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Schiller: doubling MacBook Pro RAM would’ve reduced space for batteries

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 21, 2016

Software developer Ben Slaney asked Apple via email to give a more detailed clarification as to why the new MacBook Pro does not provide a 32-gigabyte build-to-order option for power users looking to max out the RAM. He allegedly received a response from Phil Schiller, who is boss of worldwide marketing at Apple and the steward of the firm's developer relations.

Schiller's response reveals that doubling the RAM from 16 to 32 gigabytes would have required a different logic board design versus the notebook's mustache-shaped logic board, one that would have reduced space for batteries.

Three finger drag gesture via new MacBook Pro’s trackpad acting up for some users

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 9, 2023

Three finger drag, a productivity-boosting multi-touch trackpad gesture in macOS, isn't working properly for some owners of Apple's new MacBook Pro. Both 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pros have larger trackpads than their predecessors, but for many people the gesture doesn't work at all.

For others, three finger drag works only intermittently or performs erroneously when used in one of the sides of the new MacBook Pro's Force Touch trackpad.

Early MacBook Pro adopters confused by misidentified graphics in System Profiler

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 18, 2016

If you're a proud owner of a 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, you may be wondering why macOS's System Profiler application identifies the GPU as Intel Iris Pro 580 integrated graphics vs. Intel HD Graphics 530, as advertised on Tech Specs webpage.

No, Apple did not accidentally put the wrong GPU in the new MacBook Pro—a company source explains that the problem stems from an error in the System Information database causing the app to misidentify the GPU.

Teardown confirms both 13″ and 15″ Touch Bar MacBook Pros have non-removable SSDs

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 18, 2016

iFixit on Friday published its teardown analysis of the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (model number A1707), just two days after taking a peek under the hood of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. Comparing the two Touch Bar-equipped notebooks to the 13-inch MacBook Pro without Touch Bar, which iFixit also disassembled, the repair site has confirmed that only the baseline 13-incher with a standard row of function keys has a removable SSD.

How to show the storage drive icon on your Mac desktop

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated June 28, 2025

Learn how to show device icons for the internal startup drive, storage devices, volumes, and partitions on your Mac's desktop for quick access to the files within.

Check out “Bulb,” Apple’s first TV ad for the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 17, 2016

The new MacBook Pro hasn't even shipped to everyone who have pre-ordered it, but on Thursday Apple began airing its very inaugural television commercial. Aptly titled "Bulb," the video runs one minute and 37 seconds long and frames the expensive notebook as a tool "for ideas to come".

"Ideas have always pushed the world forward," Apple says in the ad. "Introducing a tool for all the ideas to come. The new MacBook Pro."

Mac Automation Product Manager Sal Soghoian leaves Apple

Cody Lee ∙ November 16, 2016

Beloved engineer and evangelist Sal Soghoian has announced that he is no longer employed by Apple. He says the move is the result of the company eliminating his position as Product Manager of Automation Technologies for "business reasons."

Soghoian is a software developer that has been at Apple since 1997. During his tenure, he advanced a wide range of user automation technologies including UNIX CLI, JavaScript, AppleScript, Automator, and scripting support for several stock apps.

How to take screenshots of the MacBook Pro Touch Bar

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

If you take screenshots on your Mac, you may wonder if macOS supports screenshotting the Touch Bar. The default Shift (⇧)-Command (⌘)-3 keyboard shortcut captures a screenshot of everything shown on the display, sans the Touch Bar.

With macOS 10.12.2, Apple has implemented a brand new shortcut specifically designed for taking screenshots of the Touch Bar.

Here's what you need to know about capturing everything that's shown on the Touch Bar as an image file on your computer. You'll also learn how to save Touch Bar screenshots to the clipboard for pasting in other apps and how to add screenshot-taking shortcuts as buttons to the Touch Bar itself.

Teardown of 13″ MacBook Pro with Touch Bar reveals “cosmetic” speaker grilles, other tidbits

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2016

After disassembling the base 13-inch MacBook Pro model without the Touch Bar, teardown wizards over at iFixit have now taken apart Apple’s Touch Bar-equipped 13-inch MacBook Pro. From the inside, it’s an entirely different computer with a totally different design that has more in common with its 15-inch brethren. Among other things, the teardown analysis has found that the external speaker grilles in the top half of the case exist mostly for “cosmetic” purposes.

That's because the improved sound is being projected from a pair of air vents on the sides of the case. By comparison, the base 13-inch MacBook Pro without the Touch Bar does push sound through the speaker grilles as it lacks the air vents.

Other differences between the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and its cheaper 13-inch variant that lacks the Touch Bar include a differently laid out internal components to make room for the Touch Bar itself which, by the way, is hard to replace.

New MacBook Pro with Touch Bar begins trickling in to select Apple stores

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2016

Just 24 hours after first shipments began arriving to customers, Apple's new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar is now available for purchase at select company-run retail stores in the U.S., China and elsewhere.

According to reports on Reddit, MacRumors, AppleInsider and other outlets, a select number of flagship Apple retail locations have received stock and are now offering limited quantities of the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.

Pixelmator for Mac gains Touch Bar and P3 color support, tabs, full Sierra compatibility & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 15, 2016

Popular Photoshop alternative Pixelmator for Mac was updated in the Mac App Store today with a bunch of new features, including support for tabbed image editing on Sierra and custom shortcuts on the new MacBook Pro's Touch Bar, universal clipboard for effortless pasting of content between devices and other Sierra-specific features. Plus, you get more than a dozen improvements like the new content-aware Smart Refine and Refine Selection tools, support for wide color images and displays and more.

Try out the new Touch Bar on any Mac with Touché

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated December 27, 2023

The Touch Bar is an exciting new feature that comes with the higher end MacBook Pro Apple unveiled last month, but you don't have to buy a new MacBook Pro to experiment with the Touch Bar resources that come baked into macOS on every Mac.

Last week we showed you a way to simulate the Touch Bar experience with a third-party app that utilizes the resources already in macOS, and now, another app called Touché is bringing a cleaner implementation of the Touch Bar simulator to all Macs.