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The 1,299 12-inch MacBook and 999 13-inch MacBook Air have been updated with faster, more powerful Intel processors.

Otherwise, aside from a RAM bump here and a slight price drop there, the 2017 batch is very similar to the one from 2016, with the same enclosures, ports, trackpads and screens.

Also note that the 13-inch MacBook Pro from 2015 has been discontinued, though the 1,999 15-inch model from that year, reviewed in full below, remains available for those who want all the ports and fewer dongles.

Each year brings a handful of tweaks and updates, typically only to internal components, from better hard drives to faster Wi-Fi to new processors.

Its only because both the Air and Pro designs were so far ahead of the curve when first introduced that these laptops still look so up-to-date.

Pro 2015 Ports Portable That Was

That clickless touchpad, which uses four sensors and some haptic feedback rather than a traditional hinge, was one of the highlights of the new 12-inch MacBook, a low-power, 2-pound ultraportable that was Apples sole new laptop design in years.

The 15-inch Pro gets the Force Touch trackpad, and a faster solid-state hard drive, plus updated graphics in the form of an AMD Radeon R9 M370X GPU.

But arguably the most important component upgrade is missing, as the Core i7 CPU here is the same as last years model (the fifth-gen Core i7 chips from Intel are only starting to trickle out now).

Despite the lack of major changes, the 15-inch MacBook Pro remains Apples biggest and most powerful laptop, and a great all day, everyday productivity machine, especially if you need the extra GPU power for photo or video work, or the generous screen real estate the 15-inch Retina panel provides.

That makes this a major investment, especially compared with the 13-inch Pro, which can be had for as little as 1,299 (999, AU1,799).

Unless you specifically need the size, power or features of the 15-inch MacBook Pro, that 13-inch model is our current pick for the most universally useful all-around MacBook.

Aside from being a year older, most of our impressions about the design of the last several iterations of this laptop remain the same.

The 15-inch MacBook Pro is slim, but with a wide desktop footprint.

Pro 2015 Ports Free Aluminum Construction

Especially compared with newer, lighter laptops, it feels denser than it looks at first glance, but with that comes a certain sense of indestructibility, thanks to the flex-free aluminum construction.

Its not a carry-all-day-every-day package, although one could tote it around to and from work, or on the occasional day trip without much trouble.

Other laptops have matched, but not surpassed, the backlit Apple keyboard, with the possible exception of Lenovo, a company that invests heavily in keyboard design and development.

Already available in the 12-inch MacBook and the 13-inch MacBook Pro, the Force Touch trackpad eliminates the top hinge that previously required you to physically depress the glass top of the pad, usually from somewhere on the lower half to register properly.

Instead, the new pad places four sensors under the pad, one under each corner.

This replaces a design some describe as a diving board with one thats a simple, flat surface.

With the 2019 revision, Ive finally run out things to complain.

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Mac Pro 2015 Ports