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Apple Focuses on New MacBooks at Today’s ‘Hello Again’ Event

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[UPDATE…] Get a Closer Look at the New MacBook Pro and What It Means For Creative Professionals

Last month’s Apple event was all about iPhone and the Apple Watch. But for today’s event, the company shifted its attention to the MacBook. We finally received new models of Apple’s most popular laptop once Apple’s executive team took the stage.

So, what exactly did Apple CEO Tim Cook & Co. unveil? Read on to find out.

Apple TV
Cook took the stage first for an introduction of a new Accessibility website as well as iPhone, iOS 10 and Apple Pay status updates. But it wasn’t long before he got down to business.

First up, was the Apple TV. Cook re-iterated that the future of TV is apps, and Apple now has 8,000 apps including 2,000 games for Apple TV – gamers will be happy to hear that Minecraft will make its way to Apple TV. A Twitter representative then took the stage to show off a new Twitter app and how it can be utilized during a live sporting event among other new live TV offerings.

Commentary: Apple Should Renew Focus on Mac Users, Pros

Next, Cook talked about a “unified TV experience” from Apple TV with the new “TV” app. TV lets users combine all of their TV, movie and video content into a single app. You’ll also be able to utilize “Siri Live Tune In” to watch live TV. TV will be available by the end of the year.

q-100

Mac In Action
This is why we came. Next up for Cook, was the MacBook Pro. After recapping macOS Sierra’s features, Cook moved onto Mac notebooks, noting it is the 25th anniversary of Apple notebooks.

But this event is about the future of the Mac notebook. Cook gave way to a video showing off the latest Apple laptop: the long-rumored new MacBook Pro. Phil Schiller and later Craig Federighi took the stage next to talk about the new MacBook Pro design. Several presenters also took the stage to demonstrate the new Touch Bar.

The new 13” MacBook Pro features:

  • Available in Silver, Space Gray
  • 17% thinner than the previous generation
  • Weighs 3 pounds
  • Butterfly mechanism keyboard
  • All-new Force Touch trackpad that is 2x larger
  • Dynamic Retina Touch Bar row at top of keyboard with multi-touch capability
  • Touch ID support for multiple users
  • “The best display ever on a Mac”
  • Four Thunderbolt 3 ports
  • Up to 10 hours of battery life
  • Shipping in 2-3 weeks
  • Starting at $1799

The new 15” MacBook Pro features:

  • Available in Silver, Space Gray
  • 14% thinner than the previous generation
  • Weighs 4 pounds
  • Butterfly mechanism keyboard
  • All-new Force Touch trackpad that is 2x larger
  • Dynamic Retina Touch Bar row at top of keyboard with multi-touch capability
  • Touch ID support for multiple users
  • “The best display ever on a Mac”
  • Four Thunderbolt 3 ports
  • Up to 10 hours of battery life
  • Shipping in 2-3 weeks
  • Starting at $2399

There is also a 13-inch MacBook Pro without the new Touch Bar and featuring Two Thunderbolt 3 ports, which starts shipping today starting at $1499.

What did you think about today’s relatively brief event? Let us know in the comments section. And stay tuned to the Rocket Yard for more information on the new Mac lineup.

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27 Comments

  • Apple has done,
    They lost touch with their prosumer and pro users if you ask me. there big update is a silly bar, Not the best graphic possible, Not the best processor.
    Plus about $400~600 over priced on the top end 15in
    $600~800 less and it would be a good machine but not the best out there.

  • after 23 years as a Mac poweruser (digital artist), it has become painfully clear that I will have to switch to a windows PC

    • If feel the more that dont buy these machines the more Apple will get the message.
      26yr fan boy, not any more.

  • A gimmicky bar to appeal to iPhone users doesn’t make a new product. I’m still sour on Apple since getting stung by the graphics card issues, dropping Aperture and ruining FCPX.

  • I wonder if Apple R&D/Teams/Developers ever really use the gear for their own stuff? This release is a disappointment. The location of the touch bar is poor. a real distraction when working. Memory upgrade nil, and price way to high. I’ve been holding out from my current 2011. Now, I’ll go by yesterdays model.

  • I really expected a merge of the iOS touch screen interface with MacOS Sierra. The future is ALL touch. Microslop has figured that out.

    Removal of the SDXC card slot sucks. The move to Thunderbolt 3.1 is understandable, but we’ll need a new dock that is backwards-compatible with USB 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, and FireWire 800. I have a bunch of older devices I still need to use.

    At least they haven’t changed the processor architecture to ARM!

  • What’s your timeframe for a Thunderbolt 3 dock? Given the number and cost of all the dongles we will need, a dock makes more sense than ever before.

    • Hi, Michael. We can’t talk about specific timelines here on the blog. But be sure to check back for future updates. Thanks!

  • I’m not particularly thrilled with the loss of HDMI and SD card slot, which could’ve been maintained with the current profile. I’d prefer that they not focus so much attention on slimming things down, as it reduces the potential for extra battery time and provides excuses for removing more ports. I’ve never achieved 10 hours with my rMBP; the best I’ve ever seen with my regular usage patterns is about 4 hours.

    The prices are inching up into ridiculous territory again, and the SSD upgrades are extortionately overpriced. They could’ve taken the opportunity to switch to M.2 with this revamp, but chose to stay with proprietary to increase revenue.

    I’m seriously considering switching back to a Windows laptop for my next system, but it’ll very likely be something that I can hackintosh.

  • The upgrades are underwhelming, to say the least. The touch bar seems like a gimmick. And the pricing is shocking, even for Apple. The $1800 for the MBP13 would be more palatable if it had 16GB & 512GB.

    I fear that I’ve bought my last new Macbook already.

  • Unlike many, I was blown away with the possibilities of the new Touch Bar and FCP. I ordered a 15″ MBP fully loaded and can’t wait to see it perform on the new LG monitor. Apple has never stood for low price, just awesome products. But what the heck, I’m an elitist.

  • I was hoping for a big MacBook Air update. Instead, we got discontinuation. Why does Apple give up on such an affordable, popular product? OK, if any one says go for the new MacBook Pro that is only one pound heavier. Who wants to cough $2000-3000 for a laptop that is not even essential nowadays? They could have offered the new 15-inch Pro with a conventional keyboard.

    So, I will stay with my mid-2013 13-inch MacBook Air. Its battery last only 6 hours now. I will replace the battery and move on.

    The new MacBook Pros will be a loser at the current price. I will think about them if the price is lowered by $1000. If I really have to have a MacBook Pro, I will look for a used recent model or a $500 Windows laptop, to which I really do not want to change.

    • No kidding. I’m still puttering along the the last 2011 version of a 17″ Macbook Pro. I love this machine, but I’m worried about what happens when I have no choice but to upgrade (It’s a business machine. Have to keep some programs updated at all times). Clearer text doesn’t do much good to my older eyes now. Sorry, but SIZE matters.

      I marked out on my 17″ screen what a 15″ would be, while taking the text as small as I could still read. Wow, talk about claustrophobic. I’m spoiled. I like the screen space. It would be a real hardship to have to downgrade to a smaller screen.

      I have very limited space, so an external monitor is not possible. The laptop has to have the screen I use.

      Sigh.

      Apple, other makers have 17″ latops! Get your head out of the sand!

      Yeash.

  • Very unhappy with higher cost and need for lots of dongles. Considering a refurb 2015 to replace my early 2011 while I still can!

  • When out of the office, I use the MAcBook keyboard, but in the office, the lid is closed and I plug into a couple of displays, keyboard, Magic Mouse. The Touch Bar is useless in that configuration – need a keyboard with Touch Bar…or a Touch Bar that can be affixed to any keyboard.

  • As a pro photographer I depend on my MacBook, often shooting tethered to it and then doing editing of huge files. My mid-2012 is maxed out in processing though I store files on my two ThunderBays. I have been waiting for this one and planned to update. I planned to pull the trigger right away but I’m not in a hurry now. I think it’ll cost an additional three hundred dollars just to pay for the additional dongles for all my peripherals. And I’d really miss the SD card slot. Has Mac forgotten that photographers and other creatives are the ones that kept their computer sales going in many lean years? I’ll have to get one eventually but sure is a letdown. There may be a great opportunity for you guys in creating a unified dock for all my usb and thunderbolt 2 connections.

    • Yes Art, they have forgotten about us. No Mac Pro update for 3+ years, the “oh, yeah, that’s gone now” removal of Aperture, etc. They are very concerned with on-demand access to emoji characters. It has been sad watching OSX slowly decline over the years, becoming less reliable and stable, while only getting new IOS toys and gimmicks dumped on it, in the process breaking WiFi and other features that are needed to do actual work (see the https://macperformanceguide.com/AppleCoreRot-intro.html for the best examples of this), but now we see it on the hardware side too. Nobody complained “I need a thinner laptop”. I never heard anyone say “This machine would be great if only it didn’t have all these different ports….”. We’ve been able to remap function keys for years – using built-in tools or cheap utilities – and anyone who needs/wants to do so has been doing it already. This touch bar is going to get really old really fast – punishment for actually learning how to type as you’ll now have to look down at the thing every time you want to use it. Can’t wait until someone figures out how to display ads on it…..

      Price is a joke too – $2800? No thanks. I’ll buy two loaded 2015 models from the refurb store, running the last stable OSX that also ran all my pro apps without crashing (10.9) and revisit the issue in 2022.

  • The port simplification has gone too far IMO. The only thing I really want is the 2TB SSD. When are you folks going to have one for the older MPBs?

  • As a long time Apple developer I’m excited to receive my new 15″ MacBook Pro. I’ve been using two Mac Minis for several years waiting for this announcement. The price point is disappointing but I think the demand will be high. Apple still creates the best quality equipment by far.

  • When should we expect brand new OWC external SSD (portable and desktop) to boot Mac with Thunderbolt 3? Check out competitors like Samsung and LaCie.

  • Great looking machines
    I love the light weight and compact size of the 13 inch models.
    What I like especially is the high speed wifi, thunderbolt/USB and SSD.

    Probably don’t need the top of the range – it is so good.

  • I think that you need to get into Mac refurb sales in an even bigger way. Judging by comments at Mac sites, users are not happy paying higher prices for fewer features. Apple is pricing themselves off the market.