Apple releases new $1,999 27-inch Retina iMac and 15-inch MacBook Pro with Force Touch trackpad
Apple releases cheaper Retina iMac and 15-inch MacBook Pro with Force Touch — Apple is starting to bring the price down on its 5K Retina iMac, releasing a new version today that sells …
Context & Ripple Effects
This May 2015 release marks the moment Apple starts pulling its flagship desktop downmarket: the 27-inch 5K Retina iMac arrives at $1,999, opening the high-resolution tier to buyers who couldn't touch last year's launch pricing. The same event introduces Force Touch on the 15-inch MacBook Pro, putting the pressure-sensitive trackpad on a pro laptop for the first time.
The move set the template for the rest of the decade. Within five months Apple filled out the line below it with the 21.5-inch 4K iMac at $1,499, and by the time of the 2019 CPU-and-Vega refresh the same 27-inch 5K machine opened at $1,799 — the price floor established here eroding steadily across generations.
First-order effects
- Creative-pro buyers immediately gain a roughly $200-cheaper entry point into the 5K iMac line, while anyone buying the 15-inch MacBook Pro gets Force Touch rather than the older trackpad mechanism.
Second-order effects
- Force Touch becomes the new baseline input tech that Apple then pushes down its laptop ladder — the pattern visible in the 2019 MacBook Air refresh, which folded newer display and input features into the cheapest tier at a lowered $1,099 price.
Third-order effects
- If the cadence holds, the iMac settles into a role where each generation's headline spec (5K here) becomes the previous generation's mid-tier option within a few years, with desktop pricing anchored by display resolution while new interaction technology debuts on laptops first.
The trend: Apple uses annual Mac refreshes to march premium display technology down the price ladder, debuting new input hardware on pro laptops before it reaches cheaper tiers.