Three different models
At its special Hello Again event held last nigth, Apple has offically announced its new Apple MacBook Pro 2016 notebook lineup, confirming earlier details that these will be coming with OLED Touch Bar, Touch ID, USB-C ports and powered by Intel Skylake CPUs and AMD Radeon 400 Pro series graphics cards.
Apple has announced three different MacBook Pro models, two 13-inch and one 15-inch version, which will be available in a couple of different SKUs and configurable with plenty Intel Skylake Core i5 and Core i7 CPU options, amount of RAM and amount of PCIe SSD storage.
According to Apple, the new Apple MacBook Pro models are the thinnest and lightest MacBook Pro notebooks up to date, and the new 13-inch model weighs only 1.36kg and is 14.9mm thin while the the 15-inch MacBook Pro 2016 model weighs a mere 1.81kg and is 15.5mm thin.
The biggest update is the new OLED Touch Bar, which Apple describes as "a multi-touch enabled strip of glass built into the keyboard and with instant access to the tools you want, right when you want them". Next to the Touch Bar is an integrated Touch ID fingerprint sensor and we are looking at a 2nd generation Touch ID protected with sapphire glass cover.
The Touch Bar will be available on both 13-inch and 15-inch version but Apple has also launched a a 13-inch MacBook Pro 2016 version that will come without the Touch Bar.
Apple has also updated the display on its new new MacBook Pro 2016 models and these are 67 percent brighter, have 67 percent better contrast ratio, display 25 percent more colors and consumes 30 percent less power. Specification-wise, the 13-inch MacBook Pro comes with 13.3-inch LED-backlit IPS panel with 2560x1600 resolution and 500 nits of brightness while the 15-inch MacBook Pro 2016 comes with a 15.4-inch LED-backlit IPS panel with 2880x1800 resolution and the same 500 nits of brightness.
As noted earlier, there are plenty of CPUs to choose from so there will be plenty of different SKUs. These options start with a dual-core Core i5 2.0GHz (3.1GHz Boost) CPU on the base 13-inch MacBook Pro model and dual-core Core i5 2.9GHz (3.3GHz Boost) on the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, and go all the way to a quad-core Core i7 2.9GHz (3.8GHz Boost) on the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. All of these are Intel 6th generation Core Skylake CPUs and it is a big surprise that Apple did not go for Intel's latest Kaby Lake CPUs.
According to the specification page, the 13-inch MacBook Pro models will be limited to a dual-core CPU and Intel's integrated Iris Graphics 540/550 IGP, while the 15-inch version will use quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs and come with AMD's brand new dedicated Radeon Pro 400 series graphics cards. These include Radeon Pro 450 2GB, Radeon Pro 455 2GB or Radeon Pro 460 4GB GDDR5 graphics cards which will work with Intel HD Graphics 530/540 with automatic graphics switching.
The rest of the specifications include up to 2TB of PCIe SSD storage (up to 1TB on the 13-inch model), up to 16GB of 2133MHz LPDDR3 RAM, couple of Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports with support for charging, DisplayPort output, Thunderbolt (40Gbps) or USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) connectivity, 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2, 720p FaceTime HD camera, stereo speakers and three microphones (two on the base 13-inch model).
The 15-inch MacBook Pro model will come with a 75Wh battery. The base 13-inch will come with a 54.5Wh battery while the 13-inch Touch Bar version will have an even smaller 49.2Wh battery. Surprisingly, all three models are rated for up to 10 hours of video playback.
New Apple MacBook Pro 2016 models will also come with better speakers, a larger Force Touch trackpad with new butterfly switches and has a slightly different design of the chassis, with full metal on all sides.
The only available model is the base 13-inch MacBook Pro that comes without the fancy Touch Bar and this one is priced at US $1,499. The Touch Bar-equipped 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at US $1,799 while the two 15-inch MacBook Pro versions, coming with Touch Bar, start at US $2,399 and US $2,799. Apple is also keeping the old MacBook Pro models, which start at US $1,299.
The new MacBook Pro 2016 models with Touch Bar are available for pre-order but won't ship in next couple of weeks, probably depending on the demand. You can check out all the models as well as their prices over at Apple.com via link below.
Source: Apple.com.
Apple has announced three different MacBook Pro models, two 13-inch and one 15-inch version, which will be available in a couple of different SKUs and configurable with plenty Intel Skylake Core i5 and Core i7 CPU options, amount of RAM and amount of PCIe SSD storage.
According to Apple, the new Apple MacBook Pro models are the thinnest and lightest MacBook Pro notebooks up to date, and the new 13-inch model weighs only 1.36kg and is 14.9mm thin while the the 15-inch MacBook Pro 2016 model weighs a mere 1.81kg and is 15.5mm thin.
The biggest update is the new OLED Touch Bar, which Apple describes as "a multi-touch enabled strip of glass built into the keyboard and with instant access to the tools you want, right when you want them". Next to the Touch Bar is an integrated Touch ID fingerprint sensor and we are looking at a 2nd generation Touch ID protected with sapphire glass cover.
The Touch Bar will be available on both 13-inch and 15-inch version but Apple has also launched a a 13-inch MacBook Pro 2016 version that will come without the Touch Bar.
Apple has also updated the display on its new new MacBook Pro 2016 models and these are 67 percent brighter, have 67 percent better contrast ratio, display 25 percent more colors and consumes 30 percent less power. Specification-wise, the 13-inch MacBook Pro comes with 13.3-inch LED-backlit IPS panel with 2560x1600 resolution and 500 nits of brightness while the 15-inch MacBook Pro 2016 comes with a 15.4-inch LED-backlit IPS panel with 2880x1800 resolution and the same 500 nits of brightness.
As noted earlier, there are plenty of CPUs to choose from so there will be plenty of different SKUs. These options start with a dual-core Core i5 2.0GHz (3.1GHz Boost) CPU on the base 13-inch MacBook Pro model and dual-core Core i5 2.9GHz (3.3GHz Boost) on the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, and go all the way to a quad-core Core i7 2.9GHz (3.8GHz Boost) on the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. All of these are Intel 6th generation Core Skylake CPUs and it is a big surprise that Apple did not go for Intel's latest Kaby Lake CPUs.
According to the specification page, the 13-inch MacBook Pro models will be limited to a dual-core CPU and Intel's integrated Iris Graphics 540/550 IGP, while the 15-inch version will use quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs and come with AMD's brand new dedicated Radeon Pro 400 series graphics cards. These include Radeon Pro 450 2GB, Radeon Pro 455 2GB or Radeon Pro 460 4GB GDDR5 graphics cards which will work with Intel HD Graphics 530/540 with automatic graphics switching.
The rest of the specifications include up to 2TB of PCIe SSD storage (up to 1TB on the 13-inch model), up to 16GB of 2133MHz LPDDR3 RAM, couple of Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports with support for charging, DisplayPort output, Thunderbolt (40Gbps) or USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) connectivity, 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2, 720p FaceTime HD camera, stereo speakers and three microphones (two on the base 13-inch model).
The 15-inch MacBook Pro model will come with a 75Wh battery. The base 13-inch will come with a 54.5Wh battery while the 13-inch Touch Bar version will have an even smaller 49.2Wh battery. Surprisingly, all three models are rated for up to 10 hours of video playback.
New Apple MacBook Pro 2016 models will also come with better speakers, a larger Force Touch trackpad with new butterfly switches and has a slightly different design of the chassis, with full metal on all sides.
The only available model is the base 13-inch MacBook Pro that comes without the fancy Touch Bar and this one is priced at US $1,499. The Touch Bar-equipped 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at US $1,799 while the two 15-inch MacBook Pro versions, coming with Touch Bar, start at US $2,399 and US $2,799. Apple is also keeping the old MacBook Pro models, which start at US $1,299.
The new MacBook Pro 2016 models with Touch Bar are available for pre-order but won't ship in next couple of weeks, probably depending on the demand. You can check out all the models as well as their prices over at Apple.com via link below.
Source: Apple.com.
News by Luca Rocchi and Marc Büchel - German Translation by Paul Görnhardt - Italian Translation by Francesco Daghini
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