Apple’s new MacBooks to cost as much as Rs1.3 lakh

Apple, which saw a waning demand for its iPhones, on Thursday launched an upgraded MacBook along with a new TV app for iPhone, Apple TV and iPad along with a new version of the Final Cut Pro.

The new MacBook Pro comes with fingerprint reader, which replaces function keys with a small touch screen and at a price starting from $1,499 at the lowest end.

This could perhaps be the first time in several years that Apple, which has been focused on the iPhone, has thought of redesigning the MacBook.

Tim Cook, who announced the launch of new MacBook Pro, said that it was on 25 October 1991 that Apple had launched its first notebook.

Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of global marketing, who introduced the new MacBook Pro said, ''It has a whole new design. The new MacBook Pro features Apple's brightest and most colourful Retina display yet, the security and convenience of Touch ID, a more responsive keyboard, a larger Force Touch trackpad and an audio system with double the dynamic range. It's also the most powerful MacBook Pro ever, featuring sixth-generation quad-core and dual-core processors, up to 2.3 times the graphics performance over the previous generation, super-fast SSDs and up to four Thunderbolt 3 ports,'' adding that it is 14.9 mm thin and 23 per cent smaller in volume.

While the 13-inch MacBook Pro starts Rs129,900 and features a 2.0 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.1 GHz, 8GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage, the 13-inch Pro with the Touch Bar starts at Rs1,55,900 and features a 2.9 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.3 GHz, 8GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage.

The 15-inch MacBook Pro starts at Rs2,05,900 and features a 2.6 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.5 GHz, 16GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage. The 15-inch, which will also come with the Touch Bar and Touch Id, will ship in two to three weeks, Apple said in a statement.

Schiller also showcased the Touch ID, which can be used to fast switch between user profiles on the new MacBook Pro. The Touch Bar can be customised to create own set of tools for different softwares such as Microsoft Office, mail, photo or video editing softwares.

Apple also showcased that DJs can play on the new Pro too. The new Touch Bar replaces the function keys and comes with system controls and Siri as well.

The Cupertino-headquartered company also introduced the new TV app, offering a unified experience for discovering and accessing TV shows and movies from multiple apps on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad.

''Using apps on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad has become the primary way for so many of us to watch television,'' said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. ''The TV app shows you what to watch next and easily discover TV shows and movies from many apps in a single place.''

The new app has features like Watch Now and the Up Next features. ''With Watch Now, viewers will see their collection of available shows and movies from iTunes and apps. From Watch Now, viewers can then go to Up Next or Recommended to choose what to watch. Users can enjoy the shows and movies they are currently watching, including recent iTunes rentals and purchases - all presented in the order they are most likely to watch first,'' an Apple spokesperson said adding that the new app will also recommend movies and shows to users.

Cook also showcased a new kind of interactive app on Apple TV and revealed that currently Apple has over 8,000 apps and 2,000 games on the platform with Minecraft to hit the store soon.

The company also introduced a new version of its video editing software Final Cut Pro 10.3. The app will be available as a free update starting Thursday for existing users, and new users will have to purchase it for Rs18,500. Motion 5.3 and Compressor 4.3 will also be available as a free update for existing users, and Apple will charge Rs3,100 each for new users on the Mac App Store.

Cook during the launches also mentioned that the iPhone 7 had seen a lot of traction among users along with the iOS 10. ''Nearly 60 per cent of our customer base has updated to the new OS,'' he said, adding that the newly launched Apple Watch Series 2 has held in high regards by reviewers.