Analysts see the new MacBook Pro as like the original $1,799 MacBook Air: Expensive, packed with the newest technology and using Apple's most-forward-looking design.

Its DNA -- the omission of hard disk and optical drives, the thinner form factor, the high-resolution screen -- will be used to clone a revamped MacBook Pro line. At some point.

"They don't have enough supply of the Retina screens to use it across the entire line," Gillett said, explaining why Apple limited the redesign to just one model.

For proof, one has only to look at the shipping delays for the Retina MacBook Pro.

Currently, new orders won't ship for thee or four weeks, Apple's online store stated Thursday. That delay first appeared Tuesday, after Apple apparently .