This week marks the 25th anniversary of Apple’s first notebook and the Cupertino giant has introduced what it claims to “the thinnest and lightest MacBook Pro ever” at an event held on Thursday. There are three models launched -- two 13-inch variants and a 15-inch variant.
The highlight of the new models is the new “Touch bar” controller, where the function keys have been traditionally been positioned. Built-in Retina Multi-Touch display above the keyboard, the touch bar places controls at the user’s fingertips and adapts dynamically to the application user is using. It provides all the system functions and does so much more.
Coming back to the thinner and lighter claim, the 13-inch model is 14.9mm thick and weighs 1.36kg. The 15-inch model is 15.5mm thick and is 1.81kg. As far as the color is concerned, users get the traditional silver. Added to it is a new space gray.
Under the hood, the 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro comes with a 6th Gen 2.0 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.1 GHz (another 13-inch model sports a 2.9 GHz dual-core Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.3 GHz), 8GB RAM, 256GB of storage. The 15-inch model comes with a quad-core Core i7 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.5 GHz, 16GB RAM, and 256GB storage. The 15-inch model also packs an AMD Radeon graphics. One 13-inch model comes with Touch bar. The battery of the models is expected to last up to 10 hours.
The displays of the new models retain the Retina resolution but are said to be 67% brighter than the previous Pro models and support a wide gamut of colors. Larger pixel aperture, variable refresh rate, and power-efficient LEDs have contributed to the power consumption factor that the displays are said to consume only 30% lesser energy than before.
Apple has also made the Trackpads larger and has worked a little bit on the speakers. The models come with MacOS Sierra, hence with the integration of Siri, Universal Clipboard, Apple Pay on the web, etc.
Now to mention the not-so-cool features of the new MacBook Pro models are its price hike. The base model 13-inch MacBook Pro in this new array costs $1,499 (US) and it starts shipping from today. Another 13-inch costs $1,799 (US) and will start shipping in another two to three weeks. The 15-inch MacBook Pro, the highest variant in the new array costs $2,399 (US). It ships in two to three weeks.
Apple has been in a launch spree recently. Last month, Apple unveiled Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus; Apple iPad Pro 9.7-inch and Apple iPad Pro 12.8-inch.
