Apple MacBook Pro 2016, the synthesis between power, portability, and innovation – The Republic

“PRO,” the suffix that identifies the machines that Apple thinks for the professional use, but even more, productive. For several years now the MacBook laptops by Apple, are divided into three categories: the MacBook without a suffix, the Air and the note Pro. Computers for the post-Pc era, the united states, from the operating system MacOs from the platform to the iCloud (with whom they share data, and settings, with the world of the iOS) and the design as always wanted.

Apple has just launched the latest version of its portable high-end MacBook Pro. Exists in version 13 and 15-inch with or without Touch Bar, the most visible of this new generation. We tested the model by 15-inch, in the configuration from performance and higher capacity. And after crushing the MBPro 2016 with applications, the stress of the battery, connections, and pressing on all the components of the system, the final judgment is not difficult to make: in the top version, the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar collects easily in the palm as a laptop professional of the year. In the account you have to put in the price, which in this test configuration exceeds the 3 thousand euros, plus any adapters to buy which we will discuss later. Under Windows, where the offer is of course more extended. Among the best that the competition offers at the same level there are the Dell Xps 13/15e, the Razer Blade Pro, the machines, however, are born on different coordi nates and is addressed to users of another type. And of course, remains one of the key assets of the MacBook Pro, which is the operating system MacOS. The latest version is called Sierra and is a system that is increasingly connected to iOS, the soul iPhone and iPad) and WatchOS (the operating system of the Apple Watch). The entire ecosystem of the Apple in short, that declined on multiple platforms aims to the integration and consolidation of the user experience as Apple intends it.

The MacBook Pro 2016 change much aesthetically. It’s like every new generation is thinner, and there is no longer the Apple logo backlight on the back of the display, replaced by a reflective material. But the features that stand out the most are nturalmente the Touch Bar and the new trackpad, actually huge. With the combined use of these two surfaces touch, multitouch, Apple offers his vision of computer input. Not a touch screen as it happens in the 2-in-1 Windows 10, like the Surface Pro, but a Retina display on traditional now with technology Wide Colour, which increases sensiblmente the contrast and working on the best color) and two zones in which the hands can act and interact to control the machine and applications.

The Touch Bar is the prominent element of the new generation. It is a real display-multitouch-customizable, which extends for the full width, horizontal keyboard, resolution 2170×60. Replaces the function keys (which nonetheless appear to be on the same bar), and integrates the Touch-iD, the system of biometric protection that allows you to the Mac to unlock the machine, log into the app and use the online payment system Apple Pay, on the Safari browser. The operation of this new input system is clearly very elaborate but transparent for the user: on the toolbar, appear commands and features related to the application that you are using at that moment, and you can always recall the basic functions and control of the system. For example, in the Photos app you can scroll through the images, in the Messaging app and in writing appear to be suggestions of words, and in Final Cut Pro X appears, among other things, the bar of scrubbing to work on the timeline of th e video. The technology is only at the beginning and the developers of the app for Mac are now progressively adopting. We used a bit for everything from basic functions to the experimental and the Touch Bar works essentially in symbiosis with the great trackpad, reducing the use of the keyboard and bringing part of the experience of iOS to the Mac without having to touch the main screen to the user. Now we see essentially the concept, the full use will come with time. The display is very good and in line with the offerings of the high range of competitors. However, it is not 4K, it probably will be in the next generation. Also here, the choice appears to be borrowed from energy efficiency policies.

Even the keyboard is a step forward: to make the machine thinner, Apple has used the second generation of the technology “butterfly” used in the last MacBook 12-inch. The stroke of the keys returns a different feeling and definitely better and the larger spacing helps in typing. In the space of 15-inch this system seems to get a version fully accomplished. We have not tried the 13 inch, and then how to present in this format we can not say, but the experience should not be too far away from that of the new MacBook “simple” 12-inch. The edge of the keyboard has the grilles of the speakers, also these “updated”. The MacBook Pro 2016, now “sounds” like a boom box, nothing more microsounds from a small tweeter, but the bass and treble present.

in Addition to the Touch Bar, Apple on the new MacBook Pro did one of his typical leaps forward, eliminating any external connection present on previous models. Goodbye MagSafe 2, farewell, Hdmi and Sd goodbye to the Usb standard. The new Pros have the four-door format, USB-C and Thunderbolt 3. Need to do it all, from the connection of the external monitor to the computer power supply, and interfacing with other devices. On the 15 inch, the four ports are fully Thunderbolt 3, on the 13 and those on the left support the protocol but have speed slightly reduced. They all use the Usb connector-C (which is the same as the Thunderbolt 3), so that it is possible to connect each device to each port, either, including the power supply, which no longer has its own individual entry. And for paradox, Apple has always preferred proprietary formats for the communication ports, see in the MacBook Pro 2016, the his car more “open”. USB-C is brand new and will replace in the next few years, the classic USb 2.0 and 3.0, and the bandwidth guaranteed by the protocols of the USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 ensures the exchange of data at the fastest speeds possible for a laptop. The price you pay is the need of any adapter in the most, not only in terms of things to portarein pocket, but also economic. But the rest of the Apple has accustomed us over the years to remain almost suddenly, without something that seemed to us essential, we remember when the iMac disappeared the reader for the floppy disk, and later also in the optical one, and there were raised shields everywhere. The protests were punctually arrive, with the abandonment of Hdmi ports, and Sd card, but by the time we do not use neither a floppy drive and not even nearly the most cd and dvd, and in Cupertino have decided to follow the historical calling of the Apple, to take “weight” to jump to another technological era.

Inside the MacBook Pro 2016, there is an i7 processor of the latest generation architecture Skylake, for the chipset Kaby Lake, we still have to wait. The jump in performance is very noticeable compared to the previous Pro, but what is striking is above all the synthesis between power and portability. On the 15 inch the battery goes on beyond the six hours of intensive use and always connected, even with the app known to not keep with the processor as Google Chrome with several tabs open. Another amazing point is the SSD: the disk is very fast in reading and writing, and offers without doubt the best performance view in a portable machine. The battery, on the model, has maintained the machine in function with the app “intensive” open and active wireless connections for about a dozen hours, which are increased with more light. We have not verified the fluctuations that seem to subjects that some models of the new MacBook Pro, reported by the website of the american Consumer Reports, this year for the first time do not put it between the laptop recommended. The pros and cons of the machine, after the tes of our test unit, are already clear from the presentation: the monitor is not 4k, there is a limit of 16gb for the Ram and the video card is not suitable to use playful: the MacBook Pro 2016 is not a laptop suited to gaming pumped. You can easily play the game but does not come with this intention. It is of precise design choices to keep power, portability, and especially energy-saving, and it is here that Apple is the best synthesis and at a price that remains, however, a very small investment, the catalog has a machine that defines again a market.