Apple has finally launched the much anticipated MacBook Pro 2016. The new notebook comes in 13-inch and 15-inch screen sizes. As rumoured for quite a long time, the Apple MacBook Pro 2016 comes with the brand new retina OLED display strip replacing the hardware function keys. This is officially named as Touch Bar.
The new generation MacBook Pros excels in portability with reduced dimensions and weight. The 13-inch variant is just 14.9 mm thin which is 17 percent less than its predecessor. The 15-inch MacBook Pro is 14 percent slimmer than its previous version with a maximum thickness of 15.5-inch. The latest laptop comes with a second generation Touch ID fingerprint sensor placed at the right corner of Touch Bar.
The Touch Bar, as the leaks said, has not just a couple features but a lot that make it a compelling addition to the MacBook Pro. When using the Safari browser, you can see the list of bookmarks. Other very common and useful inclusion will be the list of commonly used emojis when the Messages app is being used. Also, shortcuts for replying, deleting, etc. are shown on the Touch Bar when you use the Mail app.
The display of the new MacBook Pro is 67 percent brighter and Sports 67 percent higher contrast than its previous generation. The 15-inch model sports the high-end Intel Core i7 6th generation (Skylake). This is not an ultra-low power SoC and boasts a quad-core set-up. The 13-inch variant comes with either a dual-core 6th gen Intel Core i5 or a dual-core 6th gen Core i7 chipset. Coming to graphics, a brand new AMD Radeon Pro power up the MacBook Pro 2016. This is based on the latest Polaris architecture and will come with up to 4 GB of GDDR5 graphics memory.
The MacBook Pro 2016 features high end 2133 MHz RAM modules. Apple has used a super fast SSD as the storage medium of its latest laptop. It can clock up to 3.1 Gb/s of transfer speed. There is a new 2nd generation force touch supported trackpad which is almost twice as larger than in the previous MacBook Pros. There are four Type-C reversible ports all of which can be used as USB 3.1 (up to 10 Gb/s), Thunderbolt (up to 40 Gb/s), DisplayPort and even as the charging input.
Apple MacBook Pro 2016 comes in three different variants. A 13-inch model without the Touch Bar, a normal 13-inch one and the top-end 15-inch version. Read on to know about each of the different models.
New Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (without Touch Bar – MacBook Air replacement)
Apple has replaced its MacBook Air line-up with this 13-inch iteration of the MacBook Pro 2016. This is the least expensive model of the new MacBook line-up. Looking from outside, this looks exactly similar to the normal 13-inch model of the MacBook Pro 2016. The most notable difference in this is the absence of the Retina Touch Bar. Instead, there are the traditional hardware function keys.
The 13-inch Retina display of the new MacBook has a resolution of 2560 x 1600 with a peak brightness of 500 nits. Internally, there is a dual-core Intel 6th generation Core i5 processor with a base clock speed of 2.0 GHz which can go up to 3.1 GHz with turbo boost. The top end version of this MacBook Air replacement comes with 6th generation Intel Core i7 chip running at 2.4 GHz stock frequency, and turbo boosts up to 3.1 GHz.
Coming to storage, you can opt for 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB SSD. The 13-inch MacBook Air replacement comes with at least 8 GB of RAM which is expandable up to 16 GB. The RAM runs at a lower frequency of 1866 MHz. There are only two Type-C ports in this variant instead of the standard four. The battery is a 54.5-watt-hour lithium polymer unit with up to 30 days’ standby time. This 13-inch MacBook Pro has a starting price of $1499 (Rs. 1,00,000 approx.).
New Apple MacBook Pro 2016 (with Touch Bar)
This is the normal variant of the new MacBook Pro. It comes with the same display as the other 13-inch variant. Internally, it is a bit more powerful and also has the Retina Touch Bar. It is powered by dual-core 6th Gen Intel Core i5 (2.9 GHz / Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz). This can be replaced by a dual-core Intel Core i5 (3.1 GHz / Turbo Boost up to 3.5 GHz) or Intel Core i7 (3.3 GHz / Turbo Boost up to 3.6 GHz).
The 13-inch MacBook Pro can have 8 GB or 16 GB of 2133 MHz LPDDR3 RAM and up to 1 TB of high-speed SSD storage. The battery of this laptop is a 49.2-watt-hour unit. The 13-inch MacBook Pro costs upwards $1799 (Rs. 1,20,000 approx.)
New Apple MacBook Pro 2016 15-inch
This is the costliest variant of the new MacBook Pro range. It comes with a 15.4-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD panel. The screen has a resolution of 2880 x 1800 pixels and 500 nits of brightness. Inside the 15-inch MacBook Pro 2016 lies a quad-core 6th gen Core i7 chip. Apple gives you the option to choose between three different processor models. The base variant has a clock speed of 2.6 GHz and turbo boost till 3.5 GHz with 6 MB L3 cache. In another version, the processor runs at 2.7 GHz and up to 3.6 GHz with Turbo Boost along with 8 MB L3 cache. The top-end model rocks a 2.9 GHz chip with Turbo Boost up to 3.8 GHz and 8 MB L3 cache.
16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3 RAM is standard in every variant of the 15-inch MacBook Pro 2016. For storage, you can choose between a 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB high-speed SSDs. The battery is a 76-watt-hour Lithium Polymer cell. The new MacBook Pro 2016 15-inch model has a starting price of $2399 (Rs. 1,60,000 approx.)
Availability
The new MacBooks will be available in two colour options namely Space Gray and Silver. In the USA, the 13-inch MacBook Pro without Touch Bar is already available for purchase. The 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro 2016 with the Touch Bar are currently up for pre-order and shall ship in about four weeks. Stay tuned to us for info regarding the availability and pricing in India.
