
Unlike the Air, which has a patented wedge-shaped design, the Pro is uniformly thick all the way from back to front, save for a small curved taper around the bottom edges of the base. The machine measures 0.71 inches, only 0.03 inches thicker than the MacBook Air. It weighs in at 4.46 pounds, 1.1 pounds less than the previous MacBook Pro, and it's light enough for me to confidently pick up and carry with only one hand. Of course, frontline tech like this is costly: The base model starts at a whopping $2,200 – $400 more than the 15-inch, entry-level non-Retina MacBook Pro, and $1,000 more than a 13-inch Pro or MacBook Air.

Over the next few years, we'll undoubtedly see the Asuses and Toshibas of the world scrambling to add competitive, high-resolution displays into their own thin, unibody machines. We've seen phones and tablets with screens this clear and sharp, but this display is the first of its kind in a notebook computer. We've seen phones and tablets with screens this clear and sharp, but this display is the first of its kind in a notebook computer.Whether you're a fan of Apple hardware or not, it's difficult to deny that the new Pro's stunningly crisp, high-resolution Retina display is a significant jump forward in the notebook space. And the screens will get better – much better.
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The next wave of portable computers will become even slimmer. With its newest MacBook Pro, Apple has drafted another set of design standards and build philosophies for PC makers to follow, this time for high-performance machines. We're now surrounded by a bunch of PC notebooks that looks remarkably similar to Apple's Air.Īnd now we get to watch that same game play out at the top end of the notebook space.

In just a few years, "the world's thinnest notebook" evolved from a super-slim novelty into a viable computing solution, sending other manufacturers on a mad rush to issue their own supremely portable ultrabooks. When Apple introduced the MacBook Air in 2008, it shook up the entire PC industry.
