The glass trackpad of the new MacBook Pro models is much bigger compared to the previous models, but the technology is otherwise identical.
You can see a comparison in the video below this section.īecause of the shallow travel, the 16-level keyboard illumination of the individual keys is well implemented into the case and it will not dazzle.
If you type forcefully with just two fingers though, the noise will be much louder. It is slightly louder compared to the old model with ten fingers, but we do not consider it to be disturbing even in quiet environments. The typing noise will depend heavily on your usage scenario. We did not notice any differences in typing speed compared to the previous MacBook Pro models, and quick inputs without typos were no problem even in the first session. After this has happened, the switch back to the old MacBook pro is actually pretty difficult, because we now found it to be rather spongy in comparison. This second generation of Apple's own Butterfly mechanism was noticeably improved compared to the 12-inch MacBook, but you still have to get used to the typing experience. The very even stroke does leave a positive impression though. The shallow travel will once again be a shock when you use it for the first time.
The new 2016 MacBooks use the second generation of the chiclet keyboard, which was introduced with the 12-inch MacBook.
We therefore hope this is a software problem, which will hopefully be fixed in the near future.
The phenomenon is unfortunately not reproducible all the time and we did not have any issues while running Windows 10 in the beginning, either (one time over the course of the review). We often noticed it with the Kensington Docking Station, for example. We did notice some connectivity problems when we used a 2.4 GHz AC WLAN from our Linksys EA8500 router in combination with an external USB-C device. Apple probably equipped the entry-level system with a lower-spec WLAN card, the Touch Bar models should perform even better. The excellent performance of the previous model (in this case the 2013 model) is not reached by the new MBP, but it is still faster than the fastest Windows notebook, so this is criticism on a very high level. However, our WLAN test does not confirm any suspicions that the performance is now reduced. The integrated AC WLAN card cannot use antennas behind a black plastic strip anymore.
Update 11/23: We now have the new Apple MacBook Pro 15 in review as well. Our test model for the following article was purchased in Apple's online store (no press sample). We will obviously review the Touch Bar versions as soon as we get them. Apple's shipping date for our orders are between November 24th and December 1st. The "full versions" with Touch Bar are expected in about three weeks. We already have the latter in review, which is supposed to be very similar to the Touch Bar siblings except for the mentioned differences. The lineup includes 13 as well as 15-inch systems, although the 13-inch model is also available as slimmed-down version without Touch Bar, only two Thunderbolt ports (instead of four), and less powerful CPU/GPU configurations. The new MacBook Pro 13 is also thinner, lighter and reduces the port variety to Thunderbolt ports. Many of them were confirmed, especially the new Touch Bar, a multifunctional touch display strip instead of the function keys, which is supposed to offer many additional input options depending on the application. As always, there were many rumors and speculations about new features ahead of the announcement on October 27th.