Apple MacBook Pro 13" touchbar (late 2016)
by Ching-Wan Yip
Last Updated:
May 14, 2017 5:01 PM
First published: May 12, 2017
DISCLAIMER - this is an exhaustive, in-depth hands on evaluation intended for technical audiences. extreme conditions are used to test characteristics of wide range of devices. general users are unlikely to encounter all the potential issues in day to day, limited scope of usage. a long list of problems does not indicate operating difficulties in everyday scenarios. over 40+ years of personal computing, very few technologies have achieved near perfection status, especially performing many different kinds of tasks, and being compared to different design/price point/intended market products. please review the information with these in mind.
https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/
announced: 2016/10/27 - https://www.apple.com/apple-events/october-2016/
Specification
i5 3.1 http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/specs/macbook-pro-core-i5-3.1-13-late-2016-retina-display-touch-bar-specs.html
http://www.everymac.com/systems/by_year/macs-released-in-2016.html
in the box
USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)
61W USB-C Power Adapter
Pricing
- $2099 - i7-6567U (3.3/3.6) 8/256/Iris 550
- $1899 - i5-6287U (3.1/3.5) 8/256/Iris 550
- $1999 - i5-6267U (2.9/3.3) 8/512/Iris 550 (MNQF2LL/A)
- $1799 - i5-6267U (2.9/3.3) 8/256/Iris 550 (MLH12LL/A)
- $1799 - i7-6660U (2.4/3.4) 8/256/Iris 540 no touch-bar model 15W
- $1499 - i5-6360U (2.0/3.1) 8/256/Iris 540 no touch-bar model 15W
- $200 256 -> 512 GB
- $600 256 -> 1 TB
- $200 8 -> 16GB
- $69 USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter (HDMI/USB/USB-C charging 60W power pass-through)
- $19 USB-C to USB Adapter
- $49 Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter
- $25 USB-C to Lightning Cable (1 m)
- $35 USB-C to Lightning Cable (2 m)
- $79 Magic Mouse 2
- $19 Power Adapter Extension Cable
- $34.95 Belkin USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
- $49.95 SanDisk Extreme Pro SD UHS-II Card USB-C Reader
- $79.95 SanDisk Dual Drive (USB-C and USB-A), 64GB
- $1,299.95 LG UltraFine 5K Display
- $699.95 LG UltraFine 4K Display
- $129.95 LaCie 2TB P'9227 Porsche Design USB-C Mobile Hard Drive
- $299.95 Beats Solo3 Wireless Headphones
- $299.99 Final Cut Pro X
- $199.99 Logic Pro X
- $249 AppleCare Protection Plan
Summary
Good
- 4 Thunberbolt 3 ports, all charging capable
- huge touchpad
- 500 nits, ultra wide gamut screen (no QHD, 4K, no OLED, no touch)
- cute OLED touchbar with Touch ID (bad if you want physical function keys - you can get model with 2 TB3 port with traditional keyboard) [better than earlier first of this kind, diastrous Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen 2 adaptive keyboard, worth it?]
- space gray not just silver (not gold like the macbook)
- .5mm travel butterfly switch gen 2 keyboard (if you are into it, bad for those prefer 1.3/1.5mm travel)
Bad
- gen 6 skylake, not gen 7 kaby lake
- 16GB limit, not 32/64GB in other "Pro" workstations
- no pen
- very expensive (you don't care right? if you are even on this page)
Geekbench
https://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks
http://www.everymac.com/mac-benchmarks/mac-notebook-benchmarks-intel.html
http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-comparison-chart/
multi core
- 7985 - i7-6567U (3.3/3.6)
- 7802 - i5-6287U (3.1/3.5)
- 7665 - i7-6660U (2.4/3.4) no touch-bar model 15W
- 7521 - i5-6267U (2.9/3.3)
- 7080 - i5-6360U (2.0/3.1) no touch-bar model 15W
single core
- 4018 - i7-6567U (3.3/3.6)
- 3925 - i5-6287U (3.1/3.5)
- 3891 - i7-6660U (2.4/3.4) no touch-bar model 15W
- 3795 - i5-6267U (2.9/3.3)
- 3629 - i5-6360U (2.0/3.1) no touch-bar model 15W
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