Apple today updated MacBook Pro with faster performance and new pro features, making it the most advanced Mac notebook ever. The new MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar feature 8th-generation Intel Core processors, with 6-core on the 15-inch model for up to 70 percent faster performance and quad-core on the 13-inch model for up to two times faster performance — ideal for manipulating large data sets, performing complex simulations, creating multi-track audio projects or doing advanced image processing or film editing.
Already the most popular notebook for developers around the world, the new MacBook Pro can compile code faster and run multiple virtual machines and test environments easier than before. Additional updates include support for up to 32GB of memory, a True Tone display and an improved third-generation keyboard for quieter typing. And with its powerful Radeon Pro graphics, large Force Touch trackpad, revolutionary Touch Bar and Touch ID, dynamic stereo speakers, quiet Apple-designed cooling system and Thunderbolt 3 for data transfer, charging and connecting up to two 5K displays or four external GPUs, it’s the ultimate pro notebook.
“The latest generation MacBook Pro is the fastest and most powerful notebook we’ve ever made,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, in a statement. “Now with 8th-generation 6-core processors, up to 32GB of system memory, up to 4TB of super fast SSD storage, new True Tone technology in its Retina display and Touch Bar, the Apple T2 chip for enhanced security and a third-generation quieter keyboard packed into its thin and light aluminum design with all-day battery life, it’s the best notebook for pro users.”
Faster, More Powerful Pro Notebook Computing
The new MacBook Pro is now faster and more powerful, with 8th-generation 6-core Intel Core processors on the 15-inch MacBook Pro for up to 70 percent faster performance and 8th-generation quad-core Intel Core processors on the 13-inch model for performance that’s up to twice as fast.1 With the option to add up to 32GB of memory on the 15-inch MacBook Pro, users can run more apps simultaneously or load larger files into memory. And with up to a 2TB SSD on the 13-inch model and up to a 4TB SSD on the 15-inch, MacBook Pro gives customers the flexibility to work with large asset libraries and projects wherever they go.
Retina Display with True Tone Delivers Ultimate Viewing Experience
With 500 nits of brightness and support for the P3 wide color gamut, the Retina display on MacBook Pro is the best Mac notebook display ever. Now with True Tone technology, the display and Touch Bar deliver a more natural viewing experience for design and editing workflows, as well as everyday tasks like browsing the web and writing email.
Apple T2 Chip Delivers Enhanced Security and “Hey Siri” on Mac
Also new to MacBook Pro is the Apple T2 chip, first introduced in iMac Pro. With the Apple T2 chip, MacBook Pro now delivers enhanced system security with support for secure boot and on-the-fly encrypted storage, and also brings “Hey Siri” to the Mac for the first time.
15-Inch MacBook Pro Highlights
• 6-core Intel Core i7 and Core i9 processors up to 2.9 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 4.8 GHz
• Up to 32GB of DDR4 memory
• Powerful Radeon Pro discrete graphics with 4GB of video memory in every configuration
• Up to 4TB of SSD storage
• True Tone display technology
• Apple T2 Chip
• Touch Bar and Touch ID
13-Inch MacBook Pro Highlights
• Quad-core Intel Core i5 and i7 processors up to 2.7 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 4.5 GHz and double the eDRAM
• Intel Iris Plus integrated graphics 655 with 128MB of eDRAM
• Up to 2TB of SSD storage
• True Tone display technology
• Apple T2 Chip
• Touch Bar and Touch ID
Back to School with MacBook Pro
The new MacBook Pro is also part of Apple’s Back to School promotion starting today and available to college students, their parents, faculty and staff through the Apple Education Store. The promotion includes a pair of qualifying Beats headphones with the purchase of any eligible Mac or iPad Pro for college, as well as education pricing on Mac, iPad Pro, AppleCare, select accessories and more.
New Leather Sleeves for MacBook Pro
First introduced with MacBook, Apple leather sleeves are now available for the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro in Saddle Brown, Midnight Blue and, for the first time, Black. Designed with high-quality leather and a soft microfiber lining for extra protection, the sleeves are a perfect complement to MacBook Pro for users on the go.
Pricing and Availability
Starting at $1,799 and $2,399 respectively, the updated 13-inch MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar and 15-inch MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar are available today through apple.com and in select Apple retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers later this week. Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options and accessories are available online at apple.com/mac.
MacDailyNews Take: Up to 32GB of DDR4 memory!
I eagerly await the iFixit teardown
WooHoo!!! More Pro LOVE from Apple. 👍🏻
That said, I was hoping for the return of the 17” model … 🙁
I second that though to be honest I usually hook my MBP up to a bigger monitor. I’m all about the visual real estate.
I do exactly the same with smaller laptops. Just that I miss the desktop to go …
$2,400 base price for a 15 inch laptop. I guess that San Francisco real estate money for these luxury kids from Cupertino needs to be subsidized by all of us.
Top configuration is $6699 🙂
“Additional updates include support for up to 32GB of memory” and “Up to 4TB of SSD storage”
Hallelujah! About time! Glad to see analyst predictions from just a week or two were wrong about still being stuck with 16 GB RAM.
Unfortunately, it’s not the faster LPDDR memory.
Data rates (Mbps)
DDR4 3200 LPDDR4 4266
But, as Intel doesn’t ship a high end mobile processor capable of using LPDDR4, it’s not like they had a choice. There’s a larger battery to compensate, but still listed at the same weight.
16 extra GB of real but slower RAM, is loads faster and otherwise better than using an extra 16 GB on the SSD for virtual memory.
The older DDR4 2400 memory has a peak transfer rate of 19.2 GB/s according to https://www.transcend-info.com/Support/FAQ-292.
Apple’s new MBP page says SSD peak write speeds are 2.2 GB/s… so even the slower RAM is almost 10x faster.
Oh, no doubt, it’s certainly better to have more memory. It’s just that LPDDR4 was being discussed over 4 years ago, but Intel is just now getting around to shipping a chip that can use it… low power and in low volumes. And, you can generally take any memory access function benchmark and roughly double them since the peak transfer rate for LPDDR4 would be 32 GB/s. This kind of a performance jump is out of the realm of today’s high end mobile user as long as you’re using Intel processors. Actually, it counts for desktop users, too. While it is Low Power memory, LPDDR4 memory is still faster than the current fastest DDR4 memory.
You keep pinning all delays on Intel. Sorry, but the pace of change isn’t entirely Intel’s problem.
Low Power DDR4E, or Samsung’s LP-DDR4X, were only announced last year and have yet to be available in quantity. And being low power, the speed increase comes with caveats. All mobile devices point to speeds as if that was all that matters, when bandwidths, bottlenecks, I/O issues, etc are all important. Real workstations don’t use Low Power memory. But as you should know, nobody else has SD DDR5 memory yet either. Probably because the industry roadmap (driven as much by RAM makers as Intel) estimates public release in 2020.
Bottom line, Apple took over a year to finally step up to the performance specs that PC makers have long offered. And Apple insists on maintaining fashion-driven design compromises which means they will never have both battery life and high performance in the same thin package. Apple’s fault, not Intel’s.
Congratulations, Apple, for finally sneaking out an update to the 2016 MacBook models that should have been here early last year.
“Apple insists on maintaining fashion-driven design compromises which means they will never have both battery life and high performance in the same thin package. Apple’s fault, not Intel’s.”
Agree totally. The thinness and lightness fashion obsession extends to killing off ports, DVD drives, hampers battery size and affects other Apple products, as well …
It’s a chicken-and-egg thing. Did Intel keep sliding their LPDDR4 schedule back because the RAM vendors weren’t ready OR did the RAM vendors depriorize work on LPDDR4 since it wasn’t going to be supported by Intel? I’m still of the opinion that if Intel had defined 2017 as the year they would be releasing a LPDDR4 capable processor and hit that goal, we’d be awash with LPDDR4 RAM by now.
NONE of that excuses Apple, there’s just another level of performance not ONLY for Apple, but for ALL companies, that’s still out of reach.
great news, however have the troublesome butterfly key board been modified and improved, or the same troublesome keyboard is still being shipped?
The new MBP also uses the butterfly keyboard though one hopes it’s been improved on to avoid past problems.
I’m not dropping $2000 on hopes
How about on dreams then?
Your question is answered; ”
There is a new keyboard. Or rather, newish. It’s a 3rd generation Butterfly and Dome switch set up. That’s not what scissor-key fans are going to want to hear, but Apple believes it’s a better, more stable, more precise overall typing experience and is sticking with it.”
*** Would love to know; Is this keyboard what Apple’s ultimately using to replace the defective keyboards on the previous generations? ***
I heard also there is no new technology that addresses the stickiness in these new keyboards and Apple claims it’s a rare problem. It’s funny though, I rarely use my MBP’s keyboard and it’s one of the older ones that’s pre-butterfly.
Hell yes! Ordering.
• new “pro” focus?!
• Pros need pro size, not miniature/mobile shit.
• WTF happened to 17″ laps?!
• WTF go from 10.8″ iPad Pro to smaller not bigger one?!
• iMac Pro 2017-11 took much too long, iMac exists since 1998-08! *
• Mac Pro is taking much too long, the last Mac Pro was 2008!
*Plus iMac Pro is much too expensive and when you consider all your peripherals, esp. external hard drives, and you depend on quantity/big size of files you’re obliged to keep outside the internal iMac Pro because it has an appallingly small capacity of max 3TB, and you suffer tremendously from losing all the hyped power/speed from the iMac Pro if you attach drives and or work from them, then your $11k+ is a total waste and you might as well buy the old iMac – forget Pro.
for the iMac Pro and supposedly next year’s Mac Pro, there is no Pro Factor X factor, UNLESS/until Apple offers Pro peripherals or Pro Hard Drives that can handle/equal the Pro Mac speeds! Of course, Apple would have to keep those drives at reasonable/affordable prices, otherwise, you’d pay $5-$10k for a drive and make the whole Pro thing just useless unrealistic hype again, no matter how much RAM BAM or graphics or chip power the pc has.
the last Mac Pro was 2013 otherwise good critique
The trashcan was not a Pro, despite the distracting label. The 2013 mistake should have been named the Mac Cube II.
no it is listed and sold as a mac pro on apple website. you can’t rewrite history but oh wait you’re a liberal 😉
I was not criticising you, just pointing out that the trashcan never lived up to its promise … just like the cube.
I will ignore your snide political attack.
fair enough on both counts
Well at least Apple got on that 13in processor big time my late 2012 MBP 13in only has a 2.9GHz i7 processor.
the 13″ model now has a 58Wh battery, way up from 49Wh!
15-inch
2.9GHz 6‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.8GHz
32GB 2400MHz DDR4 memory
1TB SSD storage
Total: $3900
Don’t forget the Tax and Apple Care (Not cheap)
Est CA Tax: $410
Est Apple Care: $380
Out the door total: $4700
The Pros appear to have received the most important design updates that they requested. A 17″ model was not a realistic expectation, so I don’t count that as a miss. Of course, now that the faster processors and 32GB of RAM are finally available (hurrah!), people switch to complaining about the price (as expected).
Price out a comparable Intel system, show us the data, and then complain. Back in the 1980s a Mac Iici could run $6000+. As long as Apple maintains its quality, reliability, and longevity, then I will pay the price. For pros, especially, the price should be a secondary factor.
According to the text, the new MBPs sport an “improved third-generation keyboard” – is it “improved” relative to the original third-generation keyboard design, or is that just meaningless marketing-speak? I don’t know.
Well, they still complain about the sealed nature and the fact that 4TB of SSD is $3,200. But, if you’re a Pro, making 10’s of thousands of dollars a month, and this computer means the difference between spending a weekend catching up on work you were doing during the week OR getting that work done by Friday and having your weekend to yourself or with your friends and family, the quality of life alone is worth it.
If there are those that want a “Pro” machine for bragging rights, yeah, those guys are still gonna complain.
“ A 17″ model was not a realistic expectation”
And why is that? You do remember in May 2003 Apple released the world’s FIRST 17” laptop. As I have posted before, bought it fully loaded on day one for around $4,000. What you get today for the same price is absolutely remarkable.
Since they owned the space at one time it is not hard to imagine doing it again as a special edition or made to order. They have way more money and resources than ever before in history. They just don’t want to because of pipeline the beancounters are now in charge …
“it is not hard to imagine”
It’s not hard to imagine Apple handing out MacBook Pros for free! Imagining is easy AND free! 🙂
It’s not going to happen though. AND they’re not going to release a special edition or a made to order.
Well, it COULD happen if Apple was more concerned with Pros than money they are choking on …
Right, it COULD, but no one should be under the impression that it’s even REMOTELY possible.
Unless you are the CEO, you don’t know what will happen …
Price out a comparable Intel system?
I already have … almost by accident: bought myself a non-TB 13″ MBP last fall and coincidentally, my employer replaced my Lenovo with a Dell Latitude (72xx something).
Simple bottom line is that the Dell was only $1400, so it was cheaper – – and that’s despite having higher hardware specs for RAM (16 vs 8) and CPU (2.9GHz i7 vs 2.3GHz i5).
Both have 256 SSDs, although the Apple’s probably slightly faster. Similarly, both are the same footprint and weight.
Plus the Dell has a vastly better keyboard. How much is that worth? /S
…and one final thing: Apple didn’t update the non-touchbar 13″ MBP today.
Finally the 17″ screen model returns! oh, wait.
thank God they kept the Touch Bar™
mission critical piece of hardware – well worth the $$$
You forgot the sarcasm tag.
I’m not a power user so I don’t need a new machine capable of cruising at warp 9.995. I upgraded my MBP 13” early 2011 A1278 model to a fast SSD and maxed out the memory last year and it is like owning a brand new computer. I’m looking forward to installing Mojave and many more years of solid performance.
Meanwhile my Windows suffering lawyer friend is onto his 4th budget laptop and after only a month of use is complaining how slow and unresponsive it is 😂. He has spent more than twice as much on laptops in the time I’ve owned my veteran MBP but Apple computers are too expensive apparently. 🤔
You may look forward to installing Mojave, but it isn’t happening. I have the same MacBook Pro, and am in the same boat. The graphics hardware can’t handle Metal, so the entire user interface is incompatible. We are both stuck at High Sierra.