Apple quietly unveiled updates to its MacBook Pro with Retina Display and MacBook Air lines Monday. The company introduced faster processors, better graphics, and longer battery life for the MacBook Pro. The MacBook Air received faster processors, better graphics, and Thunderbolt 2.
The announcements were made during Apple's "Spring Forward" media event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. These updates were line items following Apple's introduction of the stunning new MacBook, the thinnest Mac portable ever and the world's most efficient laptop.
MacBook Air and MacBook Pro - Spring 2015
MacBook Pro with Retina Display
Apple is designating the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display its third generation. They now come with new Core i5 and Core i7 processors up to 3.1 GHz, faster flash storage with up to 1.6 GBps throughput, and integrated Intel Iris Graphics 6100 graphics processing. Apple also said they get up to 10 hours of battery life, which is one hour longer than the previous generation.
Perhaps more importantly, Apple is including its Force Touch trackpad, a technology also included in the above-mentioned MacBook. This trackpad allows users to adjust the tension when you click, and it also registers force. Apple has used that force data to add a new click to OS X Yosemite for greater functionality.
MacBook Pro with Retina Display starts at US$1,299 for a 2.7 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.1 GHz, 8GB of memory, and 128GB of flash storage. It's available now.
MacBook Air
During the media event, we were speculating internally if the MacBook would replace the MacBook Air, but Apple also updated that popular Mac model. In addition to faster processors up to 3.2 GHz and the integrated Intel HD Graphics 6000 processor, the new models feature Thunderbolt 2, the latest iteration of the Apple and Intel connectivity technology.
MacBook also has faster flash storage for performance up to twice as fast as the previous generation.
The 11-inch MacBook Air comes starts at $899 with a 1.6 GHz processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 2.7 GHz, 4GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage. The 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $999 with a 1.6 GHz processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 2.7 GHz, 4GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage. Both versions are available now.