The new MacBook Pro gets a Touch Panel and the MacBook Air disappears

Philipp Rüegg

28.10.2016

Translation: machine translated

For once, Thursday's Apple event wasn't about the iPhone. The all-new MacBook Pro was the star attraction. Thinner, lighter and with Multi-Touch. What's more, there were new monitors - from LG - and the departure of the MacBook Air was announced.

After the Microsoft event a day earlier, and its buzz-inducing presentation of the Surface Studio, it was Apple's turn to delight its fans and investors. During the Keynote at its Cupertino HQ, the tech giant presented some new hardware, which should certainly inspire early imitators.

MacBook Pro: no more toolbar, welcome Touch Bar

The highlight of the Apple Keynote was, as expected, the new MacBook Pro. As already discovered following a leak, the function keys have been replaced by a Multi-Touch Band. Razer, with its Switchblade notebook has, for example, already tried the thing. From the ESC key to the F keys and the volume control, you'll find everything on the Touch Bar. Depending on the application you're using, it shows you different functions. Adjusting brightness and activating Siri, now built into MacBooks, are standard.

The touch strip can be adapted according to the user's wishes and configured by developers for their own apps. Adobe's Photoshop and Apple's Final Cut video editing software are already taking advantage of this. Of course, Emoji integration is also possible 😃. You can also easily switch between different windows.

Via the Touch Bar, you'll now be able to unlock the MacBook with your finger just like with the iPhone. Thanks to Touch ID support, quick user switching or payment via Apple Pay are also possible.

From the outside, the MacBook still looks like a MacBook, but has become much thinner and lighter (1.81 kg and 1.36 kg). It's still available in 13-inch and 15-inch sizes. However, Apple has announced that the MacBook Air will not be renewed. Both versions have four USB C ports, which are also used for charging, and also support Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.1. So you'll only be able to charge your iPhone via the MacBook by buying a new cable. Fear not: Apple will gladly sell you an adapter.

The MagSafe adapter has been removed, as has an HDMI port and, very surprisingly for the professional target group, an SD card reader. In return, the 3.5mm headphone jack is still present.

The trackpad has also been revamped and is now much larger. In return, the keyboard has become a little flatter, which is supposed to offer more comfort and speed, but won't suit everyone.

Specifications:

For the 13-inch, there are different versions with an i5 or i7 processor and SSDs from 256GB to 1TB.

For the 15-inch, you can choose between an i7 with 2.6GHz or with 2.9GHz. For memory, SSDs range from 256GB to 2TB. RAM is available up to 16GB. The graphics card is either an AMD Radeon Pro 450 or a 460 with 4GB of RAM.

5K screen from LG

Image: TheVerge

Apple has unveiled two new monitors - from LG. Apparently, they've been specially developed for MacBook Pros. They're available in 21.5-inch or 17-inch with impressive resolutions of 4096x2304 and 5120x2880 pixels. For the 5K model, the new MacBook Pro is a must, as a Thunderbolt 3 connection is required.

Price: €1,400 for the 5K model and €750 for the 4K model.

A TV app that's not very useful

Replying to the sober name of TV, Apple has introduced a new app for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. It's supposed to act as a hub for pairing multiple apps and managing them in one place. Around 16,000 applications are expected to be supported. For the moment, the app is only available in the US, as most of the supported streaming services are not yet available here. However, there are already various apps, such as Fan TV, that work on the same principle.

Here you can pre-order the new MacBook Pro:

You may also be interested in this article

Philipp Rüegg

Senior Editor

Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.ch

Being the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur. more