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MacBook Pro? No

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Re: MacBook Pro? No

#191

Post by crtasm »

lettergram wrote: post #78

I recently (well a year ago), switched from using and recommending a MBP to a Lenovo with Linux. Buy a $500 ThinkPad T450s - off eBay, replaced it with new internals. I get 20Gb of RAM, 2x1Tb SSDs, a nice keyboard, a decent track pad, 10 hours of battery life - total cost: $1300-$1800. I've done this for myself and three family members and we all couldn't be happier. I fly a lot and having that battery life is so hel…

T450s was my first Thinkpad, bought when it was a current model and still feels like new. Wish I'd switched from consumer laptops earlier.

Re: MacBook Pro? No

#192

Post by ionised »

I'm using a work-provided one right now and I absolutely hate the keyboard.

Everything is so cramped and it just feels like typing on a solid piece of plastic. I ended buying a separate mechanical.

And the Magic Mouse, dear lord. it's the most un-ergonomic mouse I've ever experienced and that, combined with the inability to disable mouse acceleration in High Sierra without hiking sensitivity means I'm stuck using the trackpad, which is fine for basic stuff but it will never beat a mouse for fluidity, speed and accuracy.

Plus I'm convinced if I continue to use the trackpad I'm going to do some permanent damage to my hand/wrist. It really isn't comfortable to use for long periods.

Re: MacBook Pro? No

#193

Post by dexterbt1 »

alt_f4 wrote: post #168

I completely agree. The post-2015 Macbook Pros are a disaster. - The touchbar is a useless gimmick that is outright harmful to developers like me that use the function keys a lot. I hate that there isn't a 15" Macbook without a touchbar. - The keyboard typing experience is poor and the key mechanism is extremely fragile, making it super expensive to own and repair - Missing useful ports. I like USB-C, but I also like…

They're still selling th 15in rMBP w/out touchbar. https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/15-inch

But then again, this has the same specs as a 2015 machine: with all the function keys and ports, has an older processor, no discrete graphics, and starts at a smaller storage 256GB SSD. If only they'll offer one with discrete GPU.

Re: MacBook Pro? No

#194

Post by manmal »

deanclatworthy wrote: post #132
manmal wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How long have you been using it? The keyboard keys getting stuck seems to be a fairly common problem. I think it stems from dirt getting stuck beneath the edges. I had the „k“ key not respond at all for a few days, then I furiously scratched along the edges with a finger nail, and after that it always registered two key strokes (better than none at all). After some weeks, functionality returned to normal. The escape…

I'll add my anecdotal experience to this too. I had to have the whole keyboard replace on mine last week because of a stuck b-key. Fortunately it was still under warranty through work. As of last night some miniscule crumb has got behind the up-arrow key and I have the same problem again.

Yeah.. try cleaning it with a finger nail or piece of sturdy paper. Even though it looks like not doing much, this regularly fixes my problems. Perhaps the crumbs are just pushed inward.

Re: MacBook Pro? No

#195

Post by RickJWagner »

I bought my wife a MacBook Pro for a gift about a year ago. Apple recently pushed a software update which broke her wireless connectivity.

She's been on the phone with Apple support numerous times-- no help at all.

So disappointed in Apple. Beware!

Re: MacBook Pro? No

#196

Post by falcolas »

brandonmenc wrote: post #111
eecc wrote: post #83

I’m also stuck on an old MacBook Pro model. Can’t justify the price but after some research — namely trying to find an equivalent Lenovo or Hp or whatever — I reached the conclusion that it’s mostly Intel’s fault. Let me explain: Intel chipsets don’t support enough lanes to supply USB-c, GPU, SSD and anything else with no less than 4 of them. The extra “legacy port breakout” ruins the tally and that’s why Apple dropp…

> Apple’s only homemade blunders are the asinine keyboard and the silly half assed attempt at touch-but-not-screen. The keyboard rules. Can confirm. Also some content creation apps I use (ex: Ableton) are starting to get useful treatment in the Touch Bar. > Oh and the stupid obsession with thin The thinner the laptop, the more stuff I can cram in my carry on. ymmv

n=1 disagreement on the keyboard. My hands can't find their way around it. I thought it would be fine - there are nubs on the F and J keys as normal - but the the lack of tactile sensation between the keys means I can't easily find the ~ key by touch. I've hit 1 and Tab more times than I have the ~ key, because I'm off by an amount which would be detectable and correctable if there was a tactile difference between keys. Similarly, the arrow keys are not easily found without looking at the keyboard for the exact same reason.

I can and have gotten used to the lower profile keys, but the lack of a tactile distinction between the keys makes a big difference.

Re: MacBook Pro? No

#197

Post by falcolas »

GordonS wrote: post #43
atmosx wrote: post #6

I have the exact opposite experience so far. By all means, this is a professional laptop in my opinion. To expand a bit: - I love the keyboard, best I've seen on a laptop (I'm a 80+ WPM typist) - I don't have issues with the touchbar, getting used to quickly manage apps like spotify. - My default editor is vim and don't have issues with escape - Trackpad is the best I've seen on a laptop - The machine is fast - The s…

Interesting. The 2017 Macbook Pro is the first Macbook I've ever had, and I find the keyboard terrible . I can't put my finger on it exactly, but I just struggle to type on it, often finding letters missing from the words I've typed, and the keys never being where my fingers expect them to be. The key travel just feels wrong too. By comparison, I also have a very cheap Asus netbook (13", I think) - it was about £100…

My experience between a 2015 MBP and a 2017 MBP tells me that the problem is the lack of a tactile difference between keys. Unless I'm focusing really hard, there's very little to tell me without sight where my finger is on a key.

This results in hitting 1 instead of ~, losing my place on the keyboard on a regular basis, and being completely unable to find the arrow keys by touch. Perhaps my typing is a bit sloppy, but it works just fine on the 2015 MBP, with a tiny fraction of the errors I encounter on the 2017 MBP.

Re: MacBook Pro? No

#198

Post by ksk »

latch wrote: post #170
bildung wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again, your link is about consumer devices, not the thinkpad line.

"Again"? I'm missing a reference to something? Genuine question, why does the distinction matter?

Because all X are not Y, even if some Y are X.

Re: MacBook Pro? No

#199

Post by rickyc091 »

atmosx wrote: post #6

I have the exact opposite experience so far. By all means, this is a professional laptop in my opinion. To expand a bit: - I love the keyboard, best I've seen on a laptop (I'm a 80+ WPM typist) - I don't have issues with the touchbar, getting used to quickly manage apps like spotify. - My default editor is vim and don't have issues with escape - Trackpad is the best I've seen on a laptop - The machine is fast - The s…

I'll echo these sentiments. I've had the older macs and I love the new butterfly keyboard a lot more. I recall it taking me a week or two to get use to, but I was hitting the same WPM/accuracy right off the bat.

As for Windows, I think they have some great hardware out there. I really enjoyed the Surface, but the OS was terrible. What I realized was that software developers didn't take the time to really focus on the UI and polish the apps. Even apps like 1password had horrendous experience. I hacked it into a hackintosh, but it was a pain to keep it updated and some features were missing from a real Mac. At the end of the day, a Mac still wins over for me.

Edit >>

Wanted to add, the one thing that annoys me about the touchbar is that I accidentally hit the top right keys when I hit backspace. Aside from that, I'm fine with it on vim. Escape isn't an issue.

Re: MacBook Pro? No

#200

Post by bartread »

tannhaeuser wrote: post #167
bartread wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a similar problem to GP. Going to try to make my late 2015 MBP last another year, but not sure what to do next. Problem with the Dell XPS is it still only supports 16GB of RAM, which is getting to be aggravating for me. The reason I keep buying Macs though is OSX - I just like it. Linux would be a good fit in many ways, but you can't run Office 365 on it, which is unfortunately a deal breaker. (I know there ar…

A friend of mine holds on to an even older MBP. Due to Apple's generous replacement policy, he's recently got all parts save for the chassis replaced for free or for relatively little money, so sits in front of a brand-new 2012 MBP. But surely it would be appreciated if Apple could get over their design fixation. For me, there's nothing "Pro" with the MBP. "Pro" doesn't mean "bad-ass", but having (display, keyboard)…

I think you're correct there, although it's very aggravating, regardless of who's fault it is.

I still have a late 2011 17 inch MBP equipped with quad core i7 and upgraded to 16GB RAM plus a 1TB SSD. I still use it fairly regularly, in particular for Ableton Live. It's really the last MBP you could plug enough peripherals into without needing a separate hub and, key point, still has Firewire, which I need for my audio interface (USB always sucked for this because it chews CPU, whereas Firewire doesn't).

Honestly, as a machine to tote around all the time, I prefer the 15 inch form factor, but the 17-incher is great for working with a lot of tracks simultaneously, and it has all those wonderful ports:

- 3 or 4 USB ports - 1 Firewire port - 1 Mini display/Thunderbolt port (two would be nice, but I'll live) - Line out AND line in (something sadly missing from newer models) - Digital audio out and (I believe) in (using same ports as line out/in)

For the use cases I needed and still need it's a much more useful system than the current line-up. And, of course, OSX has much more capable audio handling built in than Windows (no messing around with ASIO, no app exclusivity over access to audio hardware).

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