Gear

New MacBook Pros Get Battery Boost With Haswell

As anticipated, Apple upgraded its high-end MacBook Pro line of notebook PCs with the latest Intel Haswell processors.
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Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller shows off the new MacBook Pros at a company event in San Francisco. All photos: Christina Bonnington/WIRED

As anticipated, Apple upgraded its high-end MacBook Pro line of notebook PCs with the latest Intel Haswell processors. The update boosts battery life between 8 and 9 hours and improves the machines' graphics capabilities. Both the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina and the 15-inch MacBook Pro got the refresh, and will be available starting today for $1299 and $1999, respectively.

Externally, the 13-inch MacBook Pro has lost some weight. It's thinner and lighter, at 3.46 pounds and .71 inches thick. Though the new MacBook Pros don't come with the same "all-day battery life" as their thinner and lighter counterpart, the MacBook Air, Intel's fourth-generation processor still give the MacBook Pros an impressive battery boost. The smaller model now gets up to 9 hours of battery life, and are 90 percent faster. The 15-inch model is slightly less at 8 hours of battery life.

Thanks to the improved graphics technology, the MacBook Pros now get twice the 3-D performance at a 45 percent faster rate, according to the company. Apple also added 802.11ac WiFi and Thunderbolt 2 ports, matching the feature in the MacBook Air.

The 13-inch model with Retina is available today starting at $1,299, which is $200 less than its predecessor. You can also get the 15-inch model today starting at $1,999.

Also see photos of the new Mac Pro, new iPad Air, and iPad mini. Also read WIRED's summary of all the Apple news from Tuesday's event.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro gets a Haswell chip and a price cut.

Photo: Christina Bonnington/WIRED