Apple Releases New, “Scissored” MacBook Pro

Apple released its new MacBook Pro 16 this week. The $2,399 laptop aims at pro-type customers like video editors, game developers, and Hollywood creators.

Users can also produce pro-sounding podcasts and music using its minimal built-in microphone.

Next-generation graphics with up to 8GB of VRAM and a 64GB max memory with 6- and 8-core 9th generation processors. An 8TB of storage includes 512GB of storage with 16GB RAM.

At max capacity, the price exceeds $6,000.

The new laptop includes a 16-inch Retina display at nearly 6 million pixels. The package is almost the same size as its predecessor, the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

Apple claims the new addition has a bigger battery with 11 hours of wireless web browsing between charges. This is an hour more than the previous laptop.

The new MacBook Pro also now has a physical ESC key, unlike how its predecessors had it in Apple’s Touch Bar.

Users will not find the laptop’s notorious butterfly keyboard and will use the “Magic Keyboard” derived from the iMac Pro instead. The laptop will change back into the old-fashioned scissor mechanism instead.

The company said the new Mac Pro could offer pro customers “the best notebook keyboard ever.”

The tech giant offered an immediate sale up to $350 off its original price. The new edition features some tweak-friendly configurations consumers can adjust in Expercom, an Apple Premier Partner.

Bye-Bye, Butterfly?

While the thinner, travel-safe butterfly keys offered a much sleeker look to the MacBook, it’s also prone to dirt. As a result, the keys are harder to press and could skip or repeat keystrokes.

MacBooks, from 2015 to 2018, are all reportedly vulnerable to these issues. Meanwhile, the MacBook Pro 16 has a traditional “scissor” keyboard, which has the butterfly’s inversed pros and cons.

A prominent Apple blogger John Gruber called the butterfly one of the worst products in the tech giant’s history. The company apologized to the customers affected by the unreliability and offered to replace defective keyboards for free.

Apple’s marketing chief Phil Schiller said Apple would continue both keyboard designs.

Apple’s Schiller Can’t Chill

Chromebooks’ parent-company Google gained an increasing share for the educational tech market with its student-friendly prices. As a result, Apple’s Phil Schiller said Chromebook laptops were only good for taking tests.

The Microsoft laptops can run both Chrome OS and Linux operating systems, unlike Apple’s close-door system. Schiller continues to be ignorant of their gaping price differences with competitors.

Instead, Schiller focused on students’ engagement, saying Chromebooks don’t offer the same “inspiration” the same way Apple does. If students don’t choose the latter, they “won’t succeed.”

After this claim and consumers’ scrutiny, Schiller said helping children succeed has “always been their mission.” He noted Google intended to help students take tests, unlike Apple’s aim to give educators the tools to learn.

Apple tried to surpass Google before, using an aggressive ad strategy for educators to use the iPad’s multimedia potential. The iPad, on paper, could be a preference for selected classroom activities with its stylus and touchscreen.

Educators still insist on using a keyboard and mouse for their daily tasks, leaning interests toward the Chromebook. The functions are used the most in education.