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Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

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141–150 of 224 posts

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#141
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your argument consists of "people who don't work like I do are wrong" and you imply they should pay the price... for using a key that's been ubiquitous since the beginning of computing time.

You could say the same thing for removing serial ports, or floppy drives, or CD drives. People used them when Apple got rid of them. People whined. Apple still did it. We don't miss them anymore. Its possible Apple could go too far, but I don't think its fair to say Apple did anything wrong _yet_. They're always early on removing this stuff, but they've never been wrong. Literally never.

Ooh, there's a reference to floppy drives. Apple distortion reality bingo hit!

I miss my CD drive. On a almost daily basis. USB drive to the rescue, oh, wait. Serial ports are fantastic for interfacing with low level electronics. USB dongle for, oh, wait.

> but they've never been wrong. Literally never.

Riiight. That's why they sell so many dongles which replace all of these missing parts.

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#142
post #46
post #24

It's pretty bad. We use YubiKeys a lot, and there are no ports for them. So sad. Also: Magsafe is great (it's saved my bacon a few times). Gone. ESC key, gone. Don't know about the keyboard yet, but everything I've read doesn't point to it being decent. Probably not buying this generation of MacBooks. Might just bite the bullet and finally go to Linux on some decent hardware. So, what's a decent laptop for running Li…

I really don't understand why everybody seems to think the Escape key is so important. I almost never hit mine, and since the Touch Bar has a virtual escape key, I don't really see the problem. The best I can figure is everybody complaining is a Vim user, but if you're a Vim user I don't know why you haven't already replaced the cumbersome Escape key with something easier, like binding `jk`, or binding Caps Lock to C…

They are releasing a new model with normal top row keys too.

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#143

Recently bought a Macbook Pro Retina (3 months ago), the charging cable is already dying and the ethernet - usb adapter they provide is utter crap. Each of those cost an arm and honestly, maintenance costs isn't something I factored in when I bought this 1800$ laptop. All around, the laptop is OK but not great. That experience really contrasts the very positive one I had five years ago. What went wrong? How can basic…

> Did they fire the wrong guy?

No, the wrong guy died.

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pay what price, though? That's the question I'm asking. What the heck are people using the Escape key for that's so important that they can't tolerate having to tap the Touch Bar instead of having a physical key? As for ubiquity, that doesn't mean anything. Just because we've had something for a long time doesn't mean we need to keep having it. For example, my current physical keyboard has no Insert key, but that's a…

Says the emacs user.

I'm a Vim user. And as I implied in my original comment, I have `jk` bound to Escape, and if I'm ssh'd into a machine without my config, since I have Caps Lock bound to Control, it's still easier to hit Control-[ than it is to hit the Escape key.

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I come from a similar background but I started to feel this way a bit sooner, near the beginning of this year, when I realized that almost all of Apple's computers were 2-3 years out of date. The Mac Pro hasn't been updated in any way since 2013. The Mac Mini is almost as old. They used to do "silent speed bumps" all the time to keep up with technology advances without the needless expense and effort to redesign ever…

I held out hope for this reveal. Did I mention that I'm tremendously disappointed?

I think since I came to our shared conclusion sooner, I did not hold out hope, as it was replaced by cynicism.

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#146
post #34

MagSafe was one of my favorite things about Apple laptops. I'm sorry to see that go.

Yeah. This is a MAJOR regression in quality.

What in particular? Reviews on Amazon are mixed. 3.3/5 stars with 88 reviews. Looks like complaints are a mix of:

- weak magnets

- cosmetic (black, thicker, stiffer cable, bulky connector)

Does this square with your experience?

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#147
post #31

Looks like apple is indeed going all-in on USB-C. What's interesting is: > People won’t even be able to physically connect their iPhones to Apple’s flagship laptops without a $25 new cord. I wonder if this means that Apple's going to switch the iPhone and iPad over to USB-C? It'd be a pain for everybody invested in Lightning ports, but Android phones seem to be slowly converging on it. It'd be pretty cool if USB-C be…

> People won’t even be able to physically connect their iPhones to Apple’s flagship laptops without a $25 new cord.

Amazon and Monoprice have USB-A to C dongles for about $8. They're nice and small, too.

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#148

So who is making good laptops that run Linux well these days?

Dell. The Dell XPS 13 is the best line of laptops I've owned. They come with Linux preinstalled, and all the drivers that they write to support the hardware are pushed upstream to the kernel, so you can run whatever distro you want.

I've been eyeing one of these off and now they have a higher specification developer edition, I think it's game off.

Been wanting to move back to Linux for a while now anyway.

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#149
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a hard time believing that you're an iOS developer, given that you don't know it's called "iOS" and not "IOS", or that you think the desktop is called an "Imac". In any case, as an iOS developer, the new MBP actually looks really great. The only issue is the need to buy a $25 cable to plug my iOS device into the computer, but if I can afford to buy a brand new computer to work with my pretty new iPhone 7, I ca…

I call my windows desktop a desktop and an Imac desktop an Imac or 'imac' because that's how I make the distinction because I have used Windows for the majority of my life, don't care as long as people know what I mean when Im saying something. Im not some elitist 'iOS' developer, I don't even put 'iOS' first on my CV yet I enjoy it and even had put out an app related to a hobby as a CV filler and for the fun of it.…

> Im not some elitist 'iOS' developer

...huh? If you develop for iOS, you're an iOS developer. Where does elitism come in?

As for the computer, I wasn't complaining that you didn't call it a "desktop", I was trying to point out that the computer is called an iMac, not an Imac. Do you also call your iOS device an Iphone? And do you call Xcode xCode? These kinds of careless mis-capitalizations are a strong sign that you don't actually do much with the platform. And if you're not a serious iOS developer, then why are you trying to argue that the new computer isn't good for iOS developers?

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#150
post #137
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that im prohibited from developing, its that the value proposition of a macbook pro is going down and I have no other option other than a macbook pro, all these changes are detrimental to me and I have no alternative. Can't use (now) old magsafe, can't simply connect hdmi to current screen without an adaptor, yubikey will be useless and will need a replacement, adaptor for headphones because I use hd598s and…

What's your current set up? Is there something about what you're using now that prevents you from continuing to use it going forward?

Macbook pro (2014) and a windows desktop.

3 screens.

usually connect 2 screens to my macbook (hdmi & display port) along with my k70 keyboard and my g600 mouse.

Im mainly good, I keep my F keys when im at my desk, only when im mobile and about they go and never done any heavy lifting through that way.

I don't understand how people are treating this as if im the grim reaper taking a swing at the macbook pro 2016.

It's just many different annoying things that I don't see the positive side to losing, can someone point to the positive side?

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