Apple Revamps MacBook Pro Lineup With Haswell, More

Apple today boosted its MacBook Pro lineup with Intel's 4th-gen Haswell processors, as well as longer battery life, faster flash storage and next generation Wi-Fi.

The devices will start shipping today, pre-installed with Apple's new OS X Mavericks, which will be available to everyone else as a free upgrade.

The new MacBook Pros includes PCIe-based flash storage, which provides 60 percent faster read speeds, as well as 802.11ac Wi-Fi, which is up to three times faster when connected to an 802.11ac base station. There's also Thunderbolt 2, which is 2x faster than Thunderbolt 1.

In addition to iLife, new Macs will also include iWork, which includes Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display will be thinner and lighter than its predecessor at 3.46 pounds and 0.71 inches thin. It should provide 9 hours of battery life, Apple's Phil Schiller said during a Tuesday press event.

The 13-inch runs fourth generation dual-core Intel Core i5 processors up to 2.6GHz with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.1GHz. But there's the option for Intel Core i7 processors up to 2.8GHz with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.3GHz. Intel Iris graphics will also deliver up to 90 percent faster performance than the previous generation MacBook Pro with Retina display, Apple said.

Apple promised up to nine hours of battery life for the 13-inch, two more than the older model. It will be priced at $1,299 with a 2.4-GHz dual-core i5, 4GB of DRAM, Iris graphics, and a 128GB SSD - a $200 discount.

The 15-inch MacBook Pro is getting a similar upgrade and price drop, starting at $1,999, and should provide 8 hours of battery life, Apple said.

The new 15-inch will sport 4th-generation quad-core Intel Core i7 processors up to 2.3GHz with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.5GHz. It can be configured with Intel Core i7 processors up to 2.6GHz with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.8GHz. There are also Iris Pro graphics, as well as GeForce GT 750M with 2GB of video memory.

At WWDC in June, Apple boosted its MacBook Air lineup with Haswell processors, and did the same for the iMac in September.

For more, check out 12 Things to Know About Intel's Haswell CPUs.

Also see PCMag's live blog from today's event, and PCMag Live in the video below, which discusses Apple's announcements.

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 3:30 p.m. ET.

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Chloe Albanesius

Executive Editor, News

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I started out covering tech policy in DC for The National Journal, where my beat included state-level tech news and all the congressional hearings and FCC meetings I could handle. I later covered Wall Street trading tech before switching gears to consumer tech. I now lead PCMag's news coverage.

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Getting my start in DC means I still have a soft spot for tech policy; Congressional hearings can sometimes be as entertaining as a Bravo reality show, for better or worse. But PCMag is all about the technology we use every day, as well as keeping an eye out for the trends that will shape the industry in the years ahead (or flop on arrival). I've covered the rise of social media, the iOS vs. Android wars, the cord-cutting revolution that's now left us with hefty streaming bills, and the effort to stuff artificial intelligence into every product you could imagine. This job has taken me to CES in Vegas (one too many times), IFA in Berlin, and MWC in Barcelona. I also drove a Tesla 1,000 miles out west as part of our Best Mobile Networks project. Of late, my focus is on our hard-working team of reporters at PCMag, guiding and editing their robust coverage.

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