Apple's 13-Inch Retina MacBook Could Raise MSRP By $500

Apple AAPL is planning to unveil at least one new product next week, and while many analysts believe that it will be the long-awaited iPad Mini, the company may also take the opportunity to announce its future collection of iMacs. There has also been a persistent rumor suggesting that Apple would fulfill the wishes of pro users everywhere and add a Retina Display to another one of its iconic products. That rumor is now being given a shred of credibility, thanks to a report by 9to5Mac. According to the report, Apple is getting ready to bring the Retina Display to the 13-inch MacBook Pro. If true, Apple will reportedly increase the starting price from $1,199 to $1,699. While Retina Displays are very expensive, they are not the sole cause of the price increase. The current 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display features a thinner and lighter body that comes packaged with a solid state hard drive. Those drives are faster and much more durable than a typical hard disc drive, but they are also considerably more expensive. The 15-inch model starts at $2,199 and features 256GB of flash storage. Unlike Apple's many iDevices, the Next-Gen MacBook Pro features a 2.3GHz quad-core i7 processor from Intel INTC. This should give consumers a fair idea of the level of technology users can expect to power the 13-inch edition. Apple is expected to use its iPad Mini event is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, October 23 at 10:00 a.m. PDT to unveil the upgraded MacBook. Follow me @LouisBedigianBZ