Apple just updated the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air for back-to-school season
Apple has just refreshed some of the laptops at the lower end of its MacBook range. The MacBook Air has acquired a True Tone display, while the cheapest MacBook Pro variant now comes with a Touch Bar as standard.
For MacBook Pro fans who were opposed to the Touch Bar, Apple is basically saying “tough luck”. The base MacBook Pro will now come with the Touch Bar and Touch ID.
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The laptop is also getting new Intel processors. The entry-level MacBook Pro will now come with a 1.4GHz quad-core 8th Gen Core i5 processor rather than the previous 2.3GHz dual-core 7th Gen Core i5.
Beyond the processor change and the addition of the Touch Bar, everything else remains the same – from the less than substantial number of ports to the much-maligned butterfly keyboard.
Last week it was reported Apple has come up with a replacement for the troubled butterfly keyboard, but it isn’t expected to feature on any MacBooks until late 2019/2020.
The MacBook Air gets just one update – a True Tone retina display. True Tone automatically adjusts colour temperature to create what should be the best viewing experience for the user.
The only other change for the MacBook Air isn’t hardware-related. The Air has been reduced in price by £100 ($100) – students can get another £100 off too.
Away from the MacBook Pro and Air, this back-to-school refresh from Apple has also seen the discontinuation of the 12-inch MacBook. The MacBook hasn’t been refreshed in two years and Apple clearly thinks that now’s the right time to let it go.
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There’s been a whole lot of speculation about upcoming MacBooks ahead of this most recent update – including a recent report that pointed to these very changes.
But that’s not all. A recently discovered listing on the Eurasian Economic Commission database indicated that seven new MacBooks could be on the way. Many expect one to be a new 16-inch MacBook Pro model.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
