Apple this week updated its MacBook Pro lineup and introduced the world’s first 13” laptop with 2560*1600 screen resolution. The second MacBook Pro with retina-class screen will be a more expensive than predecessors, but will provide extra high-quality screen along with high-performance solid-state storage, which should significantly improve user experience.

The MacBook Pro 13" with IPS retina-class display features the latest Intel Core i7 or Core i5 “Ivy Bridge” dual-core processors with up to 2.90GHz clock-speed (3.60GHz with Turbo Boost), integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000, up to 8GB of DDR3L 1600MHz memory and flash storage up to 768GB. Two Thunderbolt and two USB 3.0 ports allow pro users to connect to multiple displays and high performance devices, and a HDMI port provides connectivity to HDTVs. The MacBook Pro 13” with retina display also features a FaceTime HD 720p camera, dual microphones, improved speakers, three-stream 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and a MagSafe 2 power port. The 13” MacBook Pro battery delivers up to 7 hours of wireless productivity and can remain in standby for up to 30 days.

Apple MacBook 13” with Retina display is slimmer than its predecessor – its thickness is just 1.9cm (0.75”) – but is surprisingly thicker than the MacBook Pro 15.4” with Retina display (1.8cm, 0.71”) introduced earlier this year. The device weighs 1.62 kilograms (3.57 pounds), which is pretty heavy. Just like its bigger brother, the novelty lacks optical disc drive, which may be important for professional users. In general, despite of all-new thin design, the new MacBook Pro 13” with Retina screen is clearly bulkier than the MacBook Air and thus the vast majority of ultrabooks.

“The MacBook Pro 13” is our most popular Mac, and today it gets completely reinvented with a new thin and light design, fast flash storage and a gorgeous Retina display. With vivid colors, razor sharp text and more pixels than anyone else’s 15” or 17” notebooks, the Retina display completely changes what you expect from a notebook,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

Although Apple MacBook Pro 13” with Retina display is nothing but impressive, its market positioning is not completely clear. The new laptops are expensive for consumers and even prosumers. At the same time, professional road warriors will hardly appreciate Intel integrated graphics core and the lack of quad-core microprocessor option.

The 13” MacBook Pro with Retina display is available with a dual-core Intel Core i5 (2.50GHz/3.10GHz) processor, 8GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage starting at $1699; and with 256GB of flash storage starting at $1999. Configure-to-order options include faster dual-core Intel Core i7 processors and flash storage up to 768GB.

Tags: Apple, macbook, OS X, Mac OS X, Intel, Ivy Bridge