"This will bring a lot of excitement back to the personal computer," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research, in a Monday interview. "It puts new life, actually buckets of life, into their $2,000-plus tier, which has been pretty moribund of late.

Gottheil, who called the pricing "aggressive," also noted that the new MacBook Pro should boost Apple's Mac ASP, or average selling price, a number which has been falling as more users opt for the less-expensive notebooks in Apple's inventory.

Schiller also announced a less radical revamp of the existing MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines that also feature Ivy Bridge processors.

All new MacBook Airs now come with 4GB of memory standard -- previously, the lowest-priced model sported half that -- with the most expensive model, a 13-in. notebook, boasting 8GB. Storage space has also been increased, with the maximum now a 512GB SSD.

The new MacBook Airs also boast USB 3.0 and their built-in cameras have been upgraded to 720p. The new models begin shipping today, said Schiller.