<P> Apple released the third generation of MacBook Pro with a 15 - inch screen during WWDC 2012 and discontinued the 17 - inch variant . The previous generation 13 - and 15 - inch unibody models continued to sell with updated processors . The third generation model is thinner than its predecessor and is the first to include a high - resolution Retina Display . A 13 - inch variant was released in October 2012 . </P> <P> The fourth generation MacBook Pro was announced on October 27, 2016 . It replaces the function keys with an interactive, multi-touch "Touch Bar" and a Touch ID sensor integrated into the Power button . The 15 - inch notebook started at $2,399, compared to $1,999 for the previous iteration . On June 5, 2017, Apple upgraded the internals of the MacBook Pro, such as enhanced Iris Plus and AMD Radeon graphics, Kaby Lake processors, and added memory . Additionally, the 13 - inch MacBook Pro now comes with a 128GB storage option (down from the base 256GB storage) with a lowered starting price of $1299 . All other configurations of the MacBook Pro have the same price as last year, barring the incremental upgrades in processors and graphics . </P> <P> The original 15 - inch MacBook Pro was announced on January 10, 2006 by Steve Jobs at the Macworld Conference & Expo . The 17 - inch model was unveiled on April 24, 2006 . The first design was largely a carryover from the PowerBook G4, but uses Intel Core CPUs instead of PowerPC G4 chips . The 15 - inch MacBook Pro weighs the same as the 15 - inch aluminum PowerBook G4, but is 0.1 inches (0.25 cm) deeper, 0.4 inches (1.0 cm) wider, and 0.1 inches (0.25 cm) thinner . Other changes from the PowerBook include a built - in iSight webcam and the inclusion of MagSafe, a magnetic power connector designed to detach easily when yanked . These features were later brought over to the MacBook . The optical drive was reduced in size in order to fit into the slimmer MacBook Pro, hence it runs slower than the optical drive in the PowerBook G4 and cannot write to dual layer DVDs . </P> <P> Both the original 15 - and 17 - inch model MacBook Pros come with ExpressCard / 34 slots, which replace the PC Card slots found in the PowerBook G4 . All first generation 15 - inch models have two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port, while the 17 - inch models have three USB 2.0 ports as well as one FireWire 400 port . When first introduced, the MacBook Pro did not come with FireWire 800 or S - Video ports, although FireWire 800 was added in the next 15 - inch model revision and is present in every version of the 17 - inch design . S - Video capability can be attained through the use of a DVI to S - Video adapter . External displays with up to a 2,560 × 1,600 pixel resolution are supported through a dual - link DVI port . All models include a built - in Gigabit Ethernet port, Bluetooth 2.0, and 802.11 a / b / g . Later models include support for the draft 2.0 specification of 802.11 n and Bluetooth 2.1 . </P>

When did the macbook pro 15 inch come out