Well, there isstill an audio port, but they also removed the illuminated apple logo in the lid.
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Apple Unveils New 13-Inch and 15-Inch MacBook Pros With Retina 'Touch Bar'
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QFT. On a mobile device, a toy like a tablet or smartphone, stripping a port is stupid, but understandable. It's NOT understandable on a laptop.
NOBODY is using Thunderbolt 3! I haven't seen it ANYWHERE! Having 4 of these useless things on the device doesn't help anything. RIP magsafe.
At least they got rid of that old cMBP with HD4000.. That was long overdue. A nice 13" which can be specced up really nicely and has OMG a Magsafe port? Woah! Also there's still an old gen 15" Pro but there's no integrated graphics in sight. You'll have to get the Touchbar one
droplink wrote:
"Seriously. What a let down."
Agreed.
After all the hoopla -- "hello again" -- this is all we get?
And at significantly higher prices, to boot?
I had been thinking that -- considering that Apple has recently been in the doldrums insofar as innovation and new product releases are concerned -- that this product intro would reveal a lot about how we can expect Apple to progress over the next several years.
And coming away from what I see today, I'm not impressed.
It reminds me of the period back in the mid-1990's, when Apple was bumbling along and was seeing the loss of many users over to the Windows side.
Then Steve Jobs returned to the company and fought to get them back, by daring to "think different".
There isn't much innovative thought at Apple any more. Seems like the only goals are:
- thinner
- more profit -- squeeze 'em for whatever you can get.
I sense the new MacBook Pros aren't going to revive Apple's doldrums. Yes, they'll sell well for a while to the faithful who either have deep pockets or otherwise are blind enough to pay whatever price Apple demands. But I think the sales curve will have a shorter peak and faster decline than seen in previous product rollouts.
As for myself -- when it's time to replace my own MBPro (now going on 7 years old, but still doing fine) -- I'll pick up a 2015 refurb and be quite happy with it.
If there are any of them to be found...
"Seriously. What a let down."
Agreed.
After all the hoopla -- "hello again" -- this is all we get?
And at significantly higher prices, to boot?
I had been thinking that -- considering that Apple has recently been in the doldrums insofar as innovation and new product releases are concerned -- that this product intro would reveal a lot about how we can expect Apple to progress over the next several years.
And coming away from what I see today, I'm not impressed.
It reminds me of the period back in the mid-1990's, when Apple was bumbling along and was seeing the loss of many users over to the Windows side.
Then Steve Jobs returned to the company and fought to get them back, by daring to "think different".
There isn't much innovative thought at Apple any more. Seems like the only goals are:
- thinner
- more profit -- squeeze 'em for whatever you can get.
I sense the new MacBook Pros aren't going to revive Apple's doldrums. Yes, they'll sell well for a while to the faithful who either have deep pockets or otherwise are blind enough to pay whatever price Apple demands. But I think the sales curve will have a shorter peak and faster decline than seen in previous product rollouts.
As for myself -- when it's time to replace my own MBPro (now going on 7 years old, but still doing fine) -- I'll pick up a 2015 refurb and be quite happy with it.
If there are any of them to be found...
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Audio Ports!?! F'n Hell Apple. Now I have to carry one set of lightning headphones for my iPhone7 and a separate pair of analog or usbC headphones just for my mac?! Such a fail!
I don't believe so actually. I checked and they work on any mac with Sierra. So I guess it can also use bluetooth?
EDIT: I totally read that wrong. never mind. I meant that it can use AirPods. But that doesn't help you.
Some of my first impressions. They might sound a bit sour, but I'm kinda disappointed in Apple.
First of all, the first update in year and they get rid of the truly entry-level laptop, what's up with that? The macbook air got so many, my friend included, to switch over to apple, because the price of the air was just enough for the average joe to be able to get aboard the osx-train (instead of the windows train), but now (here in Europe) the "cheapest" macbook is the underpowered 12" macbook starting at 1499 euros and the new mbp for 1749 euros. The message being quite clear: F-the poor. For 1500 you can, however, already get a MS surface book or for roughly 500 euros less the surface pro 4 with the keyboard. The only thing the macbook air would've needed is a retina display and that's it. Why not make a roughly 1000 euro retina-version of the macbook air? The ipad pro sure as hell can't replace this laptop niche.
Second, I don't really understand the touchbar-technology; lenovo already abandoned the idea years ago, because their business customers just didn't like it. It didn't work and it was really a pain to use. But, of course, it remains to be seen whether the bar is useful or not...
Otherwise this was a solid update to the mbp-line. I just hope they come up with something for the consumer market as well...
First of all, the first update in year and they get rid of the truly entry-level laptop, what's up with that? The macbook air got so many, my friend included, to switch over to apple, because the price of the air was just enough for the average joe to be able to get aboard the osx-train (instead of the windows train), but now (here in Europe) the "cheapest" macbook is the underpowered 12" macbook starting at 1499 euros and the new mbp for 1749 euros. The message being quite clear: F-the poor. For 1500 you can, however, already get a MS surface book or for roughly 500 euros less the surface pro 4 with the keyboard. The only thing the macbook air would've needed is a retina display and that's it. Why not make a roughly 1000 euro retina-version of the macbook air? The ipad pro sure as hell can't replace this laptop niche.
Second, I don't really understand the touchbar-technology; lenovo already abandoned the idea years ago, because their business customers just didn't like it. It didn't work and it was really a pain to use. But, of course, it remains to be seen whether the bar is useful or not...
Otherwise this was a solid update to the mbp-line. I just hope they come up with something for the consumer market as well...
When was the last time you used Windows at length? Not trying to be argumentative, just asking. I'm OSX 9X% of the time, but the rest I have to resort to Windows for a couple of legacy programs I use for consulting work. Windows 10 completely blows IMO, and every time I use it I want to throw my machine out the window after a few minutes.
The Apple tax is certainly high, and higher than ever it seems. Still worth it to me though because the spec sheet doesn't end at hardware.
Me think so too.Looks like I'm gonna buy the previous gen MBP that I skipped over and then most likely never get another apple laptop, sad times.
This is a Pro device that is a big FU to a large number of pro users
Then over the next 5 years the arduous jailbreak from the walled garden... ahem prison.
Same. Wife needed a new MacBook and I need a new mini. Now she's going to get a refurbished one and I'll stick with my 2012 Mini for a couple more years.
While I think the industry will eventually adjust to USB-C/TB 3 ports, and I'm happy to see upped specs, not that "Pro" to me. I wish apple integrated a touch screen, like on the stuff MS announced yesterday. I think that might bring some more creatives (back) to Mac. I'm getting into photography and I think it would help if I could directly manipulate my photos rather than a mouse.
Out of curiosity: does the 15" really support an external 5K display over 1 cable? And not just that, but 2 at the same time?
Out of curiosity: does the 15" really support an external 5K display over 1 cable? And not just that, but 2 at the same time?
Vote with your dollars; don't buy this crap.
Screw you Apple, greedy lazy bstards!
Screw you Apple, greedy lazy bstards!
I am definitely going to wait for some MacRumor reviews before doing any ordering. I am considering purchasing a last gen model 15" instead of this 13" but wondering what the shelf-life would be and if it would just be worth it to wait till the next upgrade or price drop.
Also, would the 13" intro model (w/o trackpad) be much of an upgrade from the last gen 13" model? Perhaps just smaller and lighter. Are the specs that much more improved where it is worth the extra... $400 for base?
I'm seeing more backlash over these MacBook Pros than perhaps any other Apple product in recent memory, including the iPhone 7. I must say I am extremely surprised.
That said, I am not a professional in the graphics or video editing space; maybe some of the features/eliminations on these laptops are make-or-break for some of those individuals. I have a mid-2014 MacBook Pro with Retina Display, and I find it fantastic. I like that it has, for example, an HDMI port for easy connectivity to televisions or other large monitors. I also like that it has USB-A ports in addition to Thunderbolt ports; seems like that design really hit a good balance between eliminating unnecessary hardware (e.g. ethernet) while maintaining a high degree of functionality.
The touch bar seems kind of like one of those features I wouldn't put to much use, kind of like Siri on the Mac. Some people might get a lot of use out of it, but I probably wouldn't. While I don't want to sound like a total luddite, I like having physical buttons on my keyboard. Not really interested in touch buttons.
The addition of the MASSIVE touchpad is a welcome change. It looks kind of goofy if you're not used to it, but it would surely be extremely functional.
I don't really like all this fragmentation across Apple's product line with respect to the different ports available on different devices.
Those are basically all my thoughts on this matter. I'll be monitoring the opinions of professionals whose workflow depends on having access to a pro-tier MacBook to see what their thoughts are on this design change.
That said, I am not a professional in the graphics or video editing space; maybe some of the features/eliminations on these laptops are make-or-break for some of those individuals. I have a mid-2014 MacBook Pro with Retina Display, and I find it fantastic. I like that it has, for example, an HDMI port for easy connectivity to televisions or other large monitors. I also like that it has USB-A ports in addition to Thunderbolt ports; seems like that design really hit a good balance between eliminating unnecessary hardware (e.g. ethernet) while maintaining a high degree of functionality.
The touch bar seems kind of like one of those features I wouldn't put to much use, kind of like Siri on the Mac. Some people might get a lot of use out of it, but I probably wouldn't. While I don't want to sound like a total luddite, I like having physical buttons on my keyboard. Not really interested in touch buttons.
The addition of the MASSIVE touchpad is a welcome change. It looks kind of goofy if you're not used to it, but it would surely be extremely functional.
I don't really like all this fragmentation across Apple's product line with respect to the different ports available on different devices.
Those are basically all my thoughts on this matter. I'll be monitoring the opinions of professionals whose workflow depends on having access to a pro-tier MacBook to see what their thoughts are on this design change.
Specs aren't a massive improvement over the last couple years on that entry level model.
Yep, the 15" fully configured runs about $5k for us pagans here in the USA. It's always that depreciation factor after 12-months that really hurts.
Audio Ports!?! F'n Hell Apple. Now I have to carry one set of lightning headphones for my iPhone7 and a separate pair of analog or usbC headphones just for my mac?! Such a fail!
The only fail were people who actually bought that proprietary ****. What were you expecting? Them to add some useless proprietary port ONLY for headphones - and especially ones that only work with their phone, nothing else? That would make sense.
Then again, that audio port won't save that piece of junk. Useless keyboard, smaller battery, dongle hell. Yay, I'm gonna buy 7 of those. Claiming the lowest spec pro model replaces MB Air tells it all - they are clueless about what Pro means. The whole line is the new Air series. There are no pro machines available at all anymore.
The crazy thing about Final Cut Pro X integration is ... this laptop has almost none of the things I'd NEED as a video editor. HDMI, an SD card slot, an easy way to connect external storage ... FCPX is a VIDEO editor, you don't need that software unless you have a high-end camera to capture stuff like a DSLR, stuff like an SD card slot in particular are par for the course with stuff like that, but this computer removes that in favor of 2-4 glorified adapter ports?
WHAT were they THINKING with this!?
