{"id":25887,"date":"2019-07-09T15:40:14","date_gmt":"2019-07-09T19:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=25887"},"modified":"2019-07-19T16:34:06","modified_gmt":"2019-07-19T20:34:06","slug":"macbook-air-2019-and-new-13-inch-macbook-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/09\/macbook-air-2019-and-new-13-inch-macbook-pro\/","title":{"rendered":"MacBook Air 2019 and New 13-inch MacBook Pro"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joe Rossignol<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Apple today announced<\/a> that it has updated the MacBook Air<\/a> with a True Tone display<\/a> and lowered the price of the notebook to $1,099<\/a> in the United States, or $999 for qualifying students through Apple’s education store<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Alongside today’s update and price drop, Apple has also discontinued the 2017 MacBook Air, which it had continued to sell for $999 following the introduction of the revamped MacBook Air last October.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

It is great to see more frequent Mac updates. Now the only non-Retina Mac is the base iMac—unless you count the Mac Pro and Mac mini because of the available external displays<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Joe Rossignol<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Apple today announced<\/a> it has updated its entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro<\/a> with the latest 8th-generation Intel Core quad-core processors for up to two times faster performance compared to the previous generation. The notebook now also features a Touch Bar with Touch ID<\/a>, a True Tone display<\/a>, and the Apple T2 security chip.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

It’s sad to no longer be able to get a MacBook Pro without a Touch Bar, but the 13-inch MacBook Escape<\/a> hadn’t been updated in more than two years.<\/p>\n\n

Wojtek Pietrusiewicz<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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If Apple hadn’t added the Touch Bar to the non-Touch Bar model and just upgraded the CPU, I would be ordering one right now — the new CPUs are exactly what I have been waiting for. Unfortunately, they did, so that probably means no more Macs for me, at least until they get rid of the Touch Bar. And no, the Air is not sufficient for my needs — it lacks Display P3 and a proper processor.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

retrac98<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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99%+ of my usage of the touchbar is pressing escape, adjusting screen brightness, speaker volume, or accessing music controls.<\/p>\n

All of these worked flawlessly when I had physical keys, but now it’s hard to know what I’m pressing without looking, and sometimes the controls become unresponsive to touches or drags.<\/p>\n

I am also a musician. The Touch Bar is fantastic to adjust tuneables in GarageBand, without the gorilla arm or wobbly screen effect you get on touchscreens.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Mark Munz<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Apple adds Touch Bar to entry level MacBook Pro, because THAT’S what everyone has been clamoring for – more Touch Bar.<\/p>\n

🤦‍♂️<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Nick Heer<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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This simplifies the lineup dramatically. No longer are there three similar<\/a> yet purportedly different computers within $200 of each other; now, there’s a simple choice of consumer models and professional models, and at respectably lower price points to boot.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Stephen Hackett<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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I think for almost everyone, the MacBook Air is the right notebook. It’s thin and light, with plenty of power for most tasks, but if you need a better GPU or more cores, the MacBook Pro is a logical upgrade. I like it when the Mac product line makes sense.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

John Gruber<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Other than the increase in size of the “smallest” MacBook, the only knock against today’s revamp is that the starting price (for those other than college students) has jumped from $1000 to $1100.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n