2013 Haswell MacBook Pro Retina Release Date, Specs, and Price: Shipping Today, Lower Price Announced at Apple Event

The new 2013 Intel Haswell-based MacBook Pro Retina was unveiled at Apple's big Oct. 22 press event.

The updated MacBook Pro Retina now comes in two models: one with a 13-inch and one with a 15-inch display.

13-Inch MacBook Pro Retina

The 13-inch model is under 3.5 pounds, making it lighter than its predecessor, and it's also thinner, at 0.71 inches thick - all with a Retina display that makes pixels invisible at a normal working distance.

The new 13-inch 2013 MacBook Pro will have a 4^th Generation Intel Haswell processor. Specifically, it will sport, at its base model, a 2.4GHz dual-core Core i5 chip with 4GB of DRAM and Intel Iris graphics, which is 90 percent faster, according to the presentation.

For storage, the 13-inch basic MacBook Pro Retina comes with a minimum of 128GB of SSD storage. With Mavericks, Haswell, and an updated battery, the 13-inch model should get 9 hours of battery life.

This MacBook Pro costs less than its 13-inch predecessor, at only $1299 for the basic model.

15-Inch MacBook Pro Retina

The 15-Inch MacBook Pro Retina gets an upgrade to a 4^th Generation quad-core Core i7 "Crystalwell" Haswell processor clocked to 2GHz, with integrated Intel Iris Pro graphics or an upgrade of GeForce GT750M GPU with 2GB of dedicated video memory.

Other internal upgrades include PCIe-based flash for the fastest internal storage system possible and 8GB of RAM. The 15-inch MacBook Pro Retina comes with upgraded 801.11ac WiFi and the 4K display-running Thunderbolt 2 data transfer. Its battery should get about 8 hours of life and costs $1999 - $200 less than the previous MacBook Pro Retina.  

In a surprise, both Haswell MacBook Pros starts shipping today, along with a free Mavericks OS X upgrade which is also available immediately.