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So Apple had their Mac event today and the first thing to say is, well that was long for what it was. Don’t get me wrong the new Macbook Pro’s looked pretty sweet but they dragged out would could have been said in half the time over 90 minutes. Thanks to Ewen and guys for letting me join the BTN coverage.

So after half an hour of updates and a new app for Apple TV we got to the meat of the event and it was everything that the rumours had already told us. New Macbook Pro’s but minus the function keys which have been replaced with what Apple call the ‘Touch Bar’, a retina display touch sensitive strip that adapts to whatever program you’re using, and it looks pretty nice and I can imagine the many ways in which I could use it, but Apple had other ideas, they wanted to tell me at great length how I was going to use it. With demos covering productivity and entertainment we were left with no doubt in our minds how this was going to play out.

There is no denying that this event was squarely aimed at the pro’s. The Macbook hasn’t seen an update in years and I’m sure there were fears that content makers were walking away from the platform so something had to be done. These new Macs are faster and more efficient than ever before and their obsession with thinness was there for all to see.

With their continued efforts to make the slimmest devices on the market they took a knock at my favourite Mac, the Air. The new gen pro’s are thinner than the best portable computing device ever made so its time is up. I would like to take this opportunity for us to remember the Air and everything it’s done for us. You will be sadly missed. Fair enough we always knew that Apple were going down this road. With the release of the ultra portable Macbook a couple of generations back we knew that the Air’s days were numbered. But there was one nice little surprise. If the Touch Bar isn’t your thing and you want to keep your function keys then there is still something for you. Apple announced a 13” Macbook Pro that retains the physical keys and actually has a smaller footprint than the Air that came before it. But I’m gutted that there is no longer an 11” device in the range. Rest in peace my dear friend.

All of the new models now come with Thunderbolt 3 ports which can be used for a multitude of purposes, power, USB, VGA, HDMI, data etc. but where on earth were those dongles that you’ll certainly need at some point.

The oddest thing is that there is now a huge trackpad which I would generally use for most of the jobs that the Touch Bar is now intended to do so there is a bit of a conflict of interests there. The butterfly keyboard from the Macbook also makes an appearance which may not go down well with some if you like a bit of travel.

So all in all not bad. The hands on reviews coming in are all saying yummy things so I can’t wait to get my hands on one even when you consider the price. There was no mention about a new Apple displays, the Mac Pro or the iMac which would have been nice.

Another day, another Apple.

Author

Paul Wright

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