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Ask HN: Would You Upgrade to the New MacBook Pro?

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Re: Ask HN: Would You Upgrade to the New MacBook Pro?

#61

Post by tga »

No. Even if the touch bar turns out to be usable (I spend most of my time in a Linux VM, so the best I can hope for are usable virtual F-keys), it's the lack of ports that kills it for me.

I use a 2014 MBP and, on the move, I routinely use USB sticks, charge my phone, connect to HDMI displays (and the occasional VGA, for which I already have a dongle), and copy photos from SD cards. This means carrying (and not losing) 3-4 extra dongles.

I'm sure this will gradually change, but currently I have no USB-C devices whatsoever, so why would I get a machine with no other ports?

Re: Ask HN: Would You Upgrade to the New MacBook Pro?

#62

Post by krinchan »

I'm just done with Macs. Seems like I have to fight macOS more and more these days. Games are still mostly over on the Windows side due to the hardware specs.

I'm just done. I want to play my online games while I'm traveling for work. So when this late 2013 15" MacBook Pro falls out of Apple Care next year, I'll probably start looking for a PC.

Linux Mint can run just fine in a VirtualBox VM and handle all of my work needs.

EDIT: And Boot Camp's drivers are pretty crippled. Even worse, I've actually overheated my MacBook Pro several times playing games like Cave Story. Also, I'm not that big of a fan of rebooting back and forth.

I can't tell you how many times I've been playing games on the windows side and got a call from work. Sure it's 3 minutes, but it's time opening up terminals and getting situated. It's changing context from Ctrl-Whatever to Cmd-Whatever. It's just frustrating.

Re: Ask HN: Would You Upgrade to the New MacBook Pro?

#63

Post by gavanwoolery »

puls wrote: post #48
gavanwoolery wrote: post #41

There is at least one good reason to - for using a 4k display at 60hz. Very few models can do this IIRC - only the newest one with the Radeon Graphics chip can. Side note / self promo: I have the newest Macbook pro (with the aforementioned graphics chip), fully loaded which I am looking to get rid of (just dont need it as my job bought me another). Currently retails for $2700 with tax. Will sell for (name your price)…

According to Apple's support site ( https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206587 ), the range of computers that support 4K at 60 Hz is a bit bigger: - MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) - MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) - Mac Pro (Late 2013) - iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) and later - MacBook Air (Early 2015)

Good to know! I think I must have been recalling the figures for the latest pro models (2015 or 2016?) rather than all models. So, it only makes sense to get this model if you need the newest model AND 4k support :)

Re: Ask HN: Would You Upgrade to the New MacBook Pro?

#64

Post by girzel »

snowwrestler wrote: post #56
timdiller wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I continue to dislike touch-screen interfaces and would love to have a hardware smartphone keyboard back. For me that has not changed since 2007.

There are actually a few out there, like the Blackberry Priv. Curious: Have you looked at them, and if so, what kept you from getting one?

Are there any Android-compatible phones with physical keyboards? I'm also driven to mini-rage a few times a day by "typing" on glass.

Re: Ask HN: Would You Upgrade to the New MacBook Pro?

#65

Post by surds »

lucaspiller wrote: post #57

No. I do want to upgrade, my current machine (13" MacBook Air with 4GB RAM) but even the top spec'ed 15" I feel would only last a year or two before it starts to feel limited - and I can't justify spending that much if it's not going to last. I'm thinking either a Dell XPS 15" (when they refresh them with Kaby Lake) or keeping this and getting/building a powerful desktop PC.

I have a desktop as well, but with Windows. It was so much fun building a desktop after many years.

Re: Ask HN: Would You Upgrade to the New MacBook Pro?

#66

Post by marpstar »

I have the same model you do, with 256GB storage and 16GB memory. I upgraded today as I filled the 256GB storage a lot quicker that I thought I would. Freelance work has been plentiful lately, so I was inclined to splurge. I'm also interested to play with the Touch Bar APIs:

https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Us...

Re: Ask HN: Would You Upgrade to the New MacBook Pro?

#68

Post by fblanc »

fblanc wrote: post #28
Jonovono wrote: post #4

1. Dell XPS Developer edition 2. Zenbook 3. Xiomi mi notebook 4. New 13" MacBook Pro without screen 5. Refurbished 2016 Mac Air My debate.

Zenbook would be my first choice assuming Linux could run on it.

This is encouraging:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AsusZenbook

Would still have verify the specific model though.

Re: Ask HN: Would You Upgrade to the New MacBook Pro?

#69

Post by pbhowmic »

I have 2012 Macbook Pro (non-retina) & I am mostly fine with it. I bought it and the first thing I did was upgrade the RAM to 16 GB. The battery life is getting suckier on it but I I can still live with it. The loss of MagSafe is a big problem for me, it has been a life saver what with 3 young kids running around. I think it would be easier to bump up the performance on my machine by swapping the HDD with an SSD. 2012s were the last generation of MacBook Pros that can still do that.

Re: Ask HN: Would You Upgrade to the New MacBook Pro?

#70

Post by snowwrestler »

girzel wrote: post #64
snowwrestler wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are actually a few out there, like the Blackberry Priv. Curious: Have you looked at them, and if so, what kept you from getting one?

Are there any Android-compatible phones with physical keyboards? I'm also driven to mini-rage a few times a day by "typing" on glass.

The Blackberry Priv, I think.
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