Apple Updates MacBook Line With ‘Most Beautiful Computer We’ve Ever Made’
Apple CEO Tim Cook may like to talk about the post-PC world, but the company isn’t ready to give up on its Macintosh product line.
At the Worldwide Developers Conference today, Apple announced faster new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro notebooks, as well as a new high-end MacBook Pro that includes the high-resolution Retina Display found in the iPhone and iPad.
Apple’s new MacBook Pro, with Retina Display, on display at WWDC.
The new MacBook Pro is 0.71 inches thick (or thin, depending on your point of view), weighs less than 4.5 pounds, has internal Flash storage and a 15.4 inch screen with a Retina Display that has a 2880 by 1800 pixel density — four times the pixel density of previous versions of the MacBook Pro, Phil Schiller, Apple’s head of marketing, told the developers gathered for the five-day WWDC. The new notebook starts at $2,199 and is available starting today.
“The next generation Macbook Pro is the most beautiful computer we have ever made,” Schiller said. “There has never been a notebook that has been this gorgeous.”
Apple also updated its MacBook Air — with $100 price cuts on its 11-inch and 13-inch models — and faster new versions of its 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro notebooks. All feature faster processors from Intel, with faster memory, storage and graphics. They are available today. “No one turns over its entire product line as quickly as Apple,” Schiller said.
Even with the expected shift to post-PC devices like the iPad tablet, Apple still enjoys healthy sales — and profit — from its lineup of Mac computers. The Mac accounted for 13 percent of Apple’s $39.2 billion in sales last quarter (the iPhone is 58 percent of sales, while the iPad business represents 17 percent.)
The new MacBook Air is $999 and $1,099 for the 11-inch models, and $1,199 and $1,499 for the 13-inch versions. That’s $100 less than the starting price of the previous generation, Schiller noted. Apple’s new MacBook Pros, available with 13-inch and 15-inch displays, start at $1,199 and $1,799 respectively.
Apple hadn’t updated its online store — as of 10:50 am California time — with the new models. Expect that to happen shortly (the store is now updated; product details can be found here).
The new notebooks were widely anticipated, leaving investors slightly disappointed.
The shares fell $9.15 or 1.58 percent, to $571.17 in Nasdaq trading.
The company said that it will also release the new version of the Mac operating system — OSX Mountain Lion — next month. Customers who buy a Mac today will get Mountain Lion free. For Mac users who have Lion and want to update, the new OS will be $19.99 and available to download from its Mac App Store.
