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

[kawaisa556]

I'm so glad I cancelled my order yesterday!

I ordered the 15" rMbP on 021113 with Apple Care and a Superdrive. My total was a little over $4000 (WITH the education discount...yikes!). After I did my taxes, I decided I can afford to wait for the Haswell refresh and cancelled it yesterday. I'm so glad I did!
Is this how it's going to be for the new 2013 line up? rMbP with i processors are the moderately priced and the Haswell will be the top tier models? I apologize in advance, I am a newbie.

 

[Rizzm]

Still no 16GB option for the 13". What a bad move. I would never consider it if I were in the market because of that.

 

[vikpt]

Lower!!! (I can dream right?)

 

[KPOM]

That's probably not the reason for the price drops, as Apple is supposed to keep the pricing strategy in the next refresh. Seems like a permanent price point, since it seems to be moudling the pricing of its MacBook Series (it already discontinued the top-range 15-inch non-retina MacBook Pro).

I see the following reasons for the price drop: (i) retina displays and flash storage are likely cheaper now than a few months ago; (ii) fierce competition from Windows laptops, with Surface Pro being sold out and ultrabooks being upgraded with 1080p displays; and (iii) slow sales of the 13-inch retina models (if Amazon.com chart is to be believed, the 13-inch retina model was selling less than other Apple models, including the more expensive 15-inch retina, what leads to believe that consumers were not seeing much value in this particular model).

A few points. They technically didn't discontinue the high-end 15" MacBook Pro. They just made it strictly a CTO model.

Also, I agree that the 1080p Ultrabooks have had an impact (though the rMBP still has twice the pixels), and I'm sure Apple wants to jumpstart sales of the 13" rMBP. It's a lot easier to recommend at $1499/$1699 for 128/256GB than it was at $1699/$1999. However, I wouldn't read too much into the Surface Pro "sellout." We don't know how many Microsoft actually produced, and note that the 64GB model is still widely available.

 

[HVDynamo]

Sounds like they are planning on eliminating the non-retina MacBook Pro's. Drop the retina's to be more in line with the non-retina just before rev; does this indicate the end of the line for the non-retina?

Work just purchased me a nice new non-retina MBP (still waiting for delivery). I've been worried that they would drop that line, from their stand point it makes sense to. But I like the upgradability of the non-retina; when it arrives it will be retrofitted with 16GB of RAM and 750gb fusion drive. Should be today or tomorrow.

Macbook pro's don't support the fusion drive. You are just getting a 750GB hard drive. I just bought the higher end cMBP with an upgraded screen and I can't be happier with it. I agree with the upgradability, and I am not ready to give up the DVD drive, or the ethernet port. Granted those features can be had by buying a few external addon's but that just adds more to the price, and more things to carry around. At that point the extra thinness doesn't make sense as I would have to carry all that extra crap with cables and everything. Honestly, the cMBP is thin enough in my opinion, just wish it came with a retina option, and a Blu-Ray Drive.

 

[DayVe3000]

Cheers for further devaluing my expensive recent purchase Apple!

Get your pricing right to start with.

 

[KPOM]

I order the 15" rMbP on 021113 with Apple Care and a Superdrive. My total was a little over $4000 (WITH the education discount...yikes!). After I did my taxes, I decided I can afford to wait for the Haswell refresh and cancelled it yesterday. I'm so glad I did!
Is this how it's going to be for the new 2013 line up? rMbP with i processors are the moderately priced and the Haswell will be the top tier models? I apologize in advance, I am a newbie.

I'm guessing that this is a new permanent price point. We'll probably see the cMBP models dropped this summer when Haswell comes out. Haswell will replace Ivy Bridge (i.e. Apple won't sell today's model alongside the Haswell models later this year, they will just sell the Haswell model).

Intel just released a few new processors (e.g. the dual core 3.0GHz Core i7). This is fairly common. Apple has often timed mid-cycle refreshes with new Intel chips. In November 2011 they did a mid-cycle refresh of the 13" and 15" MacBook Pro with similar performance bumps.

 

[Eidorian]

I believe that intel recently announced that they've started mass production of Haswell chips, which means that they've lowered the price for current inventory.

All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again.

Every time a new chip comes out people rush to ask if prices will go up for new or drop for older hardware. It stays the same. If you are going to point out the $10-20 increase around Nehalem take into account that the memory controller went onboard the CPU and you no longer paid for a Northbridge on your motherboard to handle that.

Just because other manufacturers sell at razor-thin margins doesn't mean they want to. They have no other choice since they don't have much else to differentiate their products. The whole point of Intel's Ultrabook product was to increase average selling prices of notebooks. Apple has its own OS, and a customer base that places a premium on their designs. They are likely still getting 40% margins with the new pricing.

I do not like crummy products and I do not like high prices. $299 laptops are garbage. I know if fills a niche for people that just want to use Facebook, YouTube, and h.264 video on a Sandy Bridge based dual core Celeron/Pentium but the washed out screens and flexing chassis.

Taking a look at the Best Buy circular shows how many people have grown far too accustomed to bargain basement hardware. You might say more about Apple's margins but it is far too high for even my tastes. I wait and snipe a good deal on good hardware not whatever is the lowest price or has the most delusion prestige.

So that leaves me waiting for refurbished deals or price drops when it comes to Apple. Now with Haswell coming in June, it is going to be a no to these notebooks and more so with HD 4000 graphics.

 

[The-Pro]

$700. It's still a big drop, though. That was across the board. Apple's NAND pricing finally caught up with reality. SSDs have been $1/GB for almost a year now.

Whoops, your correct, I looked at the high end model
Its great they have finally done that. Maybe they realised it was ridiculous

 

[kawaisa556]

Still no 16GB option for the 13". What a bad move. I would never consider it if I were in the market because of that.

I agree.

 

[KPOM]

I agree this is a price change for the Intel core that Apple is passing alone.

It's mostly a reduction in the flash storage pricing. Yesterday going from 256GB to 512GB was $500. Today it's $300. The jump from 128GB to 256GB went from $300 to $200.

 

[skaertus]

A few points. They technically didn't discontinue the high-end 15" MacBook Pro. They just made it strictly a CTO model.

Yes, you are right. It is not possible to walk into a local store and come out with a high-end non-retina 15-inch MacBook Pro anymore, though.

Also, I agree that the 1080p Ultrabooks have had an impact (though the rMBP still has twice the pixels), and I'm sure Apple wants to jumpstart sales of the 13" rMBP. It's a lot easier to recommend at $1499/$1699 for 128/256GB than it was at $1699/$1999. However, I wouldn't read too much into the Surface Pro "sellout." We don't know how many Microsoft actually produced, and note that the 64GB model is still widely available.

The sell-out of Surface Pro is still a mystery. Nobody really knows if the sell-out was due to to high demand or low offer. But the "sell-out marketing" is playing nicely, though.

Anyway, it's not only Surface Pro. We have Asus Zenbook Prime, Acer Aspire S7, Samsung Series 7 Ultra, Dell XPS 13, and others to come soon. There are plenty of new ultrabooks, with good IPS screens and nice designs, which appeal to customers. The MacBook Air may be great, but, apart from OS X, it has nothing special compared to these new ultrabooks. The 13-inch MacBook Pro may be Apple's answer to dazzle consumers with a laptop which has no parallel in the Windows world, for a price that is not entirely prohibitive.

 

[KPOM]

Anyway, it's not only Surface Pro. We have Asus Zenbook Prime, Acer Aspire S7, Samsung Series 7 Ultra, Dell XPS 13, and others to come soon. There are plenty of new ultrabooks, with good IPS screens and nice designs, which appeal to customers. The MacBook Air may be great, but, apart from OS X, it has nothing special compared to these new ultrabooks. The 13-inch MacBook Pro may be Apple's answer to dazzle consumers with a laptop which has no parallel in the Windows world, for a price that is not entirely prohibitive.

I agree that Ultrabooks have caught up with or surpassed the MacBook Air. I was a bit surprised we didn't see a better screen in 2012, but I guess Apple was satisfied it could hold off longer. I don't know if Haswell will enable Apple to put a Retina Display into a MacBook Air (if they can produce an 11.6" version, I'll probably jump at the chance). If not, I wonder if they will make it an IPS screen. 1920x1080p won't "retinize" as well as 2560x1600.

 

[PatriotInvasion]

So the 13" rMBP I bought 3 months ago just went down in price by $200? Is there any chance Apple will do something for us Retina early adopters like they did for iPhone adopters in 2007?

I know this was inevitable at some point, but 3 1/2 months is a pretty big kick in the gut.

 

[iMikeT]

Exactly what I was hoping for and sooner than expected!

And if you're still able to, take advantage of the educational discount, you get an additional $100 off the base model.

Personally, I was going to wait for a spec bump and a lower price and here it is! I'll also be waiting for the back-to-school promos for this and taking advantage of the educational discount. Woo hoo!

 

[tuna9720]

So, the rumors saying "all MBPs will have retina display" make no sense now.

Because they already have faster processors (non-retina ones) and if they get same retina display, then there would be no reason to buy the more expensive retina MBPs.

Am I missing something?

 

[Battlefield Fan]

Does someone have an exact list of processor changes?

15" rmbp 2.6>2.7 ???

 

[treyjustice]

I'm glad. Although sucks for me as I was planning to sell my base 13 inch retina to recoup some cash! Looks like I'll be keeping it.

 

[Krauser]

Hah. Walk around a college campus, ANY college campus and see how long you can hold onto that thought. Nice try though.

I don't know where you go to school, but since the 13" Retina launched, I haven't seen a single one (and my school, Rutgers New Brunswick, isn't exactly a small campus). Now the regular MacBook Pros and the Airs... yeah, there's not another type of computer in the classroom. But the 13" Retina? Maybe you're in a different position, but I haven't seen a single one outside of an Apple store.

EDIT: Wait... there's no 16GB RAM option in these 13" Retina's still? Even the higher end one maxes out at 8GB...

 

[nemaslov]

So nobody was buying them...

RAM is much cheaper now...

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So the 13" rMBP I bought 3 months ago just went down in price by $200? Is there any chance Apple will do something for us Retina early adopters like they did for iPhone adopters in 2007?

I know this was inevitable at some point, but 3 1/2 months is a pretty big kick in the gut.

Apple paid more for RAM when you bought yours. Ram is cheaper now, so do you think they should lose out on their usual profit margin?

 

[iMikeT]

I don't know where you go to school, but since the 13" Retina launched, I haven't seen a single one (and my school, Rutgers New Brunswick, isn't exactly a small campus). Now the regular MacBook Pros and the Airs... yeah, there's not another type of computer in the classroom. But the 13" Retina? Maybe you're in a different position, but I haven't seen a single one outside of an Apple store.

EDIT: Wait... there's no 16GB RAM option in these 13" Retina's still? Even the higher end one maxes out at 8GB...

I didn't see any 13" models because it was announced 2/3 of the way through this last semester but I did see quite a few 15" models. I expect to see more 13" models this semester and definitely a lot more in the fall.

In contrast however, I see plenty more iPads than notebooks these days.

 

[skaertus]

I agree that Ultrabooks have caught up with or surpassed the MacBook Air. I was a bit surprised we didn't see a better screen in 2012, but I guess Apple was satisfied it could hold off longer. I don't know if Haswell will enable Apple to put a Retina Display into a MacBook Air (if they can produce an 11.6" version, I'll probably jump at the chance). If not, I wonder if they will make it an IPS screen. 1920x1080p won't "retinize" as well as 2560x1600.

Well, perhaps Apple needs to enhance the internals of the MacBook Air so it can hold a battery capables of supporting the retina resolution. I guess it will come with Haswell, anyway. People are skeptical and most tend to think that the MacBook Air will not get retina resolutions until 2014. I think it may get in 2013, as the PC industry is moving towards high resolution displays and Apple will not want to be left behind.

 

[Krauser]

I ordered the 15" rMbP on 021113 with Apple Care and a Superdrive. My total was a little over $4000 (WITH the education discount...yikes!). After I did my taxes, I decided I can afford to wait for the Haswell refresh and cancelled it yesterday. I'm so glad I did!
Is this how it's going to be for the new 2013 line up? rMbP with i processors are the moderately priced and the Haswell will be the top tier models? I apologize in advance, I am a newbie.

They wouldn't make two tiers of the same laptop with only the processor architecture (Haswell vs. Ivy Bridge) being the difference. Not only would that be confusing as hell for the consumer, but it would make no sense for Apple to continue to get Ivy Bridge chips from Intel.

When Haswell works in the MacBook's (or, more accurately, when they become available), Apple will upgrade their lineup to Haswell and ditch the Ivy Bridge chips. There's never been, at least to my knowledge, a processor overlap in Apple's notebook lineup so it would be almost completely unlikely that they would have one come June.

----------

I didn't see any 13" models because it was announced 2/3 of the way through this last semester but I did see quite a few 15" models. I expect to see more 13" models this semester and definitely a lot more in the fall.

In contrast however, I see plenty more iPads than notebooks these days.

I've seen a couple 15" Retina's in class but my classrooms are still dominated by notebooks. Sure there's the oddball iPad and keyboard, but they're few and far between.

 

[notjustjay]

Also, I agree that the 1080p Ultrabooks have had an impact (though the rMBP still has twice the pixels), and I'm sure Apple wants to jumpstart sales of the 13" rMBP. It's a lot easier to recommend at $1499/$1699 for 128/256GB than it was at $1699/$1999. However, I wouldn't read too much into the Surface Pro "sellout." We don't know how many Microsoft actually produced, and note that the 64GB model is still widely available.

I might not be the "typical" user, but I have to say, I am shopping seriously for Windows 8 touchscreen ultrabooks. I thought they were silly, like probably 99% of the folks here do (we are, after all, Apple enthusiasts. Windows? Bleah!) But after spending some time playing with the Surface RT, I was pretty impressed, though I would never buy RT or the actual Surface (or Pro) for various reasons.

But this new crop of ultrabooks with Windows 8, touchscreens, incredible battery life (up to 19 hours!) has me intrigued! I am very very tempted to buy a Lenovo Yoga 13 or the upcoming 11S.

I'm waiting for Haswell to arrive and we can look at the competition again then... but I'm rather torn between a MacBook Air, retina MacBook Pro, or a Windows 8 machine (likely the Yoga, or Thinkpad Helix).

In the meantime, my 2007-era MacBook Pro is still going strong!

 

[terraphantm]

I still see the high-end configuration for the 15" on the store.

I also noticed that they seemed to drop the price of the SSD a fair bit. You can now get an "ultimate" 15" rMBP for "only" $3449 -- I'm pretty sure it was around $3800 in the past.