Search results for: MacBook pro

Choosing a Mac laptop these days isn't at all easy. Do you major on the smallest side, with the MacBook, and limit performance? Or do yo go all-out for speed with the MacBook Pro and suffer the additional weight? Whatever route you take you have to make compromises.

Mike had almost decided to sell his desktop and portable Macs in favour of one all-singing-dancing 13in MacBook Pro and a 27in monitor. But a slice of toast made him think twice....

Back to the old dilemma: A desktop computer and portable laptop or one do-it-all solution: The new MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar..... 

After spending months vacillating between the tiny new MacBook and the more traditional and speedy 13in MacBook Pro with retina screen, I have reached a conclusion. Last week I bought the MacBook for test purposes, confident that if I didn't like it I could return it for cash or part exchange.

Yesterday I spent an indulgent hour in the Covent Garden Apple Store (where better to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon) trying to make up my mind—finally—on the perfect portable computer for travelling. I've written before about this thorny problem and my inability to choose between the svelte and featherlight MacBook and the sturdy, sensible 13in MacBook Pro retina. I have been sitting on the fence so long that I decided I'd better make a decision.

Wrist watches with metal bands (including, I suggest, the new Apple Watch) do not mix with the smooth surface of an Apple laptop, whether Pro or Air or, even, the as-yet-unseen MacBook. For years I have been sticking a protective sheet over the computer chassis to the left of the trackpad. Even a large Apple sticker helps. But there’s bad news, conveyed to me by Katie Floyd of the Mac Power Users Podcast.

A problem I always face when ordering a new Mac is that I want more power or memory than the standard models available for over-the-counter sale at the local Apple Store. As a result I invariably end up ordering from the on-line store and waiting for delivery. It's encouraging, therefore, that Apple appears to have addressed this problem with the latest upgrade to the 13in retina-screen MacBook Pro. In addition to the standard basic configurations Apple's high-street stores are now stocking what I consider to be the sweet-spot specification for this computer.