Entry-Level 13-Inch MacBook Pro Updated With 8th-Gen Processors, Touch Bar, Touch ID, and T2 Security Chip

[TheBigApple2006]

They aren’t listed in the ARK yet (https://ark.intel.com), but I’m hoping they are Whiskey Lake 15w U-Series variants based on the i5-8365U and i7-8665U with Iris Plus GPUs Nostradamus of the UHD 620. These could be 15w TDP or maybe, 28w TDP parts. If they are 15w, then chances are they will run fairly consistently at a Turbo Boosted frequency more often than not...it speaks volumes that it took this long for Intel to cough up the part for OEMs. Although I suspect Apple will be the only customer.

I certainly don’t want to quote Geekbench numbers, but I can see the Core i5 running ~4500 single-core and ~15,000 multi-core and for the Core i7 over ~5,200 SC and 16,500-17,000 MC.

These could be very good performers once they get into user’s hands. We’ll have to wait a little while to get performance numbers. Fun times.

Thanks, interesting points. I have to weigh up getting a 1.4 Quad Core/16GB/512GB vs a 2.4Ghz/16GB/256GB. The latter is 90 British pounds more expensive. I would be mostly doing Word processing/academic software, plus a smattering of PDF editors (Acrobat, PDF Expert, etc) for PDF management and manipulation. I do not edit video or other media. Would be using an external T5 SSD for the storage of PDFs. Do you think that the 1.4 would Turbo Boost itself to levels comparable with the 2.4, and which one would you choose in my situation? Many thanks!

 

[trims]

1.4 ghz and 128 gig SSD? What is this, 2010?

Even in 2011, when I bought my MBA, I thought a 128GB SSD was too small.

 

[chucker23n1]

It's probably either a previously unannounced Whiskey Lake-U SKU, or they used cTDP to get it to 1.4 GHz. (Or perhaps Apple's specs contain a typo.)

The cTDP speculation is clearly wrong, as also mentioned by Zdigital2015: it cannot be an existing Whiskey Lake-U part because those have UHD graphics, and this machine ships with Iris Plus.

These are clearly unannounced parts.

This, combined, may explain the relatively lower clock rates to existing Whiskey Lake-U parts: they sacrificed some of the clock in order to stuff a beefier GPU in there while preserving the same heat dissipation (at four cores!).

 

[manu chao]

This, more than any other move in a while, seems to reflect the absence of overall product leadership at Apple. All the signs to date have suggested that Apple was moving away from the Touch Bar. After all, Apple has had years to add it to its desktop keyboards (which would have provided the ultimate test of its mass-market acceptance and would have given developers much stronger incentive to incorporate it into their software plans) and has not done so. That was true even with the introductions of the iMac Pro and the Mac Pro, two great opportunities to release a "pro" keyboard with a Touch Bar (if that indeed were the plan). Now, after foregoing those opportunities and letting this technology seemingly languish, Apple has doubled-down on it, seemingly out of nowhere. To me, this suggests that the person in charge of the MacBook Pro line did not coordinate with the person in charge of desktop Macs, or that they disagreed and didn't receive a centralized directive to resolve that disagreement.

Maybe a TouchBar works significantly less well on a Desktop because it would be so far away from the display. What do people that use an external display as their main display with their MBP and also frequently use the TouchBar have to say on this aspect?

 

[delnerdo]

I can see developers taking deeper advantage of the TouchBar.

Like a $19.95 app to kill my TouchBar. Permanently. Heck, I’d pay $39.95.

 

[Rob_2811]

“People”... When are MacRumors users going to realize that the echo chamber on this forum isn’t necessarily what mainstream Apple customers think?

The TouchBar is a great idea whose potential hasn’t been entirely realized. Now that every MacBookPro has it and it’s been added to every other Mac through Sidecar on Catalina, I can see developers taking deeper advantage of the TouchBar.

Good luck with that.

 

[LuciusWrong]

Well, hopefully this is just a temporary simplification of the assembly line going from 4 laptops to essentially 2 (MBA and MBPwTB) before the keyboard revamp and revised MBA's with TouchID, MBP with TouchID, and MBP with TouchBar.

Ah who the hell am I kidding, the MBP will never be Touchbar less again. Idiots over there. They have to be looking at the metrics and seeing no one uses it for anything other than the standard fn keys.

Isn't hope a cruel mistress???

 

[teejaysplace24]

I'm sure at least a third of MR readers threw their devices across the room at the mention of uniform Touch Bar inclusion. Nevertheless, this update is great news overall because, with the entire portable lineup now updated in early summer, any late fall announcement will likely represent more than just cursory improvements and instead comprise an actual product evolution. So the focus will presumably be the rumored 16" MBP, potentially with a redesigned keyboard, and perhaps other features — all of which will be very, very welcome changes to what has been Apple's worst laptop generation probably ever. I bought one in fall of 2018 and I am fully prepared to turn this unit around, AppleCare and all, if it means a more meaningful upgrade. Because outside of its exorbitant price, this generation has been anything but extra.

 

[Nismo73]

I haven’t read every post, but was it pointed out that this new entry level is Bluetooth 5 vs the non Touch Bar was 4.2. Also, the new Air stays as 4.2.

 

[ghanwani]

I'm sure at least a third of MR readers threw their devices across the room at the mention of uniform Touch Bar inclusion. Nevertheless, this update is great news overall because, with the entire portable lineup now updated in early summer, any late fall announcement will likely represent more than just cursory improvements and instead comprise an actual product evolution. So the focus will presumably be the rumored 16" MBP, potentially with a redesigned keyboard, and perhaps other features — all of which will be very, very welcome changes to what has been Apple's worst laptop generation probably ever. I bought one in fall of 2018 and I am fully prepared to turn this unit around, AppleCare and all, if it means a more meaningful upgrade. Because outside of its exorbitant price, this generation has been anything but extra.

By building a bad machine, Apple is getting you interested in upgrading sooner. The 16" or whatever new device will have similar compromises. It keeps the money flowing steadily instead of 5-7 year upgrades.

It worked for me too. I went from a 2017 to a 2019. Prior machine was a 2010.

 

[ipedro]

Do you think Apple will release someday a keyboard with Touch Bar?

Yes. It’s a matter of time. Actually, have we seen the official new Mac Pro keyboard?

i hate it and wont buy a MacBook PRO with it. Need haptic buttons!

Then you won’t buy a MacBook Pro. Have fun with Windows.

...and yes, I do think that a Taptic Engine will make it into an upcoming MacBookPro. It’s become so critical to UI feedback in iOS that touch feels naked without it on the MacBookPro.

 

[Zen_Arcade]

Tempted until I saw it has the touch bar and the butterfly keyboard.

No go.

 

[ipedro]

The issue isn’t the TouchBar per say but the lack of an always there ESC key.

I agree with that. I would have made sense to include a key on the far left, Touch ID on the far right and TouchBar in the middle. Alternatively, ESC could fit next to the ~ key.

 

[4chill3as]

Thanks, interesting points. I have to weigh up getting a 1.4 Quad Core/16GB/512GB vs a 2.4Ghz/16GB/256GB. The latter is 90 British pounds more expensive. I would be mostly doing Word processing/academic software, plus a smattering of PDF editors (Acrobat, PDF Expert, etc) for PDF management and manipulation. I do not edit video or other media. Would be using an external T5 SSD for the storage of PDFs. Do you think that the 1.4 would Turbo Boost itself to levels comparable with the 2.4, and which one would you choose in my situation? Many thanks!

I feel like you must go with the cheaper option. I have an entry mac mini 2014 and I'm doing word processing and pdf managing easily. So you wont have any problem with the 1.4 ghz option

 

[ipedro]

Yeah, Sidecar is good. It signals that Apple is still committed to the Touch Bar, and it adds a clever new use case.

It's also good that there's no longer a weird MacBook Pro model that inexplicably doesn't have the Touch Bar. Love it or not, the inconsistency was bad.

But I wish 1) the MacBook Airs had it, 2) there were any desktop option at all of getting it (I suppose the closest you can get is to buy a low-cost iPad for that?), and 3) it had haptics.

With Sidecar, presumably the Touch Bar on the iPad theoretically has haptics? And maybe we'll see that rolled out on MacBook Pros next yeaR?

Agree on all points. I was glad to see the MacBook lineup cleaned up today. For better or for worse, consistency and simplicity are important and a defining feature of Apple. It shouldn’t be so hard to decide on which fits best for a user’s use case. All the pro level MacBookPro’s now look the same. The MacBookAir (no old versions) are the entry laptop for consumer/students. I’ll miss the MacBook (beautiful little machine) but it made no sense in the lineup.

I do think we’ll see a Taptic Engine in upcoming MacBookPros. The Touch Bar however, seems to be what differentiates the Pro from the MacBookAir. I don’t think it’ll come to the Air which is instead destined to keep dropping in price until it’s sub $999. We’ll probably get a MacPro/iMac Pro Bluetooth keyboard with Touch Bar.

 

[TheBigApple2006]

I feel like you must go with the cheaper option. I have an entry mac mini 2014 and I'm doing word processing and pdf managing easily. So you wont have any problem with the 1.4 ghz option

Cheers, you are probably right, but best to wait for some benchmarks. Hopefully they will appear within the next couple of days. My main concern is whether two ports is enough to plug in multiple SSD external drives. I am well beyond the drive capacities of the internal SSDs and will need to work extensive with the externals for a while. I might therefore have to use a couple of T5 and a couple of platter-based external HDDs at the same time. Am I correct in saying that hubs reduce speed, ie I won't be able to get 10 Gbps speeds on the external SSDs if I plug them into a hub with only power delivery as the other connected item?

 

[DevNull0]

TouchBar is standard now? That's gonna go over well here.

I was thinking that. I bought the base model explicitly to avoid getting an emojibar, it was not a cost-based decision and I would have bought more expensive model if I could have have without the emojibar.

 

[Glockworkorange]

Nope, $100 cheaper:
View attachment 847396

Enough with the "qualifying students" price. The default cost should be the non-students. Or you, know, the people who can afford them.
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Even in 2011, when I bought my MBA, I thought a 128GB SSD was too small.

Back then, they were selling entry level 11 inch Airs with 64 gb
[doublepost=1562717385][/doublepost]

Cheers, you are probably right, but best to wait for some benchmarks. Hopefully they will appear within the next couple of days. My main concern is whether two ports is enough to plug in multiple SSD external drives. I am well beyond the drive capacities of the internal SSDs and will need to work extensive with the externals for a while. I might therefore have to use a couple of T5 and a couple of platter-based external HDDs at the same time. Am I correct in saying that hubs reduce speed, ie I won't be able to get 10 Gbps speeds on the external SSDs if I plug them into a hub with only power delivery as the other connected item?

I’d go with the more expensive model to get the 4 ports. I couldn’t imagine using only 2. I also use multiple displays, so...
[doublepost=1562717621][/doublepost]

I agree with that. I would have made sense to include a key on the far left, Touch ID on the far right and TouchBar in the middle. Alternatively, ESC could fit next to the ~ key.

I don’t think MOST users use or care about the escape key, except the very loud and vocal minority of developers and Apple bloggers/hacks. And people on this site.

If the market research indicated it was widely used, it’d still be there.

 

[Rookbird]

1.4 ghz and 128 gig SSD? What is this, 2010?

Yea this is ridiculous pricing considering you could get this in a cheap windows computer for probably $400?

 

[ghanwani]

Instead of calling the machines nTB and TB, we will now have to distinguish between the models by referring to them as 2TB and 4TB (2 thunderbolt vs. 4 thunderbolt).
[doublepost=1562719102][/doublepost]

Yea this is ridiculous pricing considering you could get this in a cheap windows computer for probably $400?

That wouldn't be an apples to apples comparison (pun intended). What are the specs on the $400 windows machine? Look at RAM speed, display quality, SSD speed, the amount of bloatware, etc. I'm sure we pay a premium for macos but it's probably not that much.

 

[Black Magic]

All the 2011 also worked perfectly until they didn't after 2-4 years.

I have a 2011 MBP going strong here. Only problem is I can't get anymore free OS upgrades. No I'm not considering hacking it to get the Mojave installed either.

 

[ErikGrim]

By the way, I don’t get the hate for the Touch Bar. Sure it’s a little gimmicky, but the fn key turns them into function keys if you miss them.

It's 90% the loss of a physical esc key. If they kept that all complaints would magically evaporate.

 

[LeonardXW]

The 2.4 GHz one is a U-series processor, quad-core, 28 W TDP (Coffee Lake, 8279U - slight update from 2.3 GHz 8259U used in 2018 model)
The 1.4 GHz version is either:
1) Y-series, Amber Lake, 7 W TDP, quad-core variant of the 2018/2019 MBA processor (8210Y) with an Iris Plus 645 graphics added (MBA has a UHD 617), or
2) U-series, Coffee Lake, 15 W TDP, quad-core, Iris Plus 645 (successor to 2017 2-TB-port MBP, Kaby Lake 7360U, 2.3 GHz, Iris Plus 640)

The Iris Plus 645 indicates it's a (quad-core) successor to chip in the 2017 2-TB-port MBP. The lower base frequency of 1.4 GHz indicates it is a quad-core variant of the, lower-TDP chip in the 2018 MBA.

Can I know what is the real world differences between the two processor (lower clock base & higher clock base)? Thanks

 

[ScreenSavers]

I dont mind the Touch Bar. I've actually used it a lot lately... I feel like it has a lot of future potential as well. The worst possible situation now would be if Apple stopped including it in future models, because they wouldn't add any future functionality in macOS updates after that...

 

[ghanwani]

In this article:
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/11/16/macbook-pro-touch-bar-speaker-grilles/

Update: iFixit contacted MacRumors to say that it has updated the teardown with an extra image that clarifies the situation regarding the speaker grilles. While the main speakers are not located underneath the grilles, a pair of tweeters that do sit under the grilles have through-holes (80 per tweeter) to pass sound out of the case enclosure. The rest of the "holes" either side of the keyboard (over 1,100 of them) are filled in, non-functional, and apparently cosmetic.

Is this true for the new base MBP?