One thing Apple didn’t tell us during its big MacBook Pro unveiling on Thursday is that its new machine runs iOS. However, it’s not quite the iOS you’re already used to.
Instead, Apple’s mobile operating system is there solely to power the MacBook Pro’s new OLED Touch Bar.
The new MacBook Pro won’t ship for another 2-3 weeks, but members of the media who got their fingers on the new Touch Bar came away from Apple’s event with rave reviews.
Apple hosted a hands-on section after today’s keynote and based on the quick impression the new MacBook Pro made, it looks like Apple has another hit on its hands.
Allow yourself to bask in the glow of a brighter screen and the multifunction Touch Bar. But when the high subsides and you’re ready to order the new MacBook Pro, you will need to deal with a slight inconvenience: all those USB-C ports.
But because Apple prepared us for the new industry standard last year when it introduced a single USB-C port on the 12-inch MacBook, accessories companies responded with loads of affordable adapters that allow users to plug in peripheral devices.
While Apple is touting the new MacBook Pros as a major evolution of the laptop, the internet is in open revolt over the cost of the new machines.
The new MacBook Pros will set you back at least $200 more than last year’s models, and sometimes much more.
The top-of-the-line 15-inch MacBook Pro, for example, costs an eye-popping $4,299 — without tax, and with no preinstalled software.
Prices are even worse in Europe and Asia, where potential buyers are wondering if it would be cheaper to fly to the U.S. to buy a new machine than get one at home.
Apple’s new Touch Bar looks like the most exciting new feature we’ve seen on the MacBook Pro in years.
Instead of fumbling to remember shortcuts, Touch Bar puts a handful of commands at your fingertips and dynamically adjusts to whatever app you’re in.
That sounds pretty magical, but what will that actually be good for? Developers will need to add support for their apps, so it might take a few months before Touch Bar really takes off. But if you’re doubting the usefulness of having a touch screen bar at the top of your keyboard, here are the cool things you can do on the Touch Bar.
While Apple was busying announcing two new 13-inch MacBook Pros today, the company quietly killed the smallest notebook it makes.
Apple officially discontinued the 11-inch MacBook Air today, making it no longer available for purchase. Now if you want the cheapest MacBook available, you’re going to have to think bigger.
The MacBook Pro refresh we’ve been eagerly anticipating for months is finally here, and it’s everything we dreamt it would be.
Apple’s new high-end notebooks deliver a sleeker design, Intel’s latest Skylake processors, and that magic Touch Bar with Touch ID that we’ve been hearing so much about. The only real problem is the price.
Apple’s wireless future has been delayed.
The iPhone-maker revealed today that it is still not ready to start shipping AirPods, even though customers were told they would launch by the end of October.
On the eve before Apple is expected to unveil the future of the Mac, Microsoft fired its biggest shot at taking down the Mac with its first ever all-in-one PC.
It’s beautiful. It’s powerful. And it could give the iMac some serious competition.
Apple faces a serious challenge when it rolls out the rumored OLED “Magic Toolbar” on new MacBook Pros tomorrow: It must convince the world that the new adaptive touchpad is more than a gimmick.
Offering customizable function keys that work in different ways depending on which apps are running, the Magic Toolbar could make the new MacBook Pro one of Apple’s most exciting laptops in years.
But to be more than a gimmick, the Magic Toolbar needs to improve the way we interact with our Macs, not simply add another confusing control element to the laptops. The Magic Toolbar needs to make it easier to perform tasks that we now do using keyboard shortcuts or on-screen toolbars. If it can’t do that, the Magic Toolbar will go down in the history books as a failure.
Luckily, there’s one simple step Apple can take to ensure that the Magic Toolbar becomes a success.