Apple Refreshes MacBook Pro Lineup (arstechnica.com)

Apple said on Thursday it is refreshing the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models. Neither machines are getting major redesigns, but the innards are getting a spec update. For starters, both the models are powered by the 8th-generation Intel processors and house more cores than before -- a maximum of six cores on the 15-inch model (compared to four in last year's models) and four in the 13-inch model (compared to two). That means faster performance for many use cases. Maximum SSD capacity is also doubled, and the MacBook Pro line offers DDR4 RAM for the first time. ArsTechnica: The laptops also borrow some features from the iMac Pro and the iPad Pro -- the T2 chip and True Tone, respectively -- and feature a revised butterfly keyboard, the third generation of the design Apple introduced in 2016 (the revision is a little more significant this time around). Apart from those tweaks to the keyboard, the basic design of the MacBook Pro is unchanged. The top configuration of the 15-inch model includes an 8th-generation, six-core Intel Core i9 CPU clocked at 2.9GHz. Six-core Intel Core i7 processors are also options. The 2017 iteration of the MacBook Pro featured DDR3 memory with a maximum configuration of 16GB. This time, it's DDR4, and the maximum is 32. The faster memory uses more energy, so a bigger battery is now included -- but Apple's battery life estimate remains the same as last year's. The GPU in the top standard configuration is listed as an AMD Radeon Pro 555X.

The 13-inch model has different specs, of course. It still only offers integrated Intel graphics, for one thing -- Intel Iris Plus 655, this time with 128MB of eDRAM. But the maximum number of cores are again doubled -- in this case to four -- in 8th-generation Intel Core i5 or Core i7 CPUs, which run at up to 2.7GHz. Maximum SSD capacity is also doubled; it's now 2TB. The maximum memory is still 16GB. Apple claims the 13-inch model is up to twice as fast as its predecessor, though it will of course depend on the application. ArsTechnica says the keyboard on the new MacBook Pro models, though look similar to the one in the predecessor lineup, feel a little different to type on. The price of 13-inch starts at $1,799 while the 15-inch starts at $2,399.

Comments

Re:Why is this news?

[blindseer]

In all fairness The current Macbook pro isn't that much different then for the Titanium Powebook back in 2002. Thinner, more powerful, but still a Gray Metal Laptop With a clamshell design, with a keyboard and a track pad.

I worked on a solar car competition in college and in the early years the cars came in all kinds of shapes. The size was constrained by the rules on height, width, and length, so size didn't vary all that much but inside that box the cars filled that in the best way they thought at the time.

The next couple competitions the more outrageous shapes disappeared and the more successful shapes were copied and varied upon by others. Another couple competitions and all the cars looked basically the same, a wide and flat wedge with a bubble on top for the driver.

Why mention solar cars in a thread about laptops? Because when it comes down to the evolution of the shapes of the things we deal with everyday there are shapes that just evolve naturally. This has been true for all laptops since the demise of the trackball in the 1990s. Of course the current Macbook Pro looks like the PowerBook from 2002, because that is a shape and size that has a nice compromise of cost and convenience. I'm guessing if people had their way they might like some variations on the shape and color but a brushed aluminum, titanium, or stainless steel shell is durable that looks nice enough that people will buy it. A thin flat clamshell design is well suited to a keyboard and screen, and being folding shut to fit in a purse, briefcase, or backpack. For pointing devices it's a trackpad, because nobody wants a trackball or pencil eraser sized joystick any more.

In all fairness The current Macbook pro isn't that much different then for the Titanium Powebook back in 2002. Thinner, more powerful, but still a Gray Metal Laptop With a clamshell design, with a keyboard and a track pad.

Just like those solar cars where the shape and size settled into really just variation on a single theme the real competition comes with what's under the hood. This includes the ports offered. I'll hear people complain about the lack of ports on Apple laptops and yet we find other high end laptops copying it. Sure, we might still see a single USB-A port alongside the USB-C ports but for the most part the choice of ports on high end laptops is thinning. If there is an Ethernet port then it's a flimsy pop-out thing or a proprietary micro-port which may or may not have the adapter included. Video ports will be HDMI, mini-DisplayPort, or just video out of one of the USB-C ports. Maybe there is a slot for SD cards but those seem to be disappearing. Charger ports are switching over to USB-C. I miss the magnetic charger ports but I'll take the standard USB-C until we figure out a standardized magnetic charge port that doesn't require buying only those expensive chargers from the manufacturer.

That being said, Apple is the only major player, offering a Non-Windows Laptops. While Apple hasn't been offering a major Redesign in appearance, the Hardware upgrade is actually the more important part then the appearance.

Yep. We'll be getting plain metal grey laptops with only 2 or 3 ports, maybe 5 ports on the high priced ones, for a long time. Gone are the days with laptops with 12 ports on them. Remember those days? I have an old laptop here with headphone, microphone, PCMCIA, power, serial, VGA, parallel, Ethernet, modem, S-video, and 2x USB-A. Dealing with only USB-C and a combo headphone/mic port is annoying sometimes but I'll take that over the heavy, colorful, and many ported, laptops of the past.