For all the Apple fanboys and everyone who was looking forward the new MacBooks to be revealed at the WWDC in June, there is some great news: Apple has quietly updated its MacBook models and its surprise that the 2018 MacBook is exceptionally fast with what’s under the hood.
Yes, Apple’s design for its MacBook hasn’t really changed that much over the years, and the 2018 MacBook hasn’t gotten a radical change either. What is different is the specifications underneath. The updated 13-inch MacBook Pro with TouchBar and the 15-inch MacBook Pro is available for a starting price tag of $1,799 and $2,399 respectively. Still, there are some things which we thought Apple would have addressed to but hasn’t.
Why is it really a working power-house
MacBook Pro always gave a tough-chance to Windows-based Laptops when it came to performance. With the last major update a while back, it was due time, that the MacBook Pro again took the charge, and top the charts in performance. For this, the 15 inches MacBook Pro features an 8th generation Intel Core i7 or Core i9 processors, with six cores. Combined that with a whopping 32 GB of RAM, and a 4 TB of SSD, and I am sure you already are craving for this much performance packed into a system.
This makes the 15-inches 2018 MacBook Pro nearly 70 percent faster than its previous generation. The performance boost isn’t limited to this screen size but for 13-inch MacBook Pros as well. These are nearly going to be twice as fast their ancestors, courtesy a new quad-core Intel Core i5 8th generation, or the Core i7 processor. For graphics purposes, it features an improved Intel Iris GPU and can support up to 2 TB of SSD Storage.
Though if you are going to buy the 13-inch MacBook without a touch bar then disappointingly you would still be getting the same old specifications.
Design
The design hasn’t really been overhauled, and we were expecting Apple to opt for a nearly bezel-less display which is becoming the norm for premium-class laptops.
The 13-inches MacBook Pro measures 11.97 x 8.36 x 0.59 inches while the 15-inches MacBook Pro measures 13.75 x 9.48 x 0.61 inches. Both the MacBook Pros are fairly portable with a weight of 3.02 pounds and 4.02 pounds respectively.
Keyboard issues haven’t really been solved, except that it is quieter now
The 2018 MacBook Pros feature a 3rd generation Butterfly Keyboard, and Apple still didn’t address to its low key travel. Though, fortunately, it did make the keys quieter than before, and there seems to be a slight improvement when it comes to typing speed.
On the other hand, there were some keyboard durability issues faced by MacBook Pro Users of the last generation and it seems like Apple still hasn’t addressed the updated keyboard’s durability factor.
TrueTone Displays for the first time
TrueTone Displays have finally come to both the iterations of the Apple MacBooks. This would make an excellent screen with vibrant colors closer to being natural courtesy a new color-temperature sensor. Furthermore, the Touch Bar also supports True Tone now. We would have wanted some changes in the Touch Bar but looks like it is still the same, though expect some software changes to follow through via the next major MacOS update: The MacOS Mojave.
Battery Life remains the same albeit more capacious batteries
All these power-hungry specifications required a larger battery and so Apple did opt in capacious batteries, but the battery-life still remains the same 10 hours on casual usage, even though it is up by 7.6 Wh.
Dedicated Chip for ‘invoking’ Siri
Looks like Apple’s “Hey Siri” has made it to Apple MacBooks as well, since there is now a dedicated T2 Chip, through which you can invoke Siri by just saying the famous “Hey Siri” words, instead of pressing a button. The chip also functions to encrypt storage, and provides Secure Boot capabilities to MacBooks as well.
Ports
Instead of a combination of ports, there are just the four usual Thunderbolt 3 ports. At least, Apple could have an SD Card Slot for professional photographers to transfer data easily instead of using Dongles which can become a hassle.
Colors
The MacBook Pros are still available in only Silver and Apple’s Favorite Space Gray Color. We would have liked Apple to add more color options for its fan-base as well
What’s Our Say
It is true that the new MacBook Pro models have surely improved performance on another level, but is it still worth spending nearly twice a thousand dollars on? For that, keep in check with us, once we review the MacBooks completely in detail.
