Apple sent a jolt through the internet this morning as it announced surprised updates to its MacBook Pro line. The updates aren’t massive, admittedly, but they will definitely appeal to power users who rely on the MacBook Pro for intense coding, video rendering, editing photos and producing music. It’s worth noting that the MacBook Pros with Touch Bar are the only models that have been updated. The 13-inch MacBook Pro models, sans Touch Bar, haven’t been touched.
All new MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar are getting bumped up to Intel’s latest and best 8th-generation Core processors; the 15-inch MacBook Pro is getting a 6-core processor “for up to 70 percent faster performance” and the 13-inch MacBook Pro is getting a quad-core processor for “up to two times faster performance,” according to the company’s press release.
Memory has been boosted, too. The new 15-inch MacBooks Pros with Touch Bar have the option of up to 32GB of memory and up to 4TB of SSD storage; while the 13-inch model with Touch Bar still maintains the same memory options, up to 16GB, but now support up to 2TB of SSD storage. Apple has brought its True Tone technology, which automatically adjusts the color temperature on the latest iPhones’ and iPads’ displays, to the MacBook Pro and its Touch Bar. Each Touch Bar model has been updated with better graphics cards. And Siri is now hands-free — you’ll be able to activate the voice assistant by just saying “Hey Siri,” same as you would with your iPhone.
The last thing is the new MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar all have updated keyboards that are noticeably quieter. The keyboards haven’t been completely redesigned, however, and are still rooted in butterfly-switch keys. This means that there’s still the potential for issues, like dead keys on the previous MacBook Pros.
The new and improved Touch Bar options are available today and start at the same prices as before ($1,299+), which is fantastic. If you were looking for a pro-grade laptop that has the latest and greatest specs, MacRumors says it’s now finally OK to buy a MacBook Pro. And so do we.
The best way to catch up on the day’s most important product releases and stories. Read the Story
