CultCast #345 - 2018 MacBook Pro: The good, the great, the UGLY‪.‬ The CultCast

This week:
The 2018 MacBook Pro is both a beauty AND a beast.  In fact, it's one of the most exciting MBP refreshes in years.  The benchmarks are in and they’re impressive. 
A popular tech reviewer warns that the i9 processor upgrade in the MBP has a major flaw, and his video proof is compelling.  We’ll fill you in.
We also bring back Matthew Taylor, creator of the very popular butterfly keyboard recall petition, now with over 32,000 signatures,  to have a frank discussion on the state of the 2018 MBP keyboard.  Has Apple fixed the issues plaguing their butterfly key design?  
And stay tuned for a strange new HomeKit controller and the best insulated water bottle on the market in an all-new Under Review!
 
This episode supported by
 
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Thanks to Kevin McLeodfor the music you hear on today’s episode.
 
On the show this week
@erfon / @lkahney / @lewiswallace
 
 
2018 MacBook Pro performance shows dramatic improvement
https://www.cultofmac.com/562621/2018-macbook-pro-performance-geekbench-scores-benchmark/
The 15- and 13-inch MacBook Pro models launching this week boast significantly faster processors. Tests with the Geekbench benchmarking tool show speed increases as high as 86 percent.
The improvements come from faster Turbo Burst frequencies and more processor cores.
“For the 15-inch models, single-core performance is up 12-15%, and multi-core performance is up 39-46%
“For the 13-inch models, single-core performance is up 3%-11%, and multi-core performance is up 81%-86%
 
2018 MacBook Pro review roundup: Apple unleashes a speed demon
https://www.cultofmac.com/562925/2018-macbook-pro-review-roundup/
Majorly faster CPU
Much faster SSDs
Faster DD4 RAM
CPU:
John Poole from Geekbench: “The 2018 MacBook Pro is the most substantial upgrade (at least regarding performance) since the introduction of the quad-core processors in 2011 MacBook Pro,” 
Photography Austin Mann did to covert a 4K Mavic Pro video file to 1080p H.265 (HEVC) using QuickTime Player. 
2013 MBP with 16GB RAM = 33 minutes
Maxed out 2016 MBP = 99 seconds
Maxed out 2018 MBP = 24 seconds
SSD
Laptop Mag: “It’s rare that I don’t believe the results coming out of our lab, but in this case I had to do a double take,” explains Mark. It took the system just 2 seconds to duplicate 4.97GB worth of files, which translates to 2,519 megabytes per second
TrueTone:
TechCrunch: “I have two 15-inch MacBooks in front of me right now (that’s just how I roll), and it’s like night and day. You’ve got no idea how blue the screen you’ve been staring at is until you see it up against another True Tone-enabled display.”
The most expensive laps Apple’s ever made.
 
 
Teardown reveals MacBook Pro keyboard is redesigned to prevent keys sticking
https://www.cultofmac.com/562605/teardown-reveals-macbook-pro-keyboard-is-redesigned-to-prevent-keys-sticking/
Apple made potential buyers of the new MacBook Pro models very nervous when it said no effort had been made to fix the problems plaguing the keyboards in earlier versions.
They even told the Verge that, though it made the Keyboard quieter, the keyboard was constructed to address the myriad issues they say are affecting only “a tiny" fraction of users.
But, IFIXIT took apart they keyboard of the new 2018 MacBook Pro, and discovered  “Apple has cocooned their butterfly switches in a thin, silicone barrier”
And as it turns out, Apple has a patent for just this kind of debris cover...
 
 
Beware serious thermal