Apple change prices, processors and internal parts of their Retina display notebooks

Teaser

Apple changed its prices and updated the processors in their MacBook Pro Retina notebooks last week. Now it has been revealed there have been some internal parts updates too.

Alex Storey, Published 02/18/2013

Apple Ivy Bridge

On February 13^th Apple announced that their MacBook Pro with Retina display notebooks were getting updated processors and lower starting prices in the United States. The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display got a new starting price of $1,499 for 128GB of flash, and $1,699 for a new 2.6 GHz processor and 256GB of flash. Meanwhile the entry level 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display now features a faster 2.4 GHz quad-core processor. Unfortunately the exact Ivy Bridge model numbers are not mentioned on Apple's website. Also worth mentioning is a $100 price-drop for the 13-inch MacBook Air (256GB), now at $1,399 (down from $1,499).

9to5mac made an in-depth list of these changes:

13-inch Retina MacBook Pro (128GB) - Now $1,499 (down from $1,699)
13-inch Retina MacBook Pro (256GB) - Now $1,699 (down from $1,999), 2.6GHz processor (up from 2.5)
15-inch Retina MacBook Pro (256GB) - Now a faster 2.4GHz quad-core (up from 2.3GHz)
15-inch Retina MacBook Pro (512GB) - Now a faster 2.7GHz quad-core (up from 2.6GHz), 16GB RAM (up from 8)

Now 9to5mac is reporting that the new Retina MacBook Pros have upgraded internal parts too, according to leaked Apple repair guides. The 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro repair guide shows that "many internals including the SSD, I/O Board, Logic Board and even the bottom case have been updated to new parts". Meanwhile the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro repair guide reveals an updated logic board.

The repair guides can be downloaded at 9to5mac.