The New MacBook Pro: Why it Makes Sense

In this past week in the fallout of WWDC 2012, I've seen many criticisms over the newest MacBook Pro. In this post, I look to explain why Apple made the right move, and why some people may still want to wait another year or so.

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past week, a lot happened during Apple's keynote at WWDC 2012. First off, the 17" MacBook Pro has been done away with. This looks to have been a good move on Apple's part, the computer was to big and to expensive to serve as a viable option for most consumers searching for a laptop. In addition, the current 13" and 15" MacBook Pros were updated with Intel Ivy Bridge processors and finally the addition of USB 3.

Apple wasn't nearly finished there. During the keynote, they also released another MacBook Pro: thinner, faster, and with a retina display. This new model features the addition of an HDMI port not seen in any other MacBook, as well as twin Thunderbolt ports, 2 USB 3.0, and the removal of both Ethernet and FireWire 800. One of the biggest "blows" to this upgraded 15" model was the removal of the Super Drive, which has seemed inevitable for some time. Lastly, the memory in this new MacBook Pro is all flash.

The new MacBook Pro retina display addition has recieved some criticism so far. Some people are complaining that Apple's only goal is to make it's computers as thin as possible, while others think that the removal of the Super Drive was unnecessary. In my view, this new MacBook Pro promises the next generation of MacBooks. It provides a rare glimpse into the future from Apple. In reality, a few years from now the entire MacBook Pro line will resemble this model. Apple did the right thing. In addition, the removal of the Super Drive should not be anything to be discouraged about. If you love CD's and DVD's then you can simply buy an external USB drive for around $50. Other than that, the addition of the Mac App Store has made much of the optical drive's use null and void.

The last thing Apple talked about was Mac OS X Mountain Lion, which is due for release later this summer. The upgrade will be $20 on the Mac App Store. This is another thing that Apple does right. Nowadays, OS's are necessary and shouldn't be worth bails of money. They are expected to be updated for not much money as Apple is currently doing. Not much can be said about Microsoft, however, as a Windows 7 upgrade currently costs $100.