When Apple announced its MacBook Pro with Touchbar in October 2016, it decided not to wait for the new generation of Intel Kaby Lake or AMD Ryzen processors to arrive. It seemed a crazy decision – to launch its most powerful portable Mac without the most powerful processor – so we were fairly certain we’d see a refreshed model in June’s WWDC 2017 .
And so we did, as the line-up was refreshed with new Kaby Lake processors and GPUs. Apple also introduced a new 13in MacBook Pro without Touch Bar with a 128GB SSD.
When is the 2017 MacBook Pro release date?
How much does the 2017 MacBook Pro cost in the UK?
13in MacBook Pro
- 2.3GHz Kaby Lake i5 dual-core processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB storage, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640, £1,249/$1,299
- 2.3GHz Kaby Lake i5 dual-core processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640, £1,449/$1,499
- 3.1GHz Kaby Lake i5 dual-core processor, Touch Bar, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650, £1,749/$1,799
- 3.1GHz Kaby Lake i5 dual-core processor, Touch Bar, 8GB RAM, 512GB storage, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650, £1,949/$1,999
15in MacBook Pro
- 2.2GHz Broadwell i7 quad-core processor, 16GB RAM, 256GB storage, Intel Iris Pro Graphics, £1,899/$1,999
- 2.8GHz Kaby Lake i7 quad-core processor, Touch Bar, 16GB RAM, 256GB storage, Radeon Pro 555, £2,349/$2,399
- 2.9GHz Kaby Lake i7 quad-core processor, Touch Bar, 16GB RAM, 512GB storage, Radeon Pro 560, £2,699/$2,799
What are the MacBook Pro specifications?
Aside from the changes to the processors and GPUs, the MacBook Pro models sold today have the same specification as previously.
There are 13- and 15in models with new all-aluminium designs that are significantly thinner and lighter than their predecessors, just 14.9mm thin and 3lb for the 13in model and 15.5mm and 4lb for the 15in model.
The new MacBook Pros, available in Silver and Space Grey, have a two times larger Force Touch trackpad and a new context-sensitive Retina display Touch Bar that replaces the row of Function keys. Touch ID is also built-in with Secure Enclave and protected with Sapphire glass.
The new Touch Bar consumed most of Apple’s demonstration, and it does look cool. What functions it offers entirely depend on the app you’re in. For example, you might get emoji in the Messages app, favourite sites in Safari, and options to reply or delete in Mail. In Photos are useful editing controls, and we particularly like the look of the quick type function in relevant apps, which may speed up typing.
The keyboard itself has also been improved, with new second-generation Butterfly-style switch mechanisms that are more responsive and offer better travel.
The display is better than ever, now 67 percent brighter with 67 percent higher contrast and 25 percent more colours.
Each MacBook Pro is fitted with four Thunderbolt 3 ports that can go up to 40GB/s. Each of these ports can be used for power or as Thunderbolt, USB-C, DisplayPort, HDMI or VGA connections.
Author: Marie Black, Global Director of Content Operations, Foundry
Marie is Global Director of Content Operations at Foundry. A Journalism graduate from the London College of Printing, she’s worked in tech media for 20 years. These days she is focused on refining editorial processes and workflows, and on our evergreen, transactional and custom content strategy.
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