I love the new MBP - the thread for the rest of us.

[cardfan]

I'm not sure that 3,000 laptop has been built with the upmost care, in fact the same factories that build the MBPs builds Apple's competitors.

Also, consider Apple's track record, failing GPUs, and staingate, plus a fairly high number of reports about the butterfly keyboard failing on the first generation macbook.

I'm not down on Apple, but I think the attention to detail that made Macs what they are today has slowly disappeared under Time Cook.

I bought a Surface Book laptop for about 1200 or there abouts, the build quality is exceptional, the trackpad is excellent and doesn't squeak, I'm more satisfied in my work, because I have 1,800 dollars in my bank account that wouldn't, had I spent 3,000. Especially since I can easily move my pictures from my camera to the SB via its SD card, something I cannot do with the new Macs, unless I buy another adapter. Plus the Surface Book as the nice easy detach power port (not as elegant as magsafe, but still nice).

For me the bottom line is picking the right tool for the job, Apple has shown a propensity of making a laptop thin just for the sake of thinness, while I do like the touch bar, the price is such, that I don't think I'm getting value - just my $.02

That SD slot is questionable too. I always thought Apple catered to creatives. Especially photographers. Why remove this? Even if you don't have a camera, it's an easy way to boost storage. So pack an additional adapter. Iphone adapter. Ethernet one. Hdmi one. Display port one? TB 2 one. A few USB-A ones for who knows what.

On the plus side, get a nifty battery charger that has USB-C.

But for 3k plus, you shouldn't have to do this. You shouldn't be dealing with a kb found in a 12" netbook. I'd have to wait until I had need of these ports before buying one. Always buy for the present.

 

[maflynn]

On the plus side, get a nifty battery charger that has USB-C.

The power port is one of those good news bad news things, I can accept the fact that it doesn't make sense to include a magsafe port because of USB-C, but the reason for the magsafe port is still present, i.e., saving your computer from damage.

 

[997440]

The power port is one of those good news bad news things, I can accept the fact that it doesn't make sense to include a magsafe port because of USB-C, but the reason for the magsafe port is still present, i.e., saving your computer from damage.

I'm not a MacBook guy but there is this available for a MagSafe like experience. Might be others available now, and market demand will likely cause others to be available in the future.

 

[maflynn]

I'm not a MacBook guy but there is this available for a MagSafe like experience. Might be others available now, and market demand will likely cause others to be available in the future.

Wow, that's a nice find and corrects the missing feature

 

[Jmausmuc]

My plan, before yesterday's announcement, was to buy the new 13" model loaded.

Thought I would spend only $2,200 by the time I was done. That is with a 1TB drive.

Of course, prices were higher than expected when the announcement was finally made.

I ended up going with a loaded 15" MBP for $3,200 (GVT pricing). Fully loaded sans hard drive which is only 1TB.

I spent the extra $1k because I fell in love with this laptop.

I think the touch bar is genius! Nothing else out there matches what Apple has done here outside of touch screen laptops that exist on Windows computers.

I wanted the most powerful desktop replacement I could find. I do more work on my laptop than I do on my 4k iMac.

Yeah, I could probably get a more powerful laptop if I went with a Windows model.

However, I hate Windows. I hate Microsoft. I left that platform almost two decades ago and never looked back.

I am not happy that Apple raises their prices like this. However, let's face it, those who buy into their ecosystem are rewarded with quality products that last much longer than most hardware running windows.

I, for one, am very happy with this new MBPro. So much so, I ended up spending $1k more than I expected.

Serious???

 

[hawkeye_a]

Getting rid of the function keys had me alarmed (mostly because of the escape key and power button). It did lead to some reflection about that row of keys, and i ended up agreeing with Apple that it is superfluous. They also addressed bringing back the function key(pressing the 'fn' key) and the touchID space is a power button on its own.

So far my concerns for the new Macbooks are
-lack of MagSafe which will probably be brought back with Rev.B
-lack of a discrete GPU in the 13"

I plan on upgrading from my 2008 unibody MacBook to a 2016 MBTB, the only question I have to answer is... 13 or 15?

 

[spiritlevel]

I bought a Surface Book laptop for about 1200 or there abouts...

Forgive me if I'm off base (I don't know much about surface books (never really looked at any Windows stuff until I saw the Studio demo the other day) - but isn't a $1200 surface pretty low end? by that I mean only 128 SSD, 8GB RAM, Core i5?

A top spec surface which is along the lines of the new MBPs seems to be over $3000? (1TB, 16GB, i7)
[doublepost=1477662219][/doublepost]

I plan on upgrading from my 2008 unibody MacBook to a 2016 MBTB, the only question I have to answer is... 13 or 15?

If you do anything visual like design, photography, illustration etc then def the 15 I would say. If not then the 13 will be fine.

 

[moep]

Wow, that's a nice find and corrects the missing feature

"Rated up to 60 watts (20 volts at 3 amps) power"

The 15" uses a 87 watt USB-C power supply so this doesn't seem to be safe to use.
Looks hideous too.

 

[NJRonbo]

Serious???

No, I had so much time on my hands that I thought I would come here and post a complete lie.

The joke is on you guys.

 

[Jmausmuc]

No, I had so much time on my hands that I thought I would come here and post a complete lie.

The joke is on you guys.

Pheww I'm relieved...

 

[priitv8]

... Always buy for the present.

I, on the contrary, always buy for the future. That's because I normally tend to keep my tech for at least 3 years (but TV set lasts normally at least twice as long) and don't bother to upgrade every single year. Thus, always plan a little ahead so that the investment serves me also 3 years down the line.

 

[EnesM]

Wow, that's a nice find and corrects the missing feature

Is 60W enough for the new Macbook Pros?

 

[Heart Break Kid]

I just ordered one:
15" MacBook Pro
2.9GHZ i7
16GB memory
512 GB SSD
Radeon 460 with 4GB VRAM.

ETA Nov. 28 - Dec 5.

I am super excited and look forward to a) the upgrade from my current machine b) watching as I open flood gates of hate for not towing the forum line of "this is expensive and underpowered", c) using OnePassword with TouchID built into the powerbutton, d) interacting with the new OLED bar, e) maximizing that screens potential via aggressive use of chess.app

 

[azpekt]

do i like new rmbp - hell yeah, sexy and sleek they are. especial those space gray stealthy ones.
will i change my rmbp 2015 for a new one - nope, will wait at least a year or two.

i`m absolutely fine with all ports gone. magsafe though will be missed.

 

[mikeo007]

I've done some of the legwork for those comparing the 2016 13" to a few other devices. It comes out on top pretty handily:

 

[Traverse]

Agreed. Maybe when people start getting them there will turn out to be some killer feature that makes it worth the price. But so far I don't see it.

I just got a new 15" rMBP with dGPU for $2200 in June and was kind of kicking myself for not waiting. But these prices are $600 more for a 1/2 lighter and faster SSD. I do not see the value.

Apple has long since abandoned the "one killer feature." Look at most of their computer and iOS device updates lately, it's about the package.

You get a smaller body, thinner device, better screen, better speakers, Touch bar, better flash, newer processors and newer graphics. None of those are an "OMG MUST HAVE!" but they add up to a nice package. Whether that package is worth the cost is up to the user. For me, not so much.

As @redheeler mentioned, Apple's cost is not the end: I will need to order two USB-C cables from Western digital ($40), an Apple Mulit-AV adapter ($79), and one Apple USB-C to USB-A adapter ($20/$30?). So it will cost an extra $130-ish just to get back the functionality of my current model. I thought Apple would included at least one USB-A adaptor in a "Pro" machine costing $2000-$4000, but nope.

 

[Keeval]

I can certainly see why some people like to have a good moan about things, if the new machines don’t fit them in some way. They have been looking forward to something, and it doesn’t match their dreams or hopes or disappoints them in some way. Due to the disappointment they don’t want to buy the it and to let go of the disappointment, they vent… it’s typical MacRumours after a new release.


But as this is the happy thread…


As for me - I currently have 15” mid 2012 rMBP, 2.6GHz i7 with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SDD. I’ve been using it mainly plugged into a monitor for software development among other things (so I use the built in and external for a total of two monitors), but occasionally going on the road a few times as needed. When I bought my current machine it cost me UK £2,748 inc. AppleCare.


I’ve now ordered a new 15” 2016 rMBP, 2.7 GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SDD, Radeon Pro 460 - for £3,118. (inc. AppleCare)


Looking at the above some would say, you’re crazy, you’ve almost bought the same machine at more money..


The way I look at it is total cost of ownership - I’ve had my current MacBook Pro for 4 years, 3 months so it has cost me roughly £53.88 per month. I use it every single day and have never any any issue with it that wasn’t self inflicted.


For the new machine to get the same TOC I need to use it for approx 4 years, 10 months as it is 13% more expensive over the previous one, which isn’t too bad when including currency fluctuations and inflation.


But, for my money - I get the latest technology available - the CPU is approx 15% better, the RAM is faster, the SSD is approx 8 times faster than what I have. The GPU is faster, I get the latest machine (which feels good) and I’m sure the TouchBar will help with workflow as well.


In fact one of the things I’m looking toward is 1Password using the TouchId - I put in passwords A LOT and having to unlock 1Password every so often slows me down, with TouchId, just like on my phone it will be quite a bit quicker.


I’m looking forward to upgrading my external storage over time to use TB3 - as that will certainly reduce the times for backups and copying files around saving me more time. I didn’t really upgrade anything to TB1/TB2 as I wasn’t sure about thunderbolt, but seeing it and USB-C becoming more standard is making me feel a lot better about spending the money to upgrade other elements now.


Yes I’ve had to buy a couple of adapters which I see as a temporary band-aid until I upgrade the other elements but over time they will disappear so I don’t see them as much of an issue.

 

[The Mercurian]

Wow, that's a nice find and corrects the missing feature

So:
Breaksafe = €35
Power extension cable = €20
€55 extra to spend on your new macbook by default day 1. Oh I forgot lightning to USB-c cable so you can connect your iphone -how much are those ?

 

[Yaemon]

Yay, finally a thread that is not full of negativity.

I agree that there are some valuable alternatives and none of them is perfect including the new MPB. That said, I figured out that for me the biggest cons of the MBP was actually the price (over what I initially budgeted) and that I loved everything else, so I adjusted my budget and pre-ordered one

 

[Barrierfreeman]

I’ve now ordered a new 15” 2016 rMBP, 2.7 GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SDD, Radeon Pro 460 - for £3,118. (inc. AppleCare)


Looking at the above some would say, you’re crazy, you’ve almost bought the same machine at more money..

Over £3k....*Whistles*

 

[galahan]

I dont really now what to do, I already sold my old MacBook Pro to my brother and now I am thinking about not getting a new Mac at all because the only real option for me would be the 1799 variant which is just too expensive...

Also why Skylake?

They said the Kaby Lake processors that they would use in the MBP won't be available until January. Also, KL for the most part isn't a huge jump from SL. It looks like performance is 5-10% higher. Probably the biggest advantage is better power efficiency, especially with 4K video.
In the past I would've said that the MBP would get KL next year but given the recent long upgrade cycles, they might wait until Cannon Lake, and even then they might just use KL instead

 

[anson42]

I ordered the 15-inch 2.9GHz, 1 TB SSD model. I had about $1K of gift cards so that certainly offset the cost just a bit I'm moving from the 2012 MBP, the last model with the CD-ROM slot that I had immediately converted into a hard drive bay on receipt, resulting in a machine that's heavier than the original and that I have carried to work every day since then.

I certainly contemplated buying the late 2015 model but stayed away since my 2012 was and is still quite functional, but I definitely WANT the faster PCIe SSD speeds, smaller form factor and less weight of the new MBP. Heck, maybe I'll even like the Touch Bar, certainly not one to poo-poo that until I try it out. So for me, the decision was easy. I don't mind dongles – and I don't need many new ones – since I have been using some since 2012 even.

 

[Keeval]

Over £3k....*Whistles*

Depends on how you look at it - yes it is chunk of change all in one go.. but I look at it over 5 years its approx £12 per week for a machine I will use every day. The only other item I use every day is my iPhone - even my car sometimes has a rest day and that cost a lot more than 3K. Plus I will be able to make some back when I sell it when I upgrade in 5 years time.

 

[Macalway]

It's always the same with these. They are HUGELY expensive. Apple has become so mainstream, you have a lot of people with sticker shock.

 

[Speechless]

I'm getting one because it will definitely feel like a new machine over my Early 2013 rMBP.

Currently:
15"
2.4 i7
256GB
8GB ram
NVIDIA 650M
45 minutes of battery life
Right speaker not even working
hot as HELL when more than two tabs are open

What i'm getting:
15"
2.9 i7
512GB
16GB ram
Radeon 460
hours of batter life
Both speakers working
able to run multiple windows without heating up hotter than the sun

Needless to say, I'm excited.