Apple updates MacBook Air, MacBook Pro (updated)

Mac Daily News ^ | Tuesday, July 9, 2019 8:48 am | Apple

[Swordmaker]

Cupertino, California — Apple today updated MacBook Air, adding True Tone to its Retina display for a more natural viewing experience, and lowering the price to $1,099, with an even lower price of $999 for college students. In addition, the entry-level $1,299 13-inch MacBook Pro has been updated with the latest 8th-generation quad-core processors, making it two times more powerful than before. It also now features Touch Bar and Touch ID, a True Tone Retina display and the Apple T2 Security Chip, and is available for $1,199 for college students.

MacBook Pro

Nice improvements at a better price

MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are also part of Apple’s Back to School promotion, which includes a pair of Beats Studio 3 Wireless headphones with the purchase of a qualifying Mac notebook or iMac. With their sleek, portable designs, Retina displays, great everyday performance, all-day battery life and running macOS, Mac notebooks have never been more popular in higher education, with Student Monitor data showing nearly 60 percent of US college notebook buyers own a Mac.

“College students love the Mac — it’s the notebook they rely on from the dorm room to the classroom, and the No. 1 choice among higher education students,” said Tom Boger, Apple’s senior director of Mac Product Marketing. “With a lower $999 student price for MacBook Air and the updated 13-inch MacBook Pro with faster performance, Touch Bar and Touch ID at $1,199 for students, there’s never been a better time to bring a Mac to college.”

A MacBook Air

Updates to Apple’s Most Popular Notebooks for Students

MacBook Air features a thin and light design in three beautiful finishes, the convenience and security of Touch ID, an 8th-generation dual-core processor, immersive wide stereo sound and all-day battery life. Its stunning 13-inch Retina display now features True Tone that automatically adjusts the color temperature of the display for a more comfortable viewing experience. MacBook Air is designed to power through daily tasks, from email and web surfing, to photo editing and FaceTime calls, and at an even lower price, it’s the do-it-all notebook for consumers and students alike.

Group FaceTime

FaceTime for all

The 13-inch MacBook Pro packs powerful processors, super-fast SSDs, all-day battery life and the best Mac notebook display ever into a portable 3-pound design. Today, the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro adds the latest quad-core processors for up to two times faster performance, Touch Bar and Touch ID, True Tone to the brilliant Retina display, the Apple T2 Security Chip and immersive stereo speakers with wide stereo sound, all at the same great starting price of $1,299, or $1,199 for college students. With all these powerful features, MacBook Pro is the perfect choice for students heading into college and looking for the notebook that will help power them through graduation and beyond.

The updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are part of Apple’s Back to School promotion starting today.

UPDATED:

• Critics may want to note that Apple has told support staff the new Macs are eligible for its Keyboard Service program (cough:butterfly keyboard).
• Apple has dropped the price on storage upgrades cross all its Macs, not just the updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. The price change varies – for example, 1TB SSD upgrades are down by $200 on the iMac, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini.
• MacDailyNews Take: Improved Macs at better prices? It’s hard to argue against that.

[Swordmaker]

Apple quietly upgrades MacBook Air and MacBook Pro and cuts prices. . . —PING!

APPLE HARDWARE UPDATE PING!

If you want on or off the Apple/Mac/iOS Ping List, Freepmail me.

[Swordmaker]

Apple also dropped the MacBook from the product line. . .

[Jim Noble]

Now that they have abandoned the butterfly keyboards going forward, will they buy back all the defective units?

[Swordmaker]

Apple MacBook Air even in it’s lowest priced version has a 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2560-by-1600 native resolution at 227 pixels per inch with support for millions of colors.

Security
Touch ID — Integrated Touch ID sensor

Processor
1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz, with 4MB L3 cache

Storage
128GB PCIe-based SSD

Memory
8GB of 2133MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory
(Configurable to 16GB of memory)

Battery and Power

• Up to 12 hours wireless web
• Up to 13 hours iTunes movie playback
• Up to 30 days of standby time

30W USB-C Power Adapter; USB-C power port

Size and Weight

• Height: 0.16–0.61 inch (0.41–1.56 cm)
• Width: 11.97 inches (30.41 cm)
• Depth: 8.36 inches (21.24 cm)
• Weight: 2.75 pounds (1.25 kg)3

Video Support

Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and:

• One external display with 5120-by-2880 resolution at up to 60Hz
• Up to two external displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at up to 60Hz
• Thunderbolt 3 digital video output
• Native DisplayPort output over USB‑C
• VGA, HDMI, and Thunderbolt 2 output using adapters (sold separately)

Charging and Expansion

Two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports with support for:

• Charging
• DisplayPort
• Thunderbolt (up to 40 Gb/s)
• USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10 Gb/s)

Wireless

• Wi-Fi — 802.11ac Wi-Fi wireless networking IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible
• Bluetooth 4.2 wireless technology

Audio

• Stereo speakers
• Three microphones
• 3.5 mm headphone jack

Keyboard and Trackpad

• Full-size keyboard with: 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) individual LED-backlit keys, including 12 function keys and 4 arrow keys

• Ambient light sensor
• Force Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and pressure-sensing capabilities; enables Force clicks, accelerators, pressure-sensitive drawing, and Multi-Touch gestures

[Swordmaker]

Now that they have abandoned the butterfly keyboards going forward, will they buy back all the defective units?

They haven’t dropped that butterfly keyboard design; they’ve re-engineered it to eliminated the problems the first design developed. They have a warranty that will replace the keyboard, the top cover of the bottom, and they take the opportunity to replace the battery as well, no charge.

[Jim Noble]

They’ve announced a new design to replace the butterfly keyboard, in MacBooks this Fall and in the MacBook Pro in 2020. It is a completely different design with a new mechanism.

This being the case, it’s very hard to make the case for buying either a MacBook or MBP right now.

[Jim Noble]

The updated models announced today are eligible for the keyboard replacement program.

[Jim Noble]

The new keyboard design starts this Fall.

[Mr. Jeeves]

They have a warranty that will replace the keyboard, the top cover of the bottom, and they take the opportunity to replace the battery as well, no charge.

They did that for my 2016 model after a battery failure. New keyboard is great but now, after less than a year, the battery is starting to fail again. Might be almost time for a new MBP. :)

[Sergio]

bkmk

[Swordmaker]

This being the case, it’s very hard to make the case for buying either a MacBook or MBP right now.

Didn’t you read the article? Apple just discontinued the MacBook and introduced entirely new MacBook Airs and MacBook Pro models which are available right now at lower prices than the older models. . . and the new MacBook Pro introduced in winter 2019 and even the MacBooks have been shipping with the redesigned keyboards for several months. They were interchangeable with the older style.

[Swordmaker]

The updated models announced today are eligible for the keyboard replacement program.

Far fewer of these updated keyboard are developing the problems than the older version, but the warranty still applies for a free repair. There is, apparently a third redesign in the pipeline. . . We will see if it solves the dust problem once and for all. I solved it by putting a keyboard overlay on my MacBook after I took advantage of a keyboard, top, and battery replacement. Very thin and solves the dust issue, not to mention the occasional splurting of my Diet Pepsi on the keyboard when I read something totally absurd the Democrats are doing.

[Swordmaker]

The new keyboard design starts this Fall.

Nope, starts now. . . but still eligible for warranty replacements. This is the 2019 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro release.

[BlueHorseShoe]

Oh great. I just bought a MacBook Air two weeks ago

[The Westerner]

Hi Sword. My 2016 Macbook needed its keyboard replaced which Apple provided for free. Hope this laptop lasts as long as my iPad1 (now retired) and mini ipad2. Still using my old Dell desktop offline, never had any trouble with it. Problem is the software ages out.

[Swordmaker]

Oh great. I just bought a MacBook Air two weeks ago

Call Apple, you usually have a grace period to upgrade your purchase when new models come out.

[BlueHorseShoe]

Thank you! I just spoke with Apple, (had a great support guy) and my model, 16GB ram, 512GB storage, did not reduce in price. The only “refresh” as they call it is to add the True Tone.

I adjust my own color, being an artist and photographer, so not sure it is worth changing. Since I bought it three weeks ago, I realize, they extended my grace period to 30 days so I can decide. But I think it maybe isn’t worth switching since I have this all set up. (Love this computer, btw)

I am also waiting to buy the new 2020 model MacBook Pro because I think that will be the one with new enhancements. I am in the Apple eco system and I love it! ;) I appreciate your posts. Thank you!