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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

#681

Post by roryisok »

reificator wrote: post #674
tjohns wrote: post #651

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know it's trendy to hate on the touchbar... but for what it's worth, I personally find it more useful than the old function keys. Most mac apps don't use function keys as shortcuts, so the old keyboard ended up being used for media keys (volume, brightness, play/pause, etc.). The touch bar gives me a better version of that (I actually get a volume slider ), plus more apps actually make use of that space to provide…

My pie-in-the-sky idealized computer experience is a color e-ink display with a decent framerate. Replacing tactile buttons with a second blinding photon emitter is not progress as far as I'm concerned. I understand all the benefits you quote, and I'm not just complaining because it's "trendy". If it was eink, I wouldn't care at all. But it's another backlit screen shining in my face. No thanks.

Were you hoping for pixel qi to make it to market with their tech? I was. I so wanted a machine with that screen so I could work outdoors

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

#682

Post by buu700 »

tjohns wrote: post #651
reificator wrote: post #644

Biggest new feature they could add would be to not have an additional screen taking up battery life and shining in my face, unable to be dimmed with f.lux. Maybe instead we could have a row of keys that provide some sort of function, and maybe a key that allows the user to escape. That would be a pretty useful feature that I can guarantee I would use dozens or hundreds of times a day. I'm considering replacing my Mac…

I know it's trendy to hate on the touchbar... but for what it's worth, I personally find it more useful than the old function keys. Most mac apps don't use function keys as shortcuts, so the old keyboard ended up being used for media keys (volume, brightness, play/pause, etc.). The touch bar gives me a better version of that (I actually get a volume slider ), plus more apps actually make use of that space to provide…

Question for someone who has a touchbar: is it possible to add app shortcuts to it (like an extension of the dock)? And what about a dedicated escape button?

I use F12 throughout the day to open iTerm and Cmd+F2 to open Spotlight, and the escape key is obviously generally useful. Losing equivalent dedicated buttons/shortcuts would be a dealbreaker, but otherwise I could take or leave the function keys.

Edit: If yes to the above, are there any situations in which my configured dedicated buttons might conditionally disappear?

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

#683

Post by TheRealDunkirk »

tjohns wrote: post #651
reificator wrote: post #644

Biggest new feature they could add would be to not have an additional screen taking up battery life and shining in my face, unable to be dimmed with f.lux. Maybe instead we could have a row of keys that provide some sort of function, and maybe a key that allows the user to escape. That would be a pretty useful feature that I can guarantee I would use dozens or hundreds of times a day. I'm considering replacing my Mac…

I know it's trendy to hate on the touchbar... but for what it's worth, I personally find it more useful than the old function keys. Most mac apps don't use function keys as shortcuts, so the old keyboard ended up being used for media keys (volume, brightness, play/pause, etc.). The touch bar gives me a better version of that (I actually get a volume slider ), plus more apps actually make use of that space to provide…

The majority of my use of my MBPr is in clamshell mode, with a large external monitor, and a mechanical keyboard. Even for people who use theirs open, beside a large monitor, it's usually on a stand. So a Touch Bar is either pointless, or so unwieldy as to be useless, in these situations, respectively.

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

#684

Post by roryisok »

tjohns wrote: post #651
reificator wrote: post #644

Biggest new feature they could add would be to not have an additional screen taking up battery life and shining in my face, unable to be dimmed with f.lux. Maybe instead we could have a row of keys that provide some sort of function, and maybe a key that allows the user to escape. That would be a pretty useful feature that I can guarantee I would use dozens or hundreds of times a day. I'm considering replacing my Mac…

I know it's trendy to hate on the touchbar... but for what it's worth, I personally find it more useful than the old function keys. Most mac apps don't use function keys as shortcuts, so the old keyboard ended up being used for media keys (volume, brightness, play/pause, etc.). The touch bar gives me a better version of that (I actually get a volume slider ), plus more apps actually make use of that space to provide…

Maybe I'm a backwards person but I barely use escape at all. I do however use the function keys, all day, every day. I have them mapped to various apps for screengrabbing, batch copy and paste of files, rename etc. Apps like keymaestro let me add extra functionality to these "spare" keys and I don't want then replaced by any damn touchbar

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

#685

Post by on_and_off »

tjohns wrote: post #651
reificator wrote: post #644

Biggest new feature they could add would be to not have an additional screen taking up battery life and shining in my face, unable to be dimmed with f.lux. Maybe instead we could have a row of keys that provide some sort of function, and maybe a key that allows the user to escape. That would be a pretty useful feature that I can guarantee I would use dozens or hundreds of times a day. I'm considering replacing my Mac…

I know it's trendy to hate on the touchbar... but for what it's worth, I personally find it more useful than the old function keys. Most mac apps don't use function keys as shortcuts, so the old keyboard ended up being used for media keys (volume, brightness, play/pause, etc.). The touch bar gives me a better version of that (I actually get a volume slider ), plus more apps actually make use of that space to provide…

>Yes, you lose tactile feedback

That's the only part I really can't lose.

I like the volume slider fwiw but the regular ones worked fine too.. it is a small bonus with a massive drawback .. of course I don't like it.

Not to mention that I don't ever look at my keyboard when typing, so touchbar is just a annoying glow at the periphery of my vision.

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

#686

Post by roryisok »

reificator wrote: post #644

Biggest new feature they could add would be to not have an additional screen taking up battery life and shining in my face, unable to be dimmed with f.lux. Maybe instead we could have a row of keys that provide some sort of function, and maybe a key that allows the user to escape. That would be a pretty useful feature that I can guarantee I would use dozens or hundreds of times a day. I'm considering replacing my Mac…

When I'm wearing my cynic hat, the touch bar is the beginning of a plot to replace our physical keys with another screen with an image of keys. The 2030 MacBook will basically be two iPads taped together

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

#687

Post by jclardy »

symfoniq wrote: post #662
tjohns wrote: post #651

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know it's trendy to hate on the touchbar... but for what it's worth, I personally find it more useful than the old function keys. Most mac apps don't use function keys as shortcuts, so the old keyboard ended up being used for media keys (volume, brightness, play/pause, etc.). The touch bar gives me a better version of that (I actually get a volume slider ), plus more apps actually make use of that space to provide…

I noticed a big regression in battery life (25-35%) between my 2013 and 2017 MacBook Pro. I don't know how much the Touch Bar had to do with it, but the 2017 was definitely worse.

From 2015 to 2016 models the battery capacity dropped from 74 watt hours to 49 watt hours in the new 13" design. The gap was made up for by efficiency gains of the CPU and possibly the display. But the display can also be cranked way brighter now, running it at the full 500 nits will hurt your battery performance for sure. Also if you are running demanding loads it will be worse off as well.

The Touch Bar likely sips power, but the real issue with it is the lost battery capacity beneath it (The non-touchbar models have larger batteries at 54 watt hours)

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

#688

Post by tjohns »

wwweston wrote: post #669
tjohns wrote: post #651

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know it's trendy to hate on the touchbar... but for what it's worth, I personally find it more useful than the old function keys. Most mac apps don't use function keys as shortcuts, so the old keyboard ended up being used for media keys (volume, brightness, play/pause, etc.). The touch bar gives me a better version of that (I actually get a volume slider ), plus more apps actually make use of that space to provide…

> I know it's trendy to hate on the touchbar The touchbar hate is not trendy . It's based in specific complaints. If, on the balance of how you evaluate the problems and benefits of the touchbar, it's useful for you, great. That doesn't mean the primary reason people express a distaste for the touchbar is essentially a social fashion.

I didn't mean to imply that the concerns were unfounded. I know there are real, legitimate complaints with the touchbar.

At the same time, I just wanted to point out that there are at least some developers who do prefer it, and that the dislike isn't universal.

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

#689

Post by bigpeopleareold »

octorian wrote: post #551
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've long felt that the greatest threat to Linux on the desktop (for the past ~15 years) has been OSX, not Windows. We all want a solid and reliable UNIX-based OS, but we also want an OS that won't be treated as a bastard child by hardware and software vendors. As much as we all love the world of free software, sometimes we actually do want/need to use commercial software as well. Apple has given us what we fundament…

I have been going back and forth for many years between Linux and MacOS. In 2013, I just got annoyed at how finicky it was to get something compiled. I ended up with a Mac at my current job at the beginning, but a year into it, I had enough.

Ubuntu has been a fine OS for me. It's not perfect, but it serves its purpose well enough.

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

#690

Post by aequitas »

reificator wrote: post #644

Biggest new feature they could add would be to not have an additional screen taking up battery life and shining in my face, unable to be dimmed with f.lux. Maybe instead we could have a row of keys that provide some sort of function, and maybe a key that allows the user to escape. That would be a pretty useful feature that I can guarantee I would use dozens or hundreds of times a day. I'm considering replacing my Mac…

My biggest problem with the touchbar is that I would only be able to use it half of the time. Because when I dock my laptop it is either closed and tucked in the corner of my desk, or perched on a laptop stand. Either way the touchbar is to far away to be of any benefit. So unless Apple comes with a (bluetooth) keyboard with touchbar, I cannot integrate it into my daily workflow.
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