As expected, Apple on Thursday announced the all-new MacBook Pro, The new notebook brings a number of big features and design improvements to the MacBook. Perhaps the most notable feature of the new device is the Touch Bar, which is essentially a touchscreen strip that displays contextual controls to the users.
the new MacBook is more powerful, 17 percent thinner, lighter, brighter and better in every aspect. It has a completely new keyboard, that is very similar to MacBook’s butterfly keyboard, however it goes deeper giving a more satisfying press of a button.
Apple calls it “the most powerful MacBook Pro ever,” and the 13-inch model features a 2.9 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.3 GHz, 8GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage. The 15-inch version has a 2.6 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.5 GHz, 16GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage. Both computers reach “up to 2.3 times the graphics performance” of the previous generation.
The Touch Bar that sits on top of the keyboard replaces the normal function keys with a strip of a touchscreen. This multitouch screen that can accept 10 finger input at the same time allows users to have versatile controls that match the app or content that is currently being displayed on the screen. Apple demonstrated the capabilities of the Touch Bar with a number of its own apps as well as third-party applications. Once the software is updated to take advantage of this feature users will be able to control their apps, enter emojis or predictive text and perform several other functions more quickly.
In addition to the Touch Bar, Apple has also added a Touch ID sensor on the MacBook Pro, making it the first Mac ever to sport this feature. Using the Touch ID users will be able to login using their fingerprints just like they can unlock their iPhone. Users can also use the Touch ID feature to authorize payments with Apple Pay when shopping online or in the App Store.
The 15-inch MacBook Pro features Radeon Pro discrete graphics, while the 13-inch model has Intel Iris Graphics. Each edition includes SSDs with sequential read speeds over 3GBps, and the ability to drive a 5K display through a single Thunderbolt 3 port thanks to the technology’s consolidation of data transfer, video bandwidth, and charging abilities.
For the display, that means Apple has created “the brightest, most colorful notebook display” ever, with images that are more vivid and lifelike thanks to the screen’s 500 nits of brightness. In total, that means the new screen is now 67 percent brighter than the previous generation MacBook Pro, has 67 percent more contrast, “and is the first Mac notebook display to support a wider color gamut.” The company said that none of this negatively affects battery life, because with power saving technology in the MacBook — including a larger pixel aperture, a variable refresh rate and more power-efficient LEDs — the display now consumes 30 percent less energy.
“This week marks the 25th anniversary of Apple’s first notebook; through the years each generation has introduced new innovations and capabilities, and it’s fitting that this all-new generation of MacBook Pro is the biggest leap forward yet,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
“With the groundbreaking new Touch Bar, the convenience of Touch ID, the best Mac display ever, powerful performance, improved audio, blazing fast storage and Thunderbolt 3 connectivity in our thinnest and lightest pro notebook yet, the new MacBook Pro is the most advanced notebook ever made.”
This generation of MacBook Pro has four Thunderbolt 3 ports that follow the USB-C industry standard. This allows the MacBook Pro to not only be future proof by having the USB-C ports but also offer up to 40GBps of transfer rates. This is twice the bandwidth of Thunderbolt 2 ports. Thanks to multiple Thunderbolt 3 ports the MacBook Pro can support up to 2 5K monitors simultaneously.
In comparison to the last edition of the MacBook Pro, the 13-inch model is 17 percent thinner and has 23 percent less volume, while the 15-inch is 14 percent thinner and 20 percent less volume. In terms of weight, the 13-inch is 3 pounds and the 15-inch is 4 pounds, both devices coming in at nearly half a pound lighter than their previous iterations.
The MacBook Pro offers a battery life of up to 10 hours on both 13-inch and 15-inch models. Both variants are available silver and space grey colors. Unlike the Macbook, the new Macbook Pro does not come in a gold or rose gold options.
Apple is offering 3 models of the new MacBook Pro. There are 13-inch and 15-inch models that are available with different configurations and feature the Touch Bar and Touch ID. The 13-inch model with Touch Bar starts at a price of $1799 whereas the 15-inch model with a Touch Bar starts at $2399.
Then there is a 13-inch model that lacks the Touch Bar and Touch ID but is available at a price of $1499.