Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.9 GHz, 560X)
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Price comparison
Average of 15 scores (from 21 reviews)
Reviews for the Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.9 GHz, 560X)
Source: Laptop Mag
Archive.org versionThe 15-inch MacBook Pro is one of the most powerful laptops we've ever seen and is worth the splurge for the most demanding creative pros.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 02/08/2019
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: It Pro
Archive.org versionApple’s latest 15in MacBook Pro is one of the best laptops we’ve ever tested, and our favourite to boot. Combining raw power with stylish portability, it’s everything you could ever want in a 15in notebook.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 12/07/2018
Rating: Total score: 100%
Source: Techradar
Archive.org versionThe MacBook Pro 2018 15-inch is a powerful pro notebook with a fantastic design. However, in its bid to appeal to the mass market, it might turn off some professionals.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 10/24/2018
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Toptenreviews
Archive.org versionIf you can spare the cash, the Core i9 benefits processor-intensive tasks, but graphics show slim improvements.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 10/15/2018
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Laptop Mag
Archive.org versionThe 15-inch MacBook Pro is one of the most powerful laptops we've ever seen and is worth the splurge for the most demanding creative pros.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 09/24/2018
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: PC Mag
Archive.org versionWith the addition of an Intel Core i9 processor, the sleek 15-inch MacBook Pro is now one of the most powerful desktop-replacement laptops you can buy, making it an excellent choice for well-heeled, on-the-go creative pros.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 09/14/2018
Source: CNet
Archive.org versionHochleistung auf Spitzenlevel. Apple hat aktuell dem MacBook Pro mit 13 Zoll und 15 Zoll ein riesiges Update spendiert. Das Mac Book Pro 15 Zoll 2018 ist ein ideales Werkzeug für Kreative und Power-User. Der Rest sollte eher auf ein Update der gesamten Produktlinie warten.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 09/04/2018
Source: The Indian Express
Archive.org versionThe MacBook Pro aims to be the pinnacle of creativity, productivity and performance on a laptop. While it packs a punch with the most powerful processors, loads of really fast memory and a display that adds value to your workflow, there are small frustrations like the lack of commonly used ports. Still, for those in the Apple ecosystem this is the most powerful laptop upgrade available at the moment and hence highly recommended as your next Mac, but only if you are power user.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 09/02/2018
Rating: Total score: 90%
Source: Gadgets Now
Archive.org versionThe latest generation of MacBook devices combine power and good looks quite well. However, it's the price that might just tick a few people off. Apple has always targeted premium users and perhaps it will once gain attract them with the 2018 MacBook devices. The MacBook's pricing could be a major deterrent for first-time buyers. As for us, we used the best Apple has to offer and it's a beautiful looking laptop that is adept at handling all kinds of tasks. This year’s MacBook range starts at Rs 1,49,900 for the 13-inch devices and Rs 1,99,900 for the 15-inch devices. While the 13-inch devices don’t boast of as powerful specs as the 15-incher, but still promises to deliver good performance.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 08/30/2018
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Lowyat.net
Archive.org versionPersonally, the 15-inch MacBook Pro doesn’t quite suit my needs – the rumoured MacBook refresh is more my speed with its better portability and lower price tag. But if you’re a professional user who needs a capable mobile workstation, this MacBook Pro will serve you very well.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 08/29/2018
Source: Hardware Zone
Archive.org versionI haven’t tested the new 2018 13-inch MacBook Pro but I’m sure that it will be plenty quick thanks to new quad-core processors. Sure, bragging rights are fun but I'm not entirely convinced that the tradeoffs in cost and portability are worth it. For professionals who know what they are doing and want the very best hardware, however, this new 15-inch MacBook Pro comes highly recommended. Just make sure you have a fat wallet.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 08/19/2018
Rating: Total score: 85% price: 75% performance: 90% mobility: 80% workmanship: 85%
Source: It Pro
Archive.org versionApple’s latest 15in MacBook Pro is one of the best laptops we’ve ever tested, and our favourite to boot. Combining raw power with stylish portability, it’s everything you could ever want in a 15in notebook.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 08/07/2018
Rating: Total score: 100%
Source: Hardware Zone
Archive.org versionI haven’t tested the new 2018 13-inch MacBook Pro but I’m sure that it will be plenty quick thanks to new quad-core processors. Sure, bragging rights are fun but I'm not entirely convinced that the tradeoffs in cost and portability are worth it. For professionals who know what they are doing and want the very best hardware, however, this new 15-inch MacBook Pro comes highly recommended. Just make sure you have a fat wallet.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 08/03/2018
Rating: Total score: 85% price: 75% performance: 90% mobility: 80% workmanship: 85%
Source: Digital Arts
Archive.org versionThe new MacBook Pro is all about performance. From the outside, it’s near-identical to the previous model – not that that’s a bad thing aesthetically, but functionally the same merits and flaws abide. But as with the best of us, what matters with is what’s inside.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 08/03/2018
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Macworld.co.uk
Archive.org versionThese are the things that have stayed the same or almost the same. What has changed is that you can now get six cores and 32GB of RAM. As laptops go this is phenomenally fast, and creative professionals will find that it does not let them down. But then again, given how much it costs, it would be a scandal if it did.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 08/03/2018
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Laptop Mag
Archive.org versionThe 15-inch MacBook Pro is one of the most powerful laptops we've ever seen and is worth the splurge for the most demanding creative pros.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 07/27/2018
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: The Verge
Archive.org versionSo you have to separate what you wish Apple would do from what it has done. And after the software update, what Apple has done is deliver a very good laptop, one I think you can trust. But increasingly, it’s getting harder to love.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 07/25/2018
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Good Gear Guide
Archive.org versionI often say in laptop reviews that if you bought last year’s model, you probably won’t find the speed results compelling enough to upgrade. But this year is different for anyone who uses multi-core apps. Six processing cores is, well, better than four, and the performance boost is deeply satisfying for pro app users. You’ll find that the investment quickly pays for itself.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 07/18/2018
Foreign Reviews
Source: c't - 19/18
Single Review, , Long, Date: 09/01/2018
Source: Tweakers
NL→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 09/23/2019
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Dinside
NO→EN Archive.org versionPositive: Great built quality; big and good touchpad; nice display; high performance; long battery life. Negative: Thick frames; slow charging; high price.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 08/01/2018
Comment
Series:
The Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 is a powerful professional notebook with the brilliant design of its predecessor, aimed for business and professional power users. On the outside, the largest MacBook remains utterly unchanged. However, it is still 17 percent lighter and 14 percent thinner than its 2015 predecessor and feels as premium as ever. The laptop is also thinner than most “pro” Windows laptops with powerful processors. Thinness has become a point of contention, because it makes the laptop more complicated to cool. The unibody aluminum design mates beautifully with the glass display, touchpad, and Touch Bar with Touch-ID sensor. All 15-inch models of the MacBook Pro 2018 also feature the Touch Bar. This is a thin glass touchscreen that runs along the top of the keyboard and displays context-sensitive buttons on its 2,170 x 60 resolution screen. These buttons change depending on the application or task that users are performing, and they are designed to give quick shortcuts to help speed up the workflow. Finishing off with the screen, while it keeps the 2,880 x 1,800 resolution and 220 ppi (pixels per inch) pixel density of previous 15-inch MacBook Pros, it now also features Apple’s True Tone display technology, which debuted on the iPad Pro and also features on the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X. This technology senses the ambient light of the environment users are working in and adjusts the display so that you get a bright and vibrant image, no matter where you are working.
Just as on the 2018 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, the speakers have been updated. This is an impressive feat, since the MacBook Pro already has the best sounding speakers. As for connectivity, Thunderbolt 3 is a game-changer. Every port has sufficient bandwidth to drive a dock that supports every possible port users could want as well as a high-resolution monitor in addition to power. USB-C is here to stay on the MacBook Pro. More and more laptops are adopting the Thunderbolt/USB-C setup, because it can be used for all kinds of peripherals, from external GPUs to keyboards and mice. Apple chose to include a six-core processor in every model of the 15-inch MacBook, starting with the i7 in the base model, which already has great potential for performance, up to the latest and most powerful i9 model. Moving onto other components, the RAM has been updated from 16 GB of 2133MHz LPDDR3 to 64 GB of 2400MHz DDR4 soldered onto the motherboard. On the graphics side, both the base-model Radeon Pro 555X and top-spec Radeon Pro 560X include 4 GB of video memory. The solid state drive can be configured to a massive 4 TB, thus bringing up the price to around USD10K. The 2018 MacBook Pro reached close to 10 hours before it shut down, which is not a bad figure compared to its rivals. Nevertheless, when working on something more intensive, such as video rendering, one should expect less battery life.
Hands-on article by Jagadisa Rajarathnam
AMD Radeon RX 560X (Laptop): Renamed Radeon RX 560 with slightly altered clock speeds. Offers 1024 shader cores and a usual clock speed of 1175 - 1275 MHz.
Modern games should be playable with these graphics cards at low settings and resolutions. Casual gamers may be happy with these cards.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
i9-8950HK: On Coffee Lake architecture based processor for big and heavy laptops. Integrates six processor cores clocked at 2.9- 4.8 GHz (4.3 GHz with 6 cores) that support HyperThreading. Manufactured in an improved 14nm process (14nm++). Offers an unlocked multiplier that allows overclocking of the CPU.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
15.40":
15-inch display variants are the standard and are used for more than half of all laptops.
The reason for the popularity of mid-sized displays is that this size is reasonably easy on the eyes, often allows high resolutions and thus offers rich details on the screen, yet does not consume too much power and the devices can still be reasonably compact - simply the standard compromise.
» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.Apple: Apple is a US company founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, the company is known for its innovative products such as the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, and manufactures computers and consumer electronics as well as operating systems and application software. Apple is also a leading provider of software and services such as the App Store, iTunes and iCloud.
Apple has earned a reputation as a company that focuses on design and ease of use. As for their notebooks, they are mostly in the high-priced segment, have their own operating system, but also run Windows on the newer Macbooks.
Apple is one of the most valuable companies in the world and has a loyal following of customers and fans. The company also has a strong presence in the entertainment industry, with services like Apple Music and Apple TV+. In 2023, Apple had an approximate 8% market share of global PC sales, ranking it 4th after Lenovo, HP, and Dell.
84%: This rating is slightly above average, there are somewhat more devices with worse ratings. However, clear purchase recommendations look different.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.
