It seems like Apple can’t launch a laptop these days without walking face-first into at least one controversy. With the new MacBook Pros, it walked into two. One: was this keyboard really designed to be quieter (as Apple claims publicly) or to address the problem of dust and grit breaking them? Two: a software bug caused these laptops to throttle their speed down in intense thermal conditions, eliciting a software update and an apology from Apple.
However, if Apple is planning to reveal the new Mac Pro ahead of its release, it’s possible we’ll see it at the October 30 event in Brooklyn, along with the rest of the 2018 Mac lineup. The laptops referenced in these filings are quite interesting, primarily because the final three directly correspond to the MacBook Pro line — the 13.3-inch without Touch Bar, 13.3-inch with Touch Bar, and the 15.4-inch with Touch Bar. In July 2018 Apple announced a major update to its MacBook Pro laptop line, 13 months after the previous refresh in June 2017 at WWDC 2017. The 2018 MacBook Pro laptops are available with 13in. The new MacBook Pro is the first Mac to feature Apple's True Tone technology. The technology debuted on the iPad Pro line, measuring the ambient color balance and adjusts the screen so colors are.
The heat (pun intended) around those controversies is at a higher temperature than usual because there has been more angst in the Mac universe than normal in the past few years. The switch over to these new designs two years ago came with what feels like an equal number of benefits and compromises. On one hand, they’re thinner, lighter, and more powerful. On the other, you have a polarizing (or worse) keyboard design, dongles, and a sort of vague distrust that Apple really cares about the Mac at all in the age of the iPhone.
That’s all too much for one simple spec-bumped laptop to handle alone, so it’s no surprise that this MacBook Pro hasn’t arrived as the savior for professionals looking for the ur-machine. Nevertheless, it’s a solid computer that’s fast and powerful. So this review of the top-tier 15-inch MacBook Pro isn’t about blame or benchmarks.
It’s about trust.
Our review of Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)
Good Stuff
- Powerful processors
- Thin and light design
- True Tone display
Bad Stuff
- Polarizing keyboard design
- No SD card slot
- Difficult repairability
The first controversy over MacBook Pros deals with their “butterfly switch” keyboards. They broke, to put it bluntly (though at what rate, it’s impossible to know for sure). Casey Johnston at The Outline has led the charge to hold Apple to account for the fact that it takes just a little grit to make a single key stop working and that fixing said problem involves a massively expensive repair.
The keyboard appears to be redesigned for reliability, even though Apple won’t say so
Apple’s response was to announce a repair program that covers every butterfly switch keyboard MacBook for four years. That was the right thing to do. Its other response was apparently to redesign this MacBook Pro’s keyboard to mitigate the problem and then refuse to admit that’s why it was redesigned. Apple only claims that this “third-generation” butterfly keyboard is quieter, not that it’s more reliable.
Here’s what Apple did: it put a thin layer of silicone in between the keys and the butterfly switches. As iFixit found (and Apple’s presumably related patent claims), that layer serves to protect the switches from crumbs and maybe even pushes those crumbs out of the assembly. I’m hopeful that these keyboards will be less prone to failure, and I don’t think it’s a reason to avoid buying this laptop.
It does make the experience of typing a little nicer. Keyboard travel is about the same, but there’s a better sense of resistance when you type. It’s also almost imperceptibly quieter; it’s less clacky, basically. I really do enjoy typing on this keyboard, though I’m sympathetic to people who prefer more key travel.
This computer has all the benefits and trade-offs of previous MacBook Pros. The screen is beautiful, but it doesn’t go as edge-to-edge as you can get with a lot of Windows laptops these days. There are four Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C ports (even on the smaller 13-inch version), which means you can’t escape dongles, and you can’t have a power cord that magnetically attaches. (Don’t trip on the power cable.) It’s still incredibly well-built and feels like it’s carved from a single piece of aluminum.
It’s also thinner than most “pro” Windows laptops with powerful processors. Thinness has become a point of contention because it makes the laptop more complicated to cool. But it’s undeniable that, as a physical object, this thing is really nice to carry around.
There are a bunch of other improvements to the MacBook Pro. Chief among them is a new “T2” chip, which controls a bunch of the internal mechanics of this computer. It allows Apple to add new iOS-esque features like a True Tone display, which adjusts the color temperature of the screen and the Touch Bar to match the ambient light in a room. In our testing, it did just that, though it was awfully hard to tell the difference on the Touch Bar.
We turned True Tone off pretty quickly because the majority of the “pro” work that happens at The Verge is video and photo editing, and color accuracy is more important than whether the screen is easy on the eyes.
The T2 chips also allow you to say “Hey Siri” out loud and the computer can hear it. That works, too, but I still don’t find Siri to be super useful on a Mac, especially since it’s not integrated into the core Spotlight computer search. This is an area where Windows, with its Cortana system, has a somewhat more elegant solution than macOS. Lastly, the T2 adds a bunch of security. For example, it handles the encryption for files so it won’t slow down the ridiculously fast SSD inside this computer.
![Apple Apple](/uploads/1/2/6/0/126085951/983840357.jpg)
There’s also the Touch Bar, which does not inspire much affinity. There are still moments when I feel like it’s neat. But most of the time, I feel like I’d be just as happy with plain old function keys and more money in my bank account. It often feels like a solution in search of a problem. Using your fingerprint with Touch ID to log in is great, but truthfully, it’s not as great as logging in with your face using Windows Hello.
Apple put a larger battery inside these machines, but it isn’t claiming longer battery life. It’s simply there to offset the higher power draw from the beefier processors and faster RAM. In our testing, it was about on par with previous generations, which is to say not quite a full day. Verge video director Vjeran Pavic, who did all of our stress testing, says that it also doesn’t improve battery life under heavy load all that much either. If you’re doing serious video work, you should expect about the same as what you had before. (For him, it was about three hours.)
So let’s talk about thermal throttling, the second controversy du jour.
It’s not quite fair to say that all we got is a spec bump with these new MacBook Pros, but the new, 8th Gen Intel processors are definitely the biggest internal change. The unit we received for review was a top-of-the-line 15-inch machine with a six-core i9, 32GB of RAM, and a 4TB SSD. As specced, it’s $6,700, but nearly half of that price is the cost of the internal storage. You can also get this computer with a six-core i7 chip, or a 13-inch size with 8th Gen quad-core i5 or i7 processors. (The 13-inch model without a Touch Bar has not been updated.)
Those processors, specifically the six-core i9s, have been at the center of the second controversy. After a video from Dave Lee showed that his Core i9 MacBook Pro seemed to exhibit really bad thermal throttling — so much so that it performed worse than a 2017 Core i7 MacBook Pro — the tech world basically went into a full-blown, gate-level crisis. Here we go again.
To its credit, Apple got in touch with Lee and worked to replicate his results. Finally doing so meant that it uncovered a bug, a so-called “missing digital key” in the firmware, that causes the thermal throttling. On July 24th, Apple released a software update to fix that bug. Since then, we’ve been re-running our own tests.
Apple’s software update seems to have mostly resolved thermal throttling issues
Here’s the thing about benchmarking: like any test, variables in your initial setup can wildly change the results. Before the update was released, some testers, like Geekbench founder John Poole, have found that the Core i9 can, in fact, be slower than a comparable i7. Others, like Jonathan Morrison, ran test after test after test only to find that the i9 outperformed the i7 every time.
Here’s another thing about benchmarking: like any scientific test, the worst result isn’t a pass or a fail. The worst result is that it’s inconclusive. Our results aren’t that bad, but there are some cases where we’ve run into confounding results, even after the software update.
Here’s just one example: we took a 5.5-minute video of 4K drone footage and exported it to 4K h.264 with a 30Mbps bitrate, resulting in a 1.2GB file. (The test wasn’t as intense as what we’ve seen others do, so don’t take this as any more than one data point among what is sure to be very many others.) We ran it on a 2016 MacBook Pro and on this MacBook Pro both before and after Apple’s software update.
In Adobe Premiere Pro, we saw virtually no difference after the software patch on our particular test. It didn’t export any faster. And compared to that two-year-old laptop, that export was only about 8 percent faster. Best web browsers for mac. On the other hand, Apple’s Final Cut Pro X saw significant improvement, both across different laptops and across software versions. The software update took what was already an impressive improvement and made it even more impressive: 64 percent faster than the 2016 model.
MacBook Pro export tests (in minutes)
Software used | 2016 MacBook Pro | 2018 MacBook Pro | 2018 MacBook Pro |
---|---|---|---|
Software used | 2016 MacBook Pro | 2018 MacBook Pro | 2018 MacBook Pro |
Core i7, 16GB RAM | Core i9, 32GB RAM, (before update) | Core i9, 32GB RAM (after update) | |
Premiere Pro CC | 12:31 | 11:35 | 11:35 |
Final Cut X | 6:46 | 4:35 | 2:26 |
Those are, as I said, confounding results. Premiere Pro, which should have been a victim of thermal throttling, didn’t change. Final Cut X, which Apple presumably had already optimized for this system, saw a huge improvement. It’s odd, but that’s how these things often go. Benchmarking really can vary depending on your source footage and settings. Dave Lee, whose testing kicked this whole thermal drama off, has reported much faster results in his post-update test.
It’s very easy to get lost in the trees and miss the forest. Here’s the forest: after the software update, we found that the MacBook Pro ran quieter, cooler, and faster overall. Ms office 2018 download for mac. Some of our Premiere Pro exports saw improvements as high as 40 percent faster than our 2016 laptop. When you stop staring at benchmark times and processor temperatures and take in the whole experience of this computer, you’ll find it feels fast and performant.
Do I trust these laptops? Apple certainly hasn’t made it easy. Not after the squirrely statements about why the keyboard design changed, and not after the thermal throttling that was somehow missed by Apple’s own testing labs before they were released.
But yes, after seeing the results of Apple’s software update, I do trust this MacBook Pro. However, I’m also in the fortunate position of not only being able to trust but verify. If you truly have a job that will push your computer’s thermals to their upper limit, I suggest you find a way to test your particular workflow before investing in one of these computers for the long term. And if you don’t expect to push the limits of this system, you’ll be fine (though maybe you should consider saving some money and waiting for Apple to release new midrange laptops).
The truth is that this is mostly an iterative update with faster processors and a few new bells and whistles. It’s still a design that many Mac users have been conflicted about for almost two years. As sturdy as the unibody frame of this laptop is, there’s no way it can carry the weight of resolving all that angst.
So you have to separate what you wish Apple would do from what it has done. And after the software update, what Apple has done is deliver a very good laptop, one I think you can trust. But increasingly, it’s getting harder to love.
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The MacBook is no more, so your hopes of buying a MacBook 2019 have been officially dashed. Unfortunately, Apple low-key announced on July 10, 2019 that they dropped the MacBook from their MacBook line-up, and confirmed that it will not be replaced with a new version. At least, not in the foreseeable future. In fact, this 12-inch laptop is no longer available on the Apple website.
This isn’t a huge surprise, especially because last year came and went with no sign of the new MacBook. Instead, Apple launched the new MacBook Air – which some would argue replaced it. It didn't make an appearance at the WWDC 2019 alongside the redesigned Mac Pro 2019 and macOS Catalina, either. Because the latest thin and light had been out for nearly 2 years, we were actually more than ready for the follow up.
MacOS News
Apple unveils the new, completely redesigned Mac Pro.
Sidecar, Voice Control and other new features come to mac with macOS 10.15 Catalina.
Looking back, the MacBook 2017 was everything we’ve wanted since the thin and light rebirth back in 2015 – at least on paper. It was packing the powerful 7th-generation Intel Kaby Lake processors that gave it a massive boost to power, as well as the Butterfly keyboard, which is better than ever, despite some persisting issues.
Now that we have Intel Amber Lake processors, we would have loved the MacBook 2019 to utilize these, taking a huge leap over the 2017 model and giving MacBook users an indisputable reason to upgrade.
The good news is that both the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro both received a refresh, giving MacBook users who are looking to upgrade a couple of fairly affordable alternatives.
Of course, with third-party retailers still selling them, you can still take home a 12-inch MacBook, perhaps at a cheaper price.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The next 12-inch MacBook
- When is it out? It won’t. Apple just killed it.
- What will it cost? Presumably the same as current models
MacBook 2019 release date
None of the most recent reports, rumors or leaks gave any idea as to when and if we’ll see the MacBook 2019. Of course, the lack of information was probably due to the fact that Apple didn’t have any. That is, outside of declaring its demise.
In 2015, Apple rolled out the first MacBook in April. That was following a March keynote, an increasingly common time for Apple to release a device.
However, Apple went all of 2018 without releasing a new 12-inch MacBook. While we initially thought the blame was on Intel’s 14nm shortage, the Cupertino behemoth had no problem putting out the MacBook Air 2018.
Furthermore, Apple didn't showcase the MacBook 2019 at WWDC 2019, though that was hardly surprising as this year's hardware portion of the keynote focused entirely on the new Mac Pro 2019 and its 32-inch 6K Retina display, the Pro Display XDR.
However, with the new macOS 10.15 boasting new features such as the Apple Music, TV and Podcasts apps (formerly iTunes), Sidecar and Voice Control, Apple could have used the opportunity to show off a MacBook that’s obviously designed for entertainment – the MacBook 2019.
Unfortunately, July 2019 saw Apple completely dropping the MacBook, opting instead to give the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pros a well-deserving refresh.
MacBook 2019 price
This is another aspect where we’ll have to speculate based on the current pricing of the MacBook.
The entry-level MacBook cost $1,299 (£1,249, AU$1,899) to start when it was still available at the Apple Store. Only one more model, with more storage and power, went for another $300 to $450 on top of that. We think that Apple would have launched the MacBook 2019 around the same price as these models.
There was speculation that Apple will be releasing a cheaper 13-inch MacBook, but that turned out to be the new MacBook Air.
With the pricing so tight here, amounting to minute differences in hardware between offerings, we wouldn’t have seen a price drop. The only way we saw the MacBook budging on price is if Apple introduced sizable storage or higher power options, which would have sent the price up, rather than the opposite.
For the MacBook 2019 price to have come down, compromises would have been made. Apple could have lowered the memory down to 4GB from 8GB. But we didn’t think that would have happened, especially because 8GB is standard these days.
Instead, the only way we’d have seen a cheaper MacBook 2019 was if Apple dropped its storage from 128GB SSD instead of starting with 256GB. This would have been beneficial to those who’ve already invested in external drives. Considering how much Apple charges for a bump in storage, lowering that amount should equate to a considerable price drop.
Still, since Apple has pretty much said that they don’t have plans to follow up its last MacBook release, speculating on the price is futile.
What we want to see in MacBook 2019
Again, the MacBook is no more. Still, if the Cupertino behemoth did push the release of its 2019 successor, here’s what we were hoping to see Apple improve about the MacBook 2019.
2018 New Mac Pro
MacBook 2019 keyboard and screen
Throughout 2018, there were plenty of rumors that Apple had plans to design a MacBook with dual screens. One of these screens would be a capacitive touch keyboard. Early 2019, we stumbled upon a rumor that the touchscreen keyboard would have raised glass and haptic feedback, so it will feel as much like a traditional keyboard as possible. However, it’s easy to expect this to raise the price on any MacBook that implements it.
Throughout 2018, there were plenty of rumors that Apple had plans to design a MacBook with dual screens. One of these screens would be a capacitive touch keyboard. Early 2019, we stumbled upon a rumor that the touchscreen keyboard would have raised glass and haptic feedback, so it will feel as much like a traditional keyboard as possible. However, it’s easy to expect this to raise the price on any MacBook that implements it.
Even if this touchscreen keyboard doesn’t make its way into the 2019 MacBook, it doesn’t mean the Butterfly mechanism keyboard won’t be improved upon – especially after Apple admitted that some of the keyboards in recent MacBooks are faulty and is now offering to repair them for free.
That’s why we’re pretty sure that the MacBook 2019 will feature the same third-generation Butterfly keyboard as the new Macbook Pro while MacBook Air will have with a membrane that makes it less prone to jamming up.
More ports, please
One of the biggest problems with the 12-inch MacBook, ever since its initial release has been the all too obvious lack of ports. With just the one USB-C port – that isn't even Thunderbolt 3! – and a headphone jack, this port situation absolutely needs to change in the MacBook 2019. Even one additional port will help, so that you can charge while also connect a different device at the same time without needing a dock.
One of the biggest problems with the 12-inch MacBook, ever since its initial release has been the all too obvious lack of ports. With just the one USB-C port – that isn't even Thunderbolt 3! – and a headphone jack, this port situation absolutely needs to change in the MacBook 2019. Even one additional port will help, so that you can charge while also connect a different device at the same time without needing a dock.
We’ve already seen Windows laptops accomplish this feat. Take the Huawei MateBook X, for instance, with its two USB-C ports, or even the similarly priced MacBook Pro, which has two. Maybe there’s room for a microSD card reader too, though that may be pushing it.
Punchier processors
Costing as much as it does, Apple really needs to put some more power into its 12-inch MacBooks.
Costing as much as it does, Apple really needs to put some more power into its 12-inch MacBooks.
Then again, the MacBook has consistently used energy efficient Intel Core ‘M’ and ‘Y’ series CPUs up to this point, so we wouldn’t bank on seeing full-fat Ultrabook processors, as they’d generate too much heat for the tiny, thin chassis.
Now that Amber Lake Y-series CPUs have been released by Intel, we’d like to see Apple shove these latest 8th-generation processors into the new MacBook. However, at this point, those are essentially old tech already, so again, we’ll just have to see.
We’ve also seen some rumors that Apple is planning on crafting an ARM-based MacBook at some point, and if the iPad Pro 2018 were any indication, we could definitely see this happening. Apple would just have to work out some kinks in getting macOS to run on an ARM system. 3d software for mac 2018.
It’s also safe to assume that Apple will put its T1 or T2 processor into the MacBook 2019 – as it has with all of its latest Mac releases.
Since the 12-inch MacBook lacks a Touch Bar, it’s safe to assume that if one of these co-processors is implemented, it will be used for the automatic wake and ‘Hey Siri’ functionality that’s currently unique on to the iMac Pro, MacBook Air 2018 and MacBook Pro 2018.
New Apple Macbook Pro Laptop For 2018
Sturdier build
The Apple MacBook already feels remarkably sturdy in hand, but over time it can become inundated with scratches – even if you are exceptionally careful. Luckily, Apple has recently filed a patent that details plans for making ‘indestructible’ hardware, through some unique coatings.
The Apple MacBook already feels remarkably sturdy in hand, but over time it can become inundated with scratches – even if you are exceptionally careful. Luckily, Apple has recently filed a patent that details plans for making ‘indestructible’ hardware, through some unique coatings.
This will be an excellent option for a premium device that most users won’t want to upgrade for four to five years, as well as help keep the MacBook looking as stunning as the day you opened it.
Of course, we don’t know if this patent will ever see the light of day or even get utilized for the MacBook. However, this approach, alongside the improved Butterfly keyboard found in the MacBook Pro 2018, could make the MacBook 2019 a much more durable device, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed.
Stronger audio and video
Speaker performance and webcam quality are two corners that Apple obviously cut when in designing the MacBook. With the MacBook 2019, this needs to end. Tinny speakers and a sub-HD webcam for a laptop this expensive and designed for entertainment simply isn’t acceptable, and not in this day and age.
Speaker performance and webcam quality are two corners that Apple obviously cut when in designing the MacBook. With the MacBook 2019, this needs to end. Tinny speakers and a sub-HD webcam for a laptop this expensive and designed for entertainment simply isn’t acceptable, and not in this day and age.
New Apple Laptop 2018
Apple needs to beef up the webcam up to 1080p, to make it more worthy of its price tag. The speakers, though, are a problem we don’t necessarily have a solution for. Supporting the speakers with down-throwing bass modules in the base might work? Otherwise, stick to your better made external speakers and headphones.
New Apple Mac Pro Review
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