It was just a matter of time before the lone 15-inch MacBook Pro Retina gets its smaller brother as Apple has now released its 13-inch MacBook Pro with the same 2560x1600 resolution screen.

The new 13-inch Retina IPS screen with 2560x1600 resolution brings rich color with deep blacks, 29 percent higher contrast ratio, 75 percent reduced reflection, 178 degrees viewing angle and 300 nits of brightness. In addition to the new screen, Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro brings two Thunderbolt ports, a single HDMI output, a pair of USB 3.0 ports, Magsafe 2 power connector and an SD card reader.

The base model runs on Intel's Ivy Bridge Core i5 2.5GHz CPU, 8GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage. Of course, it can be equipped with up to 768GB of storage and Core i7 Ivy Bridge CPU but that will take the US $1,699 base price to a new level. The battery life is rated at up to 7 hours, and it also features 802.11bgn WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, FaceTime HD webcam with dual microphones, stereo speakers and a full-sized keyboard.

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina is a mere 0.75-inch (1.9cm) thick and weighs in at 3.57 pounds (1.61kg). Of course, such small footprint means that new MacBook Pro will be limited to Intel's integrated HD 4000 graphics, courtesy of the Ivy Bridge CPU as there will be no option for discrete graphics. It is now just a matter of question if the HD 4000 can cope up with the 2560x1600 resolution in some apps like Photoshop.

As noted, the base model starts at US $1,699. It is also quite interesting that Apple is not offering any quad-core CPUs as the top offer is a 2.9 GHz Core i7 dual-core and RAM tops at 8GB.

Via TheVerge.com.