Apple’s new MacBook Pro is here and, like every new product it launches, the Californian company wants you to believe this is the most revolutionary MacBook yet. In fairness to Apple, it has gone above and beyond the simple MacBook hardware refresh. Many of the new features are smart additions from Apple’s general product innovations but it’s clear that the biggest feature – and the one Apple is dubbing “groundbreaking” – could have only come about from its design team scratching their heads in an effort to think about how they could change the status quo of laptops. Enter, the Touch Bar.
More on that little new feature in a moment as these new MacBook Pros are more than simply a few gimmicks thrown together. They’re more powerful than ever, with better displays, smaller form factors and still boasting all-day battery life. The real shame is, they’re more expensive than any new MacBook Pro has ever been.
Armed with that basic snapshot of the new MacBook Pros, here’s everything we learnt from Apple’s announcement and our hands-on time with the device.
The 6 things you need to know about the new MacBook Pro
1. MacBook Pro has ditched function keys
Now it’s all about the Touch Bar. Where those function keys once were, you now have a strip of touch-sensitive Retina display that dynamically presents the most useful controls for any given situation. Keyboard shortcuts be damned.
That said, if you opt for the lowest-grade new MacBook Pro, you’ll still get a strip of Function Keys instead of the snazzy Touch Bar. Not bad if you’re not taken by Apple’s “innovation”.
2. MacBook Pro brings Touch ID to Mac
Yes. You can now log in to your MacBook with your finger. But so can your other half, or your colleague, or anyone else for that matter – press your finger against the Touch ID sensor, and macOS Sierra instantly switches to your desktop and your applications. It’s quite brilliant. Oh, and thanks to the new Apple T1 chip supporting Secure Enclave, you can now buy things with your fingertip, too.
3. These are the fastest MacBook Pros yet
Duh. Of course they are. But finally we get Skylake processors, dual-core CPUs on the 13in models and quad-core on the 15in models, and the bigger MacBook Pros now get AMD’s Polaris graphics architecture to play with. This means 2.3x more performance than the previous generation. The already-nippy SSDs are now a claimed two times faster, too.
4. USB Type-C adapters will be your new best friend
While the cheapest new MacBook Pro has to make do with only two Thunderbolt 3-ready USB Type-C ports, the pricier models and the big boys in the range all get four. That means 40GB/sec transfers and twin 5K external monitors are now just a USB Type-C cable away, but it also means that you’ll need to shell out on ALL the adapters. Apart from a 3.5mm headphone socket, USB Type-C is the only other connector here. Still, the bidirectional magic means that a single USB Type-C cable can send video to a monitor and charge your laptop at the same time.
5. Apple has given the MacBook Pro the best display yet
Those Retina displays have just got a whole lot more eye-friendly. The new screens are 67% brighter, 67% more contrasty, and 25% more gamuty – so they can present more colours and a greater dynamic range, and do it even while you’re "working" outside. Thanks, Apple. You’re the best.
6. You can blame Brexit for Apple’s most expensive MacBook Pro range ever
Obviously, due to the way product prices change over time that’s not strictly true in terms of pure numbers but these MacBook Pros are definitely the most expensive we’ve seen in modern times.
If you have to ask exactly how much, I can assure you that you’re going to be disappointed. The 13in Touch Bar free MacBook Pro starts at an eye-watering £1,449 with the Touch Bar model costing you £1,749 – that’s a £300 for an Retina display strip. If you think that’s worth it, you can pick up a beefier 512GB model for £1,949 or go whole-hog and grab the 15in MacBook Pro for either £2,349 or £2,699 depending on if you want 256GB or 512GB of storage and a slightly more powerful CPU and GPU.
7. The new MacBook Pro means only one thing...
It's been years since Apple did anything meaningful to the MacBook Pro line, with its last innovation being the introduction of Retina displays in its third-generation models back in 2012. So, now we've got the Touch Bar, it's clear this is the...
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If you want to know what happened during the Apple Event as a blow-by-blow account, we’ve retained our live blog over on page two for you to peruse.
Apple's October MacBook Pro event is over and done with, and we now have a slew of information about a set of brand-new MacBook Pro notebooks and a tantalising update to the Apple TV. As you can always expect from an Apple event, there was plenty of back-slapping and self-praise at the grandiose improvements the company has made to our lives. It was like watching a Brooker-esque fever dream unfold before your eyes.
Still, the new MacBook Pros do look quite nice, and they come in two colours. Anyway, here's a quick roundup of what we saw during Apple's event along with a blow-by-blow rundown of what Apple got up to in Cupertino.
Apple MacBook Pro Event 2016: At a glance
- Apple has started an Accessibility website to promote how accessible its products are to those with disabilities.
- Apple TV is now getting live TV and both tvOS and iOS will get a tool to search and watch all your streaming services in one place. It's called "TV" (because of course it is) and seems to be US only at the moment.
- Apple TV is also finally getting Minecraft– years after every other device (including the Raspberry Pi).
- Apple has launched three new MacBook Pro devices: a reworked 13in model, a 13in with snazzy new context-sensitive Touch Bar and a 15in with the same all-new Retina display replacement for your function keys.
- The new Touch Bar also has Touch ID integrated into it.
- All three models come in Space Grey and Silver and prices start, for the most basic model, at an astronomical £1,449 (thanks Brexit).
- The new MacBook Pros all still have a headphone jack (phew!), but come with four Thunderbolt 3 ports and NO USB 3. This means every port can be used to charge the MacBook Pro, wich is good... except for the fact that you'll need plenty of adapters to use any of your existing tech.
Apple MacBook Pro Event 2016: As it happened (in reverse chronological order)
19.24: That's it, we're done! We'll get the below tidied up for you and have a rundown of everything you need to know shortly!
19.20: You can pick up the vanilla 13in MacBook Pro for $1,499, the Touch Bar MacBook Pro version for $1,799 and the 15in model for $2,399. Looking at the UK store, that means the cheapest MacBook is now £1,449, the next one up costs £1,749, and £2,349 for the low-end 15in model.
19.19: There's actually three versions of the new MacBook. Two come with the new and snazzy Touch Bar and one just makes use of the standard function keys – that's the one that's comparable with the MacBook Air.
19.17: The MacBook Pro is actually smaller, thinner and lighter than the 13in MacBook Air... That's a bit unbelieveable, although pictures suggest just that. Is the MacBook Air dead in the water? I suspect it might well be.
19.16: If you were curious, it's a lot more powerful than the first Apple notebook...
Then and now. The new #MacBookPro is 6.8m times faster than its 25-year-old sibling. #AppleEventpic.twitter.com/bYjBneFiFB
— David Court (@davidcourt86) October 27, 2016
19.14: As expected, all new MacBook Pros will ship with macOS Sierra and deliver up to ten hours of battery life.
19.11: Jony Ive's voice is now being used to do a video voiceover on a trailer for the new MacBook Pro, just to drive home everything they've spent the past half hour talking about – in case it hadn't sunk in.
19.10: Microsoft is bringing its Office suite to MacBook Pro with Touch Bar support too. So, there's that...
19.06: Algoriddim CEO Karim Morsy is on stage showing off the MacBook Pro's DJ capabilities. That's right, the product demos have stooped to this level.
Live demo of @Algoriddim using the Touch Bar on #MacBookPro#AppleEventpic.twitter.com/GAxmuc8loY
— David Court (@davidcourt86) October 27, 2016
This was all done live on the Touch Bar. Of course it was mate, it sounded like a car accident. #appleevent
— Curtis Moldrich (@Khurtizz) October 27, 2016
19.00: Adobe's Bradee Evans is on stage talking about Photoshop.
Live demo of #PhotoShop using the new #MacBookPro's TouchID. Pretty cooool. #AppleEventpic.twitter.com/riVOyxljUW
— David Court (@davidcourt86) October 27, 2016
18.57: We're now watching Susan Prescott talk us through the advantages of Final Cut Pro.
18.55: The new MacBook Pro comes with four Thunderbolt 3 ports, which means you can power it from any of the four ports with ease. This does mean there are no USB 3 ports anymore, so crack those adapters out!
18.52: Phil is back and is detailing the innards of the new MacBook Pros. The 15in version comes exclusively with a Skylake Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon Pro with 4GB of VRAM and a superfast SSD capable of 3.1GB/sec. This translates to 130% up on 3D graphics, 60% up on gaming and 57% up on video-editing performance.
The 13in comes in a dual-core Intel Core i5 or i7 configuration with Intel's onboard Iris graphics and the same SSD found in the 15in model. According to Apple, this means the 13in MacBook Pro is 103% better for gaming that the previous gen, and 76% better for 3D graphics and video rendering.
18.49: You can have multiple users and, with a simple touch of Touch ID, you switch immediately to the other user. Not bad if you share a machine.
18.48: You can update and change your set of Touch Bar icons as you please. Pretty handy.
18.45: Emoji! And also Safari favourite sites, if that does anything for you...
18.41: Apple killed off the Function keys, but the FN key still exists for those who want them to come back. The demo is rather dynamic and fast, so I'll only be updating if some interesting features are brought up. At the moment, we're just looking at Craig write an email using the Touch Bar to format and send the email.
18.40: The new Touch ID bar is integrated with the power button, is powered by a secure Apple T1 chip for secure payments and uses, and it's re-enforced with a new Sapphire glass covering. Now we're having a live demo of the Touch Bar by Craig Federighi.
18.38: The new function strip uses a retina display and has a Touch ID space at the end.
18.35: MacBook Pro now comes with a force-touch trackpad and comes with the second-gen butterfly mechanism keyboard that was on the MacBook. Apple also removed the function key (and "F" keys) and replaced it with a dynamic touchpad.
18.33: Thinnest and Lightest MacBook Pro ever, the 13in version is just 14.9mm thick. That's 17% thinner, 23% less volume and half a pound less than lthe last model. It comes in Space Grey and Silver.
18.32: The new innovation comes as part of the new MacBook Pro and at first glance it has the touchscreen bar we all knew was coming. Phil Schiller is now on stage to talk about the new MacBook Pro.
18.31: We're now onto a new and fancy trailer for the new MacBook, going through the ages of MacBook innovations. What lies at the end? A new 2016 Mac.
18.30: It's been 25 years since the first Apple notebook. Cook is talking about the breakthroughs Apple has had with its Mac notebook range. So, expect a big announcement any moment now...
18.27: Tim Cook is back on stage and we're now talking about the Mac – specifically MacBooks.
18.26: Apple's TV app will come to tvOS and iOS by the end of this year as a software update. The catch? It only seems to be in the US right now.
18.22: Apple's TV app is now on iPad too, and it's seamless – which isn't too bad really. Shame this really does just seem like Kodi, but not as legally questionable.
18.18: Jen (whoselastnamewasnevermentioned) is now on stage showing us what "TV" looks like. Not surprisingly, it looks a little bit like an app that brings everything you've watched on your TV – across your apps – into one place.
A quick look at the new TV app on Apple TV. #appleeventpic.twitter.com/KDBR8gw5EU
— David Court (@davidcourt86) October 27, 2016
18.17: Apple wants Apple TV to be a "unified TV experience" and so they've announced a new app called "TV".
18.14: Brian Troy from Twitter comes to the stage to talk about Apple TV and is now showing "the future of video made possible by Twitter".
Great example of how Twitter and Apple TV can work together. #AppleEventpic.twitter.com/3VBfaXAyE0
— David Court (@davidcourt86) October 27, 2016
18:12: Apple has moved onto talking about Apple TV, unexpected but good to see. Big news, Minecraft is finally coming to Apple TV. Taken long enough...
Minecraft coming to the Apple TV #appleevent
— David Court (@davidcourt86) October 27, 2016
18.11: Apple has now moved onto talking about Apple Watch Series 2. No news came from the iPhone and iOS chat, but at least we got a bit of an update...
18.08: As expected, Apple is currently just gloating about Apple's take-up of iOS 10. Failing to mention that iOS 10 is pushed to users, whereas Android 7 can't be, yet...
18.05: Apple is already talking about iPhone. It seems that this is simply an update around the sales of the iPhone rather than a new release, but who knows!
18.04: Apple has opened up an Accessibility website. "I believe that if people have access to our products they can push creativity forward"– Tim Cook.
18.02: The Apple event has kicked off and we're starting with a look at Apple's accessibility features with a typically touching Apple advert.
Once over, Tim Cook comes to the stage.