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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

#421

Post by prodigal_erik »

spilk wrote: post #250
Bud wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't expect an off-brand USB-C adapter to be able to fully support DisplayPort. USB-C does not natively contain DisplayPort. Also, don't daisy-chain adapters when you don't have to. Use a USB-C to HDMI adapter. Such as this one: http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MJ1K2AM/A/usb-c-digital-av...

USB-C does natively support DisplayPort as an alternate mode. Whether your particular device does is not a given, though. the 12" MacBook definitely does, the specs specifically call out the native support: http://www.apple.com/macbook/specs/ The specs for the MacBook Pro also purport DisplayPort capability: http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs/

DisplayPort is one of several options, but I wouldn't call them native because you can't rely on any of them being supported.

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

#423

Post by pier25 »

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…

Are you enjoying the noise of the new keyboard?

https://vimeo.com/195645497

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

#424

Post by slantyyz »

manarth wrote: post #411
slantyyz wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the sake of argument, in 2011 we'd be talking about TB1. TB1/mdp is larger than USB-C - in 2011 terms though, it'd be considered small. The mdp port is smaller than regular USB, ethernet and FW800 - all ports available on early 2011 MBPs. TB1 should carry some power. I don't have my 2011 MBP any more, but I'm near certain that I was able to run a thunderbolt capable seagate external 2.5" hard drive without provid…

> TB2/mDP can't carry power > > TB1 should carry some power. > > I was able to run a thunderbolt capable seagate external 2.5" hard drive (all this with the caveat of "I am not a physicist, but…") All data is essentially energy/power, right? Isn't all communication, a change in energy state? Therefore, all data is essentially a transfer of energy/power. Even the older standards - serial, firewire, USB 1, USB 2, USB 3…

Ok. A couple of things. My original point that you replied to relates to 2011, not 2016.

The analog is that in 2011 TB was a new, multi-purpose plug that can do just about anything (and USB-C is that thing in 2016, and it benefits from 5 additional years of progress, so yes, of course it can do more than TB). IIRC, Apple bragged about how great TB was when they announced it.

TB can provide 18V/10W/550mA. That's enough for what most people used USB 2 for in 2011 (Apple didn't introduce USB 3 until the 2012 MBP, IIRC).

At the very least Apple could have chosen to create a similar situation where TB could replace all the MBP's data ports that mattered in 2011 (in the same way they dropped all ports in late 2016) and force everyone to use a dongle for backwards compatibility when they introduced the early 2011 MBPs. But Apple didn't. Probably because they knew people would be unhappy. If Apple had the #courage to drop the USB and FW ports back then, people would have already been living the #donglelife for 5 years. Nobody would have even blinked or complained in the transition to USB-C.

And it also really doesn't matter that TB couldn't charge a Macbook Pro in 2011. Nobody would have cared, as everyone was still deeply in love with MagSafe (and many still are).

>> All USB Type-C cables should support 60W.

That might be true, but even Apple doesn't make it that simple, because they made a 61W charger (yes, I see that the charger's 1W over the 60W limit) that's incompatible with a bunch of previous cables designed for 29W chargers and you have to read the serial number on the cable just to be sure you're using the right one (I suspect a lot people won't know to do that).

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201700

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

#425

Post by JoshTriplett »

m_mueller wrote: post #419
logicallee wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am sure this will be fixed in a future iteration. In exhange you never have to flip a USB or HDMI cable around three times (turns out the first direction was right after all :) ) to plug it in, because USB-C can be plugged in either way. Worldwide, this literally saves multiple seconds every year. Have a little faith :)

I'm sure it will. Until then I'll hold on zo my wallet as tightly as I can. Or try out Thinkpads or XPSses with some flavour of Linux but I don't have high hopes for their touchpads and screens / HiDPI software support. You know - the things I actually touch and see the whole time using the damn thing. Sigh ... I've been watching old SJ presentations (1990-2003) lately and I long back to the time where general purpos…

> Or try out Thinkpads or XPSses with some flavour of Linux but I don't have high hopes for their touchpads and screens / HiDPI software support.

Touchpads generally work perfectly out of the box, with any Linux distribution that uses libinput instead of one of the older drivers. HiDPI screens also tend to work perfectly out of the box, though you may wish to tweak them to your tastes. (For instance, I don't want to treat a 1440p screen as 2x 720p, I want to treat it as 1440p with only slightly enlarged fonts.)

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

#426

Post by mmjaa »

pcl wrote: post #371
mmjaa wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spotlight has given me so many headaches in the last few weeks that I'm seriously considering investing the time to understand it well enough to build an app to wrestle it to the ground and beat it over the head with a big stick. If only there'd be a reason to do it other than "gain control over my life again" ..

If you just want to beat it over the head with a stick, you can simply turn indexing off on a per-volume basis: sudo mdutil -i off / You can also exclude certain directories or volumes in the Privacy section of Spotlight preferences.

Yeah this makes Xcode and Mail unusable in my opinion so its not really an option .. I simply have to empty the disk and let Spotlight re-index it. One of those facts of MacOS life ..

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

#427

Post by gurkendoktor »

realityking wrote: post #320
pyrophane wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, it used to be generally true that "if you can connect them with a cable, they will be compatible." Ports were single-use, and if two ports weren't compatible, then they would be physically incompatible. If you could get a cable to connect two different ports, they would probably be compatible because who would make the cable otherwise, right? Now we have something like your "omnibus" port in USB-C, so you have p…

To be fair, that already hasn't been case with Thunderbolt 1 and 2 which reused the Mini DisplayPort.

True. We have a mixture of Apple's Thunderbolt and Mini-DP displays at work and it confuses the hell out of our Windows users. Some adapters/docking stations work, some don't.

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

#428

Post by gurkendoktor »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #425
m_mueller wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure it will. Until then I'll hold on zo my wallet as tightly as I can. Or try out Thinkpads or XPSses with some flavour of Linux but I don't have high hopes for their touchpads and screens / HiDPI software support. You know - the things I actually touch and see the whole time using the damn thing. Sigh ... I've been watching old SJ presentations (1990-2003) lately and I long back to the time where general purpos…

> Or try out Thinkpads or XPSses with some flavour of Linux but I don't have high hopes for their touchpads and screens / HiDPI software support. Touchpads generally work perfectly out of the box, with any Linux distribution that uses libinput instead of one of the older drivers. HiDPI screens also tend to work perfectly out of the box, though you may wish to tweak them to your tastes. (For instance, I don't want to…

I'm curious why Apple's approach of drawing things at 2x or 3x and then downscaling the whole screen hasn't caught on in the Linux world. It seems like scaling the result (a single buffer) should be extremely easy? Laptops and screens targeted at Windows 10 mostly have crappy resolutions for both running at 2x or 1x.

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

#429

Post by gurkendoktor »

SixSigma wrote: post #401
pyrophane wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, it used to be generally true that "if you can connect them with a cable, they will be compatible." Ports were single-use, and if two ports weren't compatible, then they would be physically incompatible. If you could get a cable to connect two different ports, they would probably be compatible because who would make the cable otherwise, right? Now we have something like your "omnibus" port in USB-C, so you have p…

> if two ports weren't compatible, then they would be physically incompatible they have forgotten about poka-yoke (inadvertent error prevention) which is very remiss. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poka-yoke

A problem that Apple used to understand, if you look at their keyboard USB cords:

http://www.mcelhearn.com/images/articles/20060828181525223_1...

I guess the USB-C plug is too small for gimmicks like this, though. Would've been nice to distinguish between USB-C and TB 3.1.

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

#430

Post by gurkendoktor »

Bud wrote: post #387
makomk wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple does however control which Thunderbolt devices work with Apple hardware and software. Which means, for example, that Thunderbolt 3 hardware released prior to the launch of the new Macbook Pro is effectively Windows-only: http://plugable.com/thunderbolt-3 This appears to be an entirely artificial software block done to force manufacturers to go through their certification program and presumably give then a cut;…

>presumably give them a cut. You just made this up. As already clarified in this thread, Apple doesn't own Thunderbolt and Apple gets zero (0) licensing fees. There is no "cut".

Apple doesn't own Bluetooth either and yet they have strict control over which accessories (gamepads) can be used with iOS and charge for the privilege. Headphones with the old 3.5mm jack are also available in more expensive variants with the MFi certification.

Even when there's no money in it, Apple uses whitelists in some places, like which SSDs get TRIM and which displays work and get the HiDPI checkbox:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206587

Who owns a standard doesn't seem to matter at this point.

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