Retina Display MacBook Pro 13’’ Release Date: US Launch Starts Today Following Apple Event

By Lisa Eadicicco | October 23 2012 1:35 PM

At its Oct. 23 event, Apple unveiled the highly rumored 13-inch Retina Display MacBook Pro alongside a slew of other products, such as an iPad Mini, a refreshed third-gen iPad and a redesigned iMac.

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The new MacBook Pro was introduced by Apple in June 2012.

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The smaller version of Apple’s Retina Display laptop will be released starting today.

"Now we're really pleased with the momentum with the Mac," said Apple CEO Tim Cook. "But we're not standing still."

The company's VP of Marketing Phil Schiller took the stage to officially unveil Apple's 13-inch Retina Display MacBook Pro.

"Customers love it..We're going to take our best product and introduce something better," Schiller said when referring to the 13-inch MacBook pro.

Apple has packed more pixels into its 3.5-pound laptop than an HD television contains, Schiller said. The new 13-inch MacBook will come with a Magsafe port, a Thunderbolt port, USB 3 connectivity, a headphone jack and dual mics.

"Everything on it looks absolutely gorgeous," Schiller said.

At less than an inch thick, this is the thinnest MacBook to date.

Apple was originally expected to debut its 13-inch visually enhanced computer in September along with its iPhone 5, as KGI Securities analyst Ming-Cho Kuo predicted over the summer. Sharing a note with Apple Insider, the analyst said he expected Apple to ramp up production for the 13-inch laptop in September, allowing for an early October release date. Considering Apple’s announcement, it seems that Kuo’s calculations were slightly off by approximately one month.

Although the Retina Display laptop will officially launch today, Apple fanatics shouldn’t count on snagging one right away. When the 15-inch model was released this summer, pre-orders placed near the end of June did not ship until July 25. These delays were believed to be affecting customers who pre-ordered and customized the highest end models, configured with 768GB of storage while keeping the 2.6GHz processor.

The setbacks were also caused by overwhelming demand for the Retina Display computer, as the 15-inch variant sold out just three days following its launch in New York City. All five Apple stores in Manhattan said they were sold out of the device, and employees were unsure about when the next shipment would arrive.

As for the upcoming 13-inch model, only time will determine how fast it sells compared to its predecessor.