Apple Event - 27th October 2016

[gsk]

£1750 for the basic one with the touch bar. No USB or HDMI

[Edu-IT]

The audience were NOT impressed when the pricing came up!

What happened?

 

Edit: Oh I think I see why.

 

Also, fun fact: The cheapest MacBook Pro is now £200 more expensive than the model it replaces, or £300 more if you're springing for a 15-inch display. That's just the start, though. Mac Mini prices have risen from £399 to £479, the Mac Pro has jumped from £2,499 to £2,999 and the 4K and 5K iMacs have both been given £300 markups. Thanks, Brexit?

 

https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/27/uk-pricing-new-macbook-pros/

Edited October 27, 2016 by Edu-IT

[dblight]

The pricing is disgusting. Shame as I really wanted a portable mac.

 

I'll make do with my desktop hacintosh with i5, 32GB Ram and 2x500GB SSD's.

 

They can ram it at those prices. I fear Apple are going to regret it.

[Arthur]

Felt it was a little gimmicky, know they're pushing the USB-C ports, but they're still the only ones bothered about them that much at this stage, hard to tell really how popular that will be, given their insistence on other tech that never took off previously like Thunderbolt.

USB-C is going to be massively popular. It's already used on a wide-range of devices (not just Apple's) from Android smartphones to Chromebooks, Windows laptops (Dell XPS 13, HP Spectre, Lenovo Yoga 900 etc. etc.), motherboards, USB flash drives, hard drives, portable SSDs, external graphics enclosures, video capture devices and is going to be used on even more in the future e.g. laptops with 7th gen. Intel CPUs, Intel NUCs, monitors (inc. 5K, 4K, USB-only).

 

Thunderbolt 3 will also see much greater success thanks to it using the USB-C connector and the lower controller costs.

 

www.pcworld.com/article/3064626/hardware/how-intel-turned-thunderbolt-from-a-failure-into-a-success.html

 

Even pricing, which was always a controversial topic with Thunderbolt 1 and Thunderbolt 2, seems to have been nullified. Intel’s public price for its Thunderbolt 3 chips is about $8, with volume pricing closer to $5, according to customers I’ve interviewed. That low pricing has driven down the cost of the primary competitor, the Asmedia USB 3.1 controller, with one report putting it well under $3.

 

Numerous OEMs, though, told me it’s not just the price that’s changed their mind on Thunderbolt 3; it’s the move to USB-C and giving consumers a port that can do it all.

 

While consumers just didn’t give two damns about Thunderbolt 2, vendors are seeing increasing consumer interest in Thunderbolt 3, and the feature gives them an easy way to differentiate their products.

 

HP’s Mike Nash, for example, said he sees Thunderbolt 3’s main appeal in corporate laptops that will let users plug in a single cable to charge and dock it at the same time. Plus the tiny USB-C port allows for a thinner device profile.

Edited October 27, 2016 by Arthur

[Zoom7000]

I just went on to the Apple Store and decided to max out the 15" MacBook Pro with 3 year AppleCare:

 

2.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz

16GB 2133MHz memory

2TB PCIe-based SSD

Radeon Pro 460 with 4GB memory

Backlit Keyboard (British) & User’s Guide (English)

Four Thunderbolt 3 ports

Touch Bar and Touch ID

Force Touch trackpad

Accessory Kit

AppleCare Protection Plan for 15" MacBook Pro

 

A mere... £4,378

 

You can knock £720 off the price by choosing to go for a measly 1TB PCIe-based SSD instead, bringing the total down to £3,658

 

(Don't forget to add USB-C to USB Adapters though!)

[DalekSec]

I just went on to the Apple Store and decided to max out the 15" MacBook Pro with 3 year AppleCare:

 

2.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz

16GB 2133MHz memory

2TB PCIe-based SSD

Radeon Pro 460 with 4GB memory

Backlit Keyboard (British) & User’s Guide (English)

Four Thunderbolt 3 ports

Touch Bar and Touch ID

Force Touch trackpad

Accessory Kit

AppleCare Protection Plan for 15" MacBook Pro

 

A mere... £4,378

 

You can knock £720 off the price by choosing to go for a measly 1TB PCIe-based SSD instead, bringing the total down to £3,658

 

(Don't forget to add USB-C to USB Adapters though!)

 

Thats the same price as my PC (See spec below) plus my car!!!

[Arthur]

You can knock £720 off the price by choosing to go for a measly 1TB PCIe-based SSD instead, bringing the total down to £3,658

Don't forget the extremely generous 10% education discount. That brings it down to only £3292.20.

 

The £365.80 saving could be used to buy some USB-C adapters or a TB3 dock.

Edited October 28, 2016 by Arthur

[Chris_]

You can't plug your iPhone 7 into your new MacBook out of the box...

 

...erm

 

And you can't plug in the headphones supplied with your iPhone 7 either...

[Guest obsidianpillar]

I've got last years model, with the upgraded processor, RAM etc. The only thing that I didn't get was the 1TB SSD, I have the 512GB Model. The machine, for me is fine. I use Logic Pro X as I'm a Producer as my other job. I don't care if it doesn't have the fastest RAM, the highest spec'd processor compared with the competition as that is the spec that Apple's offering, so I have to deal with it.

 

It does everything I ask it do do, dealing with 100+ track projects and whilst I understand that their markup is beyond a joke, I use Logic and that is the price I have to pay for it. The machine has already paid for itself with what I've been able to produce with it and it's IO is suitable for my usage. I'm not a fan of the whole adapter system that Apple's moving to. I hate my iPhone 7 Plus for that, I'm waiting for a company to make a case with a DAC built-in and then I'm going to buy a case. I don't care if it's a brick, I want my headphone jack back!

 

I wouldn't touch this new machine with a barge pole, it's stupid. Plus, I still use Yosemite with Logic Pro X 10.0.7 as none of my plugins work past that.

 

Mini rant over!

[DalekSec]

. I don't care if it's a brick, I want my headphone jack back!

 

Why did you buy a iPhone 7 then? Should of stayed on the 6, the hardware isn't that much different anyway! (Apart from the Headphone socket obviously)

[Guest obsidianpillar]

Why did you buy a iPhone 7 then? Should of stayed on the 6, the hardware isn't that much different anyway! (Apart from the Headphone socket obviously)

 

I aim to change my phone every year. With my income the way it is, I can't afford to keep it for longer than that really as it loses market value when I'd go to sell it. I go for the sim-free 128GB model because of my largish Music collection I choose to have on my phone so it costs me roughly £150 to £200 to upgrade every year, because I keep my phones in pristine condition. I tried Android but couldn't stand it for various reasons. All of my devices are Apple so it made sense for me to have an iPhone, in my mind at least!

 

I've seen some projects on Kickstarter about the cases so I know someone will make one eventually. I knew this when I was buying the phone which was one of the deciding factors I based my decision on when I ordered it.

[Nixon77]

I aim to change my phone every year. With my income the way it is, I can't afford to keep it for longer than that really as it loses market value when I'd go to sell it. I go for the sim-free 128GB model because of my largish Music collection I choose to have on my phone so it costs me roughly £150 to £200 to upgrade every year, because I keep my phones in pristine condition. I tried Android but couldn't stand it for various reasons. All of my devices are Apple so it made sense for me to have an iPhone, in my mind at least!

 

I've seen some projects on Kickstarter about the cases so I know someone will make one eventually. I knew this when I was buying the phone which was one of the deciding factors I based my decision on when I ordered it.

 

How does that work? I know people who still use an iPhone 4 they got new, and it still works fine. It might be a bit sluggish, but that is down to software updates, the actual device, works.

 

To keep buying over and over again, surely must cost, even if you sell them.

 

Not that I am telling you how to spend your money, it's yours, throw it down the drain (literally) if you want. None of anyone else's business.

[Guest obsidianpillar]

How does that work? I know people who still use an iPhone 4 they got new, and it still works fine. It might be a bit sluggish, but that is down to software updates, the actual device, works.

 

To keep buying over and over again, surely must cost, even if you sell them.

 

Not that I am telling you how to spend your money, it's yours, throw it down the drain (literally) if you want. None of anyone else's business.

 

My Dad had an iPhone 4 up to when Apple stopped supporting it with iOS updates. I second your view that the phone still "works" however doesn't have the capabilities from a software perspective to keep it running in conjunction with more "modern" devices.

 

It does cost to upgrade, about £150-200 each year, as I previously stated. But, it means I get a whole new phone and get to keep up to date with Apple's flagship smartphone which I personally am fine with as it's a trade-off against Android which I'm not a fan of, whatsoever. It has it's target market, but I'm not part of it!

 

I work out my finances and it literally costs me next to nothing in the long run to upgrade. How long do you keep your phones for, and what manufacturer do you go with?

 

Tom

[Nixon77]

My Dad had an iPhone 4 up to when Apple stopped supporting it with iOS updates. I second your view that the phone still "works" however doesn't have the capabilities from a software perspective to keep it running in conjunction with more "modern" devices.

 

It does cost to upgrade, about £150-200 each year, as I previously stated. But, it means I get a whole new phone and get to keep up to date with Apple's flagship smartphone which I personally am fine with as it's a trade-off against Android which I'm not a fan of, whatsoever. It has it's target market, but I'm not part of it!

 

I work out my finances and it literally costs me next to nothing in the long run to upgrade. How long do you keep your phones for, and what manufacturer do you go with?

 

Tom

 

I have an iPhone SE, my first iPhone I have purchased new. Prior to that I had an iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4. The 3GS which was already old, both second hand, lasted for a few years, then the 4, I used for a few years until I got the SE, I gave the 4 away to family.

 

I will keep the SE till it breaks.

 

My Macbook Pro is non-retina 2012, stuck 1 1TB SSD in. I got it cheap brand new, and will keep that till it breaks.

 

To be honest, I would still be using the 4, but wanted Apple Pay and Touch ID.

Edited October 30, 2016 by Nixon77

[Zoom7000]

I have an iPhone SE, my first iPhone I have purchased new. Prior to that I had an iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4. The 3GS which was already old, both second hand, lasted for a few years, then the 4, I used for a few years until I got the SE, I gave the 4 away to family.

 

I will keep the SE till it breaks.

 

My Macbook Pro is non-retina 2012, stuck 1 1TB SSD in. I got it cheap brand new, and will keep that till it breaks.

 

To be honest, I would still be using the 4, but wanted Apple Pay and Touch ID.

 

It all comes down to want and desire and also to realism. I have an iPhone 6 Plus, which I bought on day of release to replace my iPhone 4 which was getting awfully slow and cumbersome. I also bought my wife an iPhone 6 to replace her 3GS. Yes, Apple were still updating the phones, but they were getting slow and we wanted new features such as Touch ID and Apple Pay, AirPlay, AirDrop and frankly put, faster phones that didn't struggle so much with the latest versions of iOS. The reality of course is that I saved up £100/Month for 2 whole years in order to buy the 2 phones. I would love to upgrade to the new iPhone/Mac/MacBook etc every year, but unfortunately, finances simply won't allow it! That doesn't mean that I don't want the new device every time it comes out though! That desire just gets put way down the realistic priority list!

[googlemad]

I have a 6 Plus and can't see myself needing to upgrade from it for a good few years yet (famous last words!)

 

Not a heavy apps user really, it has a nice screen, decent battery and still runs at a decent speed. The 5 was good when it worked but full of weird issues, think I went through 5 or so replacements and then the battery sucked to the point it could be fully charged in the morning and dead by lunchtime!

[Garacesh]

I have a 6 Plus and can't see myself needing to upgrade from it for a good few years yet (famous last words!)

 

Not a heavy apps user really, it has a nice screen, decent battery and still runs at a decent speed. The 5 was good when it worked but full of weird issues, think I went through 5 or so replacements and then the battery sucked to the point it could be fully charged in the morning and dead by lunchtime!

@googlemad owns an iOS phone. I don't know what to believe anymore!

[Arthur]

The new MacBook Pros seem to be getting a lot of bad press.

 

Apple's new MacBook Pros set to receive a price cut in 2017

 

If you're as off as we are about the prices of Apple's new MacBook Pros you may want to hold off on upgrading until next year.

 

That's the word on the street, according to Apple analyst King-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, who claims that the firm is planning a price cut and an internal hardware refresh for the MacBook Pro lineup in 2017.

 

The note, seen by 9to5Mac, said that Apple tends to overprice at the start of a new MacBook generation before gradually lowering the price in the following year.

 

Kuo predicted that the firm's newly unveiled MacBook Pro line-up will receive a price cut in the second half of 2017, although it's unclear by how much.

 

People, including us, have bemoaned the cost of Apple's new MacBooks, which start at £1,749 for the 13in model and £2,349 for the 15in.

 

As well as a price cut, Kuo suggested that Apple will launch new MacBook hardware next year, which will be upgraded to 32GB of RAM assuming that Intel releases its Canonlake processors on time.

 

Kuo noted that that the Canonlake CPU with LPDDR 4 RAM consumes 15 to 25 per cent less power than existing CPUs, thus allowing that power saving to be given to additional RAM.

 

If Canonlake isn't ready in time, Apple will reportedly opt for Intel's Coffee Lake chips instead, which would see next year's MacBooks sticking at 16GB of RAM.

 

Separate rumours, courtesy of Korea's ET News, claim that Apple could be gearing up to launch MacBooks will full OLED displays.

 

Phil Schiller says the MacBook Pro doesn’t need an SD card slot

 

Here's Schiller’s full answer on why the SD card slot was dropped:

 

Because of a couple of things. One, it’s a bit of a cumbersome slot. You've got this thing sticking halfway out. Then there are very fine and fast USB card readers, and then you can use CompactFlash as well as SD. So we could never really resolve this – we picked SD because more consumer cameras have SD but you can only pick one. So, that was a bit of a trade-off. And then more and more cameras are starting to build wireless transfer into the camera. That’s proving very useful. So we think there’s a path forward where you can use a physical adaptor if you want, or do wireless transfer.

 

2016 MacBook Pros may not be compatible with currently available Thunderbolt 3 devices

 

The version of OS X on the new MacBook Pros (late 2016) will not work with existing Certified Thunderbolt 3 docks and adapters (released prior to November 2016). These existing devices use Intel’s Thunderbolt 3 chipset (Alpine Ridge) in combination with the first generation of TI USB-C chipset (TPS65982). Apple requires the 2nd generation TPS65983 chipset for peripherals to be compatible.

 

New MacBook Pro Models Lack Optical Audio Out via Headphone Jack

 

When queried about the removal, Apple said the feature was dropped due to a lack of customers using the functionality, noting that "plenty of USB-C zero-latency professional peripherals are available now, or coming very soon" with optical audio out connectivity.

 

The phasing out of the standard from the new MacBook Pro models follows a trend that began with the Apple TV. Apple ditched the optical audio port on the fourth generation Apple TV in favor of a USB-C port, preventing users from connecting headphones directly to the device.

 

Apple cuts USB-C adapter prices in response to MacBook Pro complaints

 

Apple released a statement explaining the price cut: "We recognize that many users, especially pros, rely on legacy connectors to get work done today and they face a transition. We want to help them move to the latest technology and peripherals, as well as accelerate the growth of this new ecosystem. Through the end of the year, we are reducing prices on all USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 peripherals we sell, as well as the prices on Apple's USB-C adapters and cables.”

 

Apple Drops Prices of 4K and 5K LG Displays by 25 Percent

 

Along with dropping the prices on all of its USB-C adapters accessories to help new MacBook Pro owners transition to USB-C more affordably, Apple has also introduced some significant price cuts to the 4K and 5K LG UltraFine Displays that were announced at its 27 October Mac event.

 

Apple cuts storage upgrade prices on build-to-order Mac models

 

While many have complained about the prices of Apple’s new MacBook Pro lineup, the company has quietly reduced upgrade prices for its older models following last week’s keynote. The price cuts affect the build-to-order upgrade options for last year’s MacBook Pro, the MacBook Air, Mac Pro, iMac, and Mac mini.

 

Prior to last week’s event, a 512GB storage upgrade was priced between $300 and $400 for entry-level machines. That storage upgrade is now priced at between $200 and $300 depending on the machine.

Edited November 4, 2016 by Arthur

[XiJ]

I admit to being a bit of an apple fan boi. Or liking the products at lot at least. But my only real criticism of the new MacBooks are the 16gb memory limit.

 

Not a huge issue but if your targeted the pro market with a pro price tag then that seems a bit of a negative.

 

I lived the mag connectors apple used previously and wish everyone would adopt them. But I understand the USB-c / thunderbolt 3 connections where 1 cable can do multiple jobs.

[Arthur]

Nyan nyan nyan nyan!!!

 

https://github.com/avatsaev/touchbar_nyancat

 

[Arthur]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7Or2M7XUb4

[Arthur]

New MacBook Pro outsold every competing laptop in just five days

 

Apple already told us that the 2016 MacBook Pro had set a new online sales record, backed by supply-chain reports of increased component orders, but Slice Intelligence has provided our first look at the scale of those orders. The company reports that the new models took just five days to outsell every high-profile laptop on the U.S. market.

 

It has already outsold combined sales of the Dell XPS 13 and 15 – probably the closest equivalents in the Windows world – which have been on sale for more than ten months. It has also sold almost four times as many units as Microsoft’s flagship laptop, the new Surface Book.

 

The company additionally compared sales to Apple’s own 12-inch MacBook, to see how its pro laptops were faring against its ultraportable model.

 

Just five days in, the MacBook Pro models had already hit almost 80% of combined 2015 and 2016 MacBook sales – and look set to exceed 18 months of sales in the first week.

[FN-GM]

As much as people don't like them, you can't argue that they are a really good design!

[FN-GM]

Just had a thought. The iPhone7 cannot connect to the new Macbook Pro without an adapter. Maybe the 2 teams should be talking to each other more!

[DalekSec]

Just had a thought. The iPhone7 cannot connect to the new Macbook Pro without an adapter. Maybe the 2 teams should be talking to each other more!

 

But then apple can't make even MORE money from selling the adapters, it's not that they didn't speak to each other.

 

Apple make it so you need adapters and then make the adapters expensive

 

Le edit: E.g £19 for a cable... USB-C to Lightning Cable (1m) - Apple (UK)

 

Le edit 2: Or you could you know pay £50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for this adapter http://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/MJ1K2ZM/A/usb-c-digital-av-multiport-adapter?fnode=8b

Edited December 12, 2016 by DalekSec