Jeff Gamet at The Mac Observer:
Apple’s non-Retina 13-inch MacBook Pro will be discontinued later this year, bringing an end to the non-Retina MacBook Pro line, and built-in optical drives in any Mac model. If the sources sharing the information are correct, that will leave just the MacBook Air without a high resolution Retina Display.
News of the planned product end come via sources speaking with DigiTimes. While DigiTimes doesn’t always have the most reliable of sources, they are correct even if they have the timing wrong. Apple will discontinue the non-Retina 13-inch MacBook Pro at some point.
When talking about the 13-inch MacBook Pro, most people comment that Apple keeps it around for schools, as its combination of optical drive, low price and decent power is hard to beat when buying in bulk. While I’m not surprised by the rumors of the machine’s demise, I wouldn’t be shocked if Apple makes it edu-only for a while longer.