10 Years Ago Today: Apple Announces First MacBook Pro With a Retina Display

Today marks the 10th anniversary of Apple announcing the first MacBook Pro model featuring a higher-resolution Retina display.

Introduced at WWDC 2012, the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro introduced a much thinner design compared to the previous model, as Apple removed the built-in Ethernet port, FireWire port, and CD/DVD drive. The notebook was still equipped with two Thunderbolt ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, an SD card slot, MagSafe 2, and a headphone jack.

“The MacBook Pro with Retina display pushes the limits of performance and portability like no other notebook,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook, in a press release announcing the new MacBook Pro. “With a gorgeous Retina display, all flash architecture and a radically thin and light design, the new MacBook Pro is the most advanced Mac we have ever built.”

At the time, Apple said the MacBook Pro with a Retina display featured the world’s highest resolution notebook display, with 220 pixels per inch. It was also the first MacBook Pro to feature flash storage, allowing for a thinner and lighter design. The notebook was powered by Intel’s third-generation quad-core Core i7 processors, and equipped with Nvidia GeForce GT 650M graphics, up to 16GB of RAM, and up to a 768GB SSD.

Pricing for the first Retina MacBook Pro started at $2,199 in the United States. In October 2012, Apple announced a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display, which started at a lower price of $1,699. Both notebooks are now on Apple’s obsolete products list.