New 15″ MacBook Pro Announced with Force touchpad and AMD graphics
In addition to their force touchpad toting MacBook and 13″ MacBook pro, Apple have announced the 15″ MacBook pro. Its force touchpad offers the same functionality as the one seen on these models: ‘taptic’ feedback when performing certain tasks, providing a sense of depth to the pad. Apple have opened up the developer API for the trackpad, meaning that we can expect to see more widespread use of its unique features.
The touchpad isn’t the only change found in this latest iteration. Owners of the new laptop can expect to experience improved battery life, a dedicated graphics card, and faster flash storage. The higher spec version of the new pro features a dedicated graphics card, the R9 370M. Like many laptops with dedicated graphics cards, the MacBook Pro will automatically switch between them depending on the current task at hand.
In their report brief, Apple stated “In addition, MacBook Pro with Retina display discrete graphics deliver up to 80 percent faster performance using new AMD Radeon R9 M370X graphics for editing video in Final Cut Pro® X, rendering 3D images in pro graphics apps or playing high-resolution games.”
Flash storage on the devices will run 2.5x faster than the previous model, joining the MacBook in offering among the best perfomance in read and write speeds on a laptop. Those interested in grabbing a hold of these systems won’t have to wait long, they are ready to purchase now; the models retail for £1600/$2000 (2.2ghz I7, 256gb storage, Intel Iris Pro) and £2000/$2499 (2.5ghz, 512gb storage, R9 370M).