Apple’s 2018 MacBook Pro Brings Much Needed Facelift

The MacBook Pro line has been in serious need of some love. They’ve been struggling to make a name for themselves in the increasingly-crowded mobile device space. Between the Surface line from Microsoft, smartphone competition and increasingly affordable Windows laptops, MacBook has been in trouble. Thankfully, the 2018 MacBook Pro is the update the line sorely needed.

2018 MacBook Pro: What’s New?

There are a few new things going on with this year’s MacBook. The first, and most notable, of course, is the updated keyboard. The previous butterfly keyboard, with its “chiclet” style, had few fans. It got stuck often, was noisy and generally hard to type on. This redesigned keyboard, by contrast, is quiet, responsive and much more durable. You’ll likely find it a market improvement over the previous keyboard.

The computer has received an under-the-hood overhaul, too. The 13-inch laptop comes with either an i5 or i7 processor, both of which are quad-core. The 15-inch option has either an i7 or i9 processor running the show, both with six cores. The 13-inch version has 2 TB of internal storage, while the 15-inch has 4 TB. That’s all pretty encouraging, to be sure!

The 15-inch sports impressive graphics thanks to the AMD Radeon Pro GPU, while the 13-inch has integrated Iris Plus 655 graphics. While the 13-inch will put out a decent image, those with serious design tasks on their plates should opt for the 15-inch.

A few other minor touches: the new laptops have the iPhone X’s True Tone technology. That means the screens will adapt to ambient light and match the lighting around you. The Touchbar (now standard on both 13- and 15-inch models) has True Tone as well. Neat!

Oh, and the laptops now support “Hey, Siri!” Alright, that’s pretty cool, if a bit frivolous.

Pricing and Release

The pricing on these laptops remains unchanged from last year, which is stellar. The 13-inch model is still $1,300 and the 15-inch runs $2,400. Now, those numbers aren’t low, but the MacBook Pro isn’t a budget machine. Both models are out now.