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Which still raises the question: how does that differ from the standard F-keys.
(Granted, OSX and OSX software is horrible at properly using them)
If there is an API to display custom images for keys, I can imagine a lot of useful features for audio, video or even programming in Xcode.
 
The question for me, assuming it's real, is does it provide a true benefit or it is just eye candy. I guess it depends on how customizable it is. If you can put any command and any icon on it then it's a big plus. If Apple is going to limit what you can do with it -- as they often do -- then I'd rather have the current tactile buttons.
Yeah, I agree with you on that. Let us customize what it can do and it has the potential to be powerful and very useful.
 
Looks like everything I wanted, new smaller design, touch ID, USB-c, Polaris and the option to buy the space grey or gold model.

The only way this could be better really is that they make the high end Polaris chip a. Option on the 13 inch laptop but I'm not holding my breath.

Looks like a first day buy for me.
 
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It's interesting that "Apple people" will applaud all the things Apple did first in the past to transform how we use computers today (drop the floppy, CDROM, etc.). But Apple's refusal to switch to a touch-screen interface for their OS, you dismiss the feature as "gimmicky". Maybe, just maybe, if Apple embraced touch-screen use (and swallowed some crow for being LAST to the party), it would become mainstream, just like the demise of the floppy.

Horse hockey. That's because touchscreens on a UI designed for a mouse and keyboard is an ergonomic nightmare and is bitterly inefficient.

It's completely gimmicky. Most people here would run circles around somebody using a touchscreen, just by using the multitouch features on their trackpad. The Apple trackpad on OS X is far more fluid. Far quicker. Far smoother.

Oh and touchscreens aren't gimmicks. iOS benefits quite heavily from touchscreen. It wouldn't benefit as much from a mouse. Sometimes you need to take a step back and make the big decision of what not to put in a product, in order to make it better.

TL;DR: more features does NOT equal more functionality.
 
I assume the addition of USB-C is not a good sign for the future of the Thunderbolt port and because of that I'm curious as to how the video out will work. I currently connect 2 external displays via Thunderbolt and that is something I can't do without. Not really too jazzed about the idea of a bunch of dongles coming off the thing either, so hopefully there is an elegant solution to this.
 
The USB-C is what worries me about this otherwise great MacBook Pro update. If it only has USB-C, no less than five standards (MagSafe, USB-A, HDMI, Mini DisplayPort/Thunderbolt 2, SD card slot) are being dropped all at once. Many people (myself included) who use these Macs aren't ready for that yet.
Maybe that's precisely what Apple is banking on. For the older MacBooks to look so antiquated in comparison that users have no choice but to embrace the new laptops if they want the latest and greatest, flaws and all.
 
Looks like this design would be a bit of a pain for those of us Pro users who listen to music and do a lot of programming, since a lot of IDEs (like Android Studio) tend to use the Function keys. Looks like we'd now have to swap between two different displays for using the Function keys and controlling the volume. (Notwithstanding the fact that having to press something like Cmd-F4 when one of those keys is real and the other isn't will just be weird.)
I'd hazard a guess that it will feature a default selection of function keys for any app that doesn't have anything else programmed for those keys with media keys accessible by holding down Fn. So basically, you hold down Fn and the touch screen instantly changes to show completely different buttons.

And of course you'd be able to "Fn"-lock i.e. swap the behaviour of holding Fn and not holding it.
 
This is "Most Significant Overhaul in Over 4 Years'" ?? Pretty sad.
Being able to use Apple Pencil directly on Macbook Pro screen would have been a significant overhaul.
 
I would have completely agreed with you in the last 5 years, however, AMD really stepped up their game with the Polaris architecture. The 480 is a magnificent card for its price and if similar options are placed in the MBP, then I won't be completely disappointed.

This is coming from an owner of a 2011 Late MBP with the stupid ****** 6750M (which I hate btw).

Also, we can never move Apple away from their love of efficient battery power, thinness and overall aesthetics which only AMD gpus can fulfill sadly.

2011 with a 6770M here. This ****'s so long in the tooth Gary Busey makes fun of it.
 


As reported previously, the switch to the new Polaris 11 architecture is expected to be a significant performance upgrade over the previous 28nm chips, with AMD promising "console-class GPU performance for thin and light notebooks" and "extraordinary VR experiences" from the new low-power mobile architecture.

Article Link: MacBook Pro Lineup Set For 'Most Significant Overhaul in Over 4 Years'

Sad new but I'm fairly certain the RX 460 chipset is what will be available for the new MBP. It's not a GPU to get excited about. I've been using a RX 480 in my 2010 Mac Pro tower. In order to make it work, I modified the kext file in MacOS 10.12 Beta. Neither RX 480 nor 470 was in the kext. The only 3 I found are for Polaris 11.

AMD RX 460's PCI ID is 0x67EF. http://developer.amd.com/resources/ati-catalyst-pc-vendor-id-1002-li/

Screen Shot 2016-08-10 at 08.19.19.png


AMDRadeon4000.kext in MacOS 10.12 contains PCI ID 0x67EF.

Screen Shot 2016-08-01 at 4.58.01 PM.png
 
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Yet the Retina model has faster Flash than if you put 2xTB SSDs in RAID on the cMBP. 2-3 hours more battery life. Thinner. Lighter. Much better display. Better GPU. Better CPU. Quicker RAM. 2x Thunderbolt 2 and HDMI. Keep your upgradability, but people buying a new Mac directly from Apple should avoid the cMBP like the plague. Just far too expensive for what it is.

Still a great deal if you buy it second-hand for 50% off RRP, of course. But new? You get a lot more for your money with the rMBP.

And no, you can't get 32GB of RAM in that model. Yes, Crucial make 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 DIMMs and the CPU can support up to 32GB RAM. However that CPU will only support a maximum of 8GB DIMM per slot, so the only way to get 32GB RAM would be to have four RAM slots.

The same applies for the 15" 2012 cMBP (regrettable, as I'd love to have 32GB RAM in mine).
I've never seen anything to suggest an 8gb limit per slot.

In fact, at one point, a 3rd party company was offering 32gb upgrades for the first gen rMBP which has two virtual "slots".

Apple has a long history of claiming maximum RAM values lower than are possible. There are Mac Pro 1,1s out there running on 64gb of RAM, and I'd venture to guess that 4gb DIMMs hadn't even been thought of when the computer came out.

If I had $600 to blow, I'd toss some 16gb modules in my 2012 just to see. As it is now, I don't really have the need for my current 16gb.

Because some of us prefer to join modern times and not rely on a mouse and or trackpad.

Much like I don't have smudges on my iPhone, my surface isn't prone to smudges either. Perhaps on cheap computers yes but apple isn't a cheap computer. Might want to try a better argument.

My surface book and surface pro are amazing with touch screens and I can't imagine going to an OS that doesn't

Just speaking for myself, I like my computer to sit on a desk and have a more-or-less vertical screen. I've used Surfaces, and I find them quite tiring to try and use in this mode...and less face it when I want to actually get real work done(i.e. writing, number crunching, etc) I want the computer on my lap at a minimum and preferably on a desk or table and not hunched over it. Even though the Surface has a keyboard, I find it tiresome to use because there's too much weight at the top.

About the only touchscreen laptops that I've sort-of been able to get on board with are the Thinkpads and equivalent which are a true laptop that just happen to have a digitizer behind the screen and the ability to fold up into a(heavy) tablet-like configuration. I have a colleague who's had a couple and she swears by them, but at the same time uses them as a laptop(or really a desktop replacement) 90% of the time. The 10% of the time she uses it as a tablet, it really shines, but the nice thing is it really doesn't compromise its functionality as a laptop to use it in that mode.

I've had an iPad for a while but it just doesn't really "fit" in my world most of the time. I do find it a nice device for reading and light web browsing, but at the same time I often end up wishing that I was on my computer instead. On the other hand, my dad bought his "dream" laptop a few years ago(in his case it was a high end HP), and ended up selling it after about 6 months because when he realized that how little use it got vs. his iPad. He now has a desktop(incidentally a touchscreen HP all-in-one) that he uses maybe once a week.
 
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I wonder what Apple's going to do about the keyboard. Include that torture device from the rMB that will cripple the utility the MBP, or use the keyboard from the existing MBP, or an entirely new design. The first option will ruin the MBP, the other 2 will admit they screwed up on the MB keyboard. For how many hours a day i spend touch typing on my laptop, a bad keyboard makes the whole machine crappy to me.

I've been primed for a new MBP for years, all I want is solid cpu/gpu performance, good battery life, plenty of ports, plenty of internal storage space, and a good keyboard and screen. I know the new MBP will lose on storage and screen. Let's hope they get the other ones.

Toys like the touch strip don't matter to me one way or another. Thinner is bad. Switching to a port that nobody uses yet is worse.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Apple comes up with.

I didnt even think about the keyboard situation before you mentioned it. Great point. The MBP keyboard is stunningly good, along with the trackpad. Two things that make MBPs such stand outs. Would hate to think they might move to a rMB styled keyboard across the line in the future. We'll see what happens.
 
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Absolutely agree with you and have been saying the same thing for a long time. But I think we seem to be in the minority. I would take a 2012 style mbp with upgraded internals any day of the week over what is offered now. Heck even removing the ethernet port and offering a half arsed unreliable thunderbolt dongle is an insult.

Could not agree more with both of you. I have this machine, with 16gb of ram as my daily work driver and I wouldn't trade it in for the world. Being able to upgrade is key.
 
Because some of us prefer to join modern times and not rely on a mouse and or trackpad.

Much like I don't have smudges on my iPhone, my surface isn't prone to smudges either. Perhaps on cheap computers yes but apple isn't a cheap computer. Might want to try a better argument.

My surface book and surface pro are amazing with touch screens and I can't imagine going to an OS that doesn't
I would equate touch screen with modern but it is preferable in some cases. I'd prefer Apple to work on keeping their lineup modern with regards to CPU, GPU, memory, SSD, etc. Touchscreen as an option is fine but I don't want to pay for it since I'll never use it. Oh, and 640KB is all the memory anybody could ever need..
 
And not a word about a new desktop Mac.

Just because it's not rumored doesn't mean it's not coming. MacBook Pros are more interesting to most people anyway so it's not surprising there are more rumors on that. Although I'm a desktop guy and could use a replacement to my Mid 2010 21.5".
 
Yes on the bar, no on the touchpad. Apple's multitouch gestures are brilliantly fluid and quick. Far more efficient than touch and infinitely quicker for working/navigating compared to a touchscreen.

They'll only be adding more multitouch gestures to the trackpad IMO. Especially if they're making it bigger.

Multitouch works well in many cases, but there are instances that could be improved. Hovering over a menu for example, the touch pad could show all the buttons rather than having to align the pointer to one on screen. Or it becomes a number pad when using a calculator.

I usually use a mouse with my laptop because of software that uses the middle mouse button. In that case it would be nice to make use of the touch pad for custom menus.

Another new feature could be iOS emulation as you would have a decent sized touchscreen.
 
Not a fan of the oled bar, for me personally it's just a gimmick, but the question is, how expensive is that gimmick gonna be. Hope the prices don't change that much :/
 
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