Apple now offers an eight-core MacBook Pro to its range, the first time the company has added such a powerful processor in its notebook. The updated MacBook Pro uses Intel's 8th and 9th Generation chips, for up to twice the performance compared to quad-core models.
This update means that up to 75% faster application of complex filters and edits in Photoshop can be expected, according to Apple itself. The six-core MacBook Pro, meanwhile, gets 40% more performance from these new models.
The new processors will power the 15-inch MacBook Pro, supporting Turbo Boost Speeds of up to 5.0 GHz. As for the 13-inch MacBook Pro, it can have faster quad-core chips, which offer Turbo Boost of up to 4.7 GHz.
The 13-inch Touch Bar models are also getting a boost: the base model now comes with a 2.4GHz 8th Gen quad-core i5 processor that can boost to 4.1GHz. (For comparison, last year's entry-level option was a 2.3GHz 8th Gen quad-core i5 processor that could boost to 3.8GHz.) There's a new top configuration as well that features a quad-core i7 processor, which can reach boosted speeds up to 4.7GHz.
Other specs are to remain as is, however. That means the MacBook Pro still has the usual Thunderbolt 3 ports for connectivity and a standard SSD storage. The Force Touch trackpad isn't changing, as well as well as the P3 wide color gamut support, True Tone automatic color tone adjustment based on the lighting conditions of the surroundings, and the usual Retina display with its 500 nits of brightness.
Another change coming to the MacBook Pro is lightly updated keyboard. According to Apple, it's now designing a part of the mechanism with new material, reducing some problems that users have been complaining about. It looks practically the same as the third-gen keyboard that was used on the 2018 MacBook Air and MacBook Pros.
Apple notes that the keyboard changes are "under the hood," which means the new design doesn't change the feel or look of the keyboard and should still produce the same typing experience as current gen keyboards.
The new changes, as with the 2018 MacBook Pro upgrade, are only implemented on Apple's Touch Bar models. Expect the 13-inch MacBook Pro sans a Touch Bar, which is also called MacBook Escape, to be exactly the same. No changes are to be made on the second-gen keyboard and dual-core 7th Gen Intel chips it had since 2017.
