Apple Unveils New MacBook Pro Features

Apple’s product launch called, ‘Hello Again’, began early Thursday morning. Apple was expected to make several announcements about its product line, including new features of the MacBook Pro. After declining MacBook sales in recent years, the company aims to refresh the product and get people buying new machines.

Apple is streaming coverage of the event, and the internet is a buzz about what’s happening. After a presentation by Tim Cook, Apple CEO, and some information about the company’s vision, a demo of Apple TV, the event moved into talk about the MacBook Pro.

Tim Cook explained, “You may not realize it, but this week happens to be a huge week in the history of the Mac and in the history of Apple. This week marks the 25th anniversary of our first notebook. It was on October 25, 1991 that Apple unveiled the first PowerBook.”

There is no doubt that Apple has changed the landscape of home computing with the development and innovation of the Mac computer. Today, the MacBook Pro gets a facelift. We’re excited to unveil new features as described at today’s event:

• The machine comes in 13-inch and 15-inch sizes in Gold and Space Gray colors
• The 13-inch version is the thinnest and lightest MacBook Pro ever, measuring 14.9mm (17% thinner than before) and weighs 3 pounds (nearly a half pound less than before). The 15-inch is slightly larger and heavier than the 13-inch.
• Trackpad is 2 times larger
• Improved keyboard design and a touchscreen strip where the function keys once were. This “Touch Bar” goes way beyond volume and brightness keys. It will dynamically adapt to the application you’re using. For example, if using Safari, the Touch Bar will show buttons for favorite sites, a search field, back button and more. Or if you’re in the Mail app, you can change the size and color of text, move emails to certain inboxes, add emojis, and more.
• Fingerprint access allows you to login with just a fingerprint
• Dedicated Siri key
• Brighter, higher contrast screen that uses less power than before
• Upgrades to the processor, RAM and memory make this MacBook Pro up to 2.3x faster than previous generation
• Speaker upgrades allow for twice the range as before
• Comes with four Thuderbolt 3 ports including a USB-C which serves as a charging port, Thunderbolt, USB, DisplayPort, HDMI, and VGA video out.

Overall, the largest feature upgrade is the Touch Bar. Not only will it work with Safari and Mail as described above, it works with Pages, Keynote, Numbers, iMovie, GarageBand, Terminal, and many other apps. Product demos included how the MacBook Pro’s TouchBar feature also enhances the ability to work on Final Cut Pro, Photoshop and djay Pro.

It seems, no matter what you use your MacBook Pro for, this new machine may just do it all.

Orders are being accepted today and shipping on the lower-tier 13″ version begin today.