My Thoughts on Technology and Jamaica: Apple launches Retina dipslay 13-inch and 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro and the Apple Mac Pro - Expensive upgrades with Graphics and Programming Professionals in mind

Friday, October 25, 2013

Apple launches Retina dipslay 13-inch and 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro and the Apple Mac Pro - Expensive upgrades with Graphics and Programming Professionals in mind


New Apple iPads aren’t the only thing that came riding in on Tuesday October 22nd 2013. Apple also released updated versions of the 13” and 15” Apple MacBook Pro and the much anticipated Apple Mac Pro Desktop computer as stated in the article “Apple announces new, faster Retina MacBook Pros with Haswell chips, Thunderbolt 2, starting at $1,299”, published October 22, 2013 10:28 AM PDT by Joshua Goldman, CNET News.


Not only that, but the Operating System, Apple OS X Mavericks is free to download along with iLife and iWork Suites, at least on Tuesday October 22nd 2013 as stated in “APPLE REVEALS MAC OS X MAVERICKS IS FREE TO DOWNLOAD TODAY”, published October 22, 2013 By Konrad Krawczyk, Digital Trends.

13” and 15” Apple MacBook Pro – Packing Haswell Processors and Retina Display goodies

The 13” and 15” Apple MacBook Pro, now update to Retina Display, are also packing the new Power-saving Haswell Processors as stated in “15-inch MacBook Pro gets latest Intel chips, better battery life, and a lower price”, published October 22, 2013 11:21 AM PDT, CNET News.


Apple has done away with the Optical Drive in this latest refresh, making the 13” and 15” Apple MacBook Pro SSD (Solid State Drive) with Retina Display and hence the longer Battery life. It’s also clear that the Apple MacBook Pro took its design queues from the Apple MacBook Air with the decision to ditch the Optical Drive and go Retina Display. Effectively, these MacBooks are really “Airs” to the Laptop Throne!



13-inch MacBook Pro

1.      2.3GHZ Core i7
2.      RAM: 4GB
3.      Hard-Drive: 128GB SSD
4.      Resolution: 2,560x1,600 pixels



15-inch MacBook Pro

1.      2.3GHZ Core i7
2.      RAM: 8GB
3.      Hard-Drive: 256GB SSD
4.      Resolution: 2,880x1,800

Here’s a comparison chart with last year’s 2012 refresh of the 13” and 15” Apple MacBook Pro’s:


Apple Mac Pro – Graphics and Programmers Nirvana come at last

The Apple Mac Pro about which much has been heard will be coming in December 2013 at a price of US$2999 as stated in the article “Mac Pro available in December, starts at $2,999”, published October 22, 2013 10:38 AM PDT by Don Reisinger, CNET News

The new Apple Mac Pro, which is made in the US of A as stated in “A US-made Mac Pro is a token gesture”, published October 23, 2013 4:00 AM PDT by Roger Cheng, CNET News, make you wonder why all Apple products can’t be made in the US of A. Here’s a quick rundown on the Apple Mac Pro Specs, which is the Future of the Pro Desktop according to Apple’s Chief of Marketing Phil Schiller:

The Apple Mac Pro comes in 2 versions and thus two (2) distinct pricing points:

1.      Mac Pro Quad-Core for US$2,999
2.      Mac Pro 6-Core for US$3,999

The base model of the Mac Pro Quad-Core versions comes with 3.7GHz Intel Xeon E5 with 10MB L3 cache and Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz. It has three (3) other possible configurations:

1.      3.5GHz 6-core Processor with 12MB L3 cache
2.      3.0GHz 8-core Processor with 25MB L3 cache
3.      2.7GHz 12-core Processor with 30MB L3 cache

Mac Pro 6-Core is a little on the meatier side, with a Intel Xeon E5 with 12MB L3 cache and Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz in its base model with the following configuration options:

1.      3.0GHz 8-core Processor with 25MB L3 cache
2.      2.7GHz 12-core Processor with 30MB L3 cache

The Mac Pro Quad-Core comes with 12GB (three 4GB) of 1866MHz DDR3 ECC memory that's configurable to 16GB (four 4GB), 32GB (four 8GB) or 64GB (four 16GB). The Mac Pro 6-Core packs more memory with 16GB (four 4GB) of 1866MHz DDR3 ECC memory and configurable to 32GB (four 8GB) or 64GB (four 16GB).

Dual AMD FirePro D300 graphics Processors for the Mac Pro Quad-Core and Dual AMD FirePro D500 graphics Processors for the Mac Pro 6-Core, the Graphic output supported by this beast is bordering on that of a Supercomputer!

It’s capable of supporting four (4) 4K displays or 6 Thunderbolt connected Displays. Clearly this is not a computer for the mere PC Hobbyist but built for the Professional Graphics Designer and is made for Graphics intensive work.


Specs for the Apple Mac Pro are as show in the video:



Despite the sky, high prices, I certainly can’t wait for a CNET Review on this product, as from the looks of it, it’s going to be super powerful and super fast! Christmas nice again!

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