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Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

businessinsider.com

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Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#81

Post by thought_alarm »

mmjaa wrote: post #19

I've had mine for a week now, and have been able to use it alongside my late-2014 rMBP, which has been a solid workhorse. I'm starting to notice very subtle preferences for the 2017 model creeping in - after an hour of typing, for example, going back to the old keyboard feels really, really inefficient and antiquated, and my typing rate is lower than on the new rMBP. I also really enjoy the Touchbar - it hasn't been…

How do you deal with the arrow keys?

I like the feel of the keyboard, but I found absolutely no way to orient my fingers over the arrow keys. There is no way tell whether I'm hitting the up arrow or the right shift.

As someone who works with text, it's a deal breaker for me.

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#82

Post by JimDabell »

otalp wrote: post #27
mmjaa wrote: post #19

I've had mine for a week now, and have been able to use it alongside my late-2014 rMBP, which has been a solid workhorse. I'm starting to notice very subtle preferences for the 2017 model creeping in - after an hour of typing, for example, going back to the old keyboard feels really, really inefficient and antiquated, and my typing rate is lower than on the new rMBP. I also really enjoy the Touchbar - it hasn't been…

I appreciate the fact that they made the keys on the pro much more clicker than the MacBook. The butterfly keys on them seemed unusable for serious typing, though I've only used them in stores, so perhaps it takes getting used to.

I've just switched from a 2014 MacBook Pro to a 2016 MacBook. I thought the keyboard would be a bit of a downgrade, but was willing to put up with it for the size and weight difference. After using it for a couple of weeks, the new keyboard is just fine even without the improvements they made to the Pro line. The only complaint I have is that the arrow keys aren't as distinguishable via touch as they used to be.

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#83

Post by bnycum »

alberth wrote: post #75

71.8 watt-hour: 2013 13" MacBook Pro [1] 49.2 watt-hour: 2016 13" MacBook Pro Touch [2] Why are so many people surprised that the battery life went down from ~10 hours down to ~7 hours? When the physical battery size is only ~70% of the previous model, it's no surprise the new MacBook Pro only gets ~7 hours of battery life. [1] https://support.apple.com/kb/sp691?locale=en_US [2] http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs…

Apple claims a 10 hour battery life on the 2016, and 9 hours on the 2013 for both the wireless web and iTunes playback tests. Judging by the Comsumer Reports tests though, they would get a shift of 6+ hours from test to test on the 2016 model.

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#84

Post by rayiner »

slantyyz wrote: post #69
mgkimsal wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://mashable.com/2016/11/01/macbook-pro-2017-32-gb/ https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/31/2017-macbook-pro-rumors/ http://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/31/macbooks-2017-price-cuts... "updates" say that "cannonlake" just won't be out, and there's no plans from apple on this, but this was the rumor mill a month ago. I not necessarily ruling any of this out, and we'll see in 6 months.

They can make 32GB with current chipsets but chose not to for battery life. Given the outcry, they can put less efficient RAM in a newer model. The people asking for 32GB aren't newbies and presumably are willing to pay the price in battery life in exchange for the extra RAM. If I were in the market for a new Macbook Pro (I'm not), I'd be willing to make the sacrifice in battery life for the extra RAM, because I woul…

> If I were in the market for a new Macbook Pro (I'm not), I'd be willing to make the sacrifice in battery life for the extra RAM, because I would try to make the MBP last for at least 5 years.

If you can afford an rMBP with 32GB of RAM, why do you need it to last five years? I buy Apple laptops refurbished 6-8 months after they come out, then sell after two years (when they still have a good amount of value). Comes out to about the same cost as buying new and running it to the ground for five years.

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#85

Post by toyg »

rsl7 wrote: post #70
amelius wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> after an hour of typing, for example, going back to the old keyboard feels really, really inefficient and antiquated Isn't that just because you are used to a different keyboard now?

I've had a similar experience. the new keyboard is much better. Except I keep palming the new huge trackpad.

I honestly don't get why they'd make the trackpad bigger. It's one of 99 reasons for which I won't buy these new models.

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#86

Post by HalfwayToDice »

thought_alarm wrote: post #81
mmjaa wrote: post #19

I've had mine for a week now, and have been able to use it alongside my late-2014 rMBP, which has been a solid workhorse. I'm starting to notice very subtle preferences for the 2017 model creeping in - after an hour of typing, for example, going back to the old keyboard feels really, really inefficient and antiquated, and my typing rate is lower than on the new rMBP. I also really enjoy the Touchbar - it hasn't been…

How do you deal with the arrow keys? I like the feel of the keyboard, but I found absolutely no way to orient my fingers over the arrow keys. There is no way tell whether I'm hitting the up arrow or the right shift. As someone who works with text, it's a deal breaker for me.

Yes I don't understand why more people aren't talking about this. The new left/right cursor layout is awful for me, I keep having to look down at the keyboard.

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#87

Post by JimDabell »

MiddleEndian wrote: post #52
jjawssd wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In macOS 10.12 sierra you can option-click on the battery indicator and click on "show percentage". Now the fact that they are trying to obfuscate how low you are on juice is really damning

Show percentage is insufficient. If something in my behavior will cause the battery to drop from 50% to 0% in one hour instead of six, I want to know that.

You still do – that drop-down shows apps using significant energy, and if you want more details, Activity Monitor shows per-process stats, graphs, and time remaining.

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#88

Post by toyg »

rayiner wrote: post #84
slantyyz wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can make 32GB with current chipsets but chose not to for battery life. Given the outcry, they can put less efficient RAM in a newer model. The people asking for 32GB aren't newbies and presumably are willing to pay the price in battery life in exchange for the extra RAM. If I were in the market for a new Macbook Pro (I'm not), I'd be willing to make the sacrifice in battery life for the extra RAM, because I woul…

> If I were in the market for a new Macbook Pro (I'm not), I'd be willing to make the sacrifice in battery life for the extra RAM, because I would try to make the MBP last for at least 5 years. If you can afford an rMBP with 32GB of RAM, why do you need it to last five years? I buy Apple laptops refurbished 6-8 months after they come out, then sell after two years (when they still have a good amount of value). Comes…

I thought I'd do this when I bought my RMBP in 2012... but the hassle of finding a buyer, move my stuff out etc etc, felt so painful that I'm still using it 4.5 years later. (TBH it might well be that the newer models never looked particularly appealing, even before the current abominations were released).

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#89

Post by spo81rty »

Keyframe wrote: post #80

I went to a store in order to try one out. I wanted what was in 15" model in a 13" form, but ok - I went out to at least check out the 15" model. Even though I knew it was too big for my needs. What really surprised me was how bad the keyboard was on new models. What's up with that? It feels like a cheap plastic mockup of a keyboard. That turned me off completely. I hope they get their act together within a year and…

Check out the Asus Zenbook Pro. We have a few in the office. Great value for the price. I use a Dell XPS 15 and it has been great.

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#90

Post by mmjaa »

HalfwayToDice wrote: post #86
thought_alarm wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you deal with the arrow keys? I like the feel of the keyboard, but I found absolutely no way to orient my fingers over the arrow keys. There is no way tell whether I'm hitting the up arrow or the right shift. As someone who works with text, it's a deal breaker for me.

Yes I don't understand why more people aren't talking about this. The new left/right cursor layout is awful for me, I keep having to look down at the keyboard.

>How do you deal with the arrow keys?

I'm a vim user, so its hjkl all the way.. for the most part. And while I do agree that the older invert-T configuration of the arrow keys was ergonomic and sensible, I've found myself not having any problem with locating the arrow keys on the new 2017-rMBP due to the fact that the gap between up/down is also pretty easy to find by feel.

I guess I might be a little more tolerant for this change than most, since I try to change my keyboard every 6 months (for RSI reasons) anyway, and am also a keys/synth player with a room full of diverse haptic interfaces. But I do understand the frustration of having these ergonomics yanked out from under us by Apple ..

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