checking to see if they'll be nice and let me resell and get the cheaper price. It's a really long shot, but who knows. Otherwise, I'm thinking of selling mine on eBay and getting it cheaper and in the end save several hundred dollars.

[Still100]

Originally Posted by Aluminum213

Haswell isn't supposed to be available till fall for mobile, AT THE EARLIEST, so I can see why Apple did this little bump

Thank you, this is also what I heard and would justify Apple's refresh. Though the latest MacBook Air rumours state a q3 launch.

I would guess MacBook Air and pro would have to be updated to haswell at the same time. Maybe both in October 2013.

I want to buy a MacBook Pro retina now and know I will regret it later this year because haswell brings the benefits I've been waiting for for computing.

[Yebubbleman]

Originally Posted by reserves

Informative post, however what is RIO ?

And also what are the changes to the logic boards, bottom case and flash storage?

Just received a MBP 2.6/16GB/256GB today and wondering if it's worth returning.

RIO is right I/O board; because both sides of ports aren't one continuous single logic board; it ends before the second fan and there's a cable that bridges the right I/O to the rest of the logic board. This is similar to the left I/O board that existed on pre-unibody MacBook Pros.

As for your MBP, if you can return it and get the same thing but in the Early-2013-version 2.7GHz variant (as in 6MB of Cache processor and not the 8MB high-end CTO option of the Mid 2012 gen) and for the same price, you might as well. Though depending on how much hell you have to go through for the exchange, simply doing so for 100MHz might not be worth it.

Originally Posted by Squilly

Thanks. I wonder if the Haswell event will be next February instead of the speculated August.

There'd be no reason for it to be next February. The MacBook Pro line is refreshed once every eight to ten months. Last week's spec bump of the retina models (which are essentially the only MacBook Pros that are slated to be advanced at all and thusly the only ones worth considering when it comes to thinking about refreshes at this point) came out at the eight month mark. So, it's safe to say that the Haswell MacBook Pro refresh will come anytime from October to December.

Originally Posted by Still100

Thank you, this is also what I heard and would justify Apple's refresh. Though the latest MacBook Air rumours state a q3 launch.

I would guess MacBook Air and pro would have to be updated to haswell at the same time. Maybe both in October 2013.

I want to buy a MacBook Pro retina now and know I will regret it later this year because haswell brings the benefits I've been waiting for for computing.

Apple can go much longer periods of time without updating the MacBook Air than it can the MacBook Pro. In the time that the MacBook Air Mid 2011 models were out, there were two different revs of MacBook Pro that were also out. In the same vein, Apple can simply just wait until Haswell and update both the MacBook Pro (retina-only at that point, I'm assuming) and the MacBook Air in one go just as they did in June 2012.

[Lark.Landon]

Originally Posted by wschutz

I think the comment is more lined up on the fact that Apple is not selling as many as it used to, or if you want it in another words... people are not replacing their laptops as often they used to

And I am one of those who won't replace the mac for a very long time. I have a MBP from 2011... and it serves all my needs (the retina display is appealing but for my use I prefer a good external monitor, and I don't want to pay for a new laptop when I don't need it).



Apple's end is a fact. Regardless of the cost of the parts... innovation is something that Apple did in the past (and more than innovation it should be named as challenging the competitors by including technologies from others in their devices), and now is just a manufacturer of laptops and phones.
Its competition has taken over, and the revolution is over. Now it is time to share the market with the competitors who actually compete on both technology and price, the latter being something Apple still thinks is not worth fighting for (but we'll see how that changes as sales get hurt over time

Doesn't need to innovate to succeed. Rinse/repeat and will still bank large amounts of capital. Apple is just chic. Check out movies, television etc. The in product is the Mac line of personal laptops. The trend might not last FOREVER... but it will hold for at least another 2 - 3 years.

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Originally Posted by Suraj R.

The $1499 price point for the 13 inch rMBP is very attractive, only slightly more than the high end 13 inch MBA. I'd consider it but I want quad core aha.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/hom...ac/macbook_air

You can get a lot better prices than that. 1 year warranty + APP and you're set for the next 3 years.

[xbjllb]

Originally Posted by Lark.Landon

Doesn't need to innovate to succeed. Rinse/repeat and will still bank large amounts of capital. Apple is just chic. Check out movies, television etc. The in product is the Mac line of personal laptops. The trend might not last FOREVER... but it will hold for at least another 2 - 3 years.

Disagree. Apple has already been on running on pure momentum for the past five years pros have been screaming and leaving.

We might well be onto the last CEO of Apple as well as the Last Pope (Malachy)

[Raizen.Z09]

Originally Posted by Steve121178

There's no reason for a machine that's barely 3 years old to be performing "as slow as a snail". Have you tried reinstalling the OS or perhaps upgrading the HDD before splashing out on a new machine?

I guess because my HDD is almost full. Haven't tried reinstalling OS. I'm thinking of buying an SSD to improve the performance and use the machine as a backup for the new rMBP. I need a new machine because I need Thunderbolt, which my 2010 machine has not.

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Originally Posted by linux2mac

Huh? My 2010 13" C2D MBP is still running strong and I run Fusion VM's on it. I also have 8GB RAM and do clean installs for every major OSX Update ( i.e. SL to Lion and Lion to ML). Plus I run Onyx on a regular basis.

So I might need to do a clean install OS then. Thanks for the trick.

[XtraSmiley]

Originally Posted by Yebubbleman

5) Given points 1) and 3), it is likely that the Haswell MacBook Pro refresh will happen around August and that the non-retina models will not be invited to the party. My prediction is that when Haswell makes it to the MacBook Pro, the 15" non-retina will be discontinued and that the 13" non-retina will stick around in the form of a single model that, in and of itself, is not updated to Haswell and instead sticks with Ivy Bridge until finally being discontinued.

I think you are spot on with this prediction. I for one can't wait.

[Yebubbleman]

Originally Posted by XtraSmiley

I think you are spot on with this prediction. I for one can't wait.

I'm definitely very curious to see what'll go down. In the meantime, I'm glad that my upgrade timetable allowed me to get the (presumed) last of the 15" non-retina MacBook Pros before they were finally discontinued in favor of an (presumed) all-retina 15" line-up.

[kangarulzx]

Originally Posted by Yebubbleman

RIO is right I/O board; because both sides of ports aren't one continuous single logic board; it ends before the second fan and there's a cable that bridges the right I/O to the rest of the logic board. This is similar to the left I/O board that existed on pre-unibody MacBook Pros.

As for your MBP, if you can return it and get the same thing but in the Early-2013-version 2.7GHz variant (as in 6MB of Cache processor and not the 8MB high-end CTO option of the Mid 2012 gen) and for the same price, you might as well. Though depending on how much hell you have to go through for the exchange, simply doing so for 100MHz might not be worth it.

i recently purchased the late 2012 model 2.5ghz 13inch mbpr L3 3mb cache, do you think i should exchange it for the 2.6ghz which is the early 2013 model? (im within 14days of purchase)
are the upgraded internal parts worth exchanging ? ( are there less problems with new models of 13inch mbpr?)

[Yebubbleman]

Originally Posted by kangarulzx

i recently purchased the late 2012 model 2.5ghz 13inch mbpr L3 3mb cache, do you think i should exchange it for the 2.6ghz which is the early 2013 model? (im within 14days of purchase)
are the upgraded internal parts worth exchanging ? ( are there less problems with new models of 13inch mbpr?)

I would do it, but only because you can and not because it gives you any huge practical benefit. Having your model say (Early 2013) versus (Late 2012) won't buy you much, but the fact that it'll buy you anything and you can trade up for free makes it worthwhile.

[bmouthboyo]

Have these deductions and improvements been passed onto the UK yet?