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

[amegicfox]

the MacBook pros should have been released with the option of 8 cores and 16 cores, 128GB of RAM and 6 or 8 USB-C ports and magsafe included.

this is what PRO means, SPEED, PERFORMANCE and EXPANDABILITY

 

[mtcowdog]

Apple is currently dependent upon Intel for chips to power their laptops. This is the underlying reality here. But in addition to improved efficiency, I would argue that having 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports (in USB-C form) is a huge step forward. Steps forward often come with interim trade-offs -- dongle me up baby and F*(# my old peripherals -- but assuming the near term future isn't surprisingly disrupted, we will see benefits over time.

 

[KPOM]

unfortunately not! the current mac book pro has only 2 USB-C ports and when you are charging it you are left with one.

the MacBook air has 2 x usb3 ports, magsafe, thuderbold and sd card slot

But since TB3 has more bandwidth you can easily plug a hub into one of those ports and get charging, as many USB-A ports, and SD cards as you want.

I didn't say the transition was painless or free. But Apple is always one to push the envelope on I/O technology. Of all Apple's move, this was the least surprising. People complain that they aren't faster (that's on Intel), offer more memory (that's also on Intel for not supporting LPDDR 4), or a faster GPU (fair point), but then fault the one area where Apple has leaped clearly in front of everyone else. No one else has a notebook that has 4 TB3 ports. That's incredible bandwidth.

 

[rGiskard]

I think laptop sizes and weights have reached a point such that it is no longer a sensible move to offset efficiency gains with smaller batteries. There is no practical advantage for the customer.

 

[raybo]

To some people. That being people that don't need performance. The top end should be about performance, not weight. If lightweight and low performance works for you then buy the low end.

If the machine is too slow for your work, buy a faster machine. The "entry level" $1499 model is most likely "fast" enough for 90% of MacBook customers...and it's much more convenient (lighter and smaller in all dimensions), has a larger trackpad, a much better and brighter display (super-important), two high-speed ports (each of which can be used for multiple connections), and still has equal to better battery life than the last generation of MacBooks. This is an engineering tour-de-force... For those who need more, they can get the faster, higher-end machines. Next year, Intel will release better processors which will make these even better...

 

[KPOM]

Blame intel for the lack of progress. Of course it's only marginally better then last year....

The entire keynote was a subtile shift in sales strategy. That higher price might be a Jedi trick to move more people to iOS with an iPad Pro. But I find that OS far from productive. Even with IBM on board not half of the use cases for my workflows are covered by iOS.
Or are they compensating for the longer product cycles?

Whatever their strategy, I don't feel compelled and my late 2013 runs still very smoothly. I'll wait a year at least. I don't know if I stay in the apple eco system after this car crash called "keynote".

It's a solid platform. The number of USB-C peripherals and cables is steadily increasing so that complaint will fade over time. I'm guessing satisfaction rates with the 12" MacBook are high, which gave them confidence with their decision to go all-in with TB3.

The price is something that Apple can and has adjusted in the past. The general consensus is that these are about $200 more than what people were expecting. It would not surprise me at all if they get a quiet price drop with the next update.

 

[ProjectManager101]

You know that when birds wants the kids to fly away, they start by not bringing food and not collecting the pigeons poop. So the the pigeons are unattended and they better learn to fly.

Apple is doing just that, it is tired, they want to keep only iPhones and apps.

 

[Apple.Fanatic]

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

I played with both side by side at Best Buy over the weekend. Display is brighter on 2016 model but really wasn't wow'd by it. I'm not sold on the new keyboard either. 2015 rMBP looks like the best option for me.

 

[FreshBoy]

Right another reason for people to keep the epic moaning going. Anyone who buys the base model obviously doesn't need too much power. There's more power there than most people in the market for this type of laptop will need. I do not require massive computing horsepower for my work but the inner geek in me hates having a low powered machine. However with the price increase in the new models, apple has forced me to go with the mid tier processor and 16GB built to order MBP 13" with Touch Bar. It kills me that I won't have the top tier i7 processor but I simply can't afford it. I'll have more than enough power with the mid tier but I just hate knowing there is a faster option.

 

[KPOM]

I think laptop sizes and weights have reached a point such that it is no longer a sensible move to offset efficiency gains with smaller batteries. There is no practical advantage for the customer.

I disagree. To me the 12" MacBook is the perfect size. I want to see technology improve so that I can get the power of the 13" MacBook Pro (including Touch Bar) into the 12" size with decent battery life. My Mac is a second computer that I carry alongside my work notebook. The smaller the better.

 

[iosuser]

While the performance improvements are negligible, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro sans Touch Bar's 15-watt chip is more energy efficient than the 28-watt chip in last year's entry-level model. The lower power consumption gives the 2016 base model comparable battery life to last year's model despite having a smaller 54.5-watt-hour battery versus the 74.9-watt-hour battery in last year's comparable.

I wonder how many feedback Apple had received complaining that the 2015 rMBP 13 was too thick

Imagine if Apple would've kept the same thickness of the 2015 the kind of battery life it would get. Now imagine all the ports and SD card reader that it could've had. How about a nice plush keyboard to go with that. It would've sold like hotcakes. This obsession with thinness comes at a huge cost with no benefits.

I imagine the only good that comes of it is help hold resale value of the 2015 version.

 

[manu chao]

To some people. That being people that don't need performance. The top end should be about performance, not weight. If lightweight and low performance works for you then buy the low end.

So, to some people, the 15" MBP is the perfect compromise between size/weight and performance. But since you want more performance, Apple should make the 15" MBP a higher performing one that is thicker and heavier. In other words, Apple should cater to your needs and ignore the needs of others?

 

[indiekiduk]

just wait until the media picks up on the CPU graphics speed. 50% slower than previous generation wow

 

[frankgrimes]

All the stupid bandwidth means nothing if you can't use it without dongles or a hub shouldn't be too hard to understand. Lose forget one of them? Tough luck can't use your pro machine yeah that's thinking. As brilliant as Samsung removing the sd card slot from last year's S line.

Blame Intel for lack of ddr 4? Lol other manufacturers have that in their machines.

Skylake or Kaby Lake doesn't make much difference I agree but a bigger battery and more performance should always trump thinness in a Pro machine which already had a great design.

Keyboard is either hit or miss I know I can't type on the rMB one so a bit more travel isn't going to change that.

 

[amegicfox]

It's sad how little difference there is between all those CPU generations from the past 5 years or so, no wonder they put so much emphasis on what would otherwise be labelled as "gizmos", they're the only differentiators.

We must really be hitting a ceiling in terms of what traditional CPUs are capable of.

Tim Cook is working on his political causes around the world but a real CEO would have negotiated with Intel and install the latest baby lake processor at 4Ghz with 8 and 16 cores.

When you have 240 billion in the bank you can negotiate from a position of strength that no one else has.
Tim instead installed a led bar.

 

[mattopotamus]

If the machine is too slow for your work, buy a faster machine. The "entry level" $1499 model is most likely "fast" enough for 90% of MacBook customers...and it's much more convenient (lighter and smaller in all dimensions), has a larger trackpad, a much better and brighter display (super-important), two high-speed ports (each of which can be used for multiple connections), and still has equal to better battery life than the last generation of MacBooks. This is an engineering tour-de-force... For those who need more, they can get the faster, higher-end machines. Next year, Intel will release better processors which will make these even better...

exactly. And this article says it is slightly faster than the mid 2015 model and close to the top end model. How much was the mid and top 13" pro? more or less than $1499?

People seem to forget you are getting a much lighter laptop, new design/speaker, way better speakers, and a noticeably better screen.

 

[halfbad]

I'm just curious what people expected from the core performance perspective, everyone uses intel chips. So the entire market can only improve if intel improves. I don't understand why people freak out, you know what the performance is going to be generally in all laptops when they use the intel chips.

Unless Apple is going to design their own chips, and get into chips for their Mac line. Improvements you can expect are around what Apple can do. Maybe this will happen but not for awhile...

 

[macs4nw]

Removing features and charging more is an awesome business model.

That made me chuckle; hadn't thought of it like that. But whatever else many are disappointed about, you have to give it to them for that screen; it's incredibly beautiful, and something photographers especially will appreciate. That is after they stop lamenting about the loss of the SD card slot.

 

[Three141]

I've concluded: under Jobs we received explanations for design choices. Currently: No word about leaving MagSafe behind, no logic for the non-industry-standard audio output on iPhone 7, not a word about the MBPs headphone jack (probably too scared to mention), ...

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

Explanations we now get is 'courage' or Ive's 'making it thinner, lighter and more powerful' that's conflicting with adding a touch screen for example (MR post today).

Change triggers natural resistance and needs reasons to be accepted. Apple does not manage to explain=sell their changes/choices anymore.

Insightful post; i completely forgot Steve used to give some form of explanation.

 

[chronos1919]

I wasn't a MacBook owner when the Air released but a lot of these complaints must be reminiscent of that time. I'm glad that Apple is pushing USB-C. It's far superior to traditional USB. I wish more companies (like Microsoft) were trying to push it forward as well. Overall there's a lot to like about the new MacBook Pro line. I think people are too focused on the lowest end "Pro" (which arguably, shouldn't have the name). It's basically an upgrade to the 12" retina, which was priced similarly with inferior components.

As for those threatening to jump ship, I tried to switch over to the Surface Pro 4 about a year ago. Couldn't do it. 4-5 hour battery life and constant bugs and crashes. The touch-screen interface was a mixed bag as well. It also wasn't scaling applications properly to fit the resolution. My fiancee owns a Surface Book. Same issues. As well as the camera failing 50% of the time (for Windows Hello) and the screen refusing to detach. Not to mention that both Surface products are similarly priced to the new MacBooks. I'm not sure why so many people seem to believe they should be cheaper. They seem priced accordingly for the market.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

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.

re 1) I think calling it 'Pro' is just for marketing purposes. The 'Air' brand is dead now. Lots of manufacturers now make light thin laptops. It's no longer distinctive. It doesn't have a premium feel. 'Pro', however sounds more exclusive, it sounds superior, it justifies a higher price point.

re 2) I think it is an MBA replacement. It's an MBA replacement that costs £500 more, with 2 hours less battery life. I find the price distressing, but in the UK this is almost entirely due to the pound's fall against the dollar since the Brexit vote. In the UK, there may be further fluctuations in the pounds value depending on whether we have a 'hard' Brexit (by leaving the Single Market), or a 'soft' Brexit (staying in and accepting immigration).

re 3) I think you are absolutely right, @kevinkyoo. And that's not Apple's fault. Intel provide the processors and the technological leaps are over. it's now evolution, not revolution.

As @now i see it says

The day's of bounding CPU speed improvements are over. Intel hit the wall (for the most part). So the new cool factor is power consumption at same speeds.
With that we get lower heat and therefore smaller battery requirement which allows for smaller, thinner computers with smaller fans & batteries.

& that's what we got.

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

I think you're right. Maybe that's why we need to wait for next year? Although it would mean a short shelf life for the 'magic keyboard 2'. But then there was a very short shelf life for ipad3

Far better display,
better form factor,
better trackpad,
better keyboard,
better sound,
more efficient cpu runs cooler and quiet,
better beautiful design and color.

This machine is a great improvement.

I don't like the price, I'm disappointed about the reduced battery life, but I think you're right.

this is a replacement for the Macbook Air...this isn't the real 13" MBP...but we compare the benchmark with the last gen real 13" MBP...so it is an improvement for an 15W cpu

I agree. I think they should have called it simply the 13" Macbook.

Wow I went to Geekbench's website and came away really impressed, only to come here and see everyone whining as usual.

My takeaway was:
1. The new baseline rMBP 13" which replaces the 13" MacBook Air/low-end 13" rMPB is as fast as the previous generation's top spec BTO 13" rMBP which has a 1.1Ghz base clock speed advantage, AND a 28W TDP.

2. Sure the base price has gone up, but you now get what was previously top flight 13" performance, so if you were satisfied with last years high end 13" rMPB CPU performance you won't need to BTO or buy up this time around.

3. To put it another way, this machine outperforms:
A. The i5 based 27" iMacs from 2012 and the 21" i5 based iMacs from 2013, both of which have significantly higher base clocks for single core tasks.
B: the top of the line QUAD CORE 27" iMac from 2010, and is within striking distance of the quad core i5 in the base 21" 2011 iMac.

4. While some may say those are "old" machines, considering the fact that we no longer see double digit increases in CPU performance from "ticks" or "tocks" (yes I know they are on "process improvement now"), this is very impressive. This effectively means that someone upgrading from an older quad core iMac could replace there entire setup with the baseline 13" rMBP.

5. This is JUST the baseline chip and its ONLY 15W, if the numbers for this chip are THIS good, imagine how good the numbers for the 28W and 45W parts are likely to be.

While I'm not justifying the increase in price, pretending that these results aren't impressive really ignores reality. The amount of performance on display here is impressive, and, depending on how the 28W and 45W parts hold up, may cause me, and many others, to re-evaluate our need for a desktop (assuming of course eGPU's actually come through).

I agree, my friend. It's also an improvement on the last iteration's baseline 'Pro' machine (unless I've misread the figures). The loss of battery life however is also disappointing.

I wish to add this about ports.

I've been using Air's since 2011, and my work means I am almost never in my office. I can't think of a time when I've had more than 1 port in use, plus the power cable. This has 2 ports. So you can have power, and charge an iPhone, or use a flash drive, or use an external disk drive. That's more than enough.

 

[Kevin2055]

You cannot blame apple for low CPU performance improvement. Apple doesn't make the CPU for macbook.

 

[tjleonard]

the MacBook pros should have been released with the option of 8 cores and 16 cores, 128GB of RAM and 6 or 8 USB-C ports and magsafe included.

this is what PRO means, SPEED, PERFORMANCE and EXPANDABILITY

Battery life of 15 minutes. How pro!!

 

[blackhand1001]

The average on the new model has actually dropped below last years base model now.

 

[mr.bee]

It's a solid platform. The number of USB-C peripherals and cables is steadily increasing so that complaint will fade over time. I'm guessing satisfaction rates with the 12" MacBook are high, which gave them confidence with their decision to go all-in with TB3.

The price is something that Apple can and has adjusted in the past. The general consensus is that these are about $200 more than what people were expecting. It would not surprise me at all if they get a quiet price drop with the next update.

I agree, I'm not saying the product is bad per se. But if I was in the market for a new rmbp, I'd say no today.
So let's see what's going on with the next update.

I'm in the apple eco system for more then 15 years... and that keynote was...just...lame...