JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Apple has unveiled the details of the new MacBook Pro, which the company is calling the “thinnest and lightest” design for the laptop ever.
The feature on the new MacBook Pro that’s generating the most buzz is an interface that replaces the traditional row of function keys. Called the Touch Bar, it will “dynamically” adapt to the applications currently in use.
The newest version will also contain an updated Retina display, Touch ID, a more responsive keyboard, a larger Force Touch trackpad and an audio system “with double the dynamic range.”
“The most Powerful MacBook ever,” according to Apple, features a sixth-generation quad-core and dual-core processors, increasing the graphics performance up to 2.3 times better than previous generations. It will also have up to four Thunderbolt 3 ports.
The design of the MacBook pro has been upgraded as well. It features a new enclosure design and all-metal unibody construction that “creates an incredibly rigid and dense notebook” that is still thin and light, according to Apple. The 13-inch laptop weighs in at three pounds and is 17 percent thinner with 23 percent less volume. The 15-inch version is 4 pounds and is 14 percent thinner with 20 percent less volume, the company said.
Touch ID has been integrated into the power button, making it possible to pay for purchases with Apple Pay in a single touch. The updated retina display at 500 nits of brightness is 67 brighter than the previous generation.
The new MacBook Pro also will have power-saving technologies like larger pixel aperture, a variable refresh rate and more power-efficient LEDs, making the laptop’s display consume 30 percent less energy than before, according to Apple.
The trackpad is 46 percent larger than before, while the more responsive keyboard will make typing more comfortable.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,499, while the 15-inch starts at $2,399. This week marks the 25th anniversary of Apple’s first notebook, the company said.
At the event primarily focused on new computer hardware on Thursday, Apple also introduced an app that it claims will allow customers to more easily access their favorite television shows on the company’s branded set-top boxes.
The company said that the app — called simply “TV” — gave users a unified location for accessing their movies and TV shows, as well as discovering news content that they may be interested in.
The new app will be available on Apple TV in December.
Information about where viewers stopped and started watching programs will be synced across devices, allowing them to more seamlessly switch between devices, the company said.
The company also said that it had expanded Siri, its voice-control platform, so that users could more easily tune to live sports and news programs using voice commands. These features are available now, the company said.
The company said it had developed a single sign-on method, allowing subscribers of DIRECTV and Dish Network to log in once and access content across all of their devices.
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