Review: new MacBook Pro great for average consumer, but not power users

The techies’ gripes about Apple’s latest laptop lacking an SD card reader and the right ports are justified if you’re a heavy user. For the rest of us, this is the machine to get for surfing the web, consuming media and touch screen emojis

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Apple’s new MacBook Pro - not for everyone, but it has some great features.

Published: 6:33am, 19 Nov 2016Updated: 6:33am, 19 Nov 2016

The new MacBook Pro has been a long time coming. It’s been over four years since its last significant update. The latest model of the Apple laptop is slimmer, more powerful, and downright attractive. But the real story is the impressive new Touch Bar, a touch screen at the top of the keyboard that replaces the traditional function keys in favour of digital keys that change depending on the app you’re using.

The Touch Bar

The Touch Bar has a unique design that's cleverly executed. This isn’t a bright, glowing screen like the one on your iPhone. Instead, Apple gave the glass strip a matte finish that blends right into the laptop’s physical keys. The digital function keys (and emojis) look as if they were painted on the surface. The photos don’t do it justice. It really is impressive in person.

In addition to all the standard function keys like volume control and screen brightness, there’s a dedicated button that activates Siri and plenty of room to add your own customised function keys for the stuff you do the most.

The Touch Bar on the new MacBooks replace the traditional command keys at the top of keyboards.

But the real benefit comes from the Touch Bar’s intelligence that adapts to whatever app you’re using. It works with all of the Apple apps that ship with the MacBook, plus a few third-party apps like PhotoShop and Microsoft Office. Other app makers just got their hands on the tools they need to make their programs compatible with the Touch Bar, so expect even more support soon.

Design and performance