The new MacBook Pro 2016 released in late October has been gaining
popularity. The base level 13-inch MacBook Pro without the hyped up Touch Bar
retails at $1,499. This laptop is definitely on the expensive end but should
not be dismissed without a closer look. We'll look at six criteria laptops
should be judged on.
Design
The new design on the MacBook is extremely elegant and can catch
anyones eye. The body is made of aluminum and maintains its classic build. The
aluminum body is certainly compact, as it has 23 percent less volume and is 17
percent thinner than the last 13-inch Pro. Measuring 11.97 x 8.36 x 0.58 inches
and weighing 3.02 pounds, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is smaller in every
dimension than the previous model, which weighed 3.42 pounds and measured 12.35
x 8.62 x 0.71 inches.
I have personally observed the laptop up close. A few things I
noticed were that the speakers are visible on the sides of the keyboard, I
really like the look. Also, I have seen the two colors that are offered, Space
Grey, and the usual MacBook Silver. Personally, I would prefer the darker tone
because it just looks more classy.
The only thing I don’t like about the design of this laptop is the
fact that Apple got rid of the light up logo on the front of the laptop. This
really is a bummer because the light up logo was iconic and it seperated Apple
from other laptops on the market. Apple was forced to get rid of the light
because of the new thin design, with the light, the laptop would have been
quite thicker.
Ports
Dongles will be needed. The 13-inch MacBook Pro has gotten rid of
most ports and only supports two Thunderbolt 3 ports on the left and a
headphone jack on the right. The good news is that the Thunderbolt 3 ports,
which have a USB-C connector, enable power and data over a single connection.
They offer blazing fast transfer speeds (up to 40 Gbps) and will let you
connect two 4K monitors. You must charge the laptop using either one of the two
ports, as Apple has retired its MagSafe connection. MagSafe was when you could
charge your Mac with a magnetic charger making sure your entire laptop doesn’t
fall if you, per se, trip over the charging wire. A couple setbacks are;
if you want to charge your phone directly from your laptop you will now
need a USB to USB-C dongle. Apple has also gotten rid of the SD card which
means you cannot directly import photos from your camera to your laptop.
In my
eyes, Apple messed up, getting rid of all of these ports may sway the average
consumer away from buying this laptop.
Display
This is one of the best laptop displays I have ever seen. The
laptop is top of the class and has probably the best display on the market. The
2560 x 1600-pixel Retina display on the 13-inch MacBook Pro is 67 percent
brighter than before. The laptop contains 500 nits brightness which is
significantly higher than the last Pro model which came in at 385 nits.
Comparatively, the
Dell XPS 13 hit just 302 nits, the HP Spectre x360 317 nits and the Lenovo Yoga
910 292 nits.
The MacBook surpass all of these laptops with flying colors. The
display offers rich and vibrant colors and has a plethora of different colors
to offer. I am extremely impressed by the display on this 2016 model. My only
complaint about the display is that the black levels could be higher, they were
lacking while I was watching videos.
Keyboard and Trackpad
With the new MacBook Pro models Apple has decided to implement the
butterfly mechanism, they already used this type of keyboard on the MacBook,
but now released a second-generation in the Pro models. This second-generation
layout has the same low amount of travel (0.5 mm) but, the new one offers
better tactile feedback, thanks to an improved design. As I typed on this
laptop, I found it to be extremely speedy and a very easy typing experience.
Since the keys are also bigger on the laptop I made very few typing mistakes,
but since many people are new to this type of keyboard, it may take a while to
get adjusted to the feel.
The trackpad has also changed big time. The trackpad is now twice
as big as previous models and allows easy use of gestures. The Force Click
setting allows you to press hard into the trackpad and see a definition of a
word.
Battery Life
The battery life on Macs has always been superb, and nothing has
changed with this new release. Apple rates the 54.5 watt-hour battery in the
13-inch MacBook Pro for 10 hours of web surfing time. On the Laptop Mag web
surfing test, in which they set the screen at 100 nits of brightness and surf
the web over Wi-Fi, the MacBook Pro lasted an awesome 12 hours and 21 minutes.
That beats the last 2015 MacBook Pro we reviewed, which lasted 12:04. This MacBook
Pro's runtime obliterates both the HP Spectre x360 (10:06) and Yoga 910 (10:36)
by about 2 hours.
Configurations
The entry-level, 13-inch MacBook I
reviewed starts at $1,499 and includes a 2-GHz 6th generation Intel Core i5
processor, 8GB of memory and a 256GB PCI-e based SSD, plus Intel Iris graphics.
Upgrading can get pretty pricey, as jumping up to a Core i7 CPU costs $300. If
you would prefer to check out Apple's innovative new Touch Bar, which puts a
touch screen above the keyboard to give you a wide range of relevant shortcut
controls - you'll have to pay $1,799 or over $2,300 depending on if you get the
13 inch model or 15 inch model with the Touch Bar. You'll also get a Touch ID
button for logging into your Mac and making Apple Pay purchases with a tap of
your finger, as well two additional Thunderbolt 3 ports.
Conclusion
The new MacBook Pro beats its predecessor in many ways and is
definitely an extremely powerful machine that is compact and portable. The
price is on the higher end, but in the end the laptop is worth it depending on
your needs and budget. So, yes, the new MacBook Pro is an excellent laptop, and
I strongly recommend it.
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