Apple's MacBook Pro Turns 20 Years Old

[MacRumors]

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the MacBook Pro, unveiled by Steve Jobs as a "One More Thing" segment at the end of his Macworld San Francisco keynote on January 10, 2006.

The MacBook Pro was an evolution of the previous PowerBook as the professional-level laptop in Apple's lineup, but with the shift from PowerPC chips to Intel Core chips, Apple decided to launch a rebrand. The MacBook Pro was initially available only in a 15-inch size, with a 17-inch model following a few months later. A 13-inch aluminum MacBook debuted in October 2008, and after just one generation it was folded into the MacBook Pro lineup in 2009.

The original ‌MacBook Pro‌ came in two configurations, both with 15.4-inch widescreen displays at a resolution of 1,440 × 900 pixels. As announced, the entry-level model priced at $1,999 featured a 1.67GHz Core Duo processor, 512MB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM, and an 80GB hard drive, while the higher-end model priced at $2,499 offered a faster 1.83GHz Core Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 100GB hard drive.

By the time the MacBook Pro started shipping a month later, however, Apple had already upgraded the available Core Duo chips to 1.83GHz in the base model and 2.0GHz in the high-end configuration, while also introducing an even higher-end 2.16GHz build-to-order option.

With its lengthy 20-year history, the MacBook Pro has gone through a lot of changes over its lifetime, adopting key features like a built-in webcam, MagSafe power connector, aluminum unibody construction, high-resolution Retina displays, and more.

Other features were not so well received, including the revolutionary Touch Bar in place of traditional function keys and the butterfly-mechanism keyboard that proved prone to failures and resulted in an extended repair program and multiple class action lawsuits.

In 2020, the 13-inch MacBook Pro was one of three Apple products, alongside the MacBook Air and the Mac mini, to receive the M1 chip, marking a generational shift for Apple away from Intel processors and into its own custom Apple silicon. The move freed Apple up from having to follow the cadence of Intel chip releases, and it allowed Apple to further tighten the integration between hardware and software, leading to significant leaps in performance and efficiency.

Looking toward the future, the next big revolution for the MacBook Pro appears to be coming fairly soon, with rumors indicating we should see a major redesign for the higher-end models with OLED displays, touchscreen support, and perhaps an iPhone-like Dynamic Island cutout in the display in either late 2026 or early 2027. Apple is said to also be planning for thinner and lighter designs, making Apple's most powerful laptops even more portable.

Article Link: Apple's MacBook Pro Turns 20 Years Old

 

[t0rqx]

Maybe they should fix their manufacturing of Macbook Pro screens. Its the only faulty part where there are micro-scratches and dents.

The rest is matured and the built quality is excellent.

Even my cheap HP laptops does not have these micro scratches and dents.

While Apple claims using aero rocket space technology to produce their products and measured by microscopes that can zoom into nanometers still make these low geade screen.

 

[rbbloom99]

I’ve had almost every MacBook since it came out.

 

[TechRunner]

Well, I just watched the whole video. Steve's "One more thing" presentations were always a highlight for me.

 

[dms2024]

Same, and 9mins later, I want to buy one.

 

[jdawgnoonan]

I have owned one of every generation except the models with the touch bar and bad keys. I switched to Windows on Thinkpads for a spell during that era and came back to the Mac at the M1. Jobs was the best at the presentations.

 

[DougiePhresh]

I have owned one of every generation except the models with the touch bar and bad keys. I switched to Windows on Thinkpads for a spell during that era and came back to the Mac at the M1. Jobs was the best at the presentations.

Why does everyone hate the Touch Bar? I love the Touch Bar - I am genuinely a little sad that my M1 MBP is approaching the end of its life and I will have to replace it with a new, non-Touch Bar MBP

 

[neuropsychguy]

Great set of computers over the years. I still remember how some people on Macrumors (I'm not sure what my old username was at the time) and Slashdot hated the name. Here we are 20 years later still with MacBooks.

 

[woolypants]

I've had many over the years and I've got to say they've been the best laptops I've ever had. Very few, if any, compromises. This is how computing should be.

Using a Windows laptop is nearly always such an awful experience. Apple got it right. I used to hate having to work around obvious usability issues, or poor design choices. I had one Windows laptop that, every time you booted, you had to manually activate wi-fi via a keyboard combo. Insane. I eventually created a startup script to this automatically.

That said, by the good luck of my buying cycle I managed to avoid the Apple MBP missteps such as the butterfly keyboard. I did have one with a touchbar which I thought was meh. I configured it eventually to control Spaces, which was just about useful. That was one of the i9 models that ran so hot that to be honest, I couldn't really comfortably touch the touchbar anyway...

As with cars, the best time to buy any Apple device is a few generations after it was introduced.

I also had issues with quality. Light bleed on the screens was a noticeable one that involved a return for me. Apple's quality control doesn't always match their branding, and they can ship hardware that is less than 100%.

 

[jdavid_rp]

Why does everyone hate the Touch Bar? I love the Touch Bar - I am genuinely a little sad that my M1 MBP is approaching the end of its life and I will have to replace it with a new, non-Touch Bar MBP

Me too. I have a M1 Pro MBP since release or so and I still try to dismiss pop up alerts from the nonexistent Touch Bar. But if it came back, it would need changes as I feel it wasn’t as productive as I wanted it to be.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Why does everyone hate the Touch Bar? I love the Touch Bar - I am genuinely a little sad that my M1 MBP is approaching the end of its life and I will have to replace it with a new, non-Touch Bar MBP

Many people liked it, just not enough for Apple to continue it. Online comments also tend towards the extreme so you generally hear the stronger opinions. In this case, mostly against it. There are many discussions out there by people who love it, they just either get ignored or aren't quite as popular.

I didn't have one with the Touch Bar but most people I talked with in real life who had one didn't mind it.

Developers generally didn't like it but many "creatives" did. In this survey it was used daily by a slim majority of people and used regularly by "creatives": https://macbookjournal.com/macbook-usage-survey/

Another one: https://9to5mac.com/2021/01/25/future-of-the-touch-bar/

None of these are scientific polls, but the general pattern suggests most were indifferent and used it when needed (which matches my anecdotal experience talking with people) and the rest appear to be split pretty closely in really liking it and really disliking it.

I think there was enough push back that the added complexity and cost of it weren't worth it for Apple to continue. I'm just glad they tried something different, even if it didn't last.

I would have liked it (did when I tried it a few times) but wasn't at a place financially where I could afford a new MacBook Pro at the time.

 

[Artemis70]

Why does everyone hate the Touch Bar? I love the Touch Bar - I am genuinely a little sad that my M1 MBP is approaching the end of its life and I will have to replace it with a new, non-Touch Bar MBP

Not everybody hates the Touch Bar. There is a vocal group that does hate it tremendously. I don't know if the vocal group is a minority or a majority.

I really miss the touch bar. I thought it was one of the better inventions especially since most users never use the function keys. The alternative functions that are also on the function keys are (in my view) much better serviced with the Touch Bar.

 

[omenatarhuri]

Jobs was such an incredible presenter... one of a kind. Miss being excited and waiting for their shows.

 

[alexandr]

Ah, the good 'ol days of when keyboard color matched the computer...

 

[switz]

Have had probably one of every generation of Apple "laptops" since 1990 when I got my wife a IIsi with 13" RGB monitor. I then acquired several Iici and a IIfx. It was easy to get rio a $10k price on the IIfx with Mac memory (32GB) and a 80 GB hard drive and a Radeon video card for the monstrous 21" color monitor.

 

[MrENGLISH]

I remember that event like it was yesterday. Crazy how fast 20yrs fly by...

RIP Steve

 

[MetalGod1390]

I do miss watching the keynotes when steve Jobs presents because its very enjoyable and I do miss the keynotes that featured Jony Ive.

 

[TSE]

I had the final design of the OG MacBook Pro - the one with the 8600m gt that officially ended Apple's relationship with nvidia.

Beautiful industrial design. Honestly the amount of ports on that thing just looked cool. Like you were some sort of cyber engineer or something.

 

[TruthAboveAllElse]

With its lengthy 20-year history, the MacBook Pro has gone through a lot of changes over its lifetime, adopting key features like a built-in webcam, MagSafe power connector, aluminum unibody construction, high-resolution Retina displays, and more.

This is a strange paragraph. MagSafe, and built-in webcam, were not adopted over the 20 year history, they were introduced with the MacBook Pro.

 

[theluggage]

Why does everyone hate the Touch Bar? I love the Touch Bar - I am genuinely a little sad that my M1 MBP is approaching the end of its life and I will have to replace it with a new, non-Touch Bar MBP

I think a big part of the problem was not that people hated the touch bar, but that they hated losing the function keys.

Also, it was a MacBook Pro-only feature (and only the higher-end MBPs at that) - which probably limited how much use applications made of it. That's the problem of introducing any new input device that not everybody can use - developers can only really support it as an optional extra.

 

[Madonepro]

And if you look at the entry price for the 14 and 16, they are $1599 and $2499 respectively, and when you consider the amount of RAM and Internal storage available now, i'd suggest, that the perceived greed of Apple is an illusion.

 

[bcortens]

Why does everyone hate the Touch Bar? I love the Touch Bar - I am genuinely a little sad that my M1 MBP is approaching the end of its life and I will have to replace it with a new, non-Touch Bar MBP

The Touch Bar can be unreliable, I haven't had a single laptop (sample size = 3) where the Touch Bar didn't fail over time. Furthermore, the early generations didn't have a physical escape key making it harder to touch type and that was so so frustrating. I just generally don't want to have to look at my keyboard when I'm using it, if I want to touch glass I want to be looking at it, like on an iPad or iPhone.

And if you look at the entry price for the 14 and 16, they are $1599 and $2499 respectively, and when you consider the amount of RAM and Internal storage available now, i'd suggest, that the perceived greed of Apple is an illusion.

Inflation adjusted the prices are pretty much the same. The greed of Apple isn't so much in the starting price itself, but the base RAM and Storage. If you look at the pricing trends (prior to the recent data centre AI craze ruining pricing) Apple stopped matching base RAM and Storage increases to general market trends a while ago. There was a point when the base RAM and Storage would double in Macs roughly every 2 years. While that is no longer reasonable, it is still the case that Apple hasn't even tried to match the real world price and capacity trends in at least the last decade.

 

[IceCool]

The MacBook has always been my favorite product from Apple. I use my MacBook Pro for everything and absolutely push it to its limits - and it just keeps pushing through.

The 2021-Present models are my favorite MacBook Pro designs of all time. They’ve always felt like a modern “throwback” design to me and look/feel great.

 

[fooyork]

I remember buying one of these in the brand new Apple Store in Soho, NYC. Loved it. This was my longest serving ever Mac laptop, I think it trooped on for 7 years before it was finally replaced! (Though my current M1 Pro MBP is giving this record a run for its money at nearly 5 years!).

I do miss the PowerBook name though… such a great product name and I always thought MacBook Pro sounded clumsy.

 

[Artemis70]

This is a strange paragraph. MagSafe, and built-in webcam, were not adopted over the 20 year history, they were introduced with the MacBook Pro.

Agree. Both played a significant part in his presentation. It is obvious they were both there from the start!