The MacBook Pro now comes in 3 variants. They can be ordered from today. #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/ibShKgGs5o
— Apple Event (@AppIeEvent) October 27, 2016
Apple, the Cupertino, California company fetishized the world over, just finished streaming its signature brand of product demo and presentation. Geeks everywhere — not to mention those who use a laptop to make a living through video/sound editing etc. — will be happy to learn that the thrust of today's product announcement is a new MacBook Pro after a four-year hiatus on that product line.
Other Mac users — specifically the huge MacBook Air crowd tapping away in coffee shops and campus libraries — may be less pleased to learn that their next computer won't be like their last one, and it will likely be more expensive, too: As Gizmodo reports, Apple is killing the MacBook Air, shepherding current users to a 13-inch version of the new MacBook Pro instead, though that version will come without a key new feature of the 15- and 17- inch versions.
Apple officially unveils the new MacBook Pro. #appleevent pic.twitter.com/DeqIXP38Jv
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) October 27, 2016
It's been 25 years since Apple first released a laptop/notebook, the Powerbook as TechCrunch reminds us, so plenty of changes have come in small iterations over time. Just as you'd expect, the laptops announced today are "thinner," "lighter," and all those other descriptors that Apple executives love to use (and presumably shout at designers on a daily basis). Still, here are three more substantive changes to take note of (I know what you're thinking, don't worry, there's still a headphone jack).
Wow, the first Apple notebook next to the new MacBook Pro. The new one is 6.8 million times faster. #appleevent pic.twitter.com/PeQej6Swvm
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) October 27, 2016
1. There's a "Touch Bar" on the keyboard on the 15- and 17-inch versions
On a MacBook Pro, when you turn the power on, you'll do so as you might on an iPhone: With a touch sensor for a finger:
Touch ID now comes integrated within the power button, right there on your Mac. #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/U36P89Y4PE
— Apple Event (@AppIeEvent) October 27, 2016
That's part of the new Touch Bar, which will replace the top row of keys, and is particularly handy for those working on editing software, where dynamic shortcuts are called for.
Or, you know, for those with a penchant for emoji:
Of course, Touch Bar gives you emoji. #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/rItgC8kEe5
— Apple Event (@AppIeEvent) October 27, 2016
This isn't coming out on the 13-inch version, which is strange and generating a lot of noise on Twitter.
2. Apple used a third-party, LG, to make the screen
Tech pundits are busy speculating that we've seen the last in-house Apple screens now that Apple low key announced it worked with LG to make the display on the new MacBook Pro.
Apple worked with LG to make a display for the MacBook pro. That’s unusual.
— Farhad Manjoo (@fmanjoo) October 27, 2016
3. RIP MagSafe
MagSafe, which kept many a Mac user from tripping over their power cord and in so doing destroying their expensive computer, is no longer. WTF RIP.
RIP MAGSAFE :( pic.twitter.com/naSUpWBmNP
— Owen Williams⚡️ (@ow) October 27, 2016
MagSafe was such an awesome useful design. RIP 😢 #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/c4fzeP3wn1
— Alex Muench (@alexmuench) October 27, 2016
The new line of MacBook Pros is here, and anyone wishing for more the minutiae on the devices need look no further than Twitter, where #appleevent is trending away. Time to close Safari, the only place where you can stream the event, and get back on Chrome/Firefox.
Oh, and one more thing:
Just kidding bye.
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