Tuesday, June 12th, 2012 Posted by Jim Thacker

Apple updates its Mac Pro and MacBook Pro line-ups

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw9lVrxARrg
Apple has updated its MacBook Pro product line-up, adding a 15″ model featuring the new Retina Display – but Mac Pro users had far less to cheer about at this week’s Worldwide Developer Conference.

Apple has updated both its MacBook Pro and Mac Pro product lines – but only one of the two is likely to be the update that professional 3D artists were hoping for.

First, the good news
The MacBook Pro gets a new 15″ edition with an iPhone-style Retina Display and a slimline 0.7″-thick configuration weighing 4.46 pounds – just 1.5 pounds more than the MacBook Air.

With a Nvidia GeForce GT 650M GPU, up to a 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, and up to 16GB RAM, the machine is specced for serious CG work.

Prices start at $2,199: not cheap, but in the same ballpark as dedicated Windows-based mobile workstations from vendors like Dell.

If you haven’t got quite that kind of cash, the specs of the 13″ and 15″ editions have also been refreshed, as has the MacBook Air. Ars Technica has a more detailed round-up of all the laptop-related news.

And now the less good news
Announced with less fanfare (that is, the new specs just appeared on the Apple website), the Mac Pro has also received its first update since 2010, although you’d have to look twice to spot it.

In its base configuration, the CPU of the single-processor model has been updated from 2.8GHz to 3.2GHz, and gains 3GB of RAM – making 6GB in total – but GPU remains the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and there are no new connectivity options.

It’s much the same story with the dual-processor model, meaning hardcore fans have been predictably irritated. This InformationWeek article rounds up most of the tastier quotes.

See a product comparison of the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro

Read full specs for the new Mac Pro