14 DAY TRIAL // A report from Taiwan indicates that Apple will be phasing out its last remaining non-Retina MacBook Pro this year in favor of a thinner model launching towards the second half of the year. If true, it will mark the end of optical media at Apple.
As DigiTimes’ sources put it, “...Apple has been reducing its MacBook Pro prices, narrowing the price gap between the MacBook Pro and the one equipped with Retina.”
Indeed, the price gap between a Retina 13-incher and a non-Retina model is a meagre $100/€100 in the US and Europe, respectively. With the next upgrade, Apple will have no excuse to keep these same prices and not offer a significant hardware upgrade.
It’s pretty much a given that the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro is the first on the list to undergo some changes, and according to the Taiwanese publication, Apple will make it thinner and it will give it a Retina display.
But in order to make the computer thinner, Apple will have to give up on some bulky parts, like the hard disk drive and the optical drive.
This black sheep of a MacBook Pro is the only one that still uses these dying technologies, as all other models currently lack an optical drive and come with SSD storage only.
As Flash storage prices continue to go down, we’ll soon see the same thing happen on the desktop front (iMac, Mac Pro, Mac mini).
If the DigiTimes report proves accurate, we may see this MacBook Pro refresh announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers conference in the June-July timeframe. Shipping wouldn’t necessarily begin the next day, but the time and place are very likely for this announcement. Apple is also likely to unveil its much-hyped iWatch at the event.
Also worth noting is that battery life may not increase much if Apple is indeed making the 13-inch MacBook Pro thinner. Although its larger siblings offer 8 and even 9 hours of battery life on a single charge, let’s not forget that the real estate available inside the chassis of a 15-inch model is considerably bigger.
Apple is also said to be refreshing and / or phasing out its MacBook Air computers in favor of a bigger iPad that may or may not come with a detachable keyboard (like Microsoft’s Surface tablets). Considering that the MacBook Air still sells pretty well, this rumor is very unlikely to materialize any time soon.