Retina MacBook Pro could spark deluge of copycat, but cheaper laptops

The Retina MacBook Pro is so much more than just a notebook with a fancy screen. Apple has possibly kickstarted the next stage in notebook evolution, something that the laptop industry desperately needed. They traded in a conventional hard drive for a complete flash based solution and have done away with the optical drive, altogether. Yes, the main reason for this was to save weight and space, but it seems like a logical step forward for Apple as well as the average notebook, in general. The only reason why OEMs aren’t going completely flash is the cost factor, but Apple’s high demand for large capacity flash storage and high-resolution displays in their new MacBooks could be the push needed to bring down the prices. The MacBook Pro has always been a benchmark for professional users and this natural evolution could change the way we think of notebooks a few years down the line.

The future of notebooks?

The shipping delays for the Retina MacBook Pro goes on to show that Apple aren’t able to get enough volumes yet, so putting that screen in the other models as well wouldn’t have made sense. "They don't have enough supply of the Retina screens to use it across the entire line," said Frank Gillett, analyst with Forrester Research.

Analysts also believe that like the original MacBook Air, which debuted at a very high price, it will eventually fall once the production process is more streamlined and the manufacturing houses can find a way to build various components cheaper. Although there’s a delay of three to four weeks, analysts believe we could see a shift to Retina displays across all their products by October. Richard Shim and Jeff Lin who are analysts at DisplaySearch, said that their supply chain sources reported production of 2560-by-1600-pixel resolution 13.3-inch displays would start somewhere in the third quarter. 

"Our sources indicate that Apple will use this panel in a MacBook Pro unit to be launched in the fourth quarter," said Shim and Lin in a blog post.  This is certainly going to put a lot of pleasure on PC manufacturers as they now have to come up ways to build cheaper offerings, but with similar features. “If a 13-in. Retina MacBook Pro does launch in the fourth quarter, the two Pros with high-resolution displays -- along with the reduced-priced MacBook Airs -- could put even more pressure on Windows PC OEMs  to up their game, cut prices or both,” said Gregg Keizer of Computerworld.