Apple Debuts 15-Inch MacBook Pro With Force Touch, Cheaper 27-Inch 5K Retina iMac

The early reports were off by a day, but Apple has indeed refreshed its 15-inch MacBook Pro and iMac Retina lineups. You won’t find any external changes to tip you off to the changes that lurk beneath either product line, but they are still quite notable.

As previously reported, the 15-inch MacBook Pro has gained a Force Touch trackpad that debuted with the 12-inch MacBook and 13-inch MacBook Pro. The Force Touch trackpad features what Apple calls a Taptic Engine which provides haptic feedback for the user when “clicking” on its surface.

But that’s not all, Apple has also upgraded the 15-inch MacBook Pro’s storage system by including flash storage that is 2.5 times faster than last year’s model. That means that 15-inch MacBook Pro’s SSD offers data throughput at up to 2GBps. Apple also says that models with discrete GPUs offer up to an 80-percent increase in graphics performance courtesy of the onboard AMD Radeon R9 M370X.

The 15-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,999, which will net you a 2.2GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, 256GB SSD and Intel Iris Pro graphics. Throw in another $500 and you’ll receive a 2.5GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD, and the aforementioned Radeon R9 M370X discrete GPU. Apple also offers configure-to-order options which include a 2.8GHz (4.0GHz Turbo Boost) Core i7 processor and up to a 1TB SSD.

Moving on to the 27-inch iMac with 5K Retina Display, Apple has gone on a price slashing spree for its ultra-expensive all-in-one desktop machine. The Retina iMac previously started at $2,499, but Apple has reduced the price to a more palatable $1,999. This entry-level model features a 3.3GHz Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, 1TB of internal storage, and an AMD Radon R9 M290 discrete GPU. The base configuration no longer comes standard with Apple’s Fusion Drive, but it does pick up an additional Thunderbolt 2 port.

Apple also knocked $200 off the top-end model, which is now priced at $2,299. You’ll find a 3.5GHz Core i5 processor, Radeon R9 M290X discrete graphics and a 1TB Fusion Drive in this configuration. Build-to-order options include a 4.0GHz Core i5 processor and up to 1TB of flash storage.

Both the new 15-inch MacBook Pro and 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display are available to order today.