[Closed] New MacBook Pro's

20% devaluation in the £ doesn't help.

You can blame jambalaya for that!

The Dell XPS is looking great value now!

for now...

They look interesting though. Not sure I'm convinced of the need of the touch bar thing but far better having touch controls there than fingerprints on the screen.

my 2009 MacBook pro is starting to have issues with a temperamental magsafe connector. I was thinking about seeing what today brought. even the cheapest non touch strip is still expensive.

Mind you i guess even the cheap Air is probably faster than my current?

Touch bar is a gimmic of little value, if they offered the 15in without I would buy that. Disappointed there is no 32gb option but glad to see a 4gb card. I'll wait a few months until the one I want is in the refurb store or maybe buy new with trade association discount. Still over 2k with the vat off, last one I purchased 2 years ago was £1600 🙁

You seem to have to go for 15" to get 512Gb SSD as well. Price for an extra 8 Gb of RAM is £180!

Think I'll stick with my 2010 MBP for a few more years.....

Got an old white MacBook and a 1st gen 15" retina, was looking to replace the MacBook but Lordy those prices are savage, not had chance to catch up, did the didly MacBook get a spec bump?

Touch bar is surely phase 1 of getting rid of the whole keyboard?

Heh. Microsoft have won this quarter's product launch easily.

Heh. Microsoft have won this quarter's product launch easily.

did Microsoft launch some new PCs? meh they still run windows so not interested.

Have you seen the price of the top of the range 15" £2699 wtf!!!

You have to wonder what all the staff at Apple are doing. Is it really that difficult to update the Mac mini, iMac, Mac Pro, etc. They are years out of date now and Apple really seems to be losing it way with the hardware. Its all rather bizarre.

Microsoft products look great and even though I hate windows at the stupid prices of Apple it does make me wonder if a switch would be worthwhile.

did Microsoft launch some new PCs? meh they still run windows so not interested.

Windows lineup looks waaay cooler than Apple currently.

Microsoft products look great and even though I hate windows at the stupid prices of Apple it does make me wonder if a switch would be worthwhile.

[url= http://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/20/ibm-macs-less-expensive-than-pcs/ ]http://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/20/ibm-macs-less-expensive-than-pcs/[/url]

[url= https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msuk/en_GB/pdp/Surface-Book/productID.332604800 ]https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msuk/en_GB/pdp/Surface-Book/productID.332604800[/url]

In an effort to be a bit fairer, comparing apple and microsoft products, the prices aren't that different for similar specs.

I think it is not so much apple charging lots, but everyone charging lots for higher end models and apple not bothering with anything cheap.

Seems to have gone down well on Wall Street.
[img] [/img]

Maybe Apple thought that too many common people were using Mac's and upped the prices to make them exclusive 😆

http://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/20/ibm-macs-less-expensive-than-pcs/

I'm guessing woody's not running quite the same enterprise as IBM..? 🙂 Or using W7 still like IBM are...

Windows lineup looks waaay cooler than Apple currently.

In your opinion, i am not a fan of surfaces keyboards, screens, design etc. I know others are though.

I'm guessing woody's not running quite the same enterprise as IBM..? Or using W7 still like IBM are...

Typing on an ageing rMBP.
Really would like to upgrade. Really not sure I can!!

Seems to have gone down well on Wall Street.

Underwhelming event, fo 'sure.

Why do you need to upgrade if 'just typing'?
I actually do need to upgrade as the Photoshop files I work on are getting bigger and bigger (5-10gb) and the graphics card struggles with the refine edge/masking. I already have a separate SSD scratch disk over thunderbolt.
A new machine will literally save me time.

iPad and iPhone user here and been holding out to buy the new 15" MBP for a few months. Fully anticipated clicking buy this evening........but.....the price differential, for me, is just ridiculous when you compare it to an XPS or Zenbook Pro. I use professionally for (lots of) writing and increasing multimedia activity, but will think again about the other two now. I've no doubt it's a great machine, with aftersales to match though.

Wasn't clear - I am currently typing on the rMBP (can't recall age, 2011 / 2012 or so) - but it's all singing all dancing m/c I use for work (dual boot into Windows for application development and testing) as well as household stuff and my accounts.

It certainly does look like an expensive option if you go for the Top of the Range..

Nice, shiny things.

Yep, Apple taking the piss now.

Every empire must fall.

Always thought that the Macs provided decent value for money for the consumer, until this announcement.
Interestingly, nett of sales tax they're slightly cheaper here than the US.

Ports decision is ludicrous. I don't own an iPhone, but at first glance, seems to me that in order to plug one into your mac you'll now need to buy either a dongle or a new cable- the one supplied is now u/s. You couldn't make it up. It's Ive's knighthood that should be being discussed in parliament.
I notice they've kept the headphone jack on the MB's. 🙂

My 11" Air has been awesome, love the size and portability, I got the basic one and its worked flawlessly for the last few years (touch wood), I'm really surprised they got rid of it. I guess the 12 inch macbook is a similar size but it's much more expensive. I'll be keeping this for the forseeable. They are really missing a product for the basic user.

The touch bar and fingerprint reader look great.

At those prices I can see my 2012 non-Retina MacBook Pro with 1Tb mechanical drive having to continue in use for some considerable time.

Look lovely, my 2008 macbook getting quite creaky now, but there is now way that i'm coughing up that kind of money. Have the put the prices up of the 12' macbook too? Seems the cheapest one is now 1200.

Have the put the prices up of the 12' macbook too? Seems the cheapest one is now 1200

Underwhelming. I was holding out on this announcement as I'm in the market for a new one, but for £1400 I can get a Dell XPS 13, higher resolution, i7 processor, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD in a slightly more compact case... vs £1450 for an i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD in a 13" MBP.

Plus Apple have ditched one of the really innovative features of their laptops that I really miss on other brands: the magnetic power connectors. Meanwhile the touch bar seems like a pointless gimmick on what's supposed to be the "pro" range of laptops. I'd assume that all "pros" can touch type and don't spend any time looking at the keyboard. I'd rather have keys I can feel and just remember what they do.

It's also irritating that Apple don't disclosure which generation of processors they're using. Presumably they're 7th gen but annoying that their marketing machine deem this too technical to disclose, even in the small print.

My last three laptops have been Apple, but I think it's time for a change.

I'm assuming the touch bar keys change depending on the application?

It's also irritating that Apple don't disclosure which generation of processors they're using. Presumably they're 7th gen but annoying that their marketing machine deem this too technical to disclose, even in the small print.

Looking like the older spec Skylake CPUs from a little detective work, which isnt ideal. They're expensive for sure, but when compared with a similarly specc'd XPS, Spectre, SurfaceBook etc, they're in the same ball park (just at the high end).

The Touch bar doesn't do a lot for me, the physical keys I can press, know what they do etc without looking. Coding without a physical esc key may well suck as well, but who knows.

The 'Pro' line just seems to be a way of differentiating between their product lines now, rather than a moniker that spells out the audience. If I can get the company to buy me one, I'm happy, otherwise I'll probably give this current model a miss.

Similar specced?
http://www.dell.com/au/p/xps-15-9550-laptop/pd?oc=z510896au&model_id=xps-15-9550-laptop
XPS with
1TB Storage
32Gb RAM
Probably equivilent graphics card
2 Actual USB ports !!
an HDMI Port
and Thunderbolt
Retailing at $3700 Australian and on offer for $3150

Surface Pro with 512GB SSD 16GB RAM & I7 is $3400 with the 1TB SSD option taking it to $4100

The MacBook is $4250 512 Storage 16GB RAM and a lot less connectivity and no touch screen

they're in the same ball park (just at the high end).

But hey a fingerprint sensor, never seen one of them on a laptop before 😉

Interesting to see that this thread and the Iphone 7 both seem to have the lack of gushing love that mac launches normally do.
Guess thats what the collective Meh on the share price was

Products looks awesome. Nice to have a new colour choice. I was ready to make an order but those prices are crazy.

Air 13" £100 price increase
Basic retina gone up £250
Pro without new bar £250 increase
Pro with bar, almost a £400 increase.
Top end 15" has gone from £2500 to £4049.

I'm out, they've gone crazy. All the pricing predictions were that they'd keep a £999 retina, a £1199 model, maybe £1349 for the bar 13". I'll keep my early 2015 retina then, it might go up in value once the new ones launch

I was all up for buying one but the prices are too high. I specked a 13 to the level I wanted - £2400. Nope

And as usual Molgrips and Mikewsmith pop up to try and wind up the fanbois, though it's good to see Smith finally posting links to comparable machines rather than attempting to line up a £300 piece of shit with a £1400 laptop.

OnTopic - A long wait for a load of nothing useful to most users IMO.

and a new cable or adaptor needed to connect the iphone to the USB-C port

£1,879 + 20% Brexit Tax = £2,349.

Thanks, Brexit. Awesome work.

Hmm, yep, not looking good. I mean, they are nice and all, but really? Thats it? If I didn't hate windows so much I'd try to go back. Only thing keeping me in apple now is the lock in with iTunes. Sad 🙁

(Edit - wait, but, i forgot i can have itunes on a PC. Right, thats it. Byeee!)

Disappointed here also. Eldest daughter is after a MBP after her gcse results (I'd put half in she pays the rest from some money she was left).

Back in Sept she wanted me to pick one up with the free Beats headphones offer on myunidays. I said to wait as the new model should be the same price as the old one..... should have listened to her for once!

New model just doesn't look worth it so I'm off to John Lewis to buy a 2015 model with 3 years warranty for £1160.

IMO though macs are stonking value. Still usable way after you would've binned a Windows PC, plus much less of my valuable time wasted sorting out problems.

Not if you do an Apples to Apples comparison. My £2k 2011 Sony Vaio ultra book (originally Win7) upgraded for free to Win 10 with all of its software, drivers etc and is still instant on, fast and beautiful to use and look at.

I very much doubt that any upgrade in IOS over that time would be free.

Hmm - I've benefitted from the MagSafe power connected on my 2012 MBP twice already this week. I wouldn't even consider a laptop without one now. I presume some clever soul will create a plugin equivalent (or, possibly, they already have). Why would Apple drop such a brilliant idea? 🙁

Was looking to buy around Christmas. Can't imagine why I would with these models.

Rachel

I very much doubt that any upgrade in IOS over that time would be free.

Erm - Macs don't run iOS. They do run MacOS and that has had free updates for several years now.

Rachel

Hmmm. We wanted an imac next year, might be worth buying one now...

Daffy - Member
I very much doubt that any upgrade in IOS over that time would be free.

OSX 10.6 is the last upgrade you had to pay for. In 2009.

The first big product to apply brexit worry costs?

Wait for cars, TV's, holidays, food, carpets - you name it - all head north by 20% this year.

I'm guessing they're aiming the MBPs at professional (high end graphics) users and the Air is more their consumer / student grade product.

Why would Apple drop such a brilliant idea?

Quite. I think they've lost the plot with form over function. Sure, 4 thunderbolt connectors look nice and neat and consistent and I'm sure they'll become the norm, but how many devices do I currently own that fit these connectors? None. Whereas I have countless devices that just need an ordinary USB port, and would need an adapter to work with one of these.

As for Brexit tax... not convinced. I don't dispute that weak pound means stuff getting more expensive but like-for-like, the Dell's XPS range are significantly cheaper than Apple, and yet Dell are still offering an extra £100 off. And the XPSs are themselves priced as premium products - you can get similar spec in a nastier case for less in things like the HP Envy.

I'm assuming the touch bar keys change depending on the application?

I'm guessing they're aiming the MBPs at professional (high end graphics) users

and a few hundred pounds makes little difference if you need the performance, over its 3 year usable working life the cost is insignificant if its’s earning you hundreds of pounds a day.
i'm amazed people spend £2k on a laptop for spreadsheets 😯 just buy a cheap pc one, theres loads of choice.

i dont drive a car but i’m not moaning about the cost of an audi with all the extras.

Pah! Expensive!?

We paid just shy of £10,000 for our first Mac set-up in the 90's. They're a positive bargain now.

😀

i'm amazed people spend £2k on a laptop for spreadsheets just buy a cheap pc one, theres loads of choice.

Our standard issue work Dell laptops are only something like £700 IIRC....

just buy a cheap pc one

guess who just bought a full price 2015 MBP 15"? 😳

Incidentally I fail to see what it does that the XPS doesn't (apart from you can't just pop into a shop and look at a Dell).

Seems an odd move by Apple at a point when Win10 has been well received and is easily their most complete OS in years. Win 10 has been great my nearly 4 year old work laptop is still running pretty sharp-ish with a lot of

Wait for cars, TV's, holidays, food, carpets - you name it - all head north by 20% this year.

And this is bad how, everyone was moaning we all buy too much crap and don't sell enough to the rest of the world.

Apple have never been a company to absorb currency fluctuations like out supermarkets do. When Greece had its economic melt down Apple stopped selling completely in Greece. If there was ever going to be a company to change prices due to Brexit then it was Apple. They protect their profits as much as possible as they know there are very few people who will swap to Windows just because of a price hike. Apple's strategy for years now has been to lock you into their ecosystem and the means they can raise prices and people will for often not walk.

When you actually think of the hours we spend on a computer then they are actually a bargain, especially compared to the amount we spend on mountain bikes!! Also Macs do have thigh residual price compared to Windows machines. Its just a shame they don't really have a starter priced MacBook now. How many school children/students/parents can afford a £949 laptop!!

Quite. I think they've lost the plot with form over function. Sure, 4 thunderbolt connectors look nice and neat and consistent and I'm sure they'll become the norm, but how many devices do I currently own that fit these connectors? None. Whereas I have countless devices that just need an ordinary USB port, and would need an adapter to work with one of these.

this +1.

I can't count the number of times I've tripped over a power cable and thanked the good lord for Magsafe. And my studio has any number of old bits that are all USB etc and would need adapters - I still use Firewire kit FFS!

Feel lucky I picked up a 2015 MBP that should see me through to 2020 at least.

But, speaking as a moronic fanboi sheeple, have to say I'm a bit disappointed in this lineup. Not because I was planning on getting one, but it really does look like Apple has got a bit lost here.

And this is bad how, everyone was moaning we all buy too much crap and don't sell enough to the rest of the world.

Yes, but we could do with a managed transition away from what our entire global economy is based on...

with a new OLED touchscreen on the keyboard capable of inserting emoji into text

seriously I thought the MBP was for professionals. I know it can do a bit more and changes with program, but the Function keys have been able to do this since the dawn of time.

Be interesting to see if these new Macs turns around the fall in sales.

I can't count the number of times I've tripped over a power cable and thanked the good lord for Magsafe.

Are you Mac users a bit special?

Really disappointed with this event but will wait until I've used a new MBP to see if it's worth having one over a surface when the time does come for work to refresh our kit.

Interesting they have moved to LG displays as well instead of branding an apple display.

The prices required a big gulp, I had been waiting for the MacBook Pro refresh since Xmas and expected a price hike inline with the iPhone 7 but this just seems a bit much for me. My late 09 iMac has become a bit sluggish but I think I will persevere with it and hope that the price will drop once like it did when the original Retina display MacBook Pro was released.

zilog6128 - Member

IMO though macs are stonking value. Still usable way after you would've binned a Windows PC

Tell that to my £200, 2003 vintage PC that was only retired earlier on in the year.

Are you Mac users a bit special?

Yes. It's hilarious, isn't it?

Just bought a 13" Retina 2.7GHz i5 from the refurb store for £1019 with 4% cashback through Quidco two weeks ago, despite knowing that the new models were coming... A bit of a gamble for sure, but seems to be the best decision I've made in a long time!

The new models add nothing to me... In fact, for what I do, the Retina model I've recently bought adds very little, but my old machine was 5 years old and I rely on my laptop a lot more than most, so seemed prudent to upgrade whilst the old one was still worth something.

Seriously though... That Touch Bar! These are supposed to be "Pro" level laptops, not a kid's toy. "I'd love to be able to get to my Facebook via the press of a single icon like I can on my iPhone" is not something I've EVER thought I wanted or needed on my Laptop FFS!

Be interesting to see if these new Macs turns around the fall in sales.

doris5000 - Member

Are you Mac users a bit special?

Yes. It's hilarious, isn't it?

I think there's a valid point here. Apple stuff is often very desirable but in reality rather than just throw yourself at the shiniest most powerful thing on the website, it is worth considering what you'll use it for.

I went through this with my potential Gen 2 ipad mini wifi only replacement, and ended up just keeping it.

As said before, I think they're pricing & technically removing themsleves from a broader market now. I'm due a replacement work laptop and within reason can have a Windows PC, Surface or Macbook Air and I'm thniking a surface will be cool, and works better with the corporate Offcie suite, although I'd love a MacBook Air.

So in summary;

Fairly low key Mac launch, no desktops and incremental changes to
MBP. World is going wifi, USB-C will support all necessary connections inc phone/screen/... personally I prefer Ethernet but I don't have a laptop as I prefer Mini / iPad combo.

Mac's have always been premium products, these prices seem high but history shows us customers will pay. @Sharkbait yes I'd do the same, these new prices will push up second hand values too

I don't care what is happening with PC's / Windows etc as I'll never buy another. The Windows users here likewise don't care about Mac's. Not a new development.

You only have to look at 10yr, 5yr or 1yr Apple vs Microsoft stock charts to see where the future lies

I'm thniking a surface will be cool, and works better with the corporate Offcie suite, although I'd love a MacBook Air.

Kryton yes I think that's the normal thought process. I weaned myself off Office so there is no longer any draw to Windows. Excel remains the best and most usable speeadsheet but for the amount I do I can use the Mac version when necessary. Most analysis I do requires proper custom written financial software not flaky un-audited Excel spreadsheets. I appreciate others have a stronger link to Office. IMO if/when Office use tails off Microsoft will be totally sidelined. People don't want a Windows machine they fell they have to have one

Hmmm...interesting thread. I was expecting to have ordered one by this morning. I'm lucky enough to have a high income and the [b]absolute[/b] price isn't an issue (i.e. I suspect I'm the target audience for Apple). I like their products and a big advocate of buy well buy once. And yet....it's the significant price [b]differential[/b] that gets me. Been looking at the £1600 15" Dell XPS today and finding it impossible to justify an extra £800 or so on the 15" MBP, even though I could afford it in absolute terms. I also missed that I can't connect my iPhone to the new MBP....I mean...come on, this was the sort of integration that endeared me to Apple in the first place. Maybe it comes with the appropriate lead in the box? I usually update my iPhone by connecting to computer since hearing that it was "better" and an earlier model burnt out its WiFi chip or something doing a prolonged update (read it on here, I think. Not sure if it's true). May have another look at the "old" models but I think I'm out now. Be interesting to see XPS/Zenbook/Surface sales this morning. I know a few people holding out for new MBP - every one told me that the price hike is too much and looking elsewhere or holding on to existing MacBook now. Shame. Will be interesting to see how this pans out.

[quote=mboy ]Seriously though... That Touch Bar! These are supposed to be "Pro" level laptops, not a kid's toy. "I'd love to be able to get to my Facebook via the press of a single icon like I can on my iPhone" is not something I've EVER thought I wanted or needed on my Laptop FFS!

Are you really that devoid of imagination? 🙂 There are loads of great 'pro' uses for it.

For example

showing intellisense corrections in code editor without putting a window over the top of your code and used without having to remove hands from keyboard

timelines for a/v applications using the audio waveform or stills from the video

context sensitive toolbars for e.g. switching paragraph styles in word, switching tools / subtools in photoshop etc

As said before, I think they're pricing & technically removing themsleves from a broader market now.

The iPads / Airs are the targeted at the broader market. The MBP was always aimed at 'Pros*' just now a bit more focussed.

* Graphic designers, photographers, videographers (is that a word?) etc

Graphic designers, photographers, videographers (is that a word?) etc

except the touch bar for adding emoticons is a bit redundant. a professional user in those target groups is likely to use a wacom tablet or control surface for editing/grading. scrubbing a timeline in FCP-x on that is joke when you can do it on the larger trackpad or a wacom.

the only good thing for a pro user is the 4gb video card as a lot of software depends on the card for performance/speed.

@Tinners I think you'd have to buy a usb-c to usb hub but once you have that you are done for all your existing devices. The 4S had bad wifi chips which an over-the-air iOS update tended to overheat / buggar ! I have one such phone (recovered by hairdrier fix a couple of times but now dead). I do my updates / backups via wire too.

These prices seem very high to me but I suspect Apple have done their research and its driven by max profit rather than volume

I don't care what is happening with PC's / Windows etc as I'll never buy another. The Windows users here likewise don't care about Mac's. Not a new development.

Not true for all. I currently have 7 apple devices and can access windows via a dual boot setup on my old macbook pro so I'm firmly in the apple camp. Yet I am way more intrigued by the microsoft surface studio than I am with anything from the current apple lineup.

Apple's recent changes have all felt too incremental to get excited about. If I had a crushing need for a desktop replacement I'm sure the new macbook pro would make the shortlist but there's nothing about it that makes me feel it would significantly improve my workflow over what was available at the start of the week.

The touch bar could be good but that all depends on how integrated it is with whatever software you mostly use. I can see ways that it could be fantastic but whether they happen is down to Adobe (my main software suite) and whether they go all out to tailor their user experience for the touch bar. I think with it only appearing on one product it's unlikely that software developers will go beyond some light integration. Had apple released a standalone keyboard incorporating the touch bar at the same time so you could alter the functionality of any mac with an external keyboard then I could of got a bit more excited about it as a new form of interface. As it is it feels too niche to get the full backing of software developers.

The iPads / Airs are the targeted at the broader market. The MBP was always aimed at 'Pros*' just now a bit more focussed.

This.

The people who buy these (me) aren't buying them to sit there doing their shopping on Amazon, or posting shite on here (though they do that too). They are buying them to use as tools. Tools that generate an income. Therefore worth every penny, as you buy the best for the job.And thats a Mac. By a country mile. The entire industry is built on them.

Without getting into the old tired Mac v PC argument, I use CS on a Mac all day, every day. Would a PC be as intuitive to use. No. Simple as that. Horses for courses.

Would you ask your local car mechanic why he has that shiny red, expensive Snap On tool box when you can get a socket set from Halfords?

I've been waiting for these. And the concern I have, as someone looking to replace my existing 5 year old Macbook Pro is that there's no 17" model. I think that if it is aimed at design professionals then the y should be offering that again