With the holiday season being just around the corner, it is that time of year as large tech companies start releasing all of their new products for the Christmas rush. However, for Apple, there has not been a major update to their Macbook Pro line up in quite a few number of years (except for the obvious processor upgrades each year as Intel come out with their new processor chips and other internals). With this, there was a lot of excitement around a new Macbook and Apple have not disappointed by introducing a new multi-touch capable bar at the top of the keyboard instead of function keys. Here are the main features of the new Macbook Pro.

 

 

#1 Touch Bar

As already mentioned, the touch bar replaces the function keys with a OLED multi-touch bar. The idea behind this is what the touch bar shows depends contextually on the program being used and the user using the Macbook Pro, making the whole experience more immersive and personal.

It can be seen that this is a big leap by Apple since it is a clear message that Apple do not see the future of their laptops with touch screens. This has given Windows 10 a huge unique selling point against any Mac or Macbook for that sake.

 

 

#2 130% Faster Graphics

Just like with any iteration of a piece of tech, the performance of the new Macbook Pro has been increased – in terms of the graphics performance, by 130%. This is quite a crazy number to increase the graphics bar for a laptop so it will make huge differences to the graphics capability of the laptop: especially for video editing and engineering programs that require 3D renderings.

 

 

#3 17% Thinner Design

Just before you think laptops can’t keep getting faster without maintaining some thickness, the Macbook Pro is 17% thinner in its thickness as opposed to its old sibling, which makes this laptop very sleek and attractive. The 13 inch model has a thickness of 14.9mm with the 15 inch model having a thickness of 15.5mm.

 

 

#4 A New Screen

The screen of Apple’s devices are generally a very high standard already. However, the new Macbook Pro has raised the game for screen quality with what is on the 13 inch and 15 inch models. Below are some of the main selling points to the new screen:

• P3 colour which offers deeper reds and greens on the spectrum. This provides 25% more colours than sRGB.
• 500 nits of brightness – 67% brighter screen as opposed to the previous generation Macbook Pro
• 67% higher contrast ratio

 

Ultimately, this has been the biggest overhaul the Macbook Pro has seen in quite a few years. Is it enough to upgrade or buy the Macbook Pro? I think so. However, I would wait a few months to see how the touch bar is utilised by third party applications as it is these applications which will determine whether the touch bar is going to be a success or not.