
- #Icefloor mac review upgrade
- #Icefloor mac review pro
- #Icefloor mac review plus
- #Icefloor mac review mac
- #Icefloor mac review windows
#Icefloor mac review pro
(We plan to test the 15-inch MacBook Pro soon.) What all that really means is that if you're doing CPU-heavy work like video and audio editing, or compiling tons of code, you'll notice an improvement.
#Icefloor mac review mac
According to Geekbench's website comparisons, the MacBook Pro is almost 1,000 points faster than a 2013-era Mac Pro with a six-core Xeon processor.

In Geekbench 4's multi-core test, our Core i7 13-inch model scored a whopping 18,837, as compared with around 15,200 from similarly specced machines last year. The easiest way to break down the MacBook Pro's capabilities is with benchmarks.
#Icefloor mac review windows
And it's about time: I've talked to plenty of Mac fans who were ready to jump ship to more versatile and capable Windows machines. But the sheer amount of power makes them appealing upgrades. Sure, many of them would like their old ports back, or at least a card reader. You could call these new MacBook Pros Apple's apology to prosumers. Siri also isn't very smart on Macs: If you have an iPhone nearby, she'll pop up on both devices and get confused whenever you shout a voice command. That's a shame, since we're seeing it on Windows laptops like the Dell XPS 13. Unfortunately, Apple didn't add any far-field microphones to make it easier to talk to Siri from far away. Voice commands work about as well as they do on the iPhone and iPad, but you'll have to shout if you're far from the computer. It also lets you shout "Hey Siri" to a Mac for the first time.
#Icefloor mac review plus
In comparison, the 13-inch machine maxes out with 16GB of RAM a 2TB SSD and integrated Intel Iris Plus 655 graphics.įinally, the laptops feature Apple's T2 chip, which makes booting and file encryption more secure by bringing things like the audio and SSD controllers into a single location.

The bigger model can also be configured with more elaborate hardware, including up to 32GB of RAM a 4TB SSD and dedicated Radeon Pro 560X graphics. The 13-inch model features quad-core i5 and i7 chips with Turbo Boost speeds up to 4.5GHz, while the 15-incher has six-core i7 and i9 processors that can reach 4.8GHz.

The biggest upgrades are under the hood: Apple is finally using Intel's eighth-generation Core processors, which launched last year. It's useful sometimes, but I still miss the reliability of physical function keys. That would be useful for creative workers who invested in expensive accessories and now have to lug around bundles of dongles. You won't have to try too hard to find USB-C cables and accessories these days, but it would still be nice to have one traditional USB port and an SD card reader. At least that seems less egregious than it did two years ago. In more disappointing news, since the MacBook Pro has the same case as before, we're still stuck with four USB-C Thunderbolt 3 connections. Again, we've seen it on iOS devices before, and it's helpful on the Mac in reducing screen fatigue. That's meant to make screens appear more natural, as if you were looking at a piece of white paper. The resolution hasn't changed over the past few years, but at least the display can finally take advantage of Apple's True Tone technology, which made its debut on the iPad Pro, and which relies on an ambient light sensor to change the white balance of the screen and Touch Bar depending on your environment. We tested the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which features Apple's mainstay 2,560 x 1,600 Retina display. Instead, it seems more intent on trying to replicate the feeling of typing on an iOS virtual keyboard in the real world. If Microsoft can squeeze a decent amount of key travel out of the Surface keyboard cover, Apple has no excuse. I've never been a fan of Apple's flat butterfly switch keys, since they have no depth.
#Icefloor mac review upgrade
Sure, Apple is fixing those old machines for free, but it still hasn't said how it's preventing future dust problems.įor me, this upgrade isn't enough. So, really, this could also be a stealth fix for the previous MacBook keyboard issues that led to a class action lawsuit.

According to iFixit, the new silicone layer underneath the keys that makes them quieter could also protect them from dust and debris. You can hear a difference with the new hardware, but it's not exactly night and day. The MacBook Pro didn't need to get thinner, necessarily, but it would have been nice if the company had found a way to shave down the screen bezels.Īpple made a big deal about the new keyboard, which has been refined to make typing quieter and less clicky. We didn't expect Apple to change much, but it's still strange how little has evolved over the past two years. The MacBook Pro is sleek and stylish even compared with thinner and lighter notebooks like HP's Spectre, but don't let that daintiness fool you: It still feels like a tough machine. The slim unibody aluminum case Apple introduced in 2016 is back, along with the Touch Bar, which is still a love-it-or-hate-it affair.
