Ok, so I haven’t even seen one of these in person yet but I wanted to share what excites me about it.
Many, Many Cores
Quad-core laptops are nothing new but Apple offering a Quad-core in the 13-inch model is a welcome addition. This makes the 13-inch a viable option for owners of previous 15-inch models who want to downsize but don’t want to sacrifice too much performance. This makes the 13-inch model very tempting to me.
The increase in processing cores take the 15-inch from Quad-core processors to 6-core processors. Yes, I know at the time of me writing this there are reports on YouTube about some serious throttling down of the 15-inch model when internal temps get too high. Putting that aside for now, I’m excited about the speed increase for visual effects and color correction renders as well as faster encodes. Just looking at the spec sheet of the 15-inch it reads like a professional desktop workstation from a few years back.
RAM
Simply put, you can now max out the 15-inch MBP to 32GB of RAM when you order it. This is no ground breaking achievement but I am super happy it’s here. Finally.
Blackmagic Design’s eGPU
Ok so this isn’t exactly a feature of the MacBook Pro itself but since it was announced on the same day I figured I would it include it in the reasons I am excited about it. The Blackmagic eGPU has 8GB of video memory that apps like Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve can access when working. eGPUs are not new and Apple’s systems recently started supporting them even before this one was announced. What makes this one tempting over any others is the price and convenience. Getting workstation class video processing with a laptop edit system is something I’ve wanted for a long time.
“New” To Me Features
If I had the resources to do so I would buy a new laptop every time Apple announced a new one. I’m a sucker for new technology like that. In reality, I try to keep my computers until they no longer work or until there are very compelling reasons to upgrade to a newer version. Sometimes it just takes one feature to get me excited enough to want to upgrade. Sometimes I let new features build up a few years and then when I upgrade I am getting the benefit of those years of advancement and refinement. I am still using a 2015 model so I do not have Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, Touch Bar and Touch ID. I don’t like the idea of having to purchase adapters for my older drives and accessories but I love the idea of the faster TB3/USB-C connection. For a while I didn’t think the Touch Bar would be something I would really use but recently I’ve come to appreciate the possibilities. One cool benefit is having buttons for different situations. I’m a big user of function keys but I also love the quick keys for adjusting volume, screen brightness, etc. On my current laptop I have to choose which one takes priority then use an extra key like “Option + F11” to use the other feature. Being able to have the Touch Bar display single use buttons will be nice.
Conclusion
It still may not be the fastest laptop out there but for Mac users it should be a significant upgrade from previous Touch Bar models. And for people like me who were holding on the 2015 MacBook Pro model, or older, this should be a massive upgrade. My 2015 MBP is going strong and is a great system. When the 2016 and 2017 models were released I felt no urge to rush to upgrade. I figured the next computer I buy would be an iMac or iMac Pro. The 2018 MacBook Pro has me rethinking that.
Craig Bergonzoni's Blog 