In a recent event, Apple announced a new 13 inch Macbook Pro with Retina Display. This was the computer that I wanted to buy back in June but Apple only announced a new 15 inch MBPR then. Even now, they are still too expensive for the average consumer. Despite this, many others will be interested in this great computer. Let’s go into detail of Apple’s new laptop.

Name

The new laptop has been called by Apple the 13 inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. Unsurprisingly, the name of the computer is not on the bottom edge on the screen like the MBA’s and regular MBP’s but on the bottom. Imagine “MacBook Pro with Retina Display” on the side of the screen! I’m just glad that its not called the “New 13 inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display and other things”.

Design

The new MacBook Pro has the same great design as the 15 inch MBPR. The new 13 inch MacBook is a pound lighter and 20 percent thinner. The new laptop will take away the SuperDrive, making it thinner and lighter. The MBPR is the lightest 13 inch MBP ever. It is 3.57 pounds. The computer is also all flash and minimizes the risks for breaking. As with all Macs, the MBPRs are very well crafted. The new computers, like Apple’s other computers are made out of the same unibody aluminum body. The MBPR does not have the name of the computer on the front display. It is now located on the back, out of the way. It makes sense. The name on the front display takes away from the simplicity and design of Apple’s computers, so I’m glad that it is now on the bottom. The computer is simply beautiful, just are all of Apple’s products.

Tech Specs

As with the other computers that have been updated in the past few months, the MBPR 13 inch has been given Ivy Bridge processors from Intel. Both models are 2.5 GHz i5 processors. They both Turbo-Boost to 3.1 GHz. They both are configurable to a 2.9 GHz processor. Apple has put some pretty powerful processors in the new 13 inch MBPRs.

Unlike the regular MBP’s standard of 4 GB of RAM, the 13 inch MBPR comes standard with 8 GB. This is not configurable in any other way. Like the 15 inch MBPR, the RAM is soldered into the MBPR so you will not be able to add RAM should you so desire. The 15 inch MBPRs are, however, upgradable to 16 GB of RAM should you desire that.

The storage space on the MBPR has a 128 GB (upgradable to 512 or 756 GB) flash storage on the lower end and has 256 GB (upgradable to 512 or 756 GB) on the higher end. The space, admittedly, is smaller than it should be for the price, but despite that, the computer is still worth it. As I mentioned, the drive is flash storage. Flash storage, like SSD, does not have moving parts. Moving parts cause HDDs to break easily. Flash storage also is faster and more reliable than HDDs. Flash storage, however, is expensive and costs a lot more for storage. I believe, however, that the pros of flash storage cancel the negatives of it, ten-fold.

The laptops, like the new MBAs and MBPs introduced in June as well as the new iMac and Mac mini has an Intel 4000 graphics card. This graphics card is a very great graphics card and runs fast providing you with some of the best graphics. However, the switch to Intel from Nvidia, may or may not be the best move since Nvidia has worked well with them.

I/O

The new 13 inch MBP consists of a MagSafe 2 port for charging, 2 thunderbolt ports, 2 USB 3.0 ports, HDMI port, headphone jack, and dual mics. It also has Bluetooth 4.0. It no longer has a SuperDrive due to the size of the SuperDrive. Not bad for a great, thin computer, though I would have like to have seen more USB ports.

Prices and Availability

The new 13 inch MBPRs are available from Apple now, as are the 15 inch MBPRs as they have been around for a few months now. The lower end MBPR with 128 GB is available for $1699. The higher end will be available for $1999. To me, these prices are still too much for me to go to the Apple Store and pick one up on the whim.

I believe that these new MBPRs will be the future of the MBPs and will eventually replace the current MBPs after an undetermined amount of time, assuming once the price of the cost to make these computers goes down and they can decrease the price of the computers. The new MBPRs are the future and I’m looking forward to the future.

Thanks for reading,

Joe