The bottom line is for people who use the 13 inch you lose more than you gain in these updates. Which is sad really. At least on the 15 inch model you get Polaris graphics and quad cores.
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New 13-Inch MacBook Pro Sans Touch Bar is Marginally Faster But More Efficient Than Last Year's Base Model
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Macs are cheaper to service over time so the powers that be in your case will prob pay the premium and take the initial hit but will have a cheaper machine to run and save money in the long run. That's if they do their research.
What "stupid obsession for thinness"? Everyone is making thin and light 13" and 15" notebooks these days. Apple is at least sticking with the 28W and 45W processors for most of the Pro line.
They ought to stop.
That is how many laptop they will not sell, and only on this forum, for their stupid obsession for thinnes... rMBP 2016 is an underpowered and overpriced laptop....
I really don't understand all the complaints about the new MacBook Pros. Perhaps it's because there were no surprises since all the features leaked (Touch Bar, 4 TB3). But anyone who has paid any attention at all to Apple since 1998 knows that they are not one to leave in older ports for the sake of easing a transition. And it was Steve Jobs who started this "stupid obsession for thinness" with the original MacBook Air that overheated.
This entry 13" MacBook Pro is much better than the machine it replaces - much brighter, accurate and efficient display, much larger and improved trackpad, much smaller in all dimensions, much lighter, 2 state-of-the-art connectors, much better speakers, much better graphics, faster overall than the previous model and almost as fast as the much more expensive previous high-end 13" model. Remember - the old models are amazing machines and the new ones are much better!
Besides the legacy ports, what do 13" MacBook users lose? The new machines are much faster and better - even the entry 2016 13" is almost as fast as the top-end 2015 13", and in a much more convenient package. I don't understand the complaints...
Remember that this is only the base model. The Touch Bar models have the 28W processor and should show bigger performance gain.
I'd say you gain more than you lose on the Touch Bar model. I'm a bit surprised Apple just didn't drop the 2015 model and price the new base at $1299, but then they'd likely have felt forced to drop the price of the 12" MacBook, which I'm guessing is selling well enough.
With the new 13" model you get a machine that is lighter and more portable, has a more advanced I/O, and brighter, wider gamut display than the 2015 model. The $1499 also comes with 256GB vs 128GB in the outgoing base model. The downside is a lot of people will need or want to spend another $20-80 on adapters. But those are one-time costs.
Had the laptops all just been refreshed, this processor would have been in the MacBook Air.
So the base MacBook Pro has replaced the Air, and it's more powerful than last years base MacBook Pro.
That's a good thing children.
So the base MacBook Pro has replaced the Air, and it's more powerful than last years base MacBook Pro.
That's a good thing children.
I disagree. The Touch Bar looks like a very interesting idea to me. The FN key row has been wasted space for quite a while. And Thunderbolt 3 means no more proprietary chargers are necessary.
Well it cannot be much better cause it sacrifices CPU, battery and ports. Please price the needed dongles to get the same functionality as the previous model and factor that into the price....still better ?
Using the word "legacy" doesn't change the fact USB-A likely won't be legacy until 2020+... and driven by phones (every single phone bar the iPhone, because the world has gone mad).
Exactly... Amazed people think there should be a big jump in performance in that comparison.
- Where are the benchmarks for the new 15" models? This thread is about the base model 13 with a 2.0 Ghz CPU. Does Geekbench publish compute benchmarks yet? I think the charts only test memory / CPU, which is only part of the system, ignoring IO / disk speed / GPU which can be huge factors in making a fast system.
- Fair point on MagSafe, I miss it too
- need for dongles is annoying and a huge gripe for me too, but, sometimes a cable can solve a problem at a much lower price too.
- The SSD is removable on the new model, it has been reported as such. Hopefully this is the case for the other models too.
- Have you actually tested the new keyboard?
Might as well say it's replaced the Mac Pro.....sounds more impressive and probably beats it on a number of tests.....
No, it's an entry level machine. Not everyone needs the bandwidth of four TB streams, or the fastest CPU. Unlike the Air, it does have a FAR superior IPS DCI-P3 display.
For those that need more power, Apple has choices available. Simply pick the model that meets your needs. As you would with a car, home, washer, stereo system, or table saw. One model isn't best for everybody. Don't purchase more than you need or want. That's stupid.
For me it's a gimmick and poor user experience as I like physical keys. That video of the DJ mixing on it.....who does that?
Thunderbolt 3 means another £150-£200 in dongles .
Let's be honest , I can't even plug in a new iPhone 7 into it without a dongle, what a mess of poor usability.
Apple products don't even work together without forking more money ....pure greed.
So their entry level machine now costs the same as a device that's just as premium, which has specs better than their top-end machine (ie the XPS line).
That makes sense.
Yes the new model has a better GPU and SSD, but I also own Mac and PC workstations with the most powerful hardware I can get. I'm real world terms the CPU and RAM is always going to determine the day to day performance of a system, especially a laptop.
I'm in Regent Street Apple Store right now as I type this post (they have two 13" in store). I have just tested the new keyboard and am sorely disappointed but I am now even happier I went with the older models.
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Already posted. And if you can't find benchmarks for these CPUs...well...you should start using your biological one properly.
False, it's got the 15W TDP CPU from the former 13" MBA and everything else from the new 13" MBP. It would be utterly confusing to keep calling it the Air in a Pro body. A 15W chip needs at least one CPU fan and wouldn't fit in a wedge shaped rMB anymore. The definition of ultra portable thin and light has simply changed and this kind of processor naturally moves up to the Pro form factor. MacBook Pro is not a performance category, 13" 15" and 17" MBPs always used to have different wattage and performance. The 13" MBP with Function keys is a very capable computer no longer limited by its form factor. It will reach 12 hours of battery life on a Retina screen while still being thinner and having the same weight as the old MBA. A huge upgrade at an affordable price for a brand new design.
Your post makes it so clear you have a complete understanding how to manage a 40 billion dollar company. Please tell us more.
The Mac isn't the digital hub anymore, so plugging in an iPhone isn't as common. And you don't need a new dongle when there are USB-C to Lightning cables. I found one on Amazon for $10.
I don't think it is a gimmick. We'll see, but it has the potential to be useful. It might be the first step toward a completely contextual keyboard (that's a few years out, but I can see where Apple may be heading with this).
I'm not saying there isn't any inconvenience. Heck, I bought more than my share of adapters when I switched to the 12" MacBook last year. But the new Pros look very interesting and I may check it out.
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4 cores vs. 2. Remember that Intel has been more focused on energy efficiency than speed increases lately.
CPU performance hasn't been an issue for the average notebook users for many years so this shouldn't be a focus for most people. The amazing new updates to the 2016 MBP are what people should be focusing on, not Intel hitting a plateau on speed while ignoring power efficiency and other capabilities of their architecture. I, for one, can't wait for my new MBP to arrive.
CPU and Ram would determine the day to day speed of a system, perhaps 20 years ago, but not as much today. CPU and ram are only part of the picture in modern systems. With apps that are increasingly offloading processing to the GPU, the speed of that component has significant impacts. Additionally, once your data starts to touch storage, or outside IO, the speed of such actions can have drastic impacts on the speed of your work.
If you build and work with fast PC hardware, you should be fully aware of how huge of an impact slow storage, or a weak GPU can impact system performance with modern software. There is plenty of evidence of this impact out in the net, and it is a discussion point within many PC / Hackintosh building threads as well.
Case and point, build a hackintosh with a low end GPU & slow SSD run Lightroom / Final Cut / Photoshop, it will be quantifiably slower than the same system with a faster SSD and GPU installed.
Fair enough, that is a personal preference and for some can be a total deal breaker!
Have you actually used it yet?
I don't see how anyone would feel that tactile feedback of the function keys is actually needed as eople don't often type using the F1 - F12 keys. The fully adaptable soft keys can provide much more functionality than the old style key switches, and this new screen can do so much more.
Honestly I hope they can provide a software update allowing for users to move the standard Dock from the main screen, and down to this control strip.
At the end of the day, You can still toggle in the F1-12 keys if you need them, but they won't have a tactile 'switch' feel.
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