While Apple brought its new “Force Touch” feature to the 13-inch model of the MacBook Pro with Retina Display around the same time as the new MacBook, Apple’s larger model has taken a bit longer to get the update. The new 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display ($1,999 – $2,499) goes a step beyond simply adding the Force Touch trackpad, however, with some nice performance boosts to storage and battery life.
Specifically, the new models now promise up to 2.5 times faster flash storage, with throughput of up to 2GBps, and an extra hour’s worth of battery life, promising 9 hours of wireless web browsing or iTunes movie playback. The $1,999 model comes in with a 2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, 256GB of flash storage, and Intel Iris Pro graphics, while the higher-end option sports a 2.5 GHz quad-core i7 processor, doubles flash storage to 512GB, and includes the AMD Radeon R9 M370X.
Both machines can of course also still be configured-to-order to add faster i7 CPUs, increased RAM, and increased flash storage. Both models are available starting today through the Apple Online Store, Apple retail stores, and Apple Authorized Resellers.