New 13-Inch MacBook Pro Sans Touch Bar is Marginally Faster But More Efficient Than Last Year's Base Model

[RickInHouston]

I think it would have been best if they would have started with that at the address.

Then we could all sneak out the back door and let the apple top dogs continue the presentation to the empty room.

Having two hours of our lives back would be nice.

 

[swester]

Most interestingly, this comparison shows how overall CPU/memory speed just isn't advancing at the same pace as it used to.

A brand new entry-level Macbook Pro is basically equivalent to a 6 year-old iMac. Can you imagine if a PC were released in, say, 2000 that was practically equivalent to a mid-range computer from 1994?

 

[newdeal]

it sure would have been nice for them to keep the old body and battery size with the new chip. Battery life could have been so good
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Most interestingly, this comparison shows how overall CPU/memory speed just isn't advancing at the same pace as it used to.

A brand new Macbook Pro is basically equivalent to a 6 year-old iMac. Can you imagine if a PC were released in, say, 2000 that was practically equivalent to a computer from 1994?

but how much power did that 6 year older processor consume? If you made a laptop chip burn that much power I am sure they could make it much faster

 

[shaunp]

Buying the 2015 Retina MBP is turning out to be a masterstroke...

I got one of those too. Good little machine.

 

[Pootmatoot]

Yes, I'm upset about this as well. This model is there solely to generate revenue. Its weirdly positioned and weirdly marketed.

To be fair, it's a superb Air replacement... but in totally the wrong price bracket for that market.

It's a $25 cupcake, in a world of full-size birthday cakes for $20...

 

[Jaekae]

Apple failed to call this one macbook pro, this one should be compared to macbook air, it has 2ghz i5 processor

Shouldbeen named macbook 13'

When the touchbar versions come the real comparisions come

 

[32828870]

I've concluded that under Jobs we received explanations for design choices. Currently: No word about leaving MagSafe behind, no explanation for the non-industry-standard audio output on iPhone 7, no mention about the MBPs headphone jack (I'm sure they are just too scared to even mention the word), ...

Jobs' explanations were also fabulous. just think about "The problem with them is really sort of in the bottom 40 there." talking about this issue of those plastic keyboards on 'smart' phones during iPhone's amazing introduction.

Explanations we now get is 'courage'.

Jobs' keynotes and presentations were as perfectly crafted as the devices. He knew how to draw people in as though he were speaking directly to you, explained technical decisions in laymans terms, and never compromised or admitted defeat even with legitimate issues (I'm looking at you iPhone 4).

Cook, Cue - they're emulating Jobs' style without developing their own and failing miserably. I'm betting Jobs could have sold these new systems without missing a beat, then again I doubt he would have approved some of the decisions.

 

[BootsWalking]

My wife has a 2011 MacAir. We agreed to wait another year. This release was underwhelming and $500 overpriced.

A few months ago I bought a used 2015 13" 2.9Ghz 8GB 512GB for $950, still under AppleCare. I'm really liking that purchase now.

 

[El Cabong]

Not if you're calling it a "pro". Saying 'it replaces the air' doesn't really mean anything when you've jacked up the price and called it a pro. We are livin in the twilight zone man

More like 1984.

Ironic.

 

[Labeno]

Several things:

1) It's hilarious that Apple is calling this thing a MacBook PRO. It is clearly a slightly "upgraded" MacBook Air in terms of power.
2) Even if it's clearly a MBA replacement, its battery life is still as good as (If not slightly worse) the MBA's, which I can easily get 10-13 hours from.
3) For people who are expecting dramatic changes, here's where I'll step in and "defend" Apple - Skylake is not that dramatic of a change than Broadwell.

Does Skylake cost $500 more than Broadwell? I need to go look that up.
Apple certainly saved by using a smaller batter and no conversion hardware for non-USB C ports (magsafe, full-size USB, etc).

 

[simonmet]

So, the only improvement is being thinner, and maybe a bit lighter? Fascinating.

Better screen, bigger touch pad, Thunderbolt 3 and a faster SSD too.

On the flip side, no USB A, MagSafe, HDMI or SD card reader.

I think this will be an excellent college computer and the ideal choice for those on a budget. Nowhere near as slow and limiting as the MacBook.

I can't see the logic in marketing this as a Pro laptop however. It should really be called the MacBook Plus or similar. It's basically the best of the MacBook and Air models combined.

 

[budafied]

I got mine in March.. I was seriously considering waiting for this one to come out, but it was taking way too long. So I went ahead and purchased the previous one. Best decision I have taken in recent times. By the time I am ready to buy a new one, hopefully there would be a good Macbook Pro out there. That will also give the industry time to catch up so I wont need a dongle to connect the Mac to everything else in this world.

Agreed. Wait 2-3 years and everything will be USB-C, maybe even the iPhone

 

[keysofanxiety]

My 13" Macbook nearly exploded today. Luckily I was home. It's wasn't on charge. Just sitting on the table. Not only Samsung....

Battery bulge is not an explosion. Besides, they're designed to expand to prevent exploding. I imagine it's 4 years old or more? Not unusual for batteries to do that after so many years/cycles.

Did you have 'Consider replacing your battery' for a few months before it bulged?

 

[kevinkyoo]

Does Skylake cost $500 more than Broadwell? I need to go look that up.
Apple certainly saved by using a smaller batter and no conversion hardware for non-USB C ports (magsafe, full-size USB, etc).

I don't think they increased the price just for the processor. New display, entirely new build material, internal design, and R/D are what I think account for the price increase. This is not taking into the fact the Apple tax

 

[leman]

To be fair, it's a superb Air replacement... but in totally the wrong price bracket for that market.

It's a $25 cupcake, in a world of full-size birthday cakes for $20...

Completely agree. They should have called it MacBook 13" (what it is) and the price should be lower. Well, curious to see what will happen next year.

 

[Xavier]

Honestly, not a compelling upgrade from the pervious generation of laptops. I want to see upgraded keyboards with Touchbar for use with iMac.

 

[JLL]

To be fair, it's a superb Air replacement... but in totally the wrong price bracket for that market.

We buy a lot of 2.2Ghz i7 Airs at work since that's what most people choose.

That model retails at $1,349.

The 13" MacBook Pro is smaller, lighter, has a Retina display and is a little faster.

The price is $1,499 which I find fair. We will buy those instead.

 

[KPOM]

And yet for people buying it it will give exactly same performance for extra cost with castrated expansion. Impressive indeed.

Actually, they will have better expansion because TB3 has twice the bandwidth of TB2 and 8 times that of USB 3.0. You can daisy chain quite easily.

 

[kali108]

2015 model for me. The new machines are way over priced...even by Apple standards.

 

[TechZeke]

My work got me a 15" rMBP in February. I figured a redesign would be coming and I'd be outdated for the next 3-4 years. Looks like I got the better end of that deal

For someone looking looking for a new MacBook, I can't see any reason to recommend the 2016 model over the 2015 for such a large price increase.

 

[manu chao]

Brutal. Years waiting.......for this.

No reason to rehash all the reasons why, you guys know them all.

Broadwell MBA released in 2015, Skylake sort-of retina MBA released in 2016. I don't see a plural for the year number here.

 

[Mainsail]

I understand the frustration from many of these posts. In fairness, the 2015 MBP is $1299 with 128GB of storage, or $1499 with 256GB of storage....so, basically the same price as the new 2016 MBP (without touch bar) with the same storage. So, it boils down to which one you prefer. The good news is that you can still purchase the older model with the traditional ports.....if that's your preference.

However, I suspect most people will bite the bullet and migrate to the new machine with the new and fewer ports. Also, I think a lot of people will stick with their current laptops and wait for the inevitable price drops that occur over time. I suspect the new base MBP will receive periodic spec bumps and drop down to about $1299 in a couple of years. As I recall, this happened with the older MBP as well.

PS - As for me, my base 2014 13in MBA runs MAC OS without a hitch, so I will just wait it out. I suspect next year will bring nice xmas buying opportunities at some of the big box stores....perhaps even with a minor spec bump for the new MBP.

 

[69Mustang]

My wife has a 2011 MacAir. We agreed to wait another year. This release was underwhelming and $500 overpriced.

My 2011 MBA is still running like a champ. Wanted to replace it last year but the MB didn't appeal. You know I've been moaning like a petulant toddler for a new mac mini. Didn't get that either (last update was like pee in my Cheerios). For the number of laptops I own, the MBP would be overkill, expensive overkill at that.

I don't understand Apple sometimes. If my wife and daughter didn't use iPhones, Apple would literally have no current products that interest me. And I'm easy. I spend money on tech just because. 'Cept when my wife says I can't. She saw me looking at the Surface Studio and was emphatic. no. No. NO. It's not like I can hide it in the basement for 3 months and claim I've had it for years.

 

[manu chao]

Well, this model really replaces the 13-inch Air, not the 13-inch Pro. So a fairer comparison is against the 2.2 GHz MacBook Air, which scored 6561 in Geekbench. 6.2% boost.

Which is the Skylake over Broadwell improvement. And people really thought the sky was falling down because we didn't get Skylake earlier, how about making a mountain out of molehill.

 

[Hyperion0808]

Broadwell MBA released in 2015, Skylake sort-of retina MBA released in 2016. I don't see a plural for the year number here.

Guess you've been happy with the mostly spec-only updates since 2012.