Apple MacBook Pro 13 (Late 2016, 2 GHz i5, without Touch Bar) Laptop Review

[Redaktion]

Live-Review // Brilliant, even without Touch? The new MacBook Pro laptops have arrived. The most striking new feature: a Touch Bar instead of function keys. Apple still offers a model without this novelty, and wants to target the "entry-level sector" – price: 1699 Euros ($1499). We already have a device in our editorial office and will share our results in this live review.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple-MacBook-Pro-13-Late-2016-2-GHz-i5-without-Touch-Bar-Laptop-Review.182374.0.html

[Douglas]

Louis Rossman found a bug where wi-fi wouldn't work when a USB-C/HDMI dongle is being used. Can you confirm?

[bmakszim]

Does it still have optical digital audio output throught the 3.5mm jack? I coultn't find any information about it on the Apple website.

[serik]

your review sounds as an excuse. screen is the same (but good tho), noise and heat is same, performance bearly increased by 3-5% (not even in comparsion list)... witcher with 20 fps beaten everything? really? keyboards was always awful on "pro"s .. i bet battery life is increased?. for 1700 euros (almost $1900)? sorry, but there are much better alternatives for that money.   now score it 99% and i believe this is my last read of your "high-detailed" reviews

[Theodor]

Then go buy alternative, you opinion is useless.

[Nitesh]

The Macbook Air is beating it in PCMark 8? Isn't that rather odd, given it has an older processor design and no higher of a TDP, and much slower storage?

And the 2200MB/s read speed is lower than the nearer to 3000MB/s some other sites showed, is there an SSD lottery again?

[Klaus Hinum]

We also head 3000 MB/s on a newer CDM (see imbedded screenshot), we use the older 3.0 version as we got lots of comparison scores and performance depends largely on the used data that is used for the test.
The PCMark 8 scores also get worse with higher resolution, thats why the Air is leading the pack as it has no high resolution (Retina) display.

[senzen]

Well on its way to another useful, thorough review; a comparison of typing experiences would be very appreciated, to go beyond the usual "you might get used to it", this is what kills it for me, as well as the miserable ports; a comparison with the Thinkpad X1 Yoga Oled display would also clarify things for people who want the best.

It's 2016 and there are still people confusing a System with Hardware, MacOS brings value to the table in itself, the greatest hardware is irrelevant when held together by Windaz and flaky drivers. The best Mac option remains the previous gen retina Macbook Pro. That X1 Yoga with Linux might currently be the best of the best.

[Klaus Hinum]

Up to now I do like the typing comfort of the new keyboard quite a lot. The first hours with it I was not sure if I like it and a bit slower than with the old keyboard, but now the old one feels inaccurate in comparison. Still want to use it a bit more before writing the final comment on it. But definitely no deal breaker for me, but also a bit of a initial phase you have to overcome.

Regarding the USB-C / Wifi bug, with our accessory (Kensington Hub, Anker Hub, cheap Type A dongle) we did not experience any issues so far, still looking into it.

[Plast]

Can You please test Blizzard games that support Metal API under macOS and than compare results with the same games on BootCamp?

[Will]

Thanks for this thorough review!  The details are worth the time to read, and I particularly like your dimensional footprint—I wish more sites would consider doing so; this is very important for those of us with limited desk space!

Hope you'll do a across-the-range benchmarking comparison between the MBP 13 (no-touchbar) and the touchbar models when available.

Question: Is is really possible to charge the MBP with the Anker PowerCore+?  How much of the battery does a full MBP charge take?  This could really give me greater flexibility on weekend trips!

[Klaus Hinum]

Yes, its possible to charge the laptop with the PowerCore+, but I have not yet tested how often you can charge the device. Theoretically with some loss it should be 1.5x times or so (as the PowerCore+ 26800 offers 96.48 Wh and the entry MacBook Pro stores up to 54 Wh).

[Buzz11]

That display is quantum dot with blue leds? Measurments of contrast are done on maximum brightnes?

[Long time reader]

These live review are awesome. You can read the review before its finish
Please. Do it more.

[Another long time reader]

Thank you for this review, it's a very good read.
Since revealed at the Apple event, this machine has been criticized a lot. However, I don't think it is because this is a poorly machine; in fact, this is one of the best quality product out there. It is the lack of creativity compared to what Microsoft has been doing lately, and the full adoption of the USB-C without any transition phase provoke the most loyal fans. The building quality and design of this machine is still top-notch.
Yet I still won't consider getting a macbook, no matter this base MBP, the one with touch bar, or the Macbook because of how clueless Tim Cook is regarding developing the roadmap of a company. I cannot see any vision in his product line management, and his presentation always bored me.
Microsoft may have some bugs and defects in their product, but Satya Nadella is clearly the better leader, and MS will keep going uphill while Apple may start to stagnate..