The MacBook Pro will star as Apple unveils the latest range of Mac computers
APPLE has unveiled a new MacBook Pro, which will be thinner, faster and use fingerprint technology with a touch screen at the top of the keyboard.
APPLE has unveiled a new MacBook Pro that has a Touch Bar that is the biggest innovation in Mac laptops since Steve Jobs unveiled the MacBook Air by pulling it out of the envelope.
In an event at the Cupertino headquarters, the big news was a thinner, faster MacBook Pro with a customisable touch screen at the top of the keyboard that changes the display as you switch program.
This is also the first MacBook to come with Touch ID, allowing people to log on to their computer or purchase items online through their fingerprint.
Apple’s Tim Cook did not just turn up today to unveil a new range of Mac computers. He also turned up to deliver a needed wow factor for the Apple Mac range.
In probably the last launch to be held at the Cupertino Apple campus before the technology giant shifts to a new nearby spaceship-like building next year, the message of the “Hello again” themed event was simple: while sexy iPhones now are Apple’s biggest income source, the
Apple Mac is still important to the company that has computers at its heart.
While Apple unveils a shiny new iPhone every year, the Mac range does not get updated as often and the time is ripe.
In the June quarter this year, Apple’s Mac sales dropped 11 per cent on last year’s figures. While the Macs initially resisted the sales decline that’s plagued Windows PCs for the past two years, this year Mac shipments have declined faster than their Windows counterparts.
In the past few years, Windows machines have come in a range of new styles as PC makers continue to experiment in combining tablets and computers into a hybrid device. Apple has resisted merging the streams of computers, with the iPads having the touch screens and the Macs
being the workhorses, albeit shiny, sexy looking workhorses that have helped shaped the laptop market.
APPLE TV and IPHONE
Cook took to the stage and began the Mac event with some updates on other things, including boasting of the customer response to the iPhone 7 Plus, calling it “the best camera we ever made”.
He also announced a new part of the Apple website highlighting how people with handicaps can use Apple products, with the event today kicking off with a video highlighting accessibility features including activity tracking on the Apple Watch that tracks exercise by people in wheelchairs.
Keeping the suspense going on the new Mac announcements, Cook then switched to Apple TV.
“We believe the future of TV is apps,” he said.
Since the Apple TV was revamped last year, there have been 8000 apps created for the format and Minecraft is now coming to the Apple TV app store.
“There is a new category of apps emerging that combine the power of Apple TV to make watching video more interesting, interactive and social,” he said.
“We want Apple TV to be the one place to access all of your television. A unified TV experience,” Cook said.
Apple announced a new guide app for television called TV. The app opens into a section called Watch Now, showing the list of shows you’re binging on across streaming services and for shows you regularly watch on live-to-air television it shows when it’s next screening.
The TV app syncs across Apple devices, so that you can see the shows you regularly watch on your Apple TV on your iPhone or iPad.
A demonstration of the app showed how you can ask Siri to play a particular football game and it knows which sports app is streaming that game.
No details yet how this feature will work with streaming services and TV networks in Australia and when it will become available in Australia.
MAC CHANGES
Cook then got on to the Mac, saying it remained important for Apple.
“The Mac is so incredibly important to us. But it’s not just important to us, it’s important to the world,” Cook said.
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the first Macintosh notebook, the PowerBook i70, the first portable which featured a palm rest at the front and a pointing device built into the palm rest.
“For 25 years we’ve been defining and redefining what a notebook is and what a notebook can do and today we’re going to do it again.”
The MacBook Pro has the OLED strip instead of function keys, as the rumours suggested.
Phil Schiller, Apple Senior Vice President, called it the “new gold standard” in notebook computers.
It comes in silver and space grey in 13 and 15 inch (33 to 38cms) models.
At 14.9mm thin the 13-inch MacBook Pro is 17 per cent thinner than the previous version. The 15-inch MacBook Pro is 15.5mm thin and 14 per cent thinner.
It has a trackpad that has ForceTouch technology giving haptic feedback and is two times bigger than the old track back. It also has the “butterfly” mechanism under the keys that was launched with the MacBook last year.
The highlight of the new design is the new strip across the top which Schiller introduced with “a requiem to the function key” which have been part of computer design for 45 years.
“This is crazy, keeping 45 year old technology around,” Schiller said.
The strip is a multi-touch retina display. It’s called the Touch Bar.
As you switch programs, the Touch Bar display changes. In Photos, there are new controls on the Touch Bar to edit a photo.
The new MacBook Pro also has Touch ID that lets you unlock your Mac with your fingerprint. The sensor is built into the On button at the end of the Touch ID.
The fingerprint sensor will also let you do purchases with Apple Pay.
Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering, demonstrated the features of the Touch Bar.
When you open Mail, the Touch Bar has shortcuts like flagging, replying and suggestions on which folder you might want to put a particular message in.
Highlight text in a document and the Touch Bar changes to show formatting options. Click into the To field of a mail and the Touch Bar shows suggested people you might want to send them in.
If you type the word pumpkins in a message, the Touch Bar suggests the pumpkin emoji or lets you access the full emoji menu.
When you’re in the Safari web browser, the Touch Bar shows you a minimised version of the tabs you have open.
You can also customise the Touch Bar by dragging and dropping items from a menu on the screen to sit on the Touch Bar at the top of the keyboard.
The MacBook Pro comes with four Thunderbolt 3 ports that are the same size as USB-C ports, which means you can charge the computer through anyone of the four ports.
The downside is that if you want to connect a HDMI, you will need to use an adaptor.
On the upside, unlike the iPhone 7 the new MacBook Pro does come with a headphone jack.
Apple says the new MacBook Pro has a 130 per cent boost in handling 3D graphics, 60 per cent better at gaming and 57 per cent boost in video editing.
The list of software coming with Touch Bar support include’s Microsoft Office range and Photoshop.
Apple says the MacBook Pro will have up to 10 hours of battery life.
Apple also unveiled a cheaper 13-inch version of the MacBook Pro that has traditional function keys and only two Thunderbolt 3 ports and aimed at those who would normally but a MacBook Air.
The MacBook Pro is smaller than the Air in terms of thickness and volume but has faster with better specs.
PRICES
• 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at RRP $2199 inc. GST - ships today.
• 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and Touch ID starts at $2699 inc. GST - estimated to ship in 2-3 weeks.
• 15-inch MacBook Pro starts at RRP $3599 inc. GST - estimated to ship in 2-3 weeks.
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