Apple Releases New 15-Inch MacBook Pro With Force Touch and $1,999 27-Inch iMac With Retina Display

Tuesday May 19, 2015 5:49 am PDT by Mitchel Broussard

Apple today announced updates to its 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display lineup and a new $1,999 configuration of the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display, confirming a recent rumor that said new models of the computers would be released as early as Wednesday. The refreshed MacBook Pro and iMac models are available through the Apple Store, Apple Online Store and authorized resellers beginning today.

macbook_pro_15_imac_27
The new 15-inch MacBook Pro gained all the expected updates similar to its 13-inch sibling: a Force Touch trackpad, faster flash storage, longer battery life, and better graphics. The new MacBook Pro comes in 2.2GHz and 2.5GHz configurations for $1,999 and $2,499 respectively. Both configurations come with a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB memory, and Intel Iris Pro Graphics cards, with the higher-end 2.5GHz model gaining expected boosts in flash storage and memory.

Given that the necessary Broadwell chips are not yet available, the new 15-inch MacBook Pro and 27-inch iMac still have Intel's fourth-generation Haswell processors. Based on the average product cycle for the MacBook Pro and iMac, Apple may choose to skip Broadwell processors and use next-generation Skylake processors for the next versions of the notebook and all-in-one desktop computer respectively. Those models are unlikely to be released until late 2015 at the earliest.

“The response to the new MacBook and updated 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display has been amazing, and today we are thrilled to bring the new Force Touch trackpad, faster flash storage and longer battery life to the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Customers love the groundbreaking iMac with Retina 5K display, and now with a new lower starting price, even more people can experience the best desktop we’ve ever made.”

The iMac line that received an update today was a new $1,999 configuration of the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display. The new model is a 3.3GHz configuration with a quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and 1TB hard drive. Both the 15-inch MacBook Pro and 27-inch iMac are available to purchase right now from Apple's online store, with most of the models sitting at an estimated shipping time of between 1 and 3 business days as of announcement time.

Related Roundups: iMac, MacBook Pro

Buyer's Guide: iMac (Don't Buy), MacBook Pro (Caution)

Related Forums: iMac, MacBook Pro

Popular Stories

Apple Aiming to Release 'Breakthrough' New iPhone Accessory

Wednesday February 18, 2026 12:43 pm PST by Joe Rossignol

Apple is looking for a "breakthrough" with its push into wearable AI devices, including an "AirTag-sized pendant," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In a report this week, he said the pendant is reminiscent of the failed Humane AI Pin, but it would be an iPhone accessory rather than a standalone product. The pendant would feature an "always-on" camera and a microphone for Siri voice...

Multicolored Low Cost A18 Pro MacBook Feature

Low-Cost MacBook Expected on March 4 in These Colors

Wednesday February 18, 2026 5:42 am PST by Hartley Charlton

Apple will announce its rumored low-cost MacBook at its event on March 4, with the device coming in a selection of bold color options, according to a known leaker. Earlier this week, Apple announced a "special Apple Experience" for the media in New York, London, and Shanghai, taking place on March 4, 2026 at 9:00am ET. Posting on Weibo, the leaker known as "Instant Digital" said that the...

• 331 comments

iPhone 17 Pro Max Curiously Becomes Most Traded-In Smartphone

Wednesday February 18, 2026 9:13 am PST by Hartley Charlton

New trade-in data indicates that Apple's iPhone 17 Pro Max has rapidly become the single most traded-in smartphone. According to a new report from SellCell, Apple's latest flagship iPhone has quickly risen to the top of the independent trade-in market, accounting for 11.5% of all devices appearing in the top-20 trade-in rankings just months after release. The analysis is based on SellCell...

• 202 comments

iOS 26.4's New CarPlay Video Feature Shown in Action

Wednesday February 18, 2026 9:29 am PST by Joe Rossignol

Back at WWDC 2025, Apple revealed that it was planning to allow CarPlay users to watch video via AirPlay in their vehicles while they are not driving, and the first beta of iOS 26.4 suggests the feature may be nearing availability. There are several new references to CarPlay video streaming functionality within the iOS 26.4 beta's source code. The feature is not yet visible to users, but...

• 57 comments

10 Reasons to Wait for Apple's iPhone 18 Pro

Wednesday February 18, 2026 5:12 am PST by Tim Hardwick

Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...

• 95 comments

Top Rated Comments

ericinboston

141 months ago

$2000 for a desktop computer and:

1)it still comes with 8GB ram (2 4GB chips!!!)
2)a non-SSD drive. Oh, but for an extra $500 you can get a 512GB flash drive (not sure if it's SSD or PCIe or other) when you can pick them up anywhere for $180 at RETAIL prices.
3)Oh, but wait...there's more!....they don't even tell you what i5 chip you are getting.
4)And there's no i7 option for people that, you know, spend $2000 and actually want some killer performance to somewhat future proof their investment.

Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Merackon

141 months ago

Yay...AMD graphics...yay

/s

Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)

keysofanxiety

141 months ago

Hoorah, a cheaper Retina iMac ... with worse specs. Just like the cheaper Mac Mini, and the cheaper non-Retina iMac. That's definitely in line with Apple's pursuit for perfection.

"In creating these great products we focus on enriching people’s lives—a higher cause for the product. These are the macro things that drive the company."

"You know, we want to really enrich people’s lives at the end of the day, not just make money. Making money might be a byproduct, but it’s not our North Star."

"A great product doesn’t mean an expensive product. It means a fair price… We think about the product and making a great product that we want to use. When we can do that and achieve another price point, that’s great."

Yeah, these whole lower-cost, worse-spec alternatives are frankly getting ridiculous. Consumers who don't know better are going to buy these, on the assumption -- no, the lie -- that 'Apple makes the decisions for the consumer', that 'we don't ship junk', that 'every product is carefully crafted for the best user experience'.

Let's see how great that experience is with stuttering animations on an underpowered graphics card, or expensive machines that still have standard HDDs rather than Fusion/SSDs.

It's such a bitter irony that the more money companies make, and the more money they have to potentially expand their lineup and make the bottom benchmark absolutely incredible (pure SSD for instance), they seem to do moves like this which smack to me as only thinking of profits. The consumer will not get experiences or a computer performance synonymous with a £1000 machine. Fact.

The greedy get greedier.

Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)