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Apple's online store this week has a variety of Retina and non-retina MacBook Pros to chose from in the refurbished section. The 13.3-inch MacBook Pro with a 2.5GHz Intel dual-core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of flash storage has been reduced by $230 to $1,269. A $240 discount is offered on the 13.3-inch Retina MBP with a 2.5GHz Intel dual-core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of flash storage, now $1,359.
At Apple's online store, save $230 on the refurbished 21.5-inch iMac with a 2.9GHz Intel quad-core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive, now only $1,269. A 20 percent price break is available on the refurbished 27-inch iMac, with a 2.7GHz Intel quad-core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive, which lowers the cost by $340 to $1,359. The refurbished 15.4-inch Retina MacBook Pro with 2.3GHz Intel quad-core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of flash storage has been reduced by $320 to $1,779.
Currently, Apple's online store has a variety of refurbished Retina MacBook Pro models to chose from. The 13.3-inch Retina MBP with an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of Flash Storage has been reduced by $260 to $1,439. A $300 price cut is offered on the 13.3-inch MBP with a 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of flash storage, now $1,699.
[Update: the free update for Retina display MacBook owners is now available] Reports of users with Retina-enabled Photoshop betas, Tuesday's keynote for Adobe's Create Now Live webinar conference -- along with a leaked video on YouTube -- suggest that the company plans to announce that CS6 Photoshop and Illustrator users will finally get support for Retina displays. The keynote, scheduled for 10AM PST, will come as overdue but welcome news for users with Retina display MacBook Pros. As reported previously, the company is also expected to reveal a sneak peek at the next major version of the CS suite, expected in late spring.
Adobe will open its Create Now Live streamed event on December 11, a week later than originally planned, but will apparently announce a Retina display-compatible version of Photoshop CS6 among other events during the webinar. In a promotional video that has surfaced on YouTube, the updated version is shown running on a Retina display MacBook Pro, and features some close-ups on buttons and other items that betray Retina-quality graphics. Other features are highlighted in the video as well.
Apple has revealed a 13-inch version of the MacBook Pro with Retina display it is shipping today, confirming rumors and analyst claims from earlier this month. Measuring 13.3-inches diagonally, the 300-nit IPS display has a 2560x1600 resolution, four times that of its predecessor, which makes it the second highest resolution notebook on the market today.
Production of a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display is still "on track", claims an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch. Speaking to CNET, Richard Shim believes the notebook will begin manufacture in the fourth quarter, later than estimates made by other analysts earlier this year for an October production start.
With little fanfare, Apple finally launched the latest model Retina display iPad in China earlier today to significantly less chaos than previous iPhone and iPad launches. A pre-sale reservation process guaranteed a smooth sales process, surprising Apple customers expecting mayhem when the device finally went on sale. The new system is intended to stymie scalpers, whose high-volume purchases had aggravated an already-tense stock shortage situation outside the dealerships during the iPhone launch.
This week, Evernote for Mac has benefitted from an update. Added to the popular note-taking application is the Activity Stream, which keeps the user updated on all the activity in an Evernote account. The application has also been upgraded to support the new Retina display in the MacBook Pro. Additional bug fixes have been performed, but no details have been provided by the developer. The update is free application.
Almost immediately after USB 3.0-equipped Macs were announced by Tim Cook at the 2012 Worldwide Developers Conference, MacNN started receiving tips that there were sporadic problems involving USB 3.0 external drives not mounting properly. The reports were scattershot, with reports of one drive working fine on one machine, but not on the Retina MacBook pro, or alternatively, working on the 2012 MacBook Pros but not the just-refreshed MacBook Air. To get to the bottom of the problem, we contacted an independent lab to set up tests of various combinations of new MacBooks and USB 3.0 drives to look into the phenomenons and, hopefully, find a root cause.
Apple is now shipping the new Retina models of the MacBook Pro. Notifications are being emailed to customers who ordered the computer from the online Apple store on the day of the WWDC announcement. Expected delivery dates are generally set for early next week.
Rumors of a new line of Apple Macintosh MacBook Pros with an enhanced Retina Display are making the rounds this week. According to CNet, NPD DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim said that super-high resolution 13.3 and 15.4 inch panels suitable for Retina Display usage are available now from component manufacturers. The increased resolution may come at an higher cost to Apple, and possibly to consumers.
Conde Nast has started issuing updates for its iPad magazines with support for the Retina Display on the new iPad, starting with the April issues. Magazines to get the updates so far include GQ and Wired. Prior to the update, users had been experiencing pixilation issues using Apple’s latest tablet, with its high-res 2048x1536 display showing up deficiencies in quality.
