13-inch Retina MacBook Pro on the way?

7 hrs.

Devin Coldewey

One of the things we noted was not announced by Apple?at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference was a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina screen. But chatter in the supply line suggests that such a device is almost certainly on its way.

DisplaySearch, which noted that the new MacBook Pro's 15.4-inch Retina display was being manufactured months ago, says that the 13.3-inch version just wasn't quite ready to go at launch. But it will come later in the year, and probably in greater quantity than the 15-inchers, the research firm says.

The resolution is expected to be 2,560-by-1,600, somewhat less than the 2,880-by-1,800 on the new models but still twice the pixels in both directions as today's 13.3-inch MacBook Pros. But manufacturing limits caused Apple to only be able to launch one at mid-year.

Apple?chose to launch an expensive item first ? the MacBook Pro with Retina display starts at $2,199 ??and then gradually drop the price and add lower-cost versions, much as it did with the MacBook Air and iPad. DisplaySearch says that the smaller Retina laptops are likely being manufactured and assembled now and could?be available later in the summer.

Until Apple actually announces it, though, it's all speculation. But a 13.3-inch Retina MacBook is an inevitability (the old models will eventually be phased out), so it's just a matter of time.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. His personal website is coldewey.cc.

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