Apple has just dropped an update for their MacBook Pro Line of laptops. This update is limited to those versions with the TouchBar.
Starting from the top end, the top end 15” MacBook Pro’s now come with the latest 9th Gen i9 CPU. This brings an 8-core processor for the first time in a MacBook. The processor clicks in at 2.3 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 4.8 GHz. This can be bumped up to a 2.4GHz option with Turbo Boost up to 5.0 GHz.
Unfortunately it seems that there is no real word on the thermals for the MacBooks. This was an issue with the previous refresh as the CPU’s would hit thermal throttling on heavy load. Apple does say that the new Radeon Pro Vega GPUs should mean an offload from the CPU. We prefer to wait for the reviews before we judge. The Vega GPUs come with HBM2 memory, which is said to improve throughput without a huge requirement of power. This means similar battery life for higher performance.
If you spec out the top end MacBook Pro, it will cost you a cool: $6,549.00 (from the US Store) or AED 27,429.00 (from the UAE Store). This obviously is with the top end GPU and 4TB SSD.
The TJTech spec would come up to AED 18,609.00 with the 2.3GHz CPU, 32GB memory, Vega 16 and 2TB SSD. This should be enough for most power users. Still a hefty price. Unfortunately with this generation of MacBook Pros you can’t upgrade the components later, so it’s best to buy a system that will last you a few years.
The “base” 15” MacBook Pro has the latest 9th Gen i7 processor. This is a 2.6GHz 6-Core CPU and can Turbo Boost up to 4.5 GHz. You can spec this up to the 2.4Ghz i9 CPU. The GPU options are the Radeon Pro 555X or the 560X, both with 4GB DDR5 memory. A decent setup, but the costing seems to favour starting with the i9 MacBook and speching up from there.
In the 13” space, the MacBook’s with the Touchbar get Intel’s 8th Gen processor options. These are all quad-core processors starting with the i5, with an upgrade option to i7. The RAM unfortunately only goes to a max 16GB. You also get storage options capping out at 2TB.
Across the board, Apple says that they have improved the keyboard, claiming a new take on the butterfly keyboard. The experience should be the same, but hopefully durability has improved.
There is also the introduction of the new T2 Security Chip which is the second generation in the security chips made by Apple.
Unfortunately the MacBook Pro’s without the touchbar haven’t gotten any update and still linger in the space of 2-core processors and the older keyboard design.
Overall the update is a step in the right direction. Only time will tell if the laptops will be limited by design constraints or not.
Head over to the UAE Apple store (For US click here) and check out the new MacBooks yourself. Which do you fancy? Do you think you need an upgrade?
