Apple Releases New 15-Inch MacBook Pro With Force Touch and $1,999 27-Inch iMac With Retina Display

[FuNGi]

Was hoping they'd put Broadwell in, but I can't wait any longer. Been stretching this 2007 black MacBook for too long! I can't wait another 5-9 months for a new laptop. Pulled the trigger on the rMBP 2.5GHz / 512GB / AMD dGPU. Haven't bought a personal laptop in 8 years! (Been using work laptops Dell/Lenovo ) Should be here first week of June.

Got AppleCare ($350) in case the screen coating starts peeling off or anything else. Also going to look for theft protection like LoJack or something.

Total price with tax, $3,111.

If your worried about theft or accidental damage look into either rental insurance or laptop specific insurance. Sounds like the piece of mind you might want.

Fusion seems intriguing as a hybrid drive done right, a friend of mine also said its indistinguishable from SSD performance (unlike when I tried a Momentus XT hybrid drive back in 2010). It's really just that it's a ticking time bomb. Getting to replace a mechanical hard drive in that difficult to repair rImac I would imagine is going to be a PITA

My wife's maxed out 21.5" 2013 iMac has one and it is quite fast in day to day usage. You get close to the performance of my 15" rMBP 90% of the time with only the occasional spinning beach ball. Discounted Applecare for any HDD repair.

 

[MacGekko]

Apple Stores, they tend to disappear pretty quickly - I'm guessing they get sent back for recycling/new internals.

Your best bet may be through an authorised reseller who'll sell through any stock they have - possibly even reduced in price too.

I am primarily concerned with the non Apple stores, particularly Best Buy because I would rather buy it there.

 

[fathergll]

is this right? If HDD component of Fusion fails, you can just rely on SSD?

I'm not at all educated on these Fusion drives since I was never in the market for an iMac thus far.

Your entire OS will be toast. What I meant was I was told you can technically decouple the drives if that happens and just reply on say the main SSD(obviously have to reinstall the OS)...I haven't tried this and hope I never have to obviously

 

[Wahlstrm]

R9 GPU supports up to 5120 x 2160 = The next ACD will be 21:9 or typo?
(iMac 5K = 5120x2880 16:9)

 

[Googlei]

I'm having a problem with the Macbook Pro 15 inch base model that I bought and received during the first week of this month. The computer has a ticking sound that is made whenever it moves. I am going to bring it to the Apple Store, but is there any policy on whether if given a replacement it would be the 2015 model? Or if I could just upgrade to the 2015 since I've had it less than 30 days? It would be nice to have the Force Touch trackpad and battery life improvements.

 

[manu chao]

Fusion seems intriguing as a hybrid drive done right, a friend of mine also said its indistinguishable from SSD performance (unlike when I tried a Momentus XT hybrid drive back in 2010). It's really just that it's a ticking time bomb. Getting to replace a mechanical hard drive in that difficult to repair rImac I would imagine is going to be a PITA

It's just a time-bomb ticking twice as fast as the time-bomb that is ticking with a standard HDD. And the likelihood of having to replace the internal HDD is pretty much the same regardless of whether that HDD is used alone or inside a Fusion drive (one can argue that a different usage pattern modifies the failure risk, eg, that in a Fusion drive the HDD has to do less because all the frequently used files will reside on the SSD).

 

[patent10021]

16 GB RAM standard. Very nice.

I bought my MBPr 15 fully pimped out with 16GB in December. If 16GB is now standard it's weird that you can't up it to 32GB.

EDIT: Just checked. Can't upgrade to 32GB. Meh.

 

[newellj]

I don't plan on using the Returns Policy but I can return this for a full refund within 14 days even if it's been opened?

Also the Mac below is now for sale in the UK, 3 Year Warranty included.

In the US, definitely. Not sure about the UK but I would imagine it's the same.

 

[Jamalien]

I'm having a problem with the Macbook Pro 15 inch base model that I bought and received during the first week of this month. The computer has a ticking sound that is made whenever it moves. I am going to bring it to the Apple Store, but is there any policy on whether if given a replacement it would be the 2015 model? Or if I could just upgrade to the 2015 since I've had it less than 30 days? It would be nice to have the Force Touch trackpad and battery life improvements.

If you get someone nice and complain enough about the creaking sound - (which is a very common issue btw) and say that you would like the new model anyway since you only bought the 2014 model a couple of weeks ago - just out of the 14 day "no questions" return period, you might be able to get it replaced. However this issue is very easily fixed by unscrewing and reseating the bottom plate which they will probably prefer to do instead rather than giving you a whole new computer. But it won't hurt to ask so you might as well

 

[Mums]

Hoorah, a cheaper Retina iMac ... with worse specs. Just like the cheaper Mac Mini, and the cheaper non-Retina iMac. That's definitely in line with Apple's pursuit for perfection.

"In creating these great products we focus on enriching people’s lives—a higher cause for the product. These are the macro things that drive the company."

"You know, we want to really enrich people’s lives at the end of the day, not just make money. Making money might be a byproduct, but it’s not our North Star."

"A great product doesn’t mean an expensive product. It means a fair price… We think about the product and making a great product that we want to use. When we can do that and achieve another price point, that’s great."

Yeah, these whole lower-cost, worse-spec alternatives are frankly getting ridiculous. Consumers who don't know better are going to buy these, on the assumption -- no, the lie -- that 'Apple makes the decisions for the consumer', that 'we don't ship junk', that 'every product is carefully crafted for the best user experience'.

Let's see how great that experience is with stuttering animations on an underpowered graphics card, or expensive machines that still have standard HDDs rather than Fusion/SSDs.

It's such a bitter irony that the more money companies make, and the more money they have to potentially expand their lineup and make the bottom benchmark absolutely incredible (pure SSD for instance), they seem to do moves like this which smack to me as only thinking of profits. The consumer will not get experiences or a computer performance synonymous with a £1000 machine. Fact.

The greedy get greedier.

You're right. And Tim Cook is a slave to the moneymongers and has been since the day they installed him. It's all about bloating Apple stock and milking the biggest non-bank corporate cash cow in history. And it was all built on Steve Jobs' powerful singular vision. It's sad and parallels the downfall of America.

 

[haysoos123]

Can't believe they dropped Nvidia from the update ><. I think I'll wait a bit longer for them to upgrade to Nvidia or buy the previous gen MBP15 that has the Nvidia GT 750M 2GB, 2.8GHz i7, and the 1TB SSD.

I've had nothing but problems with AMD.

Seriously Apple, listen to your audience.

Don't count AMD out. And even if you like Nvidia (which I do), it's always better to have a good competitor.

If you follow the pro market, this actually makes sense. OpenCL has made huge strides and is currently faster on the AMD side. CUDA has had a lot of stability problems with apps in their last several versions. It just goes back and forth like this.

 

[BigBeast]

And you believe Skylake will drop in October why? Intel has not been exactly *honest* with its dates since before Broadwell shipped [...].

Rumor has it that Skylake is still on track for release in the second half of 2015, and Apple has been known to get preferential shipment of new Intel tech. October is also a likely candidate because Apple likes to release updates to its product line around that time (the usual months are Feb/March, June/July & October). It's not a hard and fast rule; just likely.

As far as Intel's honesty is concerned, I don't think that the problems they've encountered were expected, and they generally seem to maintain their timeline when possible. Is it possible Skylake could encounter problems and be pushed back? Sure, but that can be said about any type of product that is manufactured - from computer components to grandma's cherry pie. Basically, **** happens.

 

[ProwlingTiger]

So basically the only difference between the two 27-inch iMacs is 0.3GHz. For this 0.3GHz, Apple will kindly charge you $300. Bloody hell. I guess it's going to be a new trend after the Retina Macbook.

 

[GSPice]

You're right. And Tim Cook is a slave to the moneymongers and has been since the day they installed him. It's all about bloating Apple stock and milking the biggest non-bank corporate cash cow in history. And it was all built on Steve Jobs' powerful singular vision. It's sad and parallels the downfall of America.

 

[thalazy]

So basically the only difference between the two 27-inch iMacs is 0.3GHz. For this 0.3GHz, Apple will kindly charge you $300. Bloody hell. I guess it's going to be a new trend after the Retina Macbook.

You also get a fusion drive instead of the standard hard drive and m290x vs the m290 on the lower end iMac.

 

[Romanesq]

wha wha wha, you'd think peoples lives solely revolve around computers!

I'm still using my first generation Mac
Image

I didn't authorize your use of me and my Mac Plus.

 

[Mattsasa]

So we should expect Skylake and redesign by the end of the year?

Did these Macbooks get any processor updates?

No and No

Silent update = Octoberish Skylake refresh & possible redesign

no chance of a 2015 skylake MBP

October of 2016 maybe

Why the obsession with skylake when you have dGPU???

I am wondering the same thing

$2000 for a desktop computer and:

1)it still comes with 8GB ram (2 4GB chips!!!)
2)a non-SSD drive. Oh, but for an extra $500 you can get a 512GB flash drive (not sure if it's SSD or PCIe or other) when you can pick them up anywhere for $180 at RETAIL prices.
3)Oh, but wait...there's more!....they don't even tell you what i5 chip you are getting.
4)And there's no i7 option for people that, you know, spend $2000 and actually want some killer performance to somewhat future proof their investment.

Like other people have said. a 5k display of that quality is worth about $2000 or even more really.

and the iMac is really in more of a laptop form factor than desktop.

So then you get basically the best display available plus a free high-end laptop.

Could be a rebadged R9 with more/faster RAM ?

huh? it is an R9

Let's see benchmarks of that new AMD Graphics on rMBP 15"

Someone who lives by an apple store, please run in and try out the new 15" and run a few GPU benchmarks on them and post them for us

Source other than AMD marketing? Afaik the m370x is a 270 re-badge and not a new AMD chip and considering how much better mobile maxwell is than the current 2xx AMD mobile I'm not holding my breath. I guess my dreams of a broadwell+gt960m aren't going to happen...

Also, apple is one the few last laptop makers still going with AMD this gen, all the other latest dgpu laptops are going Maxwell.

In other words, we get the same cpu, a dgpu sidegrade, and a new trackpad. Meh

well it is a dgpu side grade compared to the 950M, but it is an upgrade for the 750m for sure

Looks like they are planning a major upgrade for October:


Skylake

DDR4

32 GB option on the MacBook Pro 15 inch


This update is just a stop gap until then.

nope not possible. small chance of a broadwell MBP in october though.

stop giving people false hope, it is unethical

Hoping by the end of the year!

sorry man, its not happening.
Skylake MBP 15" could fall anywhere between like may-octoberish of 2016

Question:

If I install Windows 8.1 as a secondary OS on the MacBook Pro will I be able to play GTA 5 on it?

You didn't say what macbook pro you have, so how are we suppose to answer this question?

but most likely yes, any recent MBP with dGPU should be able to just fine. even Iris Pro can play GTA 5

Moore's Law has smashed into the brick wall called physics.

----------



Well, at least it's more possible now that Intel has cancelled Broadwell-H entirely because it would have a short shelf life, since Skylake-H will be on time.

source?

Does the 15 inch have that "butterfly" style keyboard? Any mention of that feature is gone from the MacBook Pro design page and it's not mentioned in the article.

nope

16GB max on a pro laptop? In 2015?

Edit: just noticed AMD graphics. Rules this one out.

I understand there are a few photo/video professionals out there who may want 32GB of ram. However, I feel most people think they need more RAM when they don't actually.

Last refresh before the Macbook Air, Macbook Pros get a design change?
As Gruber's said - the name "Macbook" for the new Macbook telegraphs the intention that the MBP, MBA may well get aligned to the Macbook design and styling next update. But not yet.

I am curious what is going to happen with the MBA series, whether it will be discontinued or get a redesign. I hope it gets a redesign with a retina display

 

[Wahlstrm]

I understand there are a few photo/video professionals out there who may want 32GB of ram. However, I feel most people think they need more RAM when they don't actually.

I´m one of them, since a few OS X versions back.
8GB were a minimum for working back in the days of 10.6.
16GB if stuff where to run smooth..

But with better memory handling in later versions of OS X I think 8GB feels about as good as 16GB used to do.

But it´s always nice to have and the windows side of things have ben running 32GB in laptops for about 5? years now

 

[intramind]

Nice choice, but did you know that you can buy AppleCare from authorized sellers like B&H Photo, even if you buy the Mac thru Apple? The exact same AppleCare coverage you bought for $350 can be had for $244 at B&H (and Adorama). And depending where you live, no sales tax on the brand new 2015 15" rMBP if you buy through B&H or Adorama.

I have a refurb top-spec 2014 15" on order with Apple for $2719 plus Cali tax (coming tomorrow) but decided I'll return it and go for a 2015 model thru B&H for a net $45 increase (stepped down from 2.8 to 2.5 GHz, not a big deal).

Haha, thanks for the tip! Guess I will return the AppleCare and buy it through B&H. But neither B&H or Adorama have the new rMBP in stock yet, just pre-order. I guess they'll have it available soon and I could save $150 (no sales tax) and ship it out in 1-2 weeks, but I'm tired of waiting. I just got a notification Apple will ship the laptop tomorrow. ******* it! Ha ha ha ha

 

[Mike MA]

These are the most powerful MacBook Pros yet. Force Touch is truly incredible and that alone makes it worth buying a new laptop and selling your old one.

I ordered already!

Glad I didn't rush in and buy that new 12" MacBook now.

You skipped the new Macbook for the Pro!? Based on which criteria did you actually compare these two laptops, that are obviously designed for completely different consumer groups?

Don't tell me it was the Force Touch though...

 

[MacVidCards]

R9 GPU supports up to 5120 x 2160 = The next ACD will be 21:9 or typo?
(iMac 5K = 5120x2880 16:9)

This is a crucial point that everyone is missing.

Either:

1. New TB display is 5120x2160
2. They are breaking it to us slowly that 370X is 270 is 7870 rebadge.

That res isn't 5K, it's 4K tall but 5K wide. So if it isn't a typo it is telling us something very important.

A new Maxwell Nvidia card can run full 5K 60Hz. (using 2 DP cables) Showing this lower res could imply that this ISN"T new tech and they are just suing some driver slight of hand to crank past usual pixel clock.

Where did this quote come from anyway, I can't find it on 15" rMBP page?

 

[Wahlstrm]

This is a crucial point that everyone is missing.

Either:

1. New TB display is 5120x2160
2. They are breaking it to us slowly that 370X is 270 is 7870 rebadge.

That res isn't 5K, it's 4K tall but 5K wide. So if it isn't a typo it is telling us something very important.

A new Maxwell Nvidia card can run full 5K 60Hz. (using 2 DP cables) Showing this lower res could imply that this ISN"T new tech and they are just suing some driver slight of hand to crank past usual pixel clock.

Where did this quote come from anyway, I can't find it on 15" rMBP page?

Apple spec:
http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs-retina/



Edit:
Seems like 5K TV´s will use this resolution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSK867LLv1g

 

[Cmd-Z]

Where did this quote come from anyway, I can't find it on 15" rMBP page?

It's right there on the Tech Specs page ...

 

[johngwheeler]

Skylake Core-M should be this year

Intel is not releasing mobile versions of Skylake until early 2016.

So if you're waiting for a MBP with Skaylake, you're in for a long wait.

Apple will probably release a Broadwell version before that ( this year )

I have read that the Intel will prioritize mobile chips, and that the first Skylake will be the Y family (aka Core-M). If Intel keep their promise of delivering Skylake this year, we should see these in Q4, with some machines possible before Christmas. However, I don't expect a Skylake rMB until Q1/2 2016.

I've no idea whether Skylake-H (quad core mobile) will keep the same timeline as Broadwell (i.e. last to be released - if at all!). If so, we might not see a Skylake rMBP 15 until northern-Summer 2016.

 

[MacVidCards]

It's right there on the Tech Specs page ...

Thanks, couldn't find that page.

Should be noted that even the 2011 era GPUs in nMP can be made to run 5K at full res, so omission in rMBP is telling us something.