Apple unveils updated MacBook Pro, cheaper iMac, but don’t hold your breath for an Apple TV set
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Apple has started selling an updated 15-inch MacBook Pro and cut the price on its Retina iMac. Meanwhile a report claims that Apple has “shelved” plans for its long-rumored TV set.
The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display now boasts a Force Touch trackpad, faster storage, and longer battery life, Apple said Tuesday. A new configuration of the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display was also announced at a lower price of $1,999.
The updated 15-inch MacBook Pro – whose basic physical design has not changed since it was introduced in 2012 – now has a Force Touch trackpad brimming with built-in force sensors for haptic feedback. “The Force Touch trackpad allows you to click anywhere with a uniform feel and customize the amount of pressure needed to register each click,” Apple said, in a statement. The new model also comes with faster (up to 2.5 times) flash storage, faster graphics, and offers an additional hour of battery life, with up to 9 hours of wireless Web browsing and up to 9 hours of iTunes movie playback.
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The new 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display starts at $1,999. This follows a similar update to the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro earlier this year.
The new $1,999 Retina iMac configuration includes a 3.3 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, AMD Radeon R9 M290 graphics, 8GB of memory and 1TB of storage, as well as four USB 3.0 ports and two Thunderbolt 2 ports that deliver up to twice the bandwidth of the previous generation. The top-end iMac with Retina 5K display now starts at $2,299 and comes with a 3.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics, and a 1TB Fusion Drive.
No Apple TV set
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But there may be bad news for consumers holding out for an Apple TV set. The company has “shelved” plans for a TV more than a year ago, according to a report Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal.
Apple had been searching for “breakthrough features to justify” building a TV set but executives didn’t consider features – proposed by a small team working on the TV – compelling enough, the report said.
Speculation about the imminent arrival of a TV set from Apple has become a quarterly fantasy that financial analysts engage in, driven largely by comments made by former CEO Steve Jobs about his desire to reinvent the TV. But nothing ever materialized.
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Apple has not yet responded to a request for comment from FoxNews.com.