The MacBook Pro with Touch Bar will be priced upwards of $1,499 (approximately Rs1,00,200).
Smartphones and tablets, many believe, are providing a solid alternative to the good old laptop. But for Apple, the MacBook line-up remains as critical as ever. A few weeks after the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were launched, it is time for the generational change of the MacBooks to be unveiled to the world. We run you through the three new MacBook devices, and how they stack up.Read More
MacBook Pro 13
This is the direct update for the existing Retina Display adorning MacBook Pro devices, and it gets fairly significant design improvements, if not wholesale design changes. The dimensions are measured at 11.97×8.36×0.59 inches, which is 23% thinner and about 200gm lighter than the previous generation. The size of the trackpads has been increased as well—the Force Touch trackpad is now 46% larger on the 13-inch MacBook Pro. While the display size and resolution remains the same, the brightness levels and colour handling has been further improved—the same happened with the iPhone 7 line-up as well. It is interesting to note that Apple also claims that the new display consumes less battery. TouchID biometric security feature has been added as well.
With the latest generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB flash storage and Intel Iris Graphics 450, the MacBook Pro 13 is priced upwards of $1,499 (approximately Rs1,00,200).
MacBook Pro 13 with Touch Bar
This machine has the exact same dimensions as the entry-spec MacBook Pro 13, but also gets the next generation input and control feature—Touch Bar. This is the touch panel above the keyboard, as a secondary input method. This dynamic toolbar will offer quick access options contextually, based on the app the user is running on the MacBook at the time—Apple’s own apps such as Mail, Finder, Calendar, Numbers, Messages, GarageBand and Final Cut Pro X are supported, as well as a bunch of third-party apps. Next time you’re listening to music on Spotify, it’ll show the controls for the music playback, and switch to the more serious productivity shortcuts when you start working on Pages to finish the document as the deadline looms.
Compared to the MacBook Pro 13, the MacBook Pro 13 with Touch Bar runs a faster Intel Core i5 processor (2.9GHz compared to 2.5GHz), has 8GB RAM, storage options include 256/512GB/1TB SSDs, and it will be priced upwards of $1,799.
MacBook Pro 15 with Touch Bar
The new 15-inch MacBook Pro has also gone through the weight reduction cycle. It is 17% thinner than before, about 400gm lighter and Apple claims it has 23% less volume than before. It also has the Touch Bar which sits above the keyboard, as well as the Touch ID feature as standard. This machine runs a 2.6 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with 16GB RAM, the 15.4-inch display has a 2,880×1,800 resolution, 256/512GB/1TB/2TB SSD options and the Radeon Pro 450 (2GB)/Radeon Pro 455 (2GB)/Radeon Pro 460 (4GB) dedicated graphics options. Apple claims that the new Radeon Pro discrete graphics offer up to 2.3 times more performance than the previous generation.
The MacBook Pro 15 with Touch Bar will be priced upwards of $2,399.
There’s no word yet on the exact availability in India, but based on the trends of the previous years, we can expect these machines to land in India 3-4 weeks after the US release. Which means that the entry-spec MacBook Pro 13, which is now shipping in the US, should get here first. Both MacBook variants with the Touch Bar, Apple says, will ship before the end of the year.
