Key Takeaways of 2018 MacBook Pro vs. 2017 MacBook Pro

[Yebubbleman]

Two things:

1. The lack of a refresh on the non-touchbar model of 13" MacBook Pro (when there's most definitely an 8th Gen Intel Core i series part that would otherwise be appropriate for it) is definitely telling. I would imagine that probably means that Apple is going to do something else to merge this machine and the current MacBook Air into something else that otherwise serves the same target market audience rather than continuing this model as the true successor to the MacBook Air as they had heavily implied they would during the October 2016 keynote where the body redesign was first unveiled.

2. I wonder if the T2 present in the 2018 TouchBar MacBook Pros is the same or at least similar enough to the one in the iMac Pro to the effect of:

a. Requiring another Mac with Apple Configurator 2 to restore
b. The setting (that may or may not be disabled in a subsequent silent firmware update) to only allow the installation of signed OS builds (so that one can only reinstall the version of the OS that is on the machine or the most recent build, but not any other OS that was ever supported on those MacBook Pros.

Because if so, that would royally suck. I'm generally vehemently opposed to the T-series chips on the Macs for those very reasons...

 

[philfry]

I don't understand the dislike for the touchbar. I was a skeptic because I'm a heavy user of vim but the touch esc key doesn't bother like I expected it would. Also the price hasn't really changed over the years. I bought a 2012 retina 15" when they first came out and I spent about $2300 and that was with my student discount. It isn't like Apple is jacking up the price compared to previous years. The only thing I don't like about the new generation MacBook Pros is that the SSD is soldered on so if it fails you need a new logic board. I just replaced a coworker's SSD on their Late-2013. I do miss MagSafe but the fact that all the ports are USB-C is refreshing.

 

[kiranmk2]

I wonder if the 8/16 GB models retain LPDDR3 and give better battey life or whether everyone now gets DDR4 whether they want it or not.

 

[Kagio]

I don't think so. RAM is soldered, you'd need to replace the entire logic board.

What about SSD? I just want to postpone some of the spending = (

 

[usarioclave]

they used to be the leaders of revolution and vision of the future now they have nothing fresh while everyone around them gets better and advances they just stay the same and charge more for it.

The computer industry has been pretty much stagnant for at least 5 years. Spec bumps aren't advances or better, GPUs excepted.

In any case the world has moved to mobile. Intel is dying, and computing is moving away from the desktop/laptop model to all mobile. In five more years only professionals will have computers. Everyone else will have mobiles with nintendo-switch like docking abilities.

 

[Bacillus]

A little off-topic, but I'm betting that Apple's keyboard woes are intentional training of us in advance of transition to touchscreen keyboard.

(Not claiming originality on this idea, only that it makes the Touch Bar make much more sense. It will one day takeover the whole keyboard.)

Yeah. Predictive AI will be so fast that Phil is now preparing for a single button TouchBar that conforms itself blazingly-fast to that single character to be typed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGGOn-H7s3Q&frags=pl%2Cwn

 

[magicMac]

No 120hz promotion displays!!!!

 

[TimmeyCook]

20% increase in battery watt-hour capacity (& same weight)

Wow!

 

[Jimmy James]

Still limited what?

You can plug multiple GPUs, which can have themselves multiple USB3.0 and Ethernet ports.

Is that “limited”?

2 USB-c ports.

Yes, you can dongle your way out of that limitation.

The cheaper “pro” has 2 ports, the Touchbar has 4. This is a smaller amount than its brother. This is a limitation.

 

[Bacillus]

Last time I check, the Mac was selling very well, despite the online outrage.

You must be kidding (or did you just order the dormant global inventory of 4 year old Mac Mini scrap ?)

 

[val.kalinic]

When is Apple going to release something people can actually afford?

No joke, I read this in Mike Ehrmantraut voice because of your avatar right away.

 

[ssgbryan]

When is Apple going to release something people can actually afford?

If you have to ask how much it costs, you aren't their target customer demographic anymore.

 

[bladerunner2000]

If you have to ask how much it costs, you aren't their target customer demographic anymore.

I stopped being their target customer when they started selling stripped down junk.

 

[ryannel2003]

Lol at people thinking they were going to change the case or fully redesign the keyboard. It wasn’t going to happen.

It seems like a majority of you all are complaining just to complain.

 

[ssgbryan]

Well yes they're expensive, but to be fair, they are geared at the Pro market.
I hope lowered priced MacBooks and MB Airs are just around the corner.

If it was geared to the pro market, it would have an nVidia chip.

 

[bladerunner2000]

No joke, I read this in Mike Ehrmantraut voice because of your avatar right away.

My favourite character from Breaking Bad. I'm so happy to see him on Better Call Saul.

 

[avanpelt]

2018 MacBook Pros now feature True Tone displays, including the Touch Bar, on 13-inch and 15-inch models.

A True Tone Touch Bar? Why?!?

 

[djcgeez2189]

This refresh just proves my theory ive been telling people for awhile now. Apple doesn’t care about bringing in new customers or being inventive anymore they just cater to thier die hards that are already so stuck and cemented into Apples ecosystems that they are clueless of what’s going on around them. Consistently playing it safe with snoozer refreshes and adopting technologies years late but charging premiums that well exceed the actual value of what you’re buying. They don’t care because they know their hardcore audience will soak it up and they will still sell thousands to people that are brainwashed by the Apple hype machine, then go on YouTube and complain about how much of a mistake it was. Apple loves preying on its core audience. And for the last decade that has kept them rich

 

[pier]

Apple gave you EXACTLY what you kept asking for and you just don’t let up.

Not really.

The 32GB are nice but Thinkpads have had 32Gb for years, and 6 core i7/i9 CPUs is the expected minimum for a performance laptop in 2018.

Personally I'm not looking for a lot of performance in a laptop as I already have a desktop for that.

Apple hasn't addressed the useless touch bar, lack of ports, and lack of magsafe. Also it's not clear if the keyboard issues have been addressed.

 

[trifid]

So the whole excuse of not being able to do more than 16GB when the 2016 MBP came out due to battery issues was simply solved by adding 10% battery capacity? What a load of bs.

 

[HarryWild]

Don't forget the same display resolution as the 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012 Retina models (2560x1600 for the 13" and 2880x1800 for the 15").

It's sad to have to use a non-native resolution for more screen space on a $2,399+ Mac.

Apple save money with the same lower screen display component. After all, they did not even change back the keyboard since it would be more costly to so! It all about the bottom line!

 

[val.kalinic]

Why is Apple refusing to concede its mistake with the removing of the Mag-Safe port? It is their own invention, and literally the most convenient feature on an expensive portable.

Exactly, for the life of me, I can’t figure this one out. If you own a great patent for something people have loved using for years, why remove it in favor of something inferior the rest of the industry has to use?

 

[pier]

Last time I check, the Mac was selling very well, despite the online outrage.

It is indeed.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/263444/sales-of-apple-mac-computers-since-first-quarter-2006/

 

[HarryWild]

When is Apple going to release something people can actually afford?

$329 for iPad 10” consumer/education version with 32GB storage!

 

[djcgeez2189]

So the whole excuse of not being able to do more than 16GB when the 2016 MBP came out due to battery issues was simply solved by adding 10% battery capacity? What a load of bs.

They had to give people some kind of incentive to buy this over just a cpu refresh.... have you seen how much it costs to go 32gb haha so when nobody wants to pay a newborn baby for double the ram they can look at you and say “hey we did it but user data and sales numbers tell us 16gb is just fine”