And as usual Molgrips and Mikewsmith pop up to try and wind up the fanbois, though it’s good to see Smith finally posting links to comparable machines rather than attempting to line up a £300 piece of shit with a £1400 laptop.

OnTopic – A long wait for a load of nothing useful to most users IMO.

and a new cable or adaptor needed to connect the iphone to the USB-C port

£1,879 + 20% Brexit Tax = £2,349.

Thanks, Brexit. Awesome work.

Hmm, yep, not looking good. I mean, they are nice and all, but really? Thats it? If I didn’t hate windows so much I’d try to go back. Only thing keeping me in apple now is the lock in with iTunes. Sad 🙁

(Edit – wait, but, i forgot i can have itunes on a PC. Right, thats it. Byeee!)

Disappointed here also. Eldest daughter is after a MBP after her gcse results (I’d put half in she pays the rest from some money she was left).

Back in Sept she wanted me to pick one up with the free Beats headphones offer on myunidays. I said to wait as the new model should be the same price as the old one….. should have listened to her for once!

New model just doesn’t look worth it so I’m off to John Lewis to buy a 2015 model with 3 years warranty for £1160.

IMO though macs are stonking value. Still usable way after you would’ve binned a Windows PC, plus much less of my valuable time wasted sorting out problems.

Not if you do an Apples to Apples comparison. My £2k 2011 Sony Vaio ultra book (originally Win7) upgraded for free to Win 10 with all of its software, drivers etc and is still instant on, fast and beautiful to use and look at.

I very much doubt that any upgrade in IOS over that time would be free.

Hmm – I’ve benefitted from the MagSafe power connected on my 2012 MBP twice already this week. I wouldn’t even consider a laptop without one now. I presume some clever soul will create a plugin equivalent (or, possibly, they already have). Why would Apple drop such a brilliant idea? 🙁

Was looking to buy around Christmas. Can’t imagine why I would with these models.

Rachel

I very much doubt that any upgrade in IOS over that time would be free.

Erm – Macs don’t run iOS. They do run MacOS and that has had free updates for several years now.

Rachel

Hmmm. We wanted an imac next year, might be worth buying one now…

Daffy – Member
I very much doubt that any upgrade in IOS over that time would be free.

OSX 10.6 is the last upgrade you had to pay for. In 2009.

The first big product to apply brexit worry costs?

Wait for cars, TV’s, holidays, food, carpets – you name it – all head north by 20% this year.

I’m guessing they’re aiming the MBPs at professional (high end graphics) users and the Air is more their consumer / student grade product.

Why would Apple drop such a brilliant idea?

Quite. I think they’ve lost the plot with form over function. Sure, 4 thunderbolt connectors look nice and neat and consistent and I’m sure they’ll become the norm, but how many devices do I currently own that fit these connectors? None. Whereas I have countless devices that just need an ordinary USB port, and would need an adapter to work with one of these.

As for Brexit tax… not convinced. I don’t dispute that weak pound means stuff getting more expensive but like-for-like, the Dell’s XPS range are significantly cheaper than Apple, and yet Dell are still offering an extra £100 off. And the XPSs are themselves priced as premium products – you can get similar spec in a nastier case for less in things like the HP Envy.

I’m assuming the touch bar keys change depending on the application?

Yes that’s the idea and actually it looks quite sensible. I’m unlikely to find out though unless I win the lottery.

I’m guessing they’re aiming the MBPs at professional (high end graphics) users

and a few hundred pounds makes little difference if you need the performance, over its 3 year usable working life the cost is insignificant if its’s earning you hundreds of pounds a day.
i’m amazed people spend £2k on a laptop for spreadsheets 😯 just buy a cheap pc one, theres loads of choice.

i dont drive a car but i’m not moaning about the cost of an audi with all the extras.

Pah! Expensive!?

We paid just shy of £10,000 for our first Mac set-up in the 90’s. They’re a positive bargain now.

😀

i’m amazed people spend £2k on a laptop for spreadsheets just buy a cheap pc one, theres loads of choice.

Our standard issue work Dell laptops are only something like £700 IIRC….

just buy a cheap pc one

Problem is some us like MacOS or OSX
Ah well I see an upturn in the Hackentosh market.

guess who just bought a full price 2015 MBP 15″? 😳

Incidentally I fail to see what it does that the XPS doesn’t (apart from you can’t just pop into a shop and look at a Dell).

Seems an odd move by Apple at a point when Win10 has been well received and is easily their most complete OS in years. Win 10 has been great my nearly 4 year old work laptop is still running pretty sharp-ish with a lot of

Wait for cars, TV’s, holidays, food, carpets – you name it – all head north by 20% this year.

And this is bad how, everyone was moaning we all buy too much crap and don’t sell enough to the rest of the world.

Apple have never been a company to absorb currency fluctuations like out supermarkets do. When Greece had its economic melt down Apple stopped selling completely in Greece. If there was ever going to be a company to change prices due to Brexit then it was Apple. They protect their profits as much as possible as they know there are very few people who will swap to Windows just because of a price hike. Apple’s strategy for years now has been to lock you into their ecosystem and the means they can raise prices and people will for often not walk.

When you actually think of the hours we spend on a computer then they are actually a bargain, especially compared to the amount we spend on mountain bikes!! Also Macs do have thigh residual price compared to Windows machines. Its just a shame they don’t really have a starter priced MacBook now. How many school children/students/parents can afford a £949 laptop!!

Quite. I think they’ve lost the plot with form over function. Sure, 4 thunderbolt connectors look nice and neat and consistent and I’m sure they’ll become the norm, but how many devices do I currently own that fit these connectors? None. Whereas I have countless devices that just need an ordinary USB port, and would need an adapter to work with one of these.

this +1.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve tripped over a power cable and thanked the good lord for Magsafe. And my studio has any number of old bits that are all USB etc and would need adapters – I still use Firewire kit FFS!

Feel lucky I picked up a 2015 MBP that should see me through to 2020 at least.

But, speaking as a moronic fanboi sheeple, have to say I’m a bit disappointed in this lineup. Not because I was planning on getting one, but it really does look like Apple has got a bit lost here.

And this is bad how, everyone was moaning we all buy too much crap and don’t sell enough to the rest of the world.

Yes, but we could do with a managed transition away from what our entire global economy is based on…

with a new OLED touchscreen on the keyboard capable of inserting emoji into text

seriously I thought the MBP was for professionals. I know it can do a bit more and changes with program, but the Function keys have been able to do this since the dawn of time.

Be interesting to see if these new Macs turns around the fall in sales.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve tripped over a power cable and thanked the good lord for Magsafe.

Are you Mac users a bit special?

Really disappointed with this event but will wait until I’ve used a new MBP to see if it’s worth having one over a surface when the time does come for work to refresh our kit.

Interesting they have moved to LG displays as well instead of branding an apple display.

The prices required a big gulp, I had been waiting for the MacBook Pro refresh since Xmas and expected a price hike inline with the iPhone 7 but this just seems a bit much for me. My late 09 iMac has become a bit sluggish but I think I will persevere with it and hope that the price will drop once like it did when the original Retina display MacBook Pro was released.

zilog6128 – Member

IMO though macs are stonking value. Still usable way after you would’ve binned a Windows PC

Tell that to my £200, 2003 vintage PC that was only retired earlier on in the year.

Are you Mac users a bit special?

Yes. It’s hilarious, isn’t it?

Just bought a 13″ Retina 2.7GHz i5 from the refurb store for £1019 with 4% cashback through Quidco two weeks ago, despite knowing that the new models were coming… A bit of a gamble for sure, but seems to be the best decision I’ve made in a long time!

The new models add nothing to me… In fact, for what I do, the Retina model I’ve recently bought adds very little, but my old machine was 5 years old and I rely on my laptop a lot more than most, so seemed prudent to upgrade whilst the old one was still worth something.

Seriously though… That Touch Bar! These are supposed to be “Pro” level laptops, not a kid’s toy. “I’d love to be able to get to my Facebook via the press of a single icon like I can on my iPhone” is not something I’ve EVER thought I wanted or needed on my Laptop FFS!

Be interesting to see if these new Macs turns around the fall in sales.

I doubt it given the price hike. Looks like they’re going down the lower volume, higher profit route.

doris5000 – Member

Are you Mac users a bit special?

Yes. It’s hilarious, isn’t it?

I think there’s a valid point here. Apple stuff is often very desirable but in reality rather than just throw yourself at the shiniest most powerful thing on the website, it is worth considering what you’ll use it for.

I went through this with my potential Gen 2 ipad mini wifi only replacement, and ended up just keeping it.

As said before, I think they’re pricing & technically removing themsleves from a broader market now. I’m due a replacement work laptop and within reason can have a Windows PC, Surface or Macbook Air and I’m thniking a surface will be cool, and works better with the corporate Offcie suite, although I’d love a MacBook Air.

So in summary;

Fairly low key Mac launch, no desktops and incremental changes to
MBP. World is going wifi, USB-C will support all necessary connections inc phone/screen/… personally I prefer Ethernet but I don’t have a laptop as I prefer Mini / iPad combo.

Mac’s have always been premium products, these prices seem high but history shows us customers will pay. @Sharkbait yes I’d do the same, these new prices will push up second hand values too

I don’t care what is happening with PC’s / Windows etc as I’ll never buy another. The Windows users here likewise don’t care about Mac’s. Not a new development.

You only have to look at 10yr, 5yr or 1yr Apple vs Microsoft stock charts to see where the future lies

I’m thniking a surface will be cool, and works better with the corporate Offcie suite, although I’d love a MacBook Air.

Kryton yes I think that’s the normal thought process. I weaned myself off Office so there is no longer any draw to Windows. Excel remains the best and most usable speeadsheet but for the amount I do I can use the Mac version when necessary. Most analysis I do requires proper custom written financial software not flaky un-audited Excel spreadsheets. I appreciate others have a stronger link to Office. IMO if/when Office use tails off Microsoft will be totally sidelined. People don’t want a Windows machine they fell they have to have one

Hmmm…interesting thread. I was expecting to have ordered one by this morning. I’m lucky enough to have a high income and the absolute price isn’t an issue (i.e. I suspect I’m the target audience for Apple). I like their products and a big advocate of buy well buy once. And yet….it’s the significant price differential that gets me. Been looking at the £1600 15″ Dell XPS today and finding it impossible to justify an extra £800 or so on the 15″ MBP, even though I could afford it in absolute terms. I also missed that I can’t connect my iPhone to the new MBP….I mean…come on, this was the sort of integration that endeared me to Apple in the first place. Maybe it comes with the appropriate lead in the box? I usually update my iPhone by connecting to computer since hearing that it was “better” and an earlier model burnt out its WiFi chip or something doing a prolonged update (read it on here, I think. Not sure if it’s true). May have another look at the “old” models but I think I’m out now. Be interesting to see XPS/Zenbook/Surface sales this morning. I know a few people holding out for new MBP – every one told me that the price hike is too much and looking elsewhere or holding on to existing MacBook now. Shame. Will be interesting to see how this pans out.

Are you really that devoid of imagination? 🙂 There are loads of great ‘pro’ uses for it.

For example

showing intellisense corrections in code editor without putting a window over the top of your code and used without having to remove hands from keyboard

timelines for a/v applications using the audio waveform or stills from the video

context sensitive toolbars for e.g. switching paragraph styles in word, switching tools / subtools in photoshop etc

As said before, I think they’re pricing & technically removing themsleves from a broader market now.

The iPads / Airs are the targeted at the broader market. The MBP was always aimed at ‘Pros*’ just now a bit more focussed.

* Graphic designers, photographers, videographers (is that a word?) etc

Graphic designers, photographers, videographers (is that a word?) etc

except the touch bar for adding emoticons is a bit redundant. a professional user in those target groups is likely to use a wacom tablet or control surface for editing/grading. scrubbing a timeline in FCP-x on that is joke when you can do it on the larger trackpad or a wacom.

the only good thing for a pro user is the 4gb video card as a lot of software depends on the card for performance/speed.

@Tinners I think you’d have to buy a usb-c to usb hub but once you have that you are done for all your existing devices. The 4S had bad wifi chips which an over-the-air iOS update tended to overheat / buggar ! I have one such phone (recovered by hairdrier fix a couple of times but now dead). I do my updates / backups via wire too.

These prices seem very high to me but I suspect Apple have done their research and its driven by max profit rather than volume

I don’t care what is happening with PC’s / Windows etc as I’ll never buy another. The Windows users here likewise don’t care about Mac’s. Not a new development.

Not true for all. I currently have 7 apple devices and can access windows via a dual boot setup on my old macbook pro so I’m firmly in the apple camp. Yet I am way more intrigued by the microsoft surface studio than I am with anything from the current apple lineup.

Apple’s recent changes have all felt too incremental to get excited about. If I had a crushing need for a desktop replacement I’m sure the new macbook pro would make the shortlist but there’s nothing about it that makes me feel it would significantly improve my workflow over what was available at the start of the week.

The touch bar could be good but that all depends on how integrated it is with whatever software you mostly use. I can see ways that it could be fantastic but whether they happen is down to Adobe (my main software suite) and whether they go all out to tailor their user experience for the touch bar. I think with it only appearing on one product it’s unlikely that software developers will go beyond some light integration. Had apple released a standalone keyboard incorporating the touch bar at the same time so you could alter the functionality of any mac with an external keyboard then I could of got a bit more excited about it as a new form of interface. As it is it feels too niche to get the full backing of software developers.

The iPads / Airs are the targeted at the broader market. The MBP was always aimed at ‘Pros*’ just now a bit more focussed.

This.

The people who buy these (me) aren’t buying them to sit there doing their shopping on Amazon, or posting shite on here (though they do that too). They are buying them to use as tools. Tools that generate an income. Therefore worth every penny, as you buy the best for the job.And thats a Mac. By a country mile. The entire industry is built on them.

Without getting into the old tired Mac v PC argument, I use CS on a Mac all day, every day. Would a PC be as intuitive to use. No. Simple as that. Horses for courses.

Would you ask your local car mechanic why he has that shiny red, expensive Snap On tool box when you can get a socket set from Halfords?

I’ve been waiting for these. And the concern I have, as someone looking to replace my existing 5 year old Macbook Pro is that there’s no 17″ model. I think that if it is aimed at design professionals then the y should be offering that again