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Apple Unveils New 13-Inch and 15-Inch MacBook Pros With Retina 'Touch Bar'

There is no doubt in my mind that both the MBP 15inch 2016 and the Surfacebook 2016 are overpriced for what they offer, but keep in mind the Surfacebook can somewhat act as a tablet too (still doesn't justify that insane price pump).

I'm still amazed that the non TB modell is also gimped in terms of ports. Seriously Apple, if you wanted to create a "more oldschool pro" version why not add useful stuff like you know SD card slot, USB 3.1 ports? In Austria this machine costs 1.939 € with 16 gig of ram for the 256 SSD version and only a dual-core sorry but that's a rip off...I mean I'm sure it's fast but it's still a 13'inch dual-core.... The keyboard is butterfly so enough said. I can pay 200 € less or 100 € more and get the top of the line 15'inch Dell XPS or the Razer Blade with a 4k screen.

Also for all the boohaaa about the touchbar something has been lost in all of this ==#> the placement. The trackpad is 2 times bigger fine, why not place the touchbar above it you know at the place where people are actually having the fingers most of the time if they are using a trackpad?

I really didn't want much a black version (check), 16 gig of ram (check), same keyboard (nope), good oldschool ports (nope), better battery life (nope - because it has to be the thinnest MBP ever....), 4k screen (nope) have to buy that extra outsourced to LG.

Disappointed but at least the prices for the old machines will fall dramatically now
 
Now that I had time to think about the potential uses of touch bar, I think is not that bad of an idea. Just like when iOS 10 was introduced, I think Apple focused to much showing trivial things.

I guess that having my favorite shortcuts or tools in Photoshop just a tap away would be a nice addition. It won't make my workflow better, but it would be nice.

But doing things that really can be done with the trackpad or mouse or a combination of keyboard shortcuts really just looks/feel stupid.

I think Apple added a lot of gimmick to the feature when they really had to focus on a real world Pro usage.

joshuaadunn said:
If you don't use a trackpad or a mouse, wtf do you use?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I guess I forgot to add the /s at the end.
 
talkybear said:
I think the worst thing about the touch bar is that: you'll need to remember (for every individual software) what functions will appear on the touch bar and where, and what functions still need keyboard/mouse/etc. You'll get confused very fast.

Then the second worst thing is you'll have to switch back and forth constantly between the tiny bar and the screen. Talk about your eyesight...
Click to expand...

Each function key is interchangeable by your own with the toolbar setting.
 
Stiss said:
13"
£1249
£1449
£1749
£1949

15"
£1899
£2349
£2699

And thats before you start customising stuff!

Say you want a 1TB SSD in your 15" Pro well thats gonna set you back £3239 and if you want to upgrade that 2GB graphics card to 4GB add another £100.
Click to expand...

Have they upped the price by £50 and reduced the hard dive size to 128gb?!

First screenshot. Previous website. Obv.
 

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I'm not exactly mad...yet, but definitely don't feel impressed either.

My biggest concern is price. Couldn't they at least put 16gb as standard on the $1999 13" rMBP?!

It isn't even so much that I'm not willing to pay these prices. I just don't want Macs and macOS to go back to being super niche expensive things that no one owns. That makes the whole ecosystem worse.

They need a NEW mainstream laptop to get students, etc. to stay in the Apple ecosystem. But the "budget" 13" rMBP seems to be the best they can do.



That being said in a year or 2, assuming Apple doesn't switch to ARM or discontinue all Macs, I could see myself happily owning the lower end 13" rMBP. I'm glad the 13" Macbook Air users weren't completely forgotten :)
 
Dell XPS
6th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ Quad Core (6M Cache, up to 3.5 GHz)
32GB DDR4-2133MHz; up to 32GB (additional memory sold separately)
15.6" 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) InfinityEdge touch
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960M with 2GB GDDR5
1TB PCIe Solid State Drive
$2549

MacPro
2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz (6th Gen)
16GB 2133MHz memory (cannot change on Apple Store)
1TB PCIe-based SSD
Radeon Pro 450 with 2GB memory
$2999


So less RAM, but better design quality. $400 more.

I am amazed these cost so much. I was planing on buying a Mac Pro and an iMac or mini. Now...just not sure what to do. I am so tied into some of Apples software this sort of thing makes me want to look into migrating to google so I am Apple/Microsoft independent.
 
Xian Zhu Xuande said:
Well... I ordered mine, clearing $4,000. My Mid 2012 MacBook Pro has served me well.

Base prices felt reasonable to me. Maybe I'm still stuck to some extent in times past where a price like this for a professional Mac was par for the course. Although I wouldn't justify the cost for a recreational computer. Now need to look into a 4/5K display suitable for this machine and whatever I need to sell my Mac Pro and use only this new computer.

The touch bar looks much, much more interesting than I expected, and I really appreciated the Photoshop demonstration. I can't picture myself using it for something like 'speeding up' my typing (hard to imagine that being possible with a visual glance and reach up where the function keys were) but I believe it has incredible potential to streamline certain contextual tasks in professional apps like Photoshop (if not the OS, say nothing for customization). Perhaps some people here are underestimating the potential of a screen like this—it can be anything a developer conceives of. I certainly don't want to be touching my screen. Even more inconvenient, and the fingerprints...

Bummed about the 16 GB RAM limit on order. Because I'm in graphics/web design the 16 GBs should be adequate for me, but I would have bumped up to 32. Heck, I'm using 16 GB in my current four-year-old MacBook Pro, though an aftermarket upgrade. I've got some buddies in video who are sure to be extremely disappointed about that limitation. Curious to see if it's upgradeable.

I don't mind the 4x Thunderbolt 3 ports. Actually, I appreciate it, and see it as a great platform for future compatibility. On checkout I included a compatible cable for connecting my iPhone or iPad and also two USB adapters (will only use one regularly—the other will go in a drawer for when something obnoxious inevitably comes up). I'm going to miss MagSafe—it's saved my behind before.
Click to expand...

Congrats on making the most sensible post in 20 pages of thread.
 
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MacsRuleOthersDrool said:
You REALLY think that FOUR USB-C/TB3 Ports with 40 Gbps bandwidth are a "Compromise"?!?

Do you have ANY idea exactly how many "traditional" I/O ports you can make out of that much I/O bandwidth???

You just don't get it.
Click to expand...

I agree that USB-C/TB3 is the future. This new MBP is future-proof as far as i/O, for sure. I'm glad they're there.

But the deal is that this is a transitional period; he might be referring to the dongles you'll need to connect to your existing infrastructure, which is something that must be taken into consideration when making new purchases.

Apple could've eased us into it by providing a mix of ports (like they used to) until the transition is complete.

This "drop-the-ax" type of behavior ends up leaving a bad taste in people's mouths.
 
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lol at all the people saying they don't need more than 16GB RAM. This isn't a Macbook Hobbyist. It's supposed to be "Pro", as in for PROfessionals. 16GB RAM is a joke. Chrome and 1 Windows VM, and whoops now we're swapping RAM out to disk. And if you want *2* VMs, or maybe to edit some video, well too bad cause the kids in the Macrumors forum said they're doing just fine with 4GB.
 
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So there are a few show stoppers for me on this as an iOS developer... USB ports! I have tons of 30-pin and Lightning adapters that I use to quickly build to test devices. So now I need to buy new cables, or adapters which gets kind of messy. I think USB-C is the future, but they should have included a USB-C to Lightning cable in the box for iPhones syncing and so I can build to it. That's sort of foolish at this point.

Another solution would have been a Thunderbolt 2 adapter that also had power to the USB-C. That way I could connect my existing Thunderbolt 2 hub to my stuff (which has USB and more Thunderbolt) as well as provide power with one cable.
 
ilovenewjersey said:
How do we force shutdown when the virtual power button is unresponsive? On my current late-2011 MBP, I hold the actual, non-virtual power button for five seconds as a last resort. I really, really hope the new last resort isn't "drive fifty miles to the nearest Genius Bar during working hours".
Click to expand...
You do realize, of course, that that "non-virtual power button" is a simple, momentary switch that is read by the Power Controller (SMC) chip, right? It isn't like you have a big-ol' rocker switch on the Power Supply. It is STILL all software-driven, whether the "power switch" is "real" or "virtual".
 
jb-net said:
For years we got new features at the same price points as before (it was called technological progress). But now Apple wants to make us believe that we have to pay more for each new feature (iMac Retina, iPad Pro 9.7, MacBook Pro with Touch Bar) :-(
Click to expand...

The Green Zone people are totally cool with this. It's all of us Nowhere Zone and No-Go Zone people who are increasingly angry. The Green Zone people claim the recession ended over six years ago.
 
25ghosts said:
2016 MacBook Pro with Core i7 Processor... My 2014 MacBook Pro has such a processor.

I like the idea of the new touch bar but I am NOT going to shell out almost 5k EUR to get a MBP with a VERY old Processor. Am I missing something ???? The BTO on Apple.com only offers core i7...
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Your 2014 MacBook has a processor that is called i7. It doesn't have anything like the processor in the 2016 MacBook. It's about two generations ahead, plus runs at much higher speed.
 
Cook did an admirable job trying to put lipstick on that pig. I can see why he doesn't take questions during live streaming, no good answers about what this new model does to make the pro user experience easier. For example, who the hell wants to constantly have to take their eyes off the screen to look at a Touch Bar?
 
Tamagotchi said:
Same here. I had a mid-2012 15"MBP.

Just ordered the new 15"MBP w/ Radeon Pro 460 and 512GB. I hope that this one lasts me up to the year 2021.
Click to expand...

Same here too. I just ordered the space grey 15" 2.9Ghz, 512Gb SSD, 16Gb Ram, R Pro 460 and a few necessary USB and Thunderbolt adapters. There goes $4500 CDN. I would have considered a MacPro for that kind of money, but NO WAY IN HELL i'm spending that much on a 2013 era machine.
 
I miss you Steve.

I loved your ideas. I loved your visions. I loved your products.

It seems that I have to accept, that Apple is a different company now.

Tim destroys Apple.

I hope my MacBook Air will last a few more years. I already started to check out Android phones. I don't want to check out Windows laptops.

I'm sad.
 
littyboy said:
I too have a windows gaming PC. A lot of people don't understand how much windows has improved over the years.
Click to expand...

Not to mention you get a lot of bang for your buck hardware wise. I recently purchased a Windows Desktop with an i7 6700 and GTX 1070 card for $1000. Apple can't come close to that. Also, not getting all the Windows 10 hate, it's not bad at all.
 
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