Apple refreshes MacBook Pro with an OLED touch bar

Not really a big surprise but the only product announcement at Apple's event today was the new MacBook Pro lineup, which features a Touch Bar and a fingerprint scanner right on top of the keyboard.

The new models are thinner, more compact and less heavy than before, and feature a brighter display with up to 500 nits of brightness. The Force Touchpad is twice as large as before, the keyboard features a second-generation Butterfly mechanism and you get Thunderbolt 3/USB Type-C ports, which are also used to charge the laptop because Apple ditched its traditional MagSafe connector. If you need a traditional USB port, perhaps to charge your brand new iPhone, you're out of luck. Apple is basically forcing you to buy an adapter.

Unfortunately, because the desired Kaby Lake CPUs from Intel aren't available yet, Apple had to stick with the Intel Skylake lineup. The base versions feature integrated graphics while the more expensive models feature Polaris-based AMD Radeon Pro video cards, but even the maxed-out model features just a Radeon Pro 455.

The new MacBook Pro is offered in 13" and 15" versions. Pricing starts at $1,499 for the most basic 13" MacBook Pro without Touch Bar, which is designed to replace the MacBook Air. The 13" models with Touch Bar will cost you at least $1,799 and pricing of the 15" lineup starts at $2,399. The non-Touch Bar model ships immediately, while the Touch Bar models are expected by mid-November.

The video below showcases the highlights and reveals some practical uses for the OLED Touch Bar.