Macbook PROLED XDR Impressions: They Said They Wouldn't!
Marques Brownlee gives first impressions of Apple's new touchscreen MacBook Pro with a tandem OLED display, arguing the OLED and weight savings matter far more than the touchscreen Apple once said it would never make.
The gist
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The new MacBook Pro starts at $2,900 and comes in 14 and 16-inch sizes with a tandem OLED display rated at 10 million to 1 contrast.
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Brownlee says he would upgrade for the weight savings first: the 14-inch drops from 3.5 to 3 pounds and the 16-inch loses almost a pound.
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Other changes include thinner bezels, a Dynamic Island instead of a notch, better speakers, and a glowing Apple logo that matches screen brightness, but no Face ID.
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Brownlee finds the touchscreen responsive but says it solves nothing, since the hinge still wobbles, there is no Apple Pencil support, and Mac apps stay keyboard-first.
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The one convincing use he saw was iOS development, tapping through the iPhone simulator in Xcode; otherwise he calls the touchscreen just an option, not for everyone.
Marques Brownlee uses it
"I was just picking it up next to the 16-inch MacBook Pro I'm carrying around and editing this video on, and I'm like, oh, that might be really nice."
▶ Play at 10:136 creators recommend it, including This Week in Startups, Mark Gurman, and Mark Manson.
See all on the MacBook Pro pageWhat they recommend · 1 pick
MacBook Pro
Productivity
"I was just picking it up next to the 16-inch MacBook Pro I'm carrying around and editing this video on, and I'm like, oh, that might be really nice."
Marques, Joe, This Week in Startups and Chris agree on 22 things
See what they all use, in their own words. Paid ads are left out.
See what they all swear by Or pick your own peopleAlso mentioned
4:28
Google Books
· "Like those Google Books that I just made a video about recently. All of them are touchscreens, but I never..."
7:01
Apple Pencil
· "There's also no Apple Pencil support on this new MacBook Pro."
7:19
Logic
· "Occasionally they would reach up and do something on the touchscreen display, like pulling up a virtual..."
8:07
Xcode
· "The one thing that I found convincing, or at least interesting, is iOS app development. So if you're in..."
9:34
iPhone Duo
· "They slot him in and the first thing he does is iPhone Duo, which is like, everyone's interested in the..."
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