Well, finally. Apple Launches 2018 MacBook Pros: 8th Gen Core, Up to 32GB of RAM, Third-Gen Keyboard, Quad-Core on 13-Inch and More - MacRumors
Wonder what’s next.
The big question is though… have Apple fixed the flakey keyboards?
Good to see a Quad Core 13 inch option. Wish there was a dedicated graphics 13 inch option though.
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I’m the opposite @Oldmacs - I want an integrated only option on the 15-inch! 
I had a 15-inch - and that dGPU kills the battery. Have a 13-inch now, and the battery life on it is actually great compared with the 15-inch.
I’d love a 6-core 15-inch with integrated GPU only + the Blackmagic eGPU setup… power at the desk, battery life on the road. Seems like a no-brainer. So Apple won’t do it. 
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A lot of people wish they’d have a non touchbar version but with the touchbar ports + performance.
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$2000+ for a basic laptop is not something I can afford anymore… Once my 2011 MacBook Pro shuffles on I’m pretty sure I wont replace it with a Mac.
Likewise. It was always going to be a struggle for me to ever update with Mac again, but I guess I just have to acknowledge that my pov status has finally seen me out of it. 2009 macbook and 2012 mini will have to do me til I drop off the perch, or they do, whichever comes first. Or Hackint0sh.
Kogan had 11 inch MacBook Air laptops (new but old stock) for $929 recently, I bought one for my daughter for school.
Might be an option…
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It looks like the dedicated GPU on the 15 inch is still a Polaris chip, not Vega.
Also, boosting the soldered on RAM on the 15 inch by 16GB DDR4 costs $640! That is pretty offensive. Maybe it’s a typo and Apple actually meant $64.
I suspect this is a compromise model until Intel provides an LPDDR4 controller at which point it might get Vega graphics.
I think hackintosh will eventually become a problem due to the need for the T2 security chip to run software updates.
These are too expensive. I like others am having to consider moving to the dark side. A Mac user since 1985.
Hopefully there will be better priced new iMacs or a useful Mac mini in the very near future, or I am going to have to have a life changing experience.
I was quite excited about this until I read:
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There is no non Touch Bar 15” model
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Only the Touch Bar models are getting updated
It’s a shame because the Touch Bar commands such a premium and it’s basically a gimmick.
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Well well well. I finish my current job at the end of the month and the new job will be giving me a Surface, so I knew i’d be in the market for a new MBP. Great timing. This’ll be the first Mac I’ve bought for myself (i.e. hasn’t been provided new by work) since the 24" white iMac in around 2005!
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Oh yeah true about the updates. I forgot about the security thing.
RE the pricing: relatively speaking, they probably aren’t that expensive. My 2003 eMac cost me $1899, and it wasnt highly specced. 80GB HD and IIRC 256mb RAM. iBook was around $1500. And in 2007, my 20" base model iMac was $2499. When you consider the effects of inflation, current prices look better against the older prices. (I think). However, It does seem that there is a degree of price creep in an upwards direction independent of any exchange rates etc.
Whatever the case, I’m on an Age Pension and will be reduced to going over to the dark side when I can no longer do what I want, with the hardware I have. Its also why my phone has to make do.
Yeah cost is a factor. Depending on what Surface the new job gets me I may forego the MacBook. Or get a Surface Book for home. Had one of those before and it was great.
Nice set of updates there.
I have a 2016 MBP touchbar.
I’m absolutely wanting for CPU cores and see the 4 core 13” as an absolute must for my work.
Would be nice to have the 6 core i9 option in the 13” but quad core is better than what was offered before.
My wallet and wife say no though.
Currently using a 12 core Mac Pro and it’s too slow.
Will look into a dual AMD threadripper later in the year. I’m hoping I can run 2 x 32 core CPUs.
Work will hopefully pay for that one. Laptops though we have to buy ourselves.
I got the fully tricked out iMac back in 2011 and it cost $2600. The fullybtricked out one now is over $4K. That isn’t inflation, although performance wise it would be an incredible difference.
My problem is it is now desperate times for my home machine, and so I do need to upgrade. And I will have to consider the need to purchase three new laptops for the kids, as theirs are now three years old and have been very well used. The dollars will add up right when th car needs replacing, and stuff to fix about the house.
I would have considered the non touch MBP to replace the kids’ MBAs, but it is still a last gen processor at the same price! A real dick move to steer people onto higher priced touch, unless a decent MBA replacement finally arrives soon.
I suspect this is true. The rumours have persisted over time and the sources are often credible.
My employment is based around Education Mac servicing and sales, and I suspect that when the Air is discontinued, my job will be made redundant as well (or at least over time as the existing fleet is decommissioned). So I’ve been following these developments closely. A lot of the schools that currently use MacBook Air are piloting Chromebooks or Windows equivalents as their possible replacements. At least, that’s what I’m hearing.
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But, but, isn’t Tim Cook telling everyone we should use iPads at school?
The prick has too high an income.
There will be an Air replacement. But I don’t think it will be the cheap laptop we all know, love and recommend to people. I think it’ll be a price drop to the MacBook Pro entry machine.
i.e.
13-inch w/o TouchBar is the new entry level “MacBook” (low power/spec CPU, less thunderbolt throughput etc.)
12-inch is really the new MacBook “Air” (which was originally about thin and light, as this model is)
13 & 15-inch w/ TouchBar = true MacBook “Pro” (meaning high power - lets ignore the issues for sake of argument).
Obviously they won’t rebrand the existing machines, but I think that’s how Apple think about their laptops internaly. I reckon once they have finished ramping up the newer models (i.e. the Thunderbolt 3 models) the entry level 13-inch will drop in price and then the old Air will be killed. The entry level Pro is actually only $400 more than the Air now (for both comparable specs).
i.e.
MBA w/ 128GB SSD = $1499, MBP w/ 256GB SSD $1899
MBA w/ 256GB SSD = $1499, MBP w/ 256GB SSD $1899
For me, if it weren’t for the unreliable keyboard, I’d say the MacBook Pro is a no-brainer over the MBA for $400 more. For the people currently buying MacBook Airs, it needs to come down. But I think they’ll hit the $1699/$1999 price points for the entry level MBPs soon, and then the MacBook Air will not be long for the world… 
The real question is will this happen before or after they fix the keyboard…?
The Pro is only $400 more than the Air, but then we spent some time convincing those schools purchasing 11" Airs to spend the extra for the 13" model when those were discontinued. Asking them to stretch the budgets further may not necessarily fly.
The Pro would need to come down into the current Air price points (or close to them, with education pricing) to even have a chance of being a viable replacement, and even then it needs to overcome the stigma of defective keyboards and needing breakout adapters for almost everything.
And the 12" MacBook isn’t durable enough to survive the rough and tumble of upper primary and middle school. The Pro will have to do. But to answer the question of whether the clients will accept it… only time will tell, but I’m not holding my breath.
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Having worked in education I doubt it. The Airs are perfect at the moment. The Pros have less battery life, require dongles whcih are a disaster in education, don’t have MagSafe and I’ve seen what kids do to the old keyboards, don’t think the new ones will endure well.
Apple could easily remedy this by dropping the name Air, upgrading the internals and removing thunderbolt 2 in favour of USB c - hey presto! A viable machine.
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