The No Touch Bar 13 Macbook Version

[crassapple]

Ah ha, so people are only allowed to buy a MacBook Pro if they intend to use it as creation devices? Because this is what they are built for?

Is it allowed to buy an iMac if you plan to use it for consumption? Or is this also a creation device?

Obviously it's your money you can do what you want. It's kind of like buying a ferrari to pick up the groceries a few times/week.

My 2008 unibody macbook does light web stuff just fine. I'd keep it if that's all I was doing.
[doublepost=1477946475][/doublepost]Coming from an 8 year old macbook, the new MBP non-TB looks really good to me. I'll just need a usb-c cable to connect my old hub and eventually get a 5k monitor for 1-cable connect.

FWIW, my 2008 unibody was $1300, that's ~$1450 in today's dollars, nearly the same as the base MBP.

edit: wrong acronym

 

[user74246]

[…] as you are in a minority: those that want to throw money away to buy a Pro machine for Facebook ONLY, or whatever […]

What other Mac do you recommend for someone with "light web surfing" needs, one where you don’t "throw money away"?

It's kind of like buying a ferrari to pick up the groceries a few times/week.

That’s exactly the point I was trying to make, the base model 13" MBP is not the Ferrari in the current lineup. It is in my opinion the one device I would most likely recommend to someone with light computing needs.

I don’t say that the base model isn’t capable to do a lot more! And when you’re running demanding tasks like VMs it makes sense to think about the 16 GB ram upgrade. But for the average Mail, Word, Safari and Photos app user 8 GB ram should be plenty.

No, it’s definitely not cheap at its current $1.500,-. But I think the average "light computing" user should at least consider spending the additional $200,- over the 12" MB, the extra 1.3" is very much noticeable.

 

[bigpoppamac31]

Your not understanding I don't need an adapter either I just need a HDMI cable with a USB-C connector. My guess is you picked up your existing HDMI cable for free on black Friday or something.

https://www.amazon.com/CHOETECH-Thu...&qid=1477921247&sr=1-4&keywords=usb-c+to+hdmi

I don't live in the USA or shop black Friday sales. I get my cables locally. I can get an HDMI cable for $5. Works perfectly with no issues. Do they even make an HDMI to USB-C cable or adapter?

 

[badlydrawnboy]

Ok here are first battery tests results:

"Battery Life: Superb Endurance
Apple rates the 54.5 watt-hour battery in the 13-inch MacBook Pro for 10 hours of web surfing time, but we saw more impressive results. On the Laptop Mag web surfing test, in which we set the screen at 100 nits of brightness and surf the web over Wi-Fi, the MacBook Pro lasted an awesome 12 hours and 21 minutes. That beats the last 2015 MacBook Pro we reviewed, which lasted 12:04.

This MacBook Pro's runtime obliterates the ultraportable average of 7:58, and it beats both the HP Spectre x360 (10:06) and Yoga 910 (10:36) by about 2 hours. However, the Dell XPS 13 lasted for an even longer 13:49."

http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/macbook-pro-13-inch

Wow, this is really encouraging. I ordered the TB version. If it's actually closer to 10 hours in real-world use, I'd have to consider returning it for this one since battery life is one of the most important features to me.

 

[davidcmc]

Any 3DMark (FireStrike and 2011 versions) benchmark of this MBP yet?

 

[fob]

Totally underwhelmed.

The new form factor cannot compare with the 12 MacBook, feels the same as the old rmbp just slightly lighter but does enable new use cases like the 12 does. If the m7 can hang with this version then there's absolutely no point. Spec the 12 m7 256 over this unless you need to upgrade to 16gb ram and more battery. Either go with the 12 for true portability or 15 for power.

 

[judahde]

Was killing time at the Apple Store, waiting for my daughter's iPhone screen repair. Looked over and saw a new 13" MBP on the table. Was informed they had 8GB 256GB drive non-touchbar units in stock. Have a 16GB 512GB with touchbar on order. After fooling around with it for a while I was hooked. Typing this message on it. The plan is to give it to the wife (artist & graphic design) when mine arrives in December.

Took it to work today and used it "normally" all day. Was at 23% on the battery by 4:30pm when I had to leave for Halloween with the kids. Very happy with it.

**edited "spacebar" to the proper name: "touchbar". Brain freeze.**

 

[Rob_2811]

Was killing time at the Apple Store, waiting for my daughter's iPhone screen repair. Looked over and saw a new 13" MBP on the table. Was informed they had 8GB 256GB drive non-spacebar units in stock. Have a 16GB 512GB with spacebar on order. After fooling around with it for a while I was hooked. Typing this message on it. The plan is to give it to the wife (artist & graphic design) when mine arrives in December.

Took it to work today and used it "normally" all day. Was at 23% on the battery by 4:30pm when I had to leave for Halloween with the kids. Very happy with it.

They've got rid of the Spacebar aswell

 

[badlydrawnboy]

They've got rid of the Spacebar aswell

Thanks for making me spit out my tea. Hilarious.

 

[mattopotamus]

Totally underwhelmed.

The new form factor cannot compare with the 12 MacBook, feels the same as the old rmbp just slightly lighter but does enable new use cases like the 12 does. If the m7 can hang with this version then there's absolutely no point. Spec the 12 m7 256 over this unless you need to upgrade to 16gb ram and more battery. Either go with the 12 for true portability or 15 for power.

The UI lag drives me crazy on tbe MacBook. The GPU is the isssue.

 

[fob]

The UI lag drives me crazy on tbe MacBook. The GPU is the isssue.

which model do u have? 2016?

 

[mattopotamus]

which model do u have? 2016?

Had a 2015 and 2016. Before these 2016 pros there was UI lag on all of the Macs with Retina display sans the 15" with a dedicated GPU

 

[zone23]

I don't live in the USA or shop black Friday sales. I get my cables locally. I can get an HDMI cable for $5. Works perfectly with no issues. Do they even make an HDMI to USB-C cable or adapter?

My bad. Yes they make a HDMI to USB-C no adapter needed.

 

[c.s.]

Totally underwhelmed.

The new form factor cannot compare with the 12 MacBook, feels the same as the old rmbp just slightly lighter but does enable new use cases like the 12 does. If the m7 can hang with this version then there's absolutely no point. Spec the 12 m7 256 over this unless you need to upgrade to 16gb ram and more battery. Either go with the 12 for true portability or 15 for power.

Couldn't agree more. I went to the store to lift it and see what it felt like in one hand. I carry my 12-inch MB like a book or iPad (no case), on the back of my bike, and literally everywhere. I wouldn't do the same with this. It's not close to the same feeling. It's nice, but still feels like a laptop.

 

[torana355]

Just picked up the 13" non touch bar in Space grey an hour ago. Great machine!! I did notice the boot up time is around 13 seconds, I was expecting quicker, does this seem right?
[doublepost=1477965530][/doublepost]

It's true. Does it every time from a shut down. It also takes all of three seconds to launch to the sign on screen.

I just picked one up and it takes 13 seconds to boot. Not sure how yours is doing it in 3 seconds.

 

[psymac]

No, it’s definitely not cheap at its current $1.500,-. But I think the average "light computing" user should at least consider spending the additional $200,- over the 12" MB, the extra 1.3" is very much noticeable.

But the added weight and form factor difference is also very noticeable, and the April 2017 Macbook model will likely offer upgrades (CPU, keyboard, etc) that make it a very compelling alternative to the 13" MBP, with or without TB.

 

[kmac007]

Wow, this is really impressive for the base model, I thought you must have 16GB RAM.

16gb of RAM is not necessary in most situations.

https://www.google.ca/amp/www.techspot.com/amp/article/1043-8gb-vs-16gb-ram/?client=safari

 

[torana355]

Ok so after using the new rMBP non Touchbar model for the past few hours here are my thoughts. Firstly I'm coming from a 2011 MBA so any new laptop was going to be a big upgrade.

The things absolutely flies, very snappy! The new keyboard is great, I prefer it to my MBA keyboard, it has enough travel to know I hit the key without any wasted travel which allows me to type very fast. The speakers on this thing are great also, huge upgrade from my MBA. The screen is gorgeous and very bright. The thing I love about this machine the most is the fact the fans don't come on at all even when on flash heavy websites, its quiet as a mouse. The USB-C charger is ok, I prefer magsafe but it is what it is. Ive not had a chance to test the battery out properly yet but from my limited usage I can tell it will be great. It Boots up in around 11secs which is great but not that much faster then my old MBA. The biggest downside I've seen on this machine is the wifi sucks, the signal is not as good as my MBA, not even close.

All in all I see this machine as a MBA retina, its exactly what I needed as I'm not a heavy user and the rMB screen is just to small. Its overpriced but I'm happy with it.

UPDATE: After an OS update the wifi works great now. Oh and the keyboard is freaking awesome, I love it!! Don't understand the hate for the Butterfly style keyboard at all.

 

[hongtinh]

Using this for the first time at work today ... trying to stretch it's legs. Running dual monitors (built in screen + external Dell 1080p screen using the Apple USB-C AV media adapter) with a Win10 VM, using Visual Studio, xCode, OneNote, Excel, Outlook, Mail.app, TweetBot, Safari+3 tabs, Pixelmator, and Chrome all while listening / watching a video podcast in the background. Memory pressure is high but still "green".

I'm pretty impressed, no slow downs or lags even when trying to run multiple intensive operations at once (i.e. compiling/building a large project in VS and xCode at the same time.) Using the 2016 rMB in a similar fashion also worked surprisingly well (m5 version), but there was noticeable but manageable UI lag here and there.

Will continue kicking the tires and report back.

Really impressive!
seems the 2.0GHz CPU is good enough for program development.
[doublepost=1477968942][/doublepost]

Using this for the first time at work today ... trying to stretch it's legs. Running dual monitors (built in screen + external Dell 1080p screen using the Apple USB-C AV media adapter) with a Win10 VM, using Visual Studio, xCode, OneNote, Excel, Outlook, Mail.app, TweetBot, Safari+3 tabs, Pixelmator, and Chrome all while listening / watching a video podcast in the background. Memory pressure is high but still "green".

I'm pretty impressed, no slow downs or lags even when trying to run multiple intensive operations at once (i.e. compiling/building a large project in VS and xCode at the same time.) Using the 2016 rMB in a similar fashion also worked surprisingly well (m5 version), but there was noticeable but manageable UI lag here and there.

Will continue kicking the tires and report back.

Really impressive!
seems the 2.0GHz CPU is good enough for program development.

 

[bcaslis]

Totally underwhelmed.

The new form factor cannot compare with the 12 MacBook, feels the same as the old rmbp just slightly lighter but does enable new use cases like the 12 does. If the m7 can hang with this version then there's absolutely no point. Spec the 12 m7 256 over this unless you need to upgrade to 16gb ram and more battery. Either go with the 12 for true portability or 15 for power.

I have the 12" rMB. I'm replacing it wth the new MBP. The 12" screen just isn't big enough for me. The 13.3" for me is the best tradeoff between portability and usability. The base MBP isn't the words fastest machine but it's lots faster the rMB. I know some here have said the keyboard on the MBP is the same as the rMB but on mine it's not. It's not like the old MBP but I like this one better. Still trying to decide if the touchbar version would be worth it.

 

[dingclancy23]

For 5W it will run (theoretically) for almost 11hrs (10:54). For touch bar version to get 10 hrs (as tested by Apple) idle power consumption should be less than 5W - is it possible?

I'm simplifying here a lot taking idle as a baseline. The dynamics of system might be different but I can't model this with single point in space.

I predict the touch bar version will be 9 hours of regular usage.

I see it as the non-touch bar can get to 10 hours very very comfortably and will probably have an hour or two to spare.

The non-touch bar will barely get to 10 hours consistently. It will be a struggle.

But both models can be advertised as "10 hours all day battery life" without it really being inaccurate.

 

[Cryates]

I just picked one up and it takes 13 seconds to boot. Not sure how yours is doing it in 3 seconds.

To the login screen? Not like fully launched to the desktop. To the login screen.

 

[BondFancy]

To the login screen? Not like fully launched to the desktop. To the login screen.

LOL It takes my old laptop about 3-5 minutes to boot to the desktop, then a couple more to fully load the desktop. If it does it in 13 seconds I'll cry

 

[torana355]

To the login screen? Not like fully launched to the desktop. To the login screen.

7 seconds to the login screen.

 

[Cryates]

7 seconds to the login screen.

I got you. Yeah, not sure b/c I've booted mine up several times and each time it's around three seconds to the login screen.