Apple Announces Haswell MacBook Pro Starting at $1299

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Apple catches up with Intel's latest CPU technology.

Intel announced its 4th generation Haswell CPUs in June of this year. It wasn't long before the companies started updating their computers with the new chips, but Apple's MacBook Pros were notably absent from the list of Haswell machines. The company just gave its iMac line the Haswell treatment at the end of last month. Now it's the MacBook Pros turn.

Right after Apple confirmed the release of OS X Mavericks, the company confirmed updates to its MacBook Pro line. This includes a new processor and a new price. The 13-inch MacBook Pro now features the same Retina Display we saw in the previous generation of MacBook Pro, as well as Intel's 4th generation 2.5 GHz dual-core Core i5 CPU, Intel's Iris graphics, 4 GB of DRAM, and 128 GB SSD. Pricing for the 13-inch MBP starts at $1299, a $200 reduction compared to the $1499 entry-level price tag from the last generation of MacBook Pro. It's now also thinner (now the same as the 15-inch) and slightly lighter.

Apple also upgraded the 15-inch model. This one features a quad-core 2.4 GHz Core i7 CPU, 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB of SSD storage, and dedicated GeForce GT 750M graphics. The pricing for the 15-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1999, which is also $200 less than last year's starting price ($2199). Of course, both the 13-inch and 15-inch models will ship with OS X Mavericks.

Check out the hands on with the new MacBook Pros from our sister site LAPTOP:

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20 Comments Comment from the forums
  • MrJohnnyLy
    Sweet. Now I have an excuse to sell my mid-2010 MBP
    Reply
  • onichikun
    Kind of wish the 13 inch version had a dedicated graphics option, would be an instant sale for me. Now I am a stuck between 13" or 15".

    After what happened with the iPhone5s I am a bit skeptical about build quality which is why I prefer Mac Books to other PC brands. I need a shell environment, so its either MBP or other laptop with Linux... given the crap plastic laptops a lot of brands are, I am happy to shell out a premium for just a solid build.. outdated hardware or not.

    Hopefully the MBP build quality hasn't wavered like the iPhone did.
    Reply
  • therogerwilco
    Awww so cute, people think it's amazing they're one of the richest companies because they sell awesome hardware. I think it's cute people don't understand it's THEIR money they have given for overpriced machines.
    Reply
  • onichikun
    11771691 said:
    Awww so cute, people think it's amazing they're one of the richest companies because they sell awesome hardware. I think it's cute people don't understand it's THEIR money they have given for overpriced machines.

    There are actually a lot of informed developers who prefer MBP over other options. Not everyone is a casual student or gamer. MBP makes a lot of sense for mobile business oriented use, or development platforms on-the-go. I buy it for the build quality and battery life.

    I couldn't give less of a shit if a plastic space-heater of a laptop by some other brand is cheaper with better hardware. I used to be a Thinkpad groupie, but the chinese ruined that. The X1 carbon last year was my dream laptop, and then it flopped at release. MBP is the only other laptop I have found with a similar build quality to that of the old Thinkpad line.
    Reply
  • MrJohnnyLy
    11771691 said:
    Awww so cute, people think it's amazing they're one of the richest companies because they sell awesome hardware. I think it's cute people don't understand it's THEIR money they have given for overpriced machines.

    I'm not valuing one company over another, as each have their strengths and weaknesses. I'm fine with PC or Mac and am not a fanboy. I sold my 2010 iMac and built a PC (for gaming, schoolwork) and I don't regret it one bit. I still have my macbook, which is dualbooted with Windows 7 and has served me quite well the last 3 years, with no complaints whatsoever. I'm a student and do not game on it, with occasional photoshop use (seasoned photographer). Yes, Apple products tend to be overpriced compared to their counterparts, but like onichikun said, their build quality, form factor, warranty as well as battery life is what keeps me around. :)
    Reply
  • ap3x
    You guys summed it up perfectly. Allot of people can't see past their own personal uses. If all you do a game you should probably build or buy something that suites that use case. But personally I value the build quality, support, battery life, reliability, and the performance of my my MBP. I game on my Windows 8 machine, work on my Mac.
    Reply
  • hiruu
    @ap3x...lol...you must be in the atrsy industry, because in my engineering industry...it is all PC, or from what I see...so is the business community.
    Reply
  • tokadub
    Wow these new macbook pro's suck!!!!

    $2600 dollars to get the only decent model? The other ones all have integrated graphics...

    If you look at the specs on these things it proves how retarded Apple knows their consumers are!

    None of them make sense whatsoever for their price vs specs...

    Have to all the way up to $2000 for a simple quad core which is a requirement of any decent computer these days...

    But the $2000 model is clocked at a pathetic 2.0 GHZ?! Turbo boost 3.2GHZ is not too bad but for $2000 not really that great either...

    And if you want a 15 inch model you only get an integrated graphics chip and 256gb storage for $2000 dollars? WHAT THE F???

    So you would have to spend $2600 to get ONLY 512gb storage and a 750m graphics card lol!!!

    Man I've been waiting for the new macbook pro's for months so I have a laptop too build my iOS builds for the game I'm developing/programming. But wow these things are complete garbage...

    I think I'll be just buying the cheapest model possible or even get one used, Apple is such a terrible Company...

    Like this laptop for under $1100 would destroy any of the new models for what I would be using it for. Why is Apple so overpriced I'm so disappointed this new lineup looks like a joke to me as a computer enthusiast and I could afford the $2600 model easily... it's just not worth it the thing sucks!

    Why can't they just do a 17" mac book pro drop the retina display, drop the SSD, just give it a nice processor and something better than a NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M... Apple is a terrible joke of a company!

    This laptop is under $1100 and way better than any of the $2000+ dollar macbook "pro" jokes:

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834233017

    They should change the name to Macbook "shmoe" or Macbook "Doh" in the words of Homer Simpson.
    Reply
  • onichikun
    11772364 said:
    Wow these new macbook pro's suck!!!!

    $2600 dollars to get the only decent model? The other ones all have integrated graphics...

    If you look at the specs on these things it proves how retarded Apple knows their consumers are!

    None of them make sense whatsoever for their price vs specs...

    Have to all the way up to $2000 for a simple quad core which is a requirement of any decent computer these days...

    But the $2000 model is clocked at a pathetic 2.0 GHZ?! Turbo boost 3.2GHZ is not too bad but for $2000 not really that great either...

    And if you want a 15 inch model you only get an integrated graphics chip and 256gb storage for $2000 dollars? WHAT THE F???

    So you would have to spend $2600 to get ONLY 512gb storage and a 750m graphics card lol!!!

    Man I've been waiting for the new macbook pro's for months so I have a laptop too build my iOS builds for the game I'm developing/programming. But wow these things are complete garbage...

    I think I'll be just buying the cheapest model possible or even get one used, Apple is such a terrible Company...

    Like this laptop for under $1100 would destroy any of the new models for what I would be using it for. Why is Apple so overpriced I'm so disappointed this new lineup looks like a joke to me as a computer enthusiast and I could afford the $2600 model easily... it's just not worth it the thing sucks!

    Why can't they just do a 17" mac book pro drop the retina display, drop the SSD, just give it a nice processor and something better than a NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M... Apple is a terrible joke of a company!

    This laptop is under $1100 and way better than any of the $2000+ dollar macbook "pro" jokes:

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834233017

    They should change the name to Macbook "shmoe" or Macbook "Doh" in the words of Homer Simpson.

    I agree their option breakdown is a bit ridiculous, but they are targeting the quality not the value market, so their economists are assuming they can charge on the upper end of laptop prices and maximize their profits.

    That probably (at least partially) explains the wide variance in the tiers of their laptop options. The lower priced models can extract additional consumer surplus from the market, since they are relatively cheap for a "quality" product. They use their market position to their advantage, like any company would.

    Hopefully the quality of the laptops are still what they were a few years ago... that would partially justify the premium.


    Reply
  • tokadub
    Oh I must add why would they add 16gb ram to this thing... such a worthless addition when you don't even have over 1 TB storage lol.

    It just seems to me they have all their priorities out of place. 16gb ram is pretty much worthless for me and I'm a VERY high end user with multi tasking 2 monitors at all times with tons of programs, tons of internet tabs, etc. I even go up to 3 monitors at times when I switch on the Flatscreen TV, never need more than 8gb ram...

    So they decide to get 16gb ram but don't even put in the highest end mobile graphics card, more than 512gb total storage (pathetic) or a 17" monitor!? What the heck is wrong with these people isn't the Macbook pro supposed to be designed to work on?

    Why would someone want to work on anything smaller than a 17" monitor with a high end graphics card and at least 1TB storage...

    What a joke I don't give a crap about Retina displays such a gimmick, Apple = fail
    Reply