Yesterday, rumors were circulating that Apple had plans to launch a couple of hardware updates later this week ahead of a software-centric WWDC 2015 in June. Now, the company has put an end to speculation as both products have been officially added to Apple’s online store.
Wednesday was the presumed release date for refreshed versions of the 15-inch MacBook Pro and the 27-inch 5K iMac, but they’re available to purchase now from Apple’s online store. As expected, the MacBook Pro gains a Force Touch trackpad as well as improvements to its battery life and the speed of storage access and its graphics capabilities — and has become $100 more expensive as a result. The base price is now $1,999, and you’ll need to pay $2,499 for discrete graphics.
Meanwhile, there’s a new version of the 27-inch 5K iMac that features a few tweaks to drive its price down, such as a standard hard drive rather than one of Apple’s Fusion drives and a less powerful version of AMD discrete graphics. These changes make the entry-level iMac with Retina only $1,999. The previous base model has also received a price cut of $200 and now sells for $2,299.
The fact that these two updates have been launched now rather than close to WWDC adds credence to the belief that hardware is not going to be a major focus at Apple’s next big event. Instead, the company looks set to concentrate on OS X and iOS, which would make sense give that it’s a developer conference — although we will likely see at least some spotlight on the recently released Apple Watch, and perhaps even a reveal of the next iteration of Apple TV.
The new 15-inch MacBook Pro and 27-inch iMac are both available to purchase now via the Apple Store. Apple’s WWDC 2015 event runs from June 8 – June 12.
