15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar 2016 Review

My review of Apple's new 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.

[Kitsoran]

Coming back to this half a year later and still enjoying it :3

[TitanicKiwi]

ATP listener here. I am really liking the video format. I think that YouTube sorely lacks long-form, informed and researched videos. I am kind of tired of the 3-5 minutes videos done by 15 year-old kids, I really would like to see more in-dept videos done by experts.

[asystematec]

Fantastic review! Please do more of this. The biggest thing I noticed is there are very few cuts! Other reviewers such as MKBHD have a cut after every few of sentences. Also, a lot of things you said weren't mentioned in any other reviews. Your voice is a really good addition to the YouTube review scene.

[Khakimzhan]

It is so surreal to attach the picture to your voice

[tonimilitano]

As an avid listener of the ATP podcast I was very pleased to see your articulate and thoughtful review of the current MacBook Pro (yes, Siracusa is probably right that showing various aspects of a product while doing voice over is usually preferable but that does not diminish the overall quality of your presentation). I was also struck by something you said on a recent ATP podcast which was I think particularly apt and well expressed: That a luxury product should provide the user with a "series of small delights" which made me think about the direction Apple has been heading in recent years. I have been a Mac user for quite some time and am a long time admirer of the elegance and quality of most of their devices but recently it seems that Apple has become the embodiment of that old phrase usually attributed to the Duchess of Windsor that "you can't be too rich or too thin." In Apple's case, keep sacrificing features and usability for thinness while charging prices that one has to practically be rich in order to afford. Am looking forward to more of your videos.

[spielundzeug]

Mostly agree and I do have similar issues. Battery life is a catastrophe over here. More like 4 hours on light to medium use. Adapters are not a big problem. Docking it is even easier with just one cable. The changes to the power brick are just stupid and I haven't seen a single use of the touchbar that were useful. Maybe if you don't work with shortcuts.

Oh, and great first review. Happy to see more of you in the future.

[thatnickjones]

Conclusion: it's fine. This is awesome! Please do more videos, Marco! I've always wished people in the community (like you) would do more video content. Love it!

[erikmarcus]

Man, Marco's really working below his pay grade. Here you've got one of the most accomplished and inventive developers in Mac history doing the sort of review that 1000 other people are doing for YouTube. And yet it's one of the best reviews I've seen precisely because he's so obsessed with all things Mac.

[JonathanCirillo]

A non-jumpcut-based review is so welcome, Marco. Excellent job on the first video; perhaps more time using the laptop, like the fans' noise levels and adapter use cases.

[kaysha]

So used to hear the voice that it is strange with an image lol...
Cool review. Great first review. Welcome back to youtube

[derekderekderek]

Your comments about this are the most realistic I've heard. great work! one thing that would make this a bit better to watch is a few nice product shots cut in as you're talking to demonstrate what you're saying. keep it up

[AlanGrehan]

I listened to ATP first and was expecting a disaster after listening to John! Actually that was super impressive. I couldn't disagree with John more. The style of this video suits you. Looking forward to the next one.

[morphorod]

Its so surreal. You've been a voice in my ears for years and have never seen you speak. Awesome review. Thanks. Please do more video reviews.

[AvihuTurzion]

So, first off really good video. Informative and very nice to watch. Even though I love to hear you on ATP, I was expecting to get bored half way through just because I don't usually have that much of an attention span for videos that long, and it didn't happen. It was very comfortable watching the entire video.

I have only one major issue with this video which is even 3 minutes after watching it, I don't understand what's the take away. When I watch an MKBD HD or Verge video for instance I finish the video with an actual concrete feeling about the product they just reviewed. It might be because of few summary sentences in the end, or the use of text on the video. I'm not really sure myself.

Another smaller issue is with the sound - I really enjoy watching videos at least at x1.25 speed, and for some reason your voice sounds intolerably compressed at higher playback speeds. Not sure how what causes this issue, but I don't have it with other YouTube videos.

Everything else just works for me in this video. And the video looks very nice even with you sitting in a black shirt in front of a bright window. This camera's quality is just spectacular. Honestly.

[AbdullahMohammadOzair]

Do you keep looking at your notes down to your left? May be move them in the line sight of the camera...?

Solid content otherwise.... which I consider better than having only of beauty shots of the product.

[NXIncognito]

You did great for your first review! Some things that you could improve on were discussed on ATP with your co-hosts, but they are NOT required. It's always good to have your own personal style that fits yourself best. Thank you, Marco!

[UnknownGunslinger]

I also completely disagree with John. Everyone on YouTube copies MKBHD and all those reviews are word for word identical. I hate that - I want more in-depth videos and to learn new things about the product that's being reviewed.
I like Lisa form MobileTechReview and Erica from Technology Nerd Who Likes to Film Stuff.
There is definitely space and need for in-depth reviews that don't pound the same points over and over ad nauseam but have different perspectives. Erica does in-depth screen tech analysis, Lisa compares a lot of different computers and is brilliant. Too many people on YouTube review computers from the point of Video Editors, almost no one from the perspective of a Programmer, Photographer or Artist.
My only criticism would be that you look away from the camera too often and that can be a little distracting.
Your interview with Computerphile was great, I think this channel could definitely be very good. In short #JohnWasWrong

[typingcat]

Good thing that your video does not contain loud, pointless, time-consuming intro as most other reviews have. When I saw that, all I think of is "get to the point, no one likes your loud rock music."

[mattstuehler]

Great review! Your commentary on the MacBook is obviously terrific - well reasoned, thoughtful, considered, fair, and most importantly, useful. But I'm much more impressed by the style of the review - just great. I really enjoyed watching it - your tone, style, delivery, pacing, etc. - are all excellent, especially given how new you are to this format. I miss your writing on Marco.org ENORMOUSLY, and have a hard time finding the time to listen to your podcasts, but I'm really looking forward to more videos like this!

[torb-no]

Please don’t try to go with MHKBD style videos. He’s video are great, but we already have them (and many like it), I’d much prefer you to have your own style and perspectives. I think there is room on YouTube for many different styles.

Personally I think the strength of any review (YouTube or otherwise) is that person’s unique take and perspective. For example, pretty much every one who talks about this laptop does so in terms of it’s performance as a video editing device (since that’s what YouTubers use it for), it’s nice to see someone talk about it as a developer tool instead of a editing tool. That’s a less common perspective here on YouTube and I think for some people a very welcome one.

I don’t mind that your longwinded or go deep into certain points, but I do think you could easily cut down on repetition without cutting down on depth (in terms of information).

Good luck on future videos. I think you’re off to a pretty good start.

Also: some of my favourite YouTube-channels that have pets always end it with short clips of that pet. Yes, it’s maybe a bit cheap, but I really like it.