New Tech: Apple Unveils Retina-Display Next Gen MacBook Pro

Apple tried to take a serious bite out of its competition on Monday, unveiling a slew of slick new products and a host of software upgrades.

The company's Worldwide Developer's Conference kicked off in San Francisco with a keynote speech led by CEO Tim Cook and other Apple executives, who showed off a brand new laptop they're calling "the most beautiful computer we have ever made.”

Just 0.71 inches thick, this "Next Generation MacBook Pro" weighs four pounds and is "thinner than my finger," Apple's senior vice president of marketing Phil Schiller said, touting its dazzling retina display as the best in the world of laptops. The machine has a 15.5-inch screen and an Intel quad-core i7 processor, and comes with a serious upgrade in memory and storage capacity.

But the snazzy setup comes with a hefty price - the base model starts at $2199.

The MacBook Air, roughly the same thickness as the new MacBook Pro and available with 11 and 13-inch screens, also got a series of upgrades and a price reduction - the base model retails for $999.

 
Processor: 
The next generation MacBook Pro will have a quad-core i5 or i7 processor with up to 16GB of RAM. 

Super Thin: 
The computer measures in at just .71-inches (the old MacBook was .95-inches thick), and weighs just 4.5 pounds, making it the lightest and thinnest MacBook pro to date.

Retina Display: 
Much like Apple’s iconic iPad and iPhone, the next generation MacBook Pro will have a Retina display. The 15.4-inch screen will have a 2880 x 1800-pixel, 220ppi screen, making it the world’s highest-resolution laptop display. The screen has more than 5 million pixels, 3 million more than an HDTV.

The computer has deeper blacks, a higher angle of viewing, and Apple has reduced the glare on the screen by 75%. That coupled with the screen’s resolution allows you to see an extraordinary level of details in photos, and other content, offering an experience unlike anything ever available in the MacBook line of computers.

Storage: 
Much like the MacBook Air, the computer uses flash storage, with hard drive options ranging up to 768GB. Flash storage can deliver data up to 10x faster than other hard drive options and takes up just a fraction of the space. 

Updated Software:
Apple has updated its software to go along with the higher-resolution display. Cook promised a higher level of detail in Apple programs such as Mail, Safari, iMovie, and iPhoto. Aperture and Final Cut Pro are also seeing an upgrade to go along with the screen. The Final Cut Pro window, for instance is now 1080p, allowing for more information to go around it.

Adobe is also working to update PhotoShop for the screen, and Autodesk is working on a new version of AutoCAD. Diablo III is also headed for the Next Generation MacBook Pro.

Connectivity:
Much like the updated MacBook Pro and MacBook Air line, the Next generation MacBook pro will have USB 3 ports. The computer will also have two Thunderbolt connection as well as an HDMI port and a built-in SD card reader.

Battery: 
Life Apple claims the Next Generation MacBook Pro will get 7 hours of battery life on a single charge, with 30 days of standby time.

Availability: 
The Next Generation MacBook Pro starts shipping today, with pricing starting at $2,199.