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Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines

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Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines

#401
post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

E. Don't buy Apple. You'll spend much less, and won't be supporting practices you don't approve of.

This is not very useful advice, kind of similar to "just use Linux" when people complain about some issue they have with Windows. For many, dropping macOS would be a much larger disruption than having less usable F-keys. That does not mean we can't complain about it.

> For many, dropping macOS would be a much larger disruption than having less usable F-keys.

It's worth it, trust me. I dropped it almost twenty years ago, and I've never looked back. My computers are less expensive, more powerful & more flexible. My computing environment is customised to my needs, not those of some generic 20-something in Cupertino. If I want to, I can dig deep in the guts of my system and fix bugs or add features. Or I can hire someone to do it for me. Or I can just rely on the work of others (which is ultimately what Apple's customers have to do anyway: rely on Apple to fix & extend — and as their recent spate of crippling security bugs indicates, they haven't been doing a great job).

Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines

#402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was certain I was going to buy the 2016 Macbook Pro. I had an aging 2011 Macbook Air that badly needed to be replaced. Loss of MagSafe, carrying around a dongle, Touchbar—In the end it just added too much complexity to my life that I didn't need. I decided to purchase an iMac instead. For everyone else I hope Apple produces a decent non-Touchbar model this year.

They won't. Apple's history has never been to back down but to pursue the money spinning features. Power users have begged for a desktop between the iMac and the Mac Pro for years. Apple has totally ignored them.

Apple recently released the iMac Pro, which is exactly that though

Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines

#403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha ha, I was happy it had 2 ports — considered briefly the MacBook Air until I realized it had only 1 port.

The Macbook Air still has two USB ports. Perhaps you meant the Macbook?

Yes, thank you.

Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines

#404

The biggest problem with the TouchBar is that it's inaccessible inside my closed laptop. I need to it to be on the external keyboard where I can use it when I'm working. Does anyone actually work with their laptop on their lap?

I do when I work from home. I stay more focused than at my desk for some reason. Although I guess it isn't directly on my lap, typically it's on a thin, firm pillow that's on my lap.

Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines

#405
post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And give up the only good desktop operating system, retina screens and the only usable touchpad in laptops.

> retina screens and the only usable touchpad in laptops I mean I don't have a side in this convo. But if you are gonna put up a argument at least make it not sound fanboyish. Plenty of laptops with similar ppi (what makes retina...retina) and plenty with good touchpads. Many reasons to choose different laptops including Apples, but those you listed the competitors have themselves. Apple just markets their retina dis…

> I mean I don't have a side in this convo. But if you are gonna put up a argument at least make it not sound fanboyish.

> Plenty of laptops with similar ppi (what makes retina...retina) and plenty with good touchpads.

If you're going to put up an argument at least make it sound informed. The best trackpads I've used in any other laptop manufacturer was "acceptable", and that's Microsoft's. Plenty with good touchpads? Not even remotely close.

As for retina displays, plenty of laptops with higher PPI, also plenty of laptops with scaling issues up the ass.

Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines

#406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Macbook Pros are NOT easy to mod/change or swap parts. This is very clearly the intention of Apple. Of course, but that hasn't completely stopped determined people from trying (and succeeding) --- look at the link I posted to where someone added a headphone jack back to an iPhone. As long as the dimensions are vaguely compatible, the guts of the touchbar model might fit into the non-touchbar case. Some machining and…

> Some machining and creativity required. And high stress tolerance. I mean, if - per recent HN thread - people obsess over putting a CPU into their PC because it feels like breaking a piece of expensive electronics, I can only imagine what a Macbook owner feels when applying a lathe to their prized possession...

I have to agree on one point here. Even though I'm quite comfortable with machine tools, both manual and CNC, I'd be terrified to chuck up a laptop in a lathe.

Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines

#407
post #401
post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not very useful advice, kind of similar to "just use Linux" when people complain about some issue they have with Windows. For many, dropping macOS would be a much larger disruption than having less usable F-keys. That does not mean we can't complain about it.

> For many, dropping macOS would be a much larger disruption than having less usable F-keys. It's worth it, trust me. I dropped it almost twenty years ago, and I've never looked back. My computers are less expensive, more powerful & more flexible. My computing environment is customised to my needs, not those of some generic 20-something in Cupertino. If I want to, I can dig deep in the guts of my system and fix bugs…

I think that comparing the operating systems of today based on how they worked 20 years ago is a bit of a stretch.

I bought my first Mac in 2009 (still kicking and alive) because I was tired of tinkering with Linux (I have abandoned Windows years before). I do look back at these systems every day at work so I do know quite well how my life would be if I really had to use them for everything.

Just one example of why I like macOS - it has a copy/paste shortcut that really does work everywhere. From Vim running in a console to my vector based drawing program of choice, out of the box.

Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines

#408
post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

E. Don't buy Apple. You'll spend much less, and won't be supporting practices you don't approve of.

And give up the only good desktop operating system, retina screens and the only usable touchpad in laptops.

Sounds like you never used a Surface Book. The OS is closer to Linux than macOS thanks to WSL, the screen is truly stunning and the touchpad on-par with MacBooks.

Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines

#409

I have the MacBook Pro 2017 edition and this is by far the worst upgrade I've experienced for such a high-end, luxury item. It's all USB-C. Virtually nobody else supports USB-C, not even Apple. Oh, you want HDMI? €100 please. I also have an iPhone 8 which is on the Lightning connector. The audio jack is gone and guess what, there's no Lightning connector on the MacBook, so you'll need 2 pairs of headsets or an adapte…

Please note I am not excusing their practice, their inter connection between products from a hardware perspective is damn low at this point and seems to indicate poor coordination.

that out of the way, their airpods work well across all Apple products I own. used for output only their battery life is good for most of my work between get up and walk around sessions. they have been sufficient for me to nearly stop using corded headsets.

with regards to touch bar and their keyboards. I end up with replacement keyboards for my desktops as I want separate volume/mute and screen brightness controls.

Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines

#410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They won't. Apple's history has never been to back down but to pursue the money spinning features. Power users have begged for a desktop between the iMac and the Mac Pro for years. Apple has totally ignored them.

Apple recently released the iMac Pro, which is exactly that though

Not so much. Given that the Mac Pro has been neglected for years and still uses the same hardware it was released with, I'm of the opinion that Apple have lost interest in it and intend to kill it off. Apple engineers even admitted they backed themselves into a corner with the Mac Pro's design, as it is totally incapable of taking newer, larger GPUs, mostly for thermal reasons cramming them into the small chassis.

The iMac Pro (the similarities in the name are probably deliberate) will then take over in the same slot, with the difference that you already have the built-in screen that you have to pay for. Whether this is an advantage or not depends on your studio setup. If nothing else, the starting price of the iMac Pro is significantly (25%-ish?) more than the machine that /should/ be higher level than it.

The iMac Pro has proprietary SSDs, and although the RAM is still upgradeable, it requires almost complete disassembly of the machine to get to it. It's a step backwards from the current iMac in this regard, ostensibly because the cooling vents got in the way. The GPU is built in, despite being the component most likely to become obsolete the fastest, and although upgrades are possible through an eGPU box, that means you won't be able to use the built-in screen for output.

The model desired to slot in between the iMac and Mac Pro would have been a PowerMac G3/4-style tower with user-upgradeable components - CPU, optical drive (for those who need things like BR discs), GPU etc. Apple's attitude is that you should spec your machine at the time of ordering, no later. They offer no upgrades to their proprietary SSDs after purchase (although third parties do, but that probably voids the warranty).

So no, I would argue the iMac Pro is not the middle slot we've been hoping for :(

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