The MacBook Pro with Touch Bar has finally landed, and some users have been turning a critical eye toward Apple’s design decisions. Now, Apple’s own Phil Schiller has personally addressed some of those concerns. Specifically, Schiller responded to an email from software developer Ben Slaney, who asked the Apple marketing chief why the new slate of MacBook Pros topped out at 16GB of RAM.
“The MacBook Pro uses 16GB of very fast LPDDR memory, up to 2133MHz. To support 32GB of memory would require using DDR memory that is not low power, and also require a different design of the logic board, which might reduce space for batteries. Both factors would reduce battery life,” Schiller said in an email to developer Ben Slaney.
According to MacRumors, it’s not the first time Phil Schiller has answered this question. In fact, it seems like he’s been defending the decision to cap the premium MacBook Pro at 16GB of RAM since the announcement of the new laptop’s specs on October 27.
“To put more than 16GB of fast RAM into a notebook design at this time would require a memory system that consumes much more power and wouldn’t be efficient enough for a notebook. I hope you check out this new generation MacBook Pro, it really is an incredible system,” Schiller wrote to another concerned potential customer in October.
So it appears the decision to cap RAM at 16GB was made based on fears over energy efficiency, and on the decision to use LPDDR3 RAM, which is unavailable in sizes larger than 16GB. In order to expand the RAM available without losing out too much on battery life, Apple would have had to use a different CPU, since Intel’s sixth-generation Skylake chips don’t support LPDDR4 RAM, which is faster and more energy efficient than the LPDDR3 standard.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.