At its “Hello Again” presentation, which took place at Town Hall, Cupertino, Apple finally announced the release of
Now with a matte touchpad - Touch Bar
The main feature of the new MacBook Pro is the multi-touch, capacitive OLED panel in the form of a strip (2170 × 60), which now replaces the top row of function keys.
It displays contextual shortcuts andcontrols depending on the running application. This means that if you are sitting in the Safari browser, you will see a switch between the tabs there, and if you are working in Photoshop, you will see buttons for working with the image on the bar. Buttons for controlling sound and brightness are also present - a little to the side. If desired, all the icons can be expanded or interact with them by long pressing, using the capabilities of the multi-touch panel.
Yes, by the way, the Touch Bar has the formmatte surface. The first reports on the Touch Bar show that the matte surface creates the feel of working with real buttons, not virtual ones. But unfortunately, unlike the new iPhone, there is no Taptic mechanism installed to create tactile feedback (it would be great to have one here too).
Personally, my Touch Bar is the mostpositive emotions. Apple's philosophy of simplifying the interface means that the most obvious control buttons should be hidden right behind the menu. And with the Touch Bar even easier - all control buttons are simply placed in front of the user. This technology will be indispensable to the same extent for both professional and ordinary users.
Touch Bar can be used at different viewing angles.
Apple has developed the Touch Bar to work with it in the normal sitting position. So do not worry about the fact that you have to lift above the keyboard for comfortable work with the strip.
Also note that the Touch Barthere is no own brightness control. But there is a built-in sensor for measuring ambient light, which controls the brightness of both the backlight of the keyboard and the brightness of the Touch Bar. Therefore, the Touch Bar feels like a continuation of the keyboard, not the display.
Touch ID sensor for unlocking, switching between user profiles and for Apple Pay
At the end of the Touch Bar, on the right side,there is a physical button in which the 2nd generation Touch ID sensor is integrated (with increased speed). The Touch ID sensor is used to unlock your Mac computer and to make purchases through the Apple Pay service.
If there are severaluser profiles, to which different Touch ID fingerprints are attached, now you can switch between them simply by touching the corresponding finger of the Touch ID scanner at any time. There is also a new T1 processor that provides secure storage of all Touch ID sensor information.
The Escape button is located on the Touch Bar.
Along with the physical function keys, the physical “Esc” button has also disappeared. But at the right time it appears on the Touch Bar. For example, when you use a text editor.
Brighter, sharper displays with greater color gamut
Like the new iPhone and iMac computers, Retinadisplays in the new MacBook Pros offer wider color gamut and display 25% more color gamut. Displays are 67% brighter - the brightness of the display has grown to 500 nt.
They are more energy efficient.
New displays are 30% more energy efficient thanprevious generation displays. Thanks to this factor, Apple specialists were able to reduce the size of internal batteries and, accordingly, the new MacBooks became thinner.
The trackpad doubled in size
New MacBook Pros get Force Touch trackpadgiant sizes, super giant sizes. On a 15-inch computer, the trackpad size doubled, while on a 13-inch computer it increased 1.5 times. The first experience with these trackpads shows that Apple specialists at the software level integrated protection against accidental touch into these new trackpads. Thanks to them for that.
Faster SSDs
The new SSDs in MacBooks have shown impressive performance. The data transfer rate is 3.1 Gb / s. This is 50% more than in the previous generation drives.
128 disc no longer
Now disk size on all new MacBook Prosstarts with 256 GB. 128 GB drives are no longer installed. The increase in disk space is always welcome, although I would not want Apple to do this. I will explain why. If a MacBook Pro with a 128 GB drive would cost $ 200 less, then so many users would be happy with that.
Thinner and lighter
The thickness of the new 13-inch MacBook ProNow it’s 14.9 mm, which is 17% less than the thickness of the current line of 13-inch models. It is also 23 percent smaller and half a pound lighter than the current model, which weighs 3 pounds (1.36 kg).
The thickness of the 15-inch MacBook Pro is now 15.5 mm, which is less than 18 mm of the thickness of the current model. It weighs 4 pounds, making it 0.5 pounds lighter than the current model.
2nd Generation Butterfly Keyboard
MacBook Pro's new keyboard is similar toMagic Keyboard and MacBook keyboard. This keyboard uses the 2nd generation “Butterfly” mechanism and has a slightly longer key travel. However, the thickness of the keys is less than the keys of the latest model. I think that you should not expect a clear “click” feeling from this keyboard.
Enhanced Features
15-inch MacBook Pro powered by IntelCore i7 processor, 16 GB DDR4 RAM at a frequency of 2133 MHz, and a graphics system from AMD’s Radeon Pro, which is produced by a 14 nm process.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro comes withdual-core Core i5 or i7 processors and 8 GB of RAM. The Intel Iris graphics system has doubled the speed due to the presence of 64 GB type eDRAM.
All processors belong to the Skylane line. The Kaby Lake processor is not yet ready for installation in these laptop models.
There is no benchmark for comparisonthe performance of these new chipsets. At the presentation, Apple experts announced an increase in graphics performance on 15-inch models by 130% compared to the models of the previous release.
Finally they support 5K displays
Given all the improved features and the plus of Thunderbolt 3, it means that you can finally use these new models in conjunction with 5K resolution displays.
The 13-inch MacBook supports one 5K monitor, while the 15-inch supports two monitors (plus its own built-in Retina display).
While Apple does not offer its own 5K Cinema display. But you can buy the LG UltraFine 27-inch 5K monitor from the Apple Store for $ 1299.
There is also a 21.5-inch 4K monitor for $ 799.
These monitors are at your disposal.three USB-C ports and are able to charge your Mac through the same USB-C cable that is used to transmit the signal to the monitor. Thus, the monitor can be used as a docking station, as well as connect all available peripheral devices to it.
Speakers sound louder
The speakers are small. But they have twice the dynamic range. Which means that in the end they sound much louder.
Apple logo no longer glows
Reducing the thickness of the case has its sideeffect, namely: the Apple logo - a kind of icon - is now missing. It was replaced by a shiny logo made of anodized aluminum, which was first introduced on the 12-inch MacBook.
Colors “Silver” and “Space Gray”
Color option "Gold" or "Rose Gold" oncurrently missing, but we got the "Space Gray". For the first time on MacBook Pro models. Personally, I'm waiting for the black color of the iPhone 7 to get to the MacBook Pro.
Design evolution
The new MacBook Pro looks almost the same asprevious. But you can see the differences in design. Now the laptop has more strict lines. In combination with reduced thickness, the device looks more angular. Instead of plastic hinges and pads, metal ones are now used. Which gives the new MacBook Pro a different look from the previous model.
What else gives the new MacBook Pro an updated look is the color "Space Gray" in combination with reduced thickness and a new logo.
Four USB-C ports and that's it
All the ports of the old MacBook Pro known to you: HDMI, USB-A, SD card reader, Thunderbolt 2 - they all disappeared.
They were replaced with 4 Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C ports. Only two of the available Thunderbolt 3 ports do support the Thunderbolt version 3 protocol. Therefore, care should be taken when connecting Thunderbolt 3 peripherals such as docking stations and 5K monitors. The compatibility of Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C protocols looks strange. All USB-C devices will work in these new connectors. But not all Thunderbolt accessories can be used in the proposed four ports.
Headphone jack alive
The only other kind of port remaining onThis laptop is a headphone jack. Apple turned out to be using it in the iPhone 7, but due to the fact that delays in the passage of audio signals play a huge role on professional MacBook Pro machines, the 100-year-old connector is still out of order.
10 hours battery life
Even after optimizing the weight of your Apple deviceconfidently promises us the work of the new MacBooks from batteries throughout the whole working day (10 hours). The claimed figures are not always accurate, but if we get 7-8 hours at medium-high load, we still get the winner of the race (my Retina MacBook rarely gives out 5 hours).
Starting price for MacBook Pros with Touch Bar – $1799
Cost 13-inch MacBook Pro with TouchBar and Touch ID in the basic configuration starts at $ 1799 for 256 GB of disk space. The cost of the 15-inch version starts at $ 2399 for the same 256 GB in configuration.
There is a version without Touch Bar and Touch ID
If there is no great desire to live in the future, butI just want to keep up with the present, that is, the version of the new MacBook Pro with a 13-inch screen and standard function keys (without the Touch Bar and without Touch ID).
The price for the basic configuration is $ 1499. But you get a less efficient processor (starting frequency 2 GHz) and only two USB-C ports. Merits? This version can be ordered and purchased right here and now.
Delivery time: 2-3 weeks
You can order the new MacBook Pros with Touch Bar right now, but get it in about 2-3 weeks.
Previous models survived
Previous 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro modelsGenerations (2015) are still alive, that is, they are still on sale. Both base models (with a configurable configuration) are still sold in the Apple Store. And they are sold at the old price as before - $ 1299 for the 13-inch model and $ 1799 for the 15-inch - there is no talk of any reduction in prices.