The new MacBook lineup is kind of confusing if you are an average consumer, there 13″ model without Touch Bar, there is one with the Touch Bar and there is also a 15″ model with the Touch Bar and they all called the MacBook Pro. If you are planning to buy the new MacBook Pro 13″ and could not decide if you should spend the extra $300 on the new Touch Bar variant or should get the standard function key variant and save your hard earned money. The MacBook Pro 13″ standard model starts at $1499 whereas the Touch Bar variant starts at $1799. So besides the Touch Bar and the dedicated TouchID button what else are you missing if you decided to go for the standard 13″ model?
Here is what the extra $300 will get you,
- The all new Touch Bar
- The TouchID button: Other than using it for unlocking your computer you can also use it to set the user profiles. So if someone else logged in with their fingerprint it will open their profile. You can also use it to make secure online payments using Apple Pay.
- Four Thunderbolt three compatible USB Type-C ports (Function Key variant has just two)
- Faster processor: from 2 GHz to 2.9 GHz
- Faster RAM
- Better Graphics: Intel Iris 540 chip to Intel Iris 550 chip
- Better heat management: The Touch Bar Variant comes up with the extra vents at the bottom of the computer allowing better heat transfer
- Better speaker output: On the base model you only get front facing speaker grills whereas the Touch Bar variant also has the bottom vent speaker outlets. The speaker grills on the upgraded variant are also taller than the base model because of the added Touch Bar.
- Better Audio input: The baseline model has two microphones and the Touch Bar variant has three microphones
So these are the things that your extra $300 bucks will get you. I hope that helped. if you have any other questions feel free to ask in the comment section.
Stay tuned for the updates.
Image Source: Apple