Apple is sure to update the MacBook Pro with
Retina display at some point in the first half of 2015. Here we look at its
possible release date, specs, features and design; UK pricing and availability.
Could a new model be coming soon?
Our 2015 MacBook Pro with Retina display release
date and rumours article brings together everything we know or can plausibly
predict about Apple's next MacBook Pro laptop: a laptop that we're pretty sure
will be updated by Apple in 2015.
Here we report on and analyze any rumours about
the 2015 MacBook Pro with Retina display: its release date, so you'll know
when a new model is likely launch; and speculation about its specs, features
and design; its UK pricing and availability; and any other clues and hints
circulating on the web that might hint at what to expect.
For example, Intel's Broadwell processors are said to be
shipping, does this mean an update to the MacBook Pro with Retina display will
happen soon? Read on to find out..
Apple last updated the MacBook Pro with Retina display on 29
July 2014, quietly upping the specs and reducing prices across the board.
Now with a reduced starting price of £999 for the 13-inch
entry-level model, and a reduction of between £50 and £200 for all six
available models, the MacBook Pro with Retina display became more affordable
than ever.
The price drop highlights the small difference between the
outlays required for a 13in Retina MacBook Pro and its less-pro cousin, the
MacBook Air, the 13in version of which costs £849. We tend to advise people to
spend £150 extra to get the better screen, faster processor and extra RAM that
the pro model brings. The only advantages of the MacBook Air are the fact that
it is slightly lighter, and the 13in model offers a 12 hour battery compared to
the 9 hour battery in the 13in Retina MacBook Pro.
However, with rumours that Apple will soon launch a
Retina version of the MacBook Air suggest that the gap may soon be closed
on these two Mac laptops.
If it is true that Apple is to launch a new MacBook Air with
Retina display will a new version of the MacBook Pro with Retina display
follow?
2015 MacBook Pro with Retina display: launch date
We think that Apple will update the MacBook Pro with Retina
display in 2015, but we estimate that this will not happen until the summer.
Possibly Apple will unveil the new professional Mac laptop at it’s WWDC
conference, which we think will take place between 8-12 June 2015.
2015 MacBook Pro with Retina display: UK price
As we mentioned above, the whole range
of MacBook Pro with Retina displays (and the older MacBook Pro with
optical drive) all saw a price drop in 2014. Is Apple likely to reduce prices
further in 2015? Probably not.
The current prices are as follows:
13in Retina MacBook Pro, 2.6GHz (dual-core
i5), 128GB, £999
13in Retina MacBook Pro, 2.6GHz (dual
-core i5), 256GB, £1,199
13in Retina MacBook Pro, 2.8GHz (dual
-core i5), 512GB, £1,399
15in Retina MacBook Pro, 2.2GHz
(quad-core i7), 256GB, £1,599
15in Retina MacBook Pro, 2.2GHz
(quad-core i7), 512GB, £1,999
We expect to see similar prices for the
2015 models, but with an improvement in specs (we hope).
2015 MacBook Pro with Retina display: processor
The 2014 MacBook Pro with Retina display
gained faster Haswell processors. Starting at £999, the 2014 low-end 13in
Retina MacBook Pro gained a 2.6GHz dual-core i5 Intel Core i5 processor, up
from the 2.4GHz processor it previously sported.
The mid-range 2014 13in Retina MacBook
Pro gained a 2.6GHz processor up from 2.4GHz, and the high-end 13in Retina
MacBook Pro gained a 2.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, up from 2.6GHz.
The 2014 15in Retina MacBook Pro models
offer a 2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, up from the 2GHz processor it
had before and a 2.5GHz processor up from 2.3GHz.
What of the processors in the 2015
Retina MacBook Pro? It is expected that these will utilize Intel’s long-awaited
Broadwell chip. We feel like we have been waiting for ages for this new
processor to arrive. Broadwell has been plagued by delays but according to
Intel, OEMs will start shipping devices using the new chip in early 2015. We
should start seeing the first of these i5 and i7 Broadwell products at the end
of January 2015.
The Broadwell processor should offer
increased battery life and some Broadwell processors (the Core M – already
available) will make fanless operation possible (although we don’t expect to
see this variant in the MacBook Pro). Broadwell will also offer native support
for 4K display technology. However, Broadwell has been so delayed that its
successor, Skylake, isn’t far off and a Skylake MacBook Pro could be an even
faster machine. Skylake could launch in 2015, but 2016 might be more
likely.
Another point to note, currently only
the 15in models offer quad-core processors, which means they compare very
favourably with the 27in iMacs which also sport quad-core processors, although
these are i5 rather than i7. We hope that the 15in versions of the MacBook Pro
maintain these quad-core processors – the reason for our concern is the fact that
the Mac mini when updated in October lost its quad-core processor options.
2015 MacBook Pro with Retina display: RAM
The entry level MacBook Pro with Retina
display introduced in 2014 gained 8GB RAM, up from 4GB on the older model. The
other 13in models maintained the 8GB RAM of the previous generation and the
15in models all now offer 16GB RAM (previously the entry-level 15in model
offered 8GB).
It is likely that the 8GB for the
standard 13in models and the 16GB for the 15in models will remain.
2015 MacBook Pro with Retina display: graphics
The graphics cards in the 2014 MacBook
Pro are as follows: all of the 13in Retina models feature an Intel Iris
Graphics card. The 15in models offer the Intel Iris Pro Graphics in the £1,599
version, and the Intel Iris Pro Graphics along with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
in the £1,999 version. This is Apple’s only laptop offer the dual-graphics card
set up that allows users to switch graphics cards depending on the kind of work
being performed. So the less power-hungry apps need only use the integrated graphics,
thereby draining less of your battery, but power-intensive apps can use the
specialized graphics processor. The Mac switches between the two processors
according to the application being used. It’s the best of both worlds.
Hopefully Apple will continue to offer
the dual graphics processor option in the high end MacBook Pro. We anticipate
the company switching to the GeForce 800M series of GPUs.
2015 MacBook Pro with Retina display: battery life
Currently
the 13in Retina MacBook Pro offers 9 hours of battery life and the 15in model
offers 8 hours. Given that the MacBook Air offers 12 hours of battery life in
the 13in model, and 9 hours in the 11in version – despite the fact that the
thinner MacBook Air has less battery space, the Pro model is looking like it
lacks the stamina
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