Macbook pro latest retina: Output to monitor with VGA
You can connect the Thunderbolt port to a VGA adapter for your VGA monitor.
I'm pretty sure it does not matter. I'm not sure if a simple HDMI-to-VGA adapter even exists.
The Macbook Retina that I have has 2 thunderbolt ports and one normal-size HDMI port.


This MacRumors topic contains some useful info as well:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1426993