New MacBook Pro Models Now Available for Purchase as Apple Store Comes Back Online

[Uplift]

What a dilemma.

I use my MacBook Pro 9+ hours a day in a professional capacity, I never thought I would consider switching to another platform.

First up.. though not a deal breaker... the design.. the keyboard looks dwarfed on the this thing. Maybe it's the trackpad... cool that it's bigger I suppose, why not? it makes use of wasted space, but no pencil support fail.

Ports don't bother me I rarely use them anyway, happy to use an adapter every once in a while.

No battery life improvements even though the internals are more power efficient.

Touchbar, I can't really comment on this as I haven't used it, it could be really useful.

MagSafe, this is the most annoying thing of all, it is by far the best charger I have seen on any device, so simple and has saved my ass on numerous occasions, it's incredibly thin I don't see the need to remove this at all.

No glowing logo? purely cosmetic but has always been iconic.

Price? .. I had money set a side but now I am on the fence, before I purchase I will be looking at alternatives, it would be stupid to blindly splash this much cash without seeing what else is on offer.

I think it looks ugly from the view, maybe the speakers, but it doesn´t feel right for some reason.

Reminds me of this..

I laughed out loud when I read this. Just wonderful Apple. You added a stupid touch bar and jacked up the price so much that even Apple diehards are saying no. I've been watching you push out overpriced hardware for years and this is the first time I've seen the diehard Apple fans actually disappointed.

When a post about new Microsoft products has more positive feedback than the Apple product launch on a Mac-centric forum, you know you've messed up.

I am a little disappointed, I went through checkout and actually felt a little nervous pushing the button, the price is higher than expected. I decided not to make such a rash decision, I will be weighing up other options before go ahead with it. I feel others will feel the same.. even the 'I must have every updated apple product' guys will struggle handing over this much cash.

 

[kstotlani]

Can anyone confirm that these are Skylake processors?

The high end specs (2.9 GHz i7 quad core, the better Radeon with 4GB RAM, 1TB SSD) boost the price to $3499.

Yes it is Skylake. It's cute how they said 6th generation as if there are monkeys in the crowd who don't know what it means.

 

[kazmac]

Wow. 20 year Apple user here and the past 3 years has seen my fan girl enthusiasm withering significantly: the price gouging hikes are ridiculous (though not surprising), ongoing annoyances (6s battery getting wonky now after 10 months, not to mention activation lock etc.) and other such things, leave me at a loss as to where I stand with this company. If their quality control matched the methane hype wafting up from the incomplete spaceship maybe I wouldn't feel like I've been kicked to the curb (and speaking as a non pro and long time Apple user)...it's just sad.

 

[GeneralChang]

Yeah, what pro would ever want to run two 5k monitors and a giant RAID array while editing 4k video?

The power is there, no doubt. But did we really need a big event to announce it? I think that's what's disappointed me more than anything else.

 

[Vjosullivan]

It just goes to show how little people understand innovation. The touch bar is going to be very, very popular. I look forward to the same people claiming this was a boring presentation later saying that PC manufacturer X's version of the touch bar is so much better.

Not at those prices. The touch bar is just a very (very) small touch screen. Other companies had been selling full sized touch screens on their PCs for ages. I'm pretty sure I prefer the full sized version. This is the Apple's "you don't two mouse buttons" re-written for the 21st century.

 

[cpnotebook80]

This is just the beginning given Brexit. You think it wont get worse just wait this time next year let alone the future.

why did the Uk prices go up so much and how did brexit push them that way? I assumed the uk pound was a strong currency

 

[Fly360]

Apple add something no other laptop has and people say they don't innovate because they can't afford it. Bring up Microsoft that has higher prices.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Did some hard thinking on the touch bar... I think Apple has something here that is going to be the first real new thing in laptops since I got my first one back in the 90's. Sure, things have changed since then - better screens, removing CD drives, going to SSD's, different ports. But all of that has been evolutionary - just a small improvement on the existing technology. It hasn't been something truly new.

So now we get rid of the F-keys. Sure, some people complain about that... but honestly, aside from using them to control my debugger in Eclipse, they're used almost entirely for their "secondary" purposes - brightness and volume control, etc. So why should we hold on to the relics?

And then the touch bar. I think it has the potential to eliminate the menu's that have been at the top of our windows and screens since the GUI was invented. It gives us a different way to interact with our computers, bridging the gap between tablet and laptop. You don't want to be poking at your laptop screen to control it, it feels flimsy and you have to constantly adjust the angle of the screen as you push it away from you with every tap. Plus, every time you reach up to touch the screen, you block part of it with your hand. Here, you have something that's not going to move, as it's on the base, just like the keyboard. You have an area dedicated to menus and controls, giving your screen more room for your media and actual content you're creating or viewing. And you keep your hands down and out of the way so your view isn't impeded.

And like the iPod, I think this is going to evolve past what it is today. What happens if you add in a taptic engine behind the touch bar? You'll be able to "feel" keys as you move your finger over them! Why not bring the touch bar down to be a big old rectangle next to the touchpad? They might end up doing that down the road to improve the ergonomics of using it and to give it more room.

I think the most important part (and most distincly Apple part) of this is that Apple's learned from other failures out there. Companies have tried introducing touch sensitive displays before. Some have replaced the entire keyboard, and failed. Some have resulted in moving other hardware around and failed. Some have had limited support from third parties and failed. Apple is taking a small, carefully measured step in a new direction for laptop controls. 10 years from now we'll wonder how we ever lived without it.

I don't think you've ever used a touchscreen display before. They don't need to constantly be adjusted because they get pushed back, and the difference from having to move your eyes and hands off of the keyboard to locate the touchbar vs a touch screen is going to be negligible. No, the touchbar is a keyboard that can change its keys, but instead of a mechanical keyboard they went with a touch keyboard. It's horrible for ergonomics and touch typing. it's good for my wife who watches Netflix, but then it belongs on their MacBook Consumer, not MacBook Pro.

 

[MH01]

Yeah, what pro would ever want to run two 5k monitors and a giant RAID array while editing 4k video?

One that knows that putting £4K desktop is a smarter option....

What pro buys a 4K editing computer running 2 5K displays and 16GB ram....let that sink in, a £4K machine with......16GB.... is this a joke?

 

[phloo]

Will there be a notable difference between the 2,7 GHz and 2,9 GHz chip?

 

[TheAustrianGuy]

They will kill demand with that outrageous pricing.
I'd be surprised if sales of MBs and iPhones will recover.
Especially in Europe.

Phil calls it amazing. I call it price gauging.

 

[GeneralChang]

OK lets compare prices.

Microsoft Surface Pro in Australia with i5, 8g and 256 is $2949 AU
13" MacBook Pro in Australia i5, 8g 256, $2699. AU

Hmmm...

For those saying Apple is over priced compared to Windows of comparable specs., well guess again!

I don't think anyone was defending the Surfaces pricing...

 

[wol]

Come on guys, I really love the dark grey design of the new laptops, the ergonomics of the keyboard, and that they finally got rid of the ridiculous row of function keys on the top!

The innovative track ball should also greatly increase my productivity. Heading over to Apple Store right now to order the fully loaded new PowerBook 170...

...what a bargain at US$4,599 in October 1991!

 

[Sandybox]

Erm... when was Apple really successful for offering computers that were affordable?

Until today....

 

[goulwen]

I love those machines. a real nice evolution. but i'll tell you what: let's NOT buy any new macbook pro just because of their INSANE price policy. Apple has reached a time where the need to be teach a basic "money" lesson: prices too high no buyers. INSANE.

 

[Tomino]

Those UK prices, haha thank you to those who voted for Brexit and sent the £ falling in value.

Don't worry, it's still unaffordable in Euros.

 

[Chozes]

why did the Uk prices go up so much and how did brexit push them that way? I assumed the uk pound was a strong currency

Yeah the pound is going one way only. This is minor stuff though compared to the long term.

 

[PegLegDreg]

Prices have increased across the board. Mac mini now STARTS at £479 for 4GB ram.

 

[SBlue1]

What was Jony working on the last two years? No MacBooks as far as I can tell...

 

[bjet767]

Young people can't afford those new stupid prices, thats why.

If you go back and look, historically young people (unless you worked for Microsoft in the day) could never afford Apple prices. Apple has never priced their products for the poor starving entering the work force people.

So how did they get an expensive Apple product? Think about it.

 

[SBapple]

That's Brexit for you - due to the fact that the pound is worth diddly squat due to Brexit, expect everything to get insanely expensive.

More blame it on Brexit BS, John Lewis, PC World, Argos etc etc have not changed there prices.

 

[kstotlani]

I really wonder if the ergonomics of the touch bar is going to bite them in the ass. I find the track pad / trackman to work perfectly for me - having to reach up to the bottom of the screen for long sessions of editing - not so sure.

Another snooze of an event - Cook has to be the 100% most boring speaker that I have heard. Today he was always looking down for his talking points - almost like he was reading the same old crap he has spewed for years.

My wife who is not a gadget freak and just glanced over my screen to see the event said - that bar is placed wrong and you will be tired stretching your hands like that. The correct placement would have been below the space bar so that you can use it with the trackpad.

I was stunned how simple her observation was and she just went back to reading her book.

 

[djlythium]

Sadly, I think Apple really has lost its way. A company this wealthy and formerly innovative should be able to put out a line of products and more software in a more cohesive way on a much more regular basis. And they appear to be obstinate about the future integration of mobile and desktop that their competitors are surely working on. Touch Bar is a nice and useful iteration, but should have been a sidenote in a much larger presentation with a line of computers with a new Mac Pro, Mac Mini, iMac and new Magic Keyboard 3 with Touch Bar and Touch ID. The MacBook Pros are nice but only evolutionary. I'm a long time Mac fan and own many Apple products and will continue to buy, but I'm not very impressed and certainly not by Apple's usual standards.

This.

 

[H_C]

Welp.... well at least apple have crossed themselves off my list for now until they come to their senses about prices.

On the other hand the xps 15 inch is looking ever so better with every apple event.

 

[michaelsviews]

They will kill demand with that outrageous pricing.
I'd be surprised if sales of MBs and iPhones will recover.
Especially in Europe.

Phil calls it amazing. I call it price gauging.

Must need MORE MONEY for the space ship