“Your MacBook Pro was overdue for an upgrade, and today it got one,” David Pierce writes for Wired. “Apple announced a new MacBook Pro this morning at an intimate event in Cupertino, along with small refreshes of a couple of its other laptops. The Air is the cheapest MacBook, and the MacBook is the thinnest MacBook, but the MacBook Pro is the best and most important MacBook.”
“Instead of function keys, the row of F1-F12s you don’t care about and media controls you do, the new MacBook Pro has a small touch-friendly strip that apps can use to display quick controls and information. It’s called the Touch Bar. There’s a Touch ID fingerprint reader on the right side of the strip, too right above the Delete key,” Pierce writes. “The whole idea is going to take some getting used to: each app does different things, in different ways, to different effect… One thing’s for sure, though: the tech is solid. The slightly raised platform is remarkably responsive, and the screen is so vibrant it almost looks like Apple slapped a sticker over it. There’s virtually no lag as you swipe or tap—it’s just a touchscreen, really, with support for up to 10 fingers. Why you would ever put all 10 of your digits on the tiny stripe, I don’t know, but it’s nice to know it’s possible. In general, the Touch Bar is a clever way to marry the tactility of a physical keyboard with the malleability of a touchscreen. You could argue that a full-on touchscreen would be better, but Apple sure doesn’t think so.”
MacDailyNews Take: We’ve been over this. Last decade.
To us longtime Apple watchers, Cupertino seems to be saying, “Multi-Touch on the screen only when trackpads are not part of the device.” – MacDailyNews, November 19, 2008
Does it make more sense to be smearing your fingers around on your notebook’s screen or on a spacious trackpad that’s designed specifically and solely to be touched? Apple thinks things through more than other companies… The iPhone’s screen has to be touched; that’s all it has available. A MacBook’s screen does not have to be touched in order to offer Multi-Touch™. There is a better way: Apple’s way. — MacDailyNews, March 26, 2009
Pierce continues, “You want a cheap laptop? Buy an iPad Pro. Super-portable laptop? MacBook. Beast Machine? MacBook Pro. It’s expensive, but at least at first glance it seems like you’re going to get what you pay for.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Again, “expensive” is not a universal concept and is therefore not the job of the reviewer. One man’s “expensive” is another’s “peanuts.” Just report the price and the reader can decide whether it’s affordable or not; the reviewer’s personal financial situation is meaningless when it comes to a product’s price.
Newsflash: Apple sells premium products at premium prices to premium customers.
The MacBook Pro is not expensive for what you get and certainly is very cost effective when you factor in the 3+ years the average Mac user will get out of it. Mac users are perfectly able to recognize unmatched quality and features and are willing to pay for the privilege of ownership.
SEE ALSO:
CNET on the new MacBook Pro: Apple’s amazing strip show reinvents the notebook – October 27, 2016
Hands on with Apple’s new MacBook Pro: Looks and feels so good it’s unreal – October 27, 2016
Apple debuts three new TV ads for all-new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar – October 27, 2016
Apple unveils groundbreaking new MacBook Pro with revolutionary Touch Bar and huge Force Touch trackpad – October 27, 2016