13-inch Retina MacBook Pros on the way, analyst says

Apple plans to launch a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display, and the computers are already in production, according to a report.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based tech company will release a smaller version of the Retina MacBook Pros that premiered this summer, NPD DisplaySearch’s Richard Shim told CNET.

Shim said the smaller Retina MacBook Pros will have 2,560-by-1,600-pixel displays. Not surprisingly, they’re also expected to be cheaper and lighter than the 15-inch Retina Pros.

The number of units to be available at the launch of the new Retina computers is expected to be significantly higher than the number that were available for the 15-inch model’s launch. Shim said there were hundreds of thousands of 15-inch Retina Pros offered at its launch, but that there could be between 1 million and 2 million 13-inch Retina Pros when they come out.

Shim said Apple began production on the new Retinas in the third quarter. He said Samsung, LG and Sharp are working on the new model’s displays.

The 13-inch Retina Pros could arrive sometime this fall, according to CNET.

Apple premiered its Retina displays two years ago on the iPhone 4. Retina is now also available on the iPhone 4S, the latest iPad and the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina.

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