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MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

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Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#431

Post by djsumdog »

EnderMB wrote: post #53
nailer wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're used to MacBooks, check out the Surface Laptop or Surface Book. - The hardware (particularly the keyboard and massive trackpad) is great - apt-get on WSL is better than homebrew will ever be (powershell too if you have the time to learn it) - Windows 10 has a dedicated team working on it (Apple has merged iOS and macOS teams since a few years ago, which may be because iOS makes a lot more money).

I'd be interested in knowing how many people switched from the MBP to the Surface(Book) due to delays and changes/issues in the MBP range. I bought a first generation Surfacebook a few years ago because I couldn't wait any longer for Apple to release their new MBP range, and I'm glad I didn't wait. It's the best laptop I've ever owned. Even though I've moved away from .NET dev and work mostly with Ruby and Node it's…

> I run Debian with minimal problems

This. I love this about most modern PC laptops. Sometimes you get some driver issues like I did on this MSI where I had to go through a kernel mailing list and use some python scripts to extract the firmware from Windows to get Wi-Fi working:

https://penguindreams.org/blog/msi-ws60-running-linux/

But that was also a gaming laptop. Every Dell and HP I've purchased in the past few years works perfectly with the mainline kernel. I've never had an issue with missing Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or video drivers for years in a PC laptop.

Trying to get Linux working on a MacBook is a fucking nightmare:

https://penguindreams.org/blog/linux-on-a-macbook-pro-14-3/

I prefer i3/tiling window managers and package management to Win/Mac and I'd hate to work at a job where I'm forced to use either.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#432

Post by terminalcommand »

mancerayder wrote: post #393
p49k wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t necessarily agree that it’s what most people want. I think the reason that most people keep buying macs is because of MacOS. It is so nice to have a UNIX-based OS with great UI, so we keep buying the overpriced, out-of-date, defective laptops because we have no other choice. I’m convinced that a solid, secure, reliable and polished Unix-based OS for developers would quickly wipe out a large segment of Apple’s…

I think that's right. Our only two options are the Linux desktop with its high-maintenance potential of timesink, and Windows that, while it has improved, suffers from an authoritarian approach to things like reboots, updates, ability to customize and so forth. I use Windows 10 + MobaXTerm after moving off of the increasingly annoying MacBook design choices. But there's something far worse: killer apps (for some prof…

Linux has improved a lot in the last couple of years. Even on state-of-the-art hardware you can expect reasonable support if you choose a distro that uses a recent kernel (ie. Manjaro instead of stock debian).

I've been using a 8th gen computer for a year and I haven't had any problems. On the contrary the hevc hardware decoder/encoder works on linux, but I couldn't get it to work on Windows.

On the other hand Windows looks more polished than KDE and GNOME.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#433

Post by eej71 »

barrowclift wrote: post #182
eej71 wrote: post #6

If only they might restore the escape key in the 15 inch model...

I highly encourage mapping the Escape key to the Caps Lock key for a couple days and seeing how it feels. I gave it a spin last year out of curiosity and have since fallen in love with it. My poor pinky no longer has to frequently stretch out to the farthest upper left reaches of the keyboard! If you're on macOS, you can do this in System Preferences > Keyboard > Modifier Keys... and selecting the "Escape" in the Cap…

Thanks... unfortunately I've already co-opted the caps lock key to be the control key... a common thing for emacs users to do. Now I need to find another home for esc. shakes fist at sky

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#434

Post by calebm »

mtw wrote: post #249

Not recent, but last time I bought a new MacBook Pro, it was $1800. Now starting price is $2400. Is there similar inflation for other laptop manufacturers or it's just Apple?

My goal memory/storage specs for my next laptop is 32Gb, 1Tb SSD. But that is only available in the 15" (I prefer 13"), and it costs $3600 (which is more than I'm willing to spend at this time).

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#435

Post by pentae »

eric_khun wrote: post #202

Deciding between with/without touchbar. Is there a real difference between both? I'm really bad comparing hardware. Here the main difference I've notice: Non-touchbar: • Up to 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i7, with 64MB of eDRAM • 2 USB-c ports • Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 With-touchbar: • Up to 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 with 128MB of eDRAM • Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 • 4 USB-c ports As a developer point of v…

Adding to what others here have said, non-touchbar has one fan instead of two and runs hotter even at idle. Apple really doesn't want anyone to buy it.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#436

Post by thesephist »

baseten wrote: post #413
lcnmrn wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have to recover the money spent on TouchBar R&D. We won’t see a proper MacBook Pro until 2020.

It seems to me the touchbar was just a clever way to get their own processor into their laptops for some large scale real-world testing before they ditch intel and build the entire thing themselves. 2020 is a good guess I'd say.

I'm surprised this is the first time I've seen the "touchbar as a way to get the A-series chips into macbooks" take. It's the most sensible explanation.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#437

Post by matchbok »

jihadjihad wrote: post #235
pornel wrote: post #47

It's not possible to buy it without the TouchBar any more :( I really wanted to like it, and the concept could perhaps eventually be good, but the current implementation is infuriatingly bad: • I need more than one tap to change the brightness, volume or skip to the next song. • The buttons are in different locations depending on context, so it's not possible to use it by muscle memory. • TouchBar automatically goes…

The touchbar is awesome--you can immediately blow away all the worthless function keys and have a minimalist setup. I keep the escape key and the volume/brightness sliders, that's it. Keeps the entire setup feeling clean. People actually use the touchbar for context-dependent tasks?

Eliminating the entire keyboard for a touchscreen would also be "clean".

Clean != good. These are tools, not pieces of art.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#438

Post by [deleted] »

jamiek88 wrote: post #344
jihadjihad wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The touchbar is awesome--you can immediately blow away all the worthless function keys and have a minimalist setup. I keep the escape key and the volume/brightness sliders, that's it. Keeps the entire setup feeling clean. People actually use the touchbar for context-dependent tasks?

Its great for scrubbing through video. Tap and hold for fast, fine grained control. My only complaint with the touchbar is its too easy to accidentally engage Siri. Other than that it’s a good idea IMO.

[deleted]

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#439

Post by domenukk »

> Also new to MacBook Pro is the Apple T2 chip, first introduced in iMac Pro. With the Apple T2 chip, MacBook Pro now delivers enhanced system security with support for secure boot and on-the-fly encrypted storage, and also brings “Hey Siri” to the Mac for the first time.

Boring security stuff, boring security stuff, oh, and Hey Siri Support! Now that is really what the world has waited for.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#440

Post by fencepost »

jetsnoc wrote: post #218
r0fl wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didn't do that because it is not what most people want. Apple has to make changes that will sell more laptops to the masses to maximize shareholder value. The niche developer/macrumors posters will never be happy regardless of what Apple does. Better to focus on the 90% of customers who buy products and make up 10% of the complaints then to focus on the 10% of customers who make up 90% of the complaints.

In the article they cite the MBP as being the most popular notebook for developers so this niche must be important, otherwise why list it?: > Already the most popular notebook for developers around the world, the new MacBook Pro can compile code faster and run multiple virtual machines and test environments easier than before. What we want is a functional keyboard. They are losing this market-share quickly but you're…

In the article they cite the MBP as being the most popular notebook for developers so this niche must be important, otherwise why list it?

That "most popular" is marketing - they have all of the developers running OSX and most of those are probably on MBP or Air, where developers using Windows or Linux are fragmented across multiple models from multiple manufacturers.

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