MacBook Pro • Hacker News Board

Re: MacBook Pro

#561

Post by pritambaral » Thu, Oct 27, 2016, 7:50 PM UTC

massysett wrote: post #449

dguaraglia wrote: post #410

As a heavy Vim user, this might be my last Apple development machine. I can always remap Caps Lock to Esc, but years of muscle memory > a flashy feature I have little use for. There's nothing I'd pay extra for in this new machine: touchbar is a meh, biometric authentication has been around since ~2005, the hardware specs are finally catching up with what everyone else has been shipping for a couple years, the new key…

Linux is not bad. But nobody is making decent Linux hardware, and the instant you slap Linux onto a Windows machine, battery life plummets. My days buying Windows machines and struggling to get Linux on them are over. I'd rather buy a Mac and get a Unix I can use without having to install it. Is anyone actually selling a decent preinstalled Linux laptop? If I really wanted to use Linux I would rather buy a Windows la…

ThinkPads have always run Linux well. Dell makes laptops with Linux pre-installed, some explicitly for developers, even going so far as to make the manufacturer of some components (touchpad, IIRC) build and upstream Linux drivers.

Re: MacBook Pro

#562

Post by justanton » Thu, Oct 27, 2016, 7:51 PM UTC

MiguelHudnandez wrote: post #496

justanton wrote: post #292

Apple is being run more and more by marketers, rather than by techies. As a developer, I don't want to see "emojis" on my keyboard, but I do want to be able to plug in any device I need in that exact moment, without looking for a right dongle. Apple needs to stop sacrificing usability for "looks".

Emojis: I'm with you. This seems dumb but I'm optimistic that people will find clever ways to use the screen. Even if it's just pushing away moronic "toast" style notifications off the important real-estate. USB / dongles: In two years, almost all peripherals will be USB-C and C-to-A adapters will be tiny and cheap. USB-C will be the new Thunderbolt and it'll end up being more convenient. I'm looking forward to shari…

> Tiny and cheap

Like 59 € cheap? For a thunderbolt 3 to thunderbolt 2 adapter. (I live in Europe, hence price in euros).

source: apple store europe

Re: MacBook Pro

#563

Post by ncallaway » Thu, Oct 27, 2016, 7:51 PM UTC

bluthru wrote: post #468

agentgt wrote: post #313

"We took that track pad that your palms occasional rub against and accidentally move your cursor.... yeah we took that and made it extra big so your wrists will now participate in cursor screw ups"... think different.

Obviously software ignores those touches.

Sometimes! My current MBP misclicks occasionally when I'm typing. Even though the software is probably quite good and preventing 99% of the misclicks, the 1% of the time it occurs still ends up being a couple of times per session. It's frustrating and annoying.

Unless they have significantly improved their software, this is a net-negative change for me.

Re: MacBook Pro

#564

Post by mixedCase » Thu, Oct 27, 2016, 7:52 PM UTC

mi100hael wrote: post #442

ynniv wrote: post #143

Apple has replaced the MacBook Pro with a faster MacBook Air labeled "Pro". I have no idea how they could think that professionals would use a MacBook Air (no ports, shallow keyboard, no expansion, no innovative features, marginally lighter). A tiny ribbon display is completely useless to me. They removed the escape key. Twenty years of using Macs and I'm not sure what my next laptop is going to be.

I was in the same boat about six months ago when I was fed up with instability in OS X. Time Machine backups getting corrupted, not waking from sleep, etc. I switched to a Dell M5510 running Linux and haven't looked back. Battery life isn't as good, but otherwise it's been great. Touch screen works fine, trackpad clicks a little heavy but works fine, all the standard ports and an included network dongle, Libre Office…

>trackpad clicks a little heavy

Don't like tap to click? Libinput supports it, I thought it was the default on all distros even.

Re: MacBook Pro

#565

Post by ghshephard » Thu, Oct 27, 2016, 7:52 PM UTC

douche wrote: post #418

rayiner wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Microsoft really hit it out of the park yesterday. Did we watch the same event? Microsoft introduced a $3,000 desktop PC in an era when nobody uses desktops anymore. It introduced a minor update to the Surface Book that starts at $2,300 with dual-core CPU, only 8GB of RAM, and last-gen graphics hardware. For the same price as the new Surface Book i7, I can get an MBP 15" with bigger screen, twice the RAM, and a qua…

I'll take my desktops for doing real work. I don't know any laptop that can drive four and five screen setups and an area about 4' x 3' of display area. The laptop is fine for fooling around, or "working" from home on the couch, but I'd lose my mind trying to do anything that small a screen, that few pixels, and a cramped, irregular keyboard with no travel. Plus trackpads. Fuck trackpads.

We have about 150+ engineers with Macs - and precisely zero of them asked for a desktop versus a MacBook Pro. Consider the possibility that your statement, "The laptop is fine for fooling around" is a fairly personal experience that isn't necessarily representative of the broad population.

Re: MacBook Pro

#566

Post by maxxxxx » Thu, Oct 27, 2016, 7:52 PM UTC

I switched from Windows to Mac two years ago and I am really happy with my MBP 13". But this new announcement is pretty underwhelming. 16GB max RAM, more expensive, no touch screen, nothing new and interesting, but a need for even more adapter cables. But it's really thin!

I am not sure what I'll do when my current Macbook breaks down.

Re: MacBook Pro

#567

Post by pritambaral » Thu, Oct 27, 2016, 7:52 PM UTC

claudiug wrote: post #489

given the new mac book pro, genuine question: What is the best linux notebook that close the gap with macbook pro?

Dell XPS Developer Editions and ThinkPad workstations. No single specific model counts as a Macbook replacement. You have to choose. (Which isn't bad.)

Re: MacBook Pro

#568

Post by finstell » Thu, Oct 27, 2016, 7:52 PM UTC

I guess, that's the end of it. Hereby, my love relation will die when my early 2015 Macbook Pro dies. There is absolutely no reason I'd update. Nil. What kind of "pro" would care about a touch bar? It's merely a toy. More often than not, these machines are attached to larger screens. It's not even going to be used much even if you wanted to. It's stuck with a 16GB RAM. If I buy it now, then I will be stuck with a 16GB RAM laptop for several years. The only thing I can appreciate is it's lighter now, but then I need to carry all the adaptors for HDMI, SD cards, USB devices. I wonder if it would feel lighter or a headache to travel with the new MacBook pro. To sum up it up, I would not consider to replace my 2015 Macbook Pro to a new one even it's for free. What was needed a lighter, more powerful "pro" computer with more battery juice maybe. What we get instead? How am I supposed to benefit from this? Will being able to select emojis from the touch bar increase my productivity?

Re: MacBook Pro

#569

Post by gchokov » Thu, Oct 27, 2016, 7:53 PM UTC

I for one like what I see.

I currently have 2012 rMBP and love the form factor, love the material. Why would I want something different from what I really like already? I am sure the display will be a lot better, but here, nobody talks about it.

I totally agree that functional keys take too much time and there are some I never ever use. Can't wait to jump on the new MacBook. I'll be more than happy if it lasts me nearly 5 years again.

I don't understand all the negativity recently here on HN. Do you try to look cool guys? Go get MSFT book and leave the rest of us to use what we already love, but better one.

Re: MacBook Pro

#570

Post by wineisfine » Thu, Oct 27, 2016, 7:53 PM UTC

FireBeyond wrote: post #234

npgatech wrote: post #165

This event was by far the most disappointing Mac event in the history. A lot of the time was wasted in: - Mildly funny jokes and comparison with 90's technology. - 90% of the talk was about the touch bar. - Awful demos of Photoshop & some cringy DJ. I was hoping we would see: - A new MacBook with all day battery life and touch bar, even thinner design. Ok, I understand that they are trying to consolidate their produc…

16GB max. No iMac update. No Mac Pro update. Buyer's Guide on MacRumors now: "iMac: Might as well buy. Nothing on the horizon." "Mac Pro: Buy. If you like paying 2013 prices for 2013 hardware."

What I absolutely do not comprehend: is it so difficult to upgrade the Mac Pro's? Isn't it a matter of just adding more powerful hardware to it?

Like I did myself back in the days, when I built my own PCs. But then in mass production?

It just feels lazy from Apple.