13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display could release soon
A 13-inch model of Apple’s MacBook Pro with Retina display appears ready for release in the coming months.
Apple released a 15-inch version of its “greatest computer ever created” in June following the company’s WorldWide Developer’s Conference and since then, rumors about a 13-inch version have been steady and strong. The laptop with the ultra-sharp display is currently on a three- to four-week waiting list when ordered from Apple’s online store.
News of a 13-inch model became more a reality this week when a benchmark was submitted to Geekbench as “MacBookPro10,2” The number name could very well be a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro.
The 15-inch Retina MacBook is listed as “MacBookPro10.1.” The non-Retina counterparts of the respective laptops are MacBookPro9.1 for the 15-inch version and MacBookPro9.2 for the 13-inch model.
While it seems like an obvious move for Apple to release a 13-inch version of their Retina MacBook Pro, the test from Geekbench doesn’t confirm the rumor. In fact, the benchmark could be completely made up. One inconsistency is that it shows the 13-inch Retina model with a 2.9 GHz Core i7 processor and only 4 gigabytes of RAM. That doesn’t make sense because the non-Retina 13-inch MacBook Pro features 8 gigabytes of RAM.
Geekbench did reveal accurate benchmarks for the non-Retina 15-inch MacBook Pro in May, which proved to be accurate and true.
If this rumor proves to be true, things could become a little difficult for Apple consumers looking for a 13-inch laptop. If storage and power isn’t a concern, they could easily go with a MacBook Air at that size. However, if they need a bit more power, they need to decide between a high-end MacBook Air, a non-Retina MacBook Pro and a MacBook Pro with Retina display. The market might be muddled with 13-inch laptops.
Perhaps photographers want an even more portable MacBook Pro with Retina display (remember, they’re quite thin and light), but regardless, it appears that we could soon see yet another laptop added to Apple’s MacBook family.
