Apple announces new 8-core MacBook Pro with updated Butterfly keyboard design
Apple has announced it is releasing new 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models, featuring Intel’s 8th and 9th-generation processors, with high-end models featuring eight cores for the first time.
According to Apple, the new MacBook Pro offers two times faster performance than a quad-core MacBook Pro and 40 percent more performance than a 6-core MacBook Pro.
The update sees the 13-inch machines use quad-core processors, with the 6 and 8-core options limited to the 15-inch models.
Design wise, the new machines are identical to their predecessors, although rumors suggest Apple is working on all-new MacBook Pro models expected to launch later this year.
Apple is also including an updated Butterfly keyboard design, notes The Loop. Despite no mentioning of this in Apple’s official press release, the company has confirmed the updated models use a new material that Apple says will cut down on the failure problems that users have experienced previously with the Butterfly keyboard.
The change in material means the keyboard’s butterfly mechanism should substantially reduce problems that some users have seen. – Apple did not explain what the “new materials” in the butterfly keyboard are, but said that the update will significantly cut down on issues like double key presses and missed key presses.
The new MacBook Pro models are priced starting at $1,799 and $2,399, respectively, for the 13 and 15-inch models. – The new machines are available today at Apple.com, with Apple retail locations getting stock later this week.
Apple hasn’t updated the non-Touch Bar 13-inch MacBook Pro.