After a rather subdued 2017 as far as the MacBook upgrades were concerned, Apple has created quite a stir with the 2018 refresh. None more so than with perhaps the larger of the two MacBook Pro options that you can buy—the MacBook Pro 15 (2018). And there are multiple reasons for that. The excellent MacBook Pro line-up of 2017 has just received a big boost. Here is an exclusive look at the Core i9 variant of the MacBook Pro 15 (2018).
At first glance, not a lot has changed on the outside. The design of the MacBook Pro 15 (2018) remains the same, so do the dimensions and the feel of the aluminum chassis. The colour options are unchanged and the perfection is as real as always. The preciseness of the construction is something that many of Apple’s rivals are still learning to match. Combine this with the design continuity, and that makes the MacBooks distinct to identify, from even a mile away. For a 15.6-inch screen laptop, this weighs just 1.83 grams, and that is quite creditable. Kept side by side with the MacBook Pro 13, the size differences do make you wonder how the MacBook Pro 15 has managed to remain so compact. There are two colour options—silver and space grey, and we really do prefer the latter.
The keyboard was perhaps the only weak link in the previous two iterations of the MacBook Pro line-up. The 2018 update brings the third generation of what is known as the ‘butterfly’ keyboard. It is less susceptible to failures because of dust getting lodged beneath the keys, and each key press also generates lesser noise—this is very welcome if you are typing in a silent room. The key size, spacing and the overall keyboard layout remains exactly the same. The key travel and response is extremely consistent, and that makes the MacBook Pro 15 (2018) keyboard (and indeed even the MacBook Pro 13 update) the best layout if you are a writer.
The magic of the MacBook Pro 15 (2018) lies on the inside, though. Depending on which variant you pick, you get to choose between the newest generation Intel Core i7 processor and the Intel Core i9 processors—this generation is codenamed Coffee Lake. That is two more cores than the predecessors 4-core processor options, in case of the Core i7 and Core i9, which allows professional grade editing apps, for instance, to take advantage. This is by far and away the most powerful processor you would find in any laptop at the moment.
It wasn’t the smoothest of starts however. The initial firmware that shipped with the MacBook Pro 15 on the Core i9 variant had a bug, which pushed down the processor’s clock speed because of incorrect temperature settings, causing gaming and video encoding performance to suffer. That has since been solved with the latest macOS update that is available for the MacBook Pro. No such issues with any of the Core i7 variants.
Apple offers 16GB RAM with the Core i7 options, though you can configure 32GB of RAM with the Core i9 variant. Whichever configuration you consider, what you’ll get is a multi-tasking monster, so to say. Instead of confusing you with technical jargons, we will simply illustrate this with an example—you can edit 9 streams of RAW 4K video simultaneously, for instance—though that is not something that you’ll do every day. The AMD Radeon Radeon Pro 560X and the AMD Radeon Radeon Pro 555X graphics options are powerful to say the least. Believe us when we say this, you will not be able to make the make the MacBook Pro 15 (2018) slow down, irrespective of whatever software you run. Along with the extravagant amounts of RAM, the added benefit is that the new RAM is faster as well, which further boosts application load and data handling times. That is great news then, since the futureproofing will ensure that this MacBook will serve you well for the next few years. Even if you feel that the Core i9 processor may be a bit of an overkill for you, the Core i7 is extremely powerful too and should hold you in good stead for many years.
We are quite excited about the final version of the macOS Mojave which is set to release later this year, particularly the Dark Mode, Stacks as well as the enhanced data privacy and security features. The overall experience of using a MacBook should really should come to life on these powerful specification options.
At first glance, not a lot has changed on the outside. The design of the MacBook Pro 15 (2018) remains the same, so do the dimensions and the feel of the aluminum chassis. The colour options are unchanged and the perfection is as real as always. The preciseness of the construction is something that many of Apple’s rivals are still learning to match. Combine this with the design continuity, and that makes the MacBooks distinct to identify, from even a mile away. For a 15.6-inch screen laptop, this weighs just 1.83 grams, and that is quite creditable. Kept side by side with the MacBook Pro 13, the size differences do make you wonder how the MacBook Pro 15 has managed to remain so compact. There are two colour options—silver and space grey, and we really do prefer the latter.
The keyboard was perhaps the only weak link in the previous two iterations of the MacBook Pro line-up. The 2018 update brings the third generation of what is known as the ‘butterfly’ keyboard. It is less susceptible to failures because of dust getting lodged beneath the keys, and each key press also generates lesser noise—this is very welcome if you are typing in a silent room. The key size, spacing and the overall keyboard layout remains exactly the same. The key travel and response is extremely consistent, and that makes the MacBook Pro 15 (2018) keyboard (and indeed even the MacBook Pro 13 update) the best layout if you are a writer.
The magic of the MacBook Pro 15 (2018) lies on the inside, though. Depending on which variant you pick, you get to choose between the newest generation Intel Core i7 processor and the Intel Core i9 processors—this generation is codenamed Coffee Lake. That is two more cores than the predecessors 4-core processor options, in case of the Core i7 and Core i9, which allows professional grade editing apps, for instance, to take advantage. This is by far and away the most powerful processor you would find in any laptop at the moment.
It wasn’t the smoothest of starts however. The initial firmware that shipped with the MacBook Pro 15 on the Core i9 variant had a bug, which pushed down the processor’s clock speed because of incorrect temperature settings, causing gaming and video encoding performance to suffer. That has since been solved with the latest macOS update that is available for the MacBook Pro. No such issues with any of the Core i7 variants.
Apple offers 16GB RAM with the Core i7 options, though you can configure 32GB of RAM with the Core i9 variant. Whichever configuration you consider, what you’ll get is a multi-tasking monster, so to say. Instead of confusing you with technical jargons, we will simply illustrate this with an example—you can edit 9 streams of RAW 4K video simultaneously, for instance—though that is not something that you’ll do every day. The AMD Radeon Radeon Pro 560X and the AMD Radeon Radeon Pro 555X graphics options are powerful to say the least. Believe us when we say this, you will not be able to make the make the MacBook Pro 15 (2018) slow down, irrespective of whatever software you run. Along with the extravagant amounts of RAM, the added benefit is that the new RAM is faster as well, which further boosts application load and data handling times. That is great news then, since the futureproofing will ensure that this MacBook will serve you well for the next few years. Even if you feel that the Core i9 processor may be a bit of an overkill for you, the Core i7 is extremely powerful too and should hold you in good stead for many years.
We are quite excited about the final version of the macOS Mojave which is set to release later this year, particularly the Dark Mode, Stacks as well as the enhanced data privacy and security features. The overall experience of using a MacBook should really should come to life on these powerful specification options.
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