Apple Refreshes 13 & 15-Inch MacBook Pros for 2019: Adds 8-Core Intel CPUs & Revised Keyboard

Apple on Tuesday introduced refreshed versions of its MacBook Pro 13-inch and 15-inch laptops, updating the machines to use Intel's latest 8th and 9th Gen Core processors, as well a further refinement to the company's butterfly keyboard switches. In particular, Apple is now offering Intel's 8 core processors as an upgrade option with the 15-inch MacBook Pro, marking the second time in a year that Apple has added more cores to this laptop, with Apple touting that the newest model is up to 40 percent faster than its predecessor. Otherwise, these new 2019 models are pure spec-bumps over the 2018 models, offering faster CPUs but are otherwise unchanged from their predecessors as far as displays, dimensions, and other specifications are concerned.

This refresh comes surprisingly swiftly for Apple, who over the last few years has taken a slower track in refreshing its laptops. Intel only announced their 45 Watt 9th Gen Core mobile parts a month ago, so this is relatively quick for Apple. Meanwhile the 13-inch model doesn't get quite the same boost here, but its updated 8th Gen Core processor options are faster than the models it replaces.

Along with the new CPUs the refreshed laptops are also introducing a further update to Apple's butterfly keyboard switches, which have gone through a few generations of tweaks now in response to reliability issues. According to The Verge, while Apple isn't calling this a fourth-generation keyboard, the company has none the less using a new material in part of the butterfly mechanism to further reduce issues with the keyboard. Despite Apple's efforts thus far, issues have persisted with the butterfly switches, so time will tell how the latest iteration does.

Otherwise, as noted above the base specifications for the other aspects of the MacBook Pros haven't changed. In the case of the 15-inch mode, this means a 15.4-inch display supporting a 2880x1800 resolution (along with DCI-P3 color gamut as well as True Tone technology), accompanied by AMD’s Radeon Pro 555X/560X-series or Radeon Pro Vega GPUs, with the top-of-the-range model configurable with the Radeon Pro Vega 16 or 20 chip. Meanwhile, DRAM and SSD options include 16 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD on the base model, with 32 GB of DDR4 RAM and SSDs ranging from 512 GB to 4 TB available as upgrades.

Despite the fact that Apple now offers more powerful hardware with its 2019 15-inch MacBook Pro, the company still outfits the machines with an 83.6 Wh battery that is rated for up to 10 hours of operation. Of course, real-world will depend on usage model, display brightness, and so on.

As far as connectivity is concerned, the new Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch laptops feature 802.11ac Wi-Fi with Bluetooth 5.0 as well as four Thunderbolt 3 ports supporting up to four 4Kp60 displays or two 5Kp60 monitors. Besides TB3 connectors, the notebooks are equipped with a 3.5-mm headset jack.

The latest 15.4-inch laptops from Apple are already available directly from the company’s website as well as retail outlets. The model with a six-core CPU and the Radeon Pro 555X starts at $2,399, whereas the SKU with an eight-core CPU and the Radeon Pro 560X starts at $2,799.

As for the 13-inch MacBook Pro, things are far more straightforward. Since there haven't been any core count increases, we're just looking at CPU frequency bumps. While we haven't been able to identify the specific SKU Apple is using in the base model, it's a 2.4GHz base/4.1GHz boost part, up from the 2.3Ghz/3.8GBz processor found in the 2018 model. Similarly, the high-end model now boats a Core i7 2.8GHz/4.7GHz CPU.

Pricing on the two 13-inch models remains unchanged. The base model starts at $1,799, and the high-end model at $2,099.

Related Reading:

• Apple Refreshes Mac Laptops: Pro, Vanilla, & Air All Get New CPUs
• Apple Announces 4th Generation MacBook Pro Family: Thinner, Lighter, with Thunderbolt 3 & “Touch Bar”
• Apple Announces 2018 MacBook Air: Entry-Level Laptop Gets Essential Refresh

Source: Apple