15" Space Gray MBP, 2.9Ghz, 1TB SSD, Radeon Pro 460
Im coming from a 2008 unibody MBP so this is a big improvement. The build quality on this thing is amazing, it is thinner, lighter, and does not compromise how sturdy it feels. The keyboard was strange at first, but I am actually liking it. My fingers would sometimes hit the older chickelet style keys when moving from one letter to another, causing some typos. The new flatter keys obviously don't have this problem, and yes, they are "click" but its a not an issue for me. The screen is very colorful, it is comparable to a big screen tv, something like a Sony Bravia in terms of color. Another plus is the hinge that holds the screen. My older MBP screen hinge could not hold the screen open when working at some angles. Either the screen would move back, or it would come forward.
I've had mixed feelings about the touch bar. Its great being able to use touch ID to log in and also for system password pop-ups. I've also enjoyed the shortcuts it displays depending on the App you are using. I was using xCode last night and I find it convenient being able to press the "play" button to build and run the code. It also has buttons for commenting whole lines of code, indenting, and looking up code definitions. When debugging it displays the "jump over", "jump into" , and "jump out" buttons. That way you can be putting user input with the track pad and using your other hand to jump over lines of code.
The biggest hurdle I see for the touch bar is going to be developer support. The touch bar will only be as good as the the support from developers . One example is Word, Microsoft has yet to update Word to use the touch bar. As a result, the touch bar is practically unused in that scenario. Currently typing on the forums displays buttons to change text color, bold, italicize and underline. I get that I could easily take my hands off the keyboard and use the trackpad to select the same buttons, but its more convenient to reach up and tap the corresponding button. Its basically like having F keys with macros.
The battery life has actually been really good! Im coming form a 2008 unibody so anything over 2Hrs of batter life is a huge improvement for me. Last night I was playing a video from youtube, browsing the internet and working on a word document all while being quoted an estimated 10 hrs of battery life. Its also worth nothing that I usually have the screen brightness set to about 75% and I like my keyboard backlight set to about 50%.
Heat has not been an issue for me, I run Vmware fusion often and this will kick the fans into higher RPM and also cause the laptop to heat up, but again I'm coming from a 2008 unibody MBP and that thing gets super hot just browsing the web. Currently just writing this article my new MBP still feels pretty cool on the bottom and just slightly warm on the aluminum above the touch bar.
The enlarged trackpad has taken me some time to get used to. On the older models i would rest my left thumb right under the space bar and use my right hand to move the mouse. Now this is no longer possible because the palm rejection thinks I'm resting my palms and will ignore my finger. Its not a deal breaker, its just an adjustment I've had to make. On the upside, it is now easier to move windows across the screen because I'm not running out of space on the trackpad. This is also my first laptop with a force touch trackpad and the simulated click is really convincing, so much so that I took a flash light to see if it moved at all when i would "click."
That wraps up my lengthily review of almost every aspect of my 15" space gray MBP