Events held on Apple’s campus are my favorite and today didn’t disappoint. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the new Macs, but after getting some time with the MacBook Pro, I was impressed with the new Touch Bar and wide gamut display.
Here are some things that struck me during the keynote:
– Apple’s commitment to accessibility is incredible. They don’t see it as a “market”, but rather a responsibility to that community. The company deserves a lot of credit for figuring out ways to make its products accessible to so many people.
– Apple TV is moving—slowly, but it’s moving. I can’t wait for Single Sign-on for apps (TV stations), but until then the new TV app won’t be of much use for me. I’m not going to activate every app separately.
– Interesting that MacBook Pro comes in only two colors. Perhaps what they think the pros want—and it could be.
– It’s clear that size and weight still matters to Apple. They talked quite a bit about it today.
– I’m really happy to see the new keyboard (MacBook keyboard) come to the pro. I love that keyboard so much.
– The Touch Bar is more impressive than what I thought it would be. It’s not just contextual by app, but by function.
– The Touch Bar is configurable, which is going to be great for third-party developers too.
– There’s more to the MacBook Pro than a Touch Bar. An entirely new thermal architecture shows the thought that goes into these machines.
I think, perhaps next year, we’ll see a more significant redesign to the Retina MacBook to give it the improved keyboard. Maybe even a second USB port.
I was really hoping for a Mac mini update, what am I to use for a home server now that my 2007 Mac Pro is not working?
I don’t think they’ll have to wait for an event to update the Mini or the Pro. But you may not see one until next year. Intel’s CPU availability sucks at the moment.
Happy to see others giving this good reviews because I felt a bit underwhelmed. Sad to see the illuminated logo gone… sad Apple can’t even do a display. Microsoft seemed to garner more excitement this week. (and at least they have a display even though its pure Apple copy going on over there…)
Honestly, Synology is very good with Apple support. Would recommend them.. NAS these days can easily do most, if not all, of the things you’d use a home server for..
I run an email server, Teamspeak server, Dropbox like could sync’ing, file server, has RAID, DNS, web server, photo server, Plex …
for less than $300-600 + drives (depending on how many bays you want)..
Look at the Synology DS916+ or DS716+.. they both do really well..
Thank you…I actually have a Synology NAS, but I back up to Crashplan because I need to keep my photos offsite, so that’s where I am stuck. Most of the online backup services don’t even let you use a NAS, but Crashplan does, just not sure how to back up without a computer from NAS.
Linux on an Intel NUC?
Yeah I heard that about Intel. I often wonder if Apple has a long term plan to make their own CPUs.
If you have DSM 6 installed, look at Cloud Sync, which supports Backblaze backup service directly from Synology. Cloud Sync supports many other backup services as well.
Cool, thank you!! I will check it out.
The displays looks great to me: Thunderbolt, retina, wide gamut, USB C charging. Not sure what Apple could add.
Who cares about a damn logo! I really like this new MB Pro 15—enough to consider upgrading to it instead of another iMac. I like the 27″ LG display, too, and may get two. Then I’d have a great desktop AND a portable all in one.
I’m concerned that none of the most prominent Apple bloggers have mentioned the insanely high pricing.
16GB max, sorry, but what a joke, it’s not 2011 anymore!! These should be Skylake processors which can go to 64GB, where is the Pro in MacBook Pro?
To make the overall computer thinner, and especially the enclosure for the screen, you’ve got to shit can the illuminated eye candy.
On the plus side you get individually illuminated keys like the MacBook. I find that much more important.
Right, let’s skip right over the Mac Pro, Mac mini and iMac…
I agree!
It’s not insanely high. If Apple recommends them, then that’s good enough for me. Far better to HAVE such external displays than to sit around and carp about the lack of them. If you can’t afford them, then you don’t really need them. If you need them, which I do, then the $300 or so “extra” is peanuts compared to increased production capacity.
Yes, they do.
I found the price increases shocking. And I own a lot of Apple products. It MAN, those laptops are REALLY REALLY over priced.
Two color options is already too much for some… And by some I mean me. I ordered the 15″ MBP as soon as the store was back up, and I have no bloody idea which color I have ordered, since it is neither mentioned in the order confirmation, nor in the order details on Apple’s web site. Looks like 3.5 weeks of guessing ahead 🙂
The death of MagSafe is a legit tragedy.
they do for iDevices. What about Macs?
Yes, they do.
Do you think we’ll actually see them in Macs or is it just “science project”?
Yes, we will.
I haven’t seen anyone mention if there might be a Touch Bar keyboard for desktop Macs. I hope this is possible and not something that will only work for the next generation Mac models.
Agreed. It would help popularize the use of the thing for Apple to be able to show devs, “See? Tons of people will be able to use these features. Not just new MBP owners.”
Cool. Hopefully soon. As in the next couple of years.
“can’t even do a display” WTF are you talking about? The display is improved in several ways.
It became obvious today that the MacBook Air is end of life.
Kind of interesting to know what make MS more exciting, care to elaborate?
Try calculating it over the number of years you be using it and you wouldn’t find it over priced.
Oh one more thing work in the resale value too.
The death of the first MagSafe was a tragedy. When they changed it to “cable just falls out” with MagSafe2, it became annoying (even if safe).
New 15″ MBP in 2011 started at $1799
New 15″ MBP in 2016 starts at $2399
Try calculating it compared to the Windows competition. I hate Windows and I love MacOS, I won’t buy a PC anytime soon, but a Windows machine is capable and functional… so if anyone asks me what laptop they should buy, I’ll definitely recommend them to get a heavy but decent PC for 1/3rd of the price of a Mac… sad.
The biggest feature of the new MBPs is the higher price. It will create a higher barrier to many who are considering switching. And it will drive some mac users away. Apple probably is aware of this but may be looking at it this way – the PC market is shrinking no matter what. We are just going to entrench ourselves entirely in the higher end, and go for high revenue instead.
The touchbar is cool. But is is a feature that will attract switchers? No. Is it one that will make everyone willing to spend $500 more? No. Apple will see sales volume go up in the short term because of pent up demand. After that, it will be interesting to see how their market share shakes out.
Upgrade from 256GB SSD (which is an insult in and of itself) to 1TB SSD: $600
Upgrade from 256GB SSD to 2TB SSD: $1400
price of a 1TB SSD: ~ $300
price of a 2TB SSD: ~ $600
Come on Apple, you’re already sticking it to us to make 35% margins on the base unit. How about using your massive buying power to let us get a fair deal on storage upgrades?
Also, 16GB RAM max? My MBP from 4 years ago maxed out at 16GB.
Intel just released a study where they found Mac’s were substantially cheaper to own and run than PCs in a corporate environment. Initial price isn’t the only consideration when determining value.
*IBM http://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/20/ibm-macs-less-expensive-than-pcs/
I think that you mean IBM, not Intel, and I’m sure it’s true in their context. But in many other situations it is a different story. People who buy a computer for personal use don’t have to hire an IT department to manage their computer, most of us spend $0 in maintenance, Mac or PC (actually, most of us would spend a bit of money for anti-virus on PC and a bit more than that to get a few dongles for our Mac).
The thing is you have more choices in the PC market: If your ideal Mac configuration is the one Apple decided to build, great, you’ve got the perfect machine… and today it is becoming clear for many of us that Apple’s choices are getting less and less aligned with our ideal Mac.
Yes, IBM, sorry. I know lots of people who end up spending money getting their computer fixed in the shop. But even if you don’t, any time you spend troubleshooting a misbehaving computer is time you can be doing something else (like making money or spending time with family). So economically there is still a cost associated with it.
Of course, these are tradeoffs people have to weigh themselves, based on their needs, interest and situation.
Comparing five-year-old prices? How ridiculous is that!
It will probably depend on having enough bandwidth to push the pixels around on the Touch Bar’s screen (and possibly the ability to carry a real display protocol; it’s not clear to me yet how the MacBook Pro is driving those pixels, but it sounds like it might be a real display protocol.) I can certainly see new desktops going forward having them, but I don’t know what you might require on an existing machine (Thunderbolt keyboards?)
http://www.loopinsight.com/2016/10/27/microsoft-surface-studio-a-disruption-courting-the-mac-creative-market-and-beyond/
“People who buy a computer for personal use don’t have to hire an IT department to manage their computer…”
How many people are you referring to? Has Windows become that much easier to diagnose or protect from malware? People who buy a computer for personal use can’t hire an IT department, but they sure do end up spending money on remediation.
Two colours make sense when they’re both grey. One of the early reports I saw was that the MacBook Pro came in two colours: space grey and gold.
THAT didn’t make sense. This does. 🙂
What’s your view on desktops? I’m really disappointed about the lack of news on the Pro, iMac, and Mini. Are desktops going bye bye?
Hope so. Intel is a shit show… we’re approaching the same situation as with PowerPC all those years ago. Intel dgaf about the Mac, and it’s showing. Also: their modem sucks on the iPhone 7 (vs Qualcomm’s)
But. . .what if they actually NEEDED to raise the price. . . because the new model is actually improved and has more features and that new bar thingie actually had to be invented and manufactured at major expense? Hmmmmm? It’s called PRICING, pal, which has to take into account all the expenses of developing a product and getting it into the hands of the customer. That includes PROFIT, as well. Basic economics.
In absolute dollars it’s the most expensive introduction of a new MacBook Pro 15″ since 2002. Inflation adjusted, it’s the most expensive introduction since 2005. Compared to the last time Apple did this (with the introduction of the Retina MBP) they didn’t update the the rest of the 15″ line up. So there’s not really an alternative for the non-rich people wanting to buy a current gen 15″ laptop from Apple.
You don’t have to be rich—just resolved to get what you want—through hard work and resourcefulness, as well as less waste on non-essentials.