Apple today added the late 2012 13-inch MacBook Pro, the first 13-inch MacBook Pro to ship with a Retina display, to its list of obsolete products.
Apple first introduced the Retina display in its Mac lineup with the 15-inch MacBook Pro released in mid-2012. In October of that year, Apple updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display, flash storage, and upgraded processors.
The original 15-inch MacBook Pro became obsolete in July of 2020, and the 13-inch model has now followed suit. Apple classifies products that have been discontinued for at least seven years as "obsolete," meaning that they are unable to receive any hardware service from Apple or its service providers.
Sunday February 1, 2026 10:08 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
In his Powe...
Thursday January 29, 2026 10:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup that is working on artificial intelligence technology for audio.
Apple paid close to $2 billion for Q.ai, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone and audio brand Beats in 2014.
Q.ai has...
Sunday February 1, 2026 12:31 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models.
"All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
Saturday January 31, 2026 10:51 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro.
There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...
Sunday February 1, 2026 5:42 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
"Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today.
"I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...
What an exciting computer that was, especially the first retina 15" MacBook Pro. It was mind-blowing. You just wanted to show that screen around. I don't think I've been excited about a Mac again ever since :(
I am still using it today. I only have about 400 charging cycles and it runs flawless. I put BigSur on it and it’s fast. I actually prefer to work on it even though I got a Brand new dell computer from work.
i am waiting for a slight redesign and bigger screen that isn’t too big so I keep being like I waited so long, I might as well hold out a little longer and then go all in
The irony is these are still very much modern products that aren’t too far off from the newer Intel-based MacBook Pro.
If it weren’t for the M1 chip there would be very little progress made in nine years.
And a lot of this "progress" was entirely misguided – either gimmicky tosh (Touchbar), a fatally flawed design (Butterfly) and a general inconvenience that keeps on giving (USB-C only dongle life, T2 chip issues and kernel panics, macOS QA going down the drain). Tim Cook's stewardship has been great news for the iPhone and iPad but a total disaster for the Mac.
