Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

apple.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

701–710 of 1001 posts

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

#701

Post by acchow »

jhaile wrote: post #694
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 the escape key. I hate not having tactile feeling for a key I use on a regular basis. I'm constantly missing it or hitting something on accident.

I've had Caps Lock mapped to escape for years. You used to need some tool to do this, but now you can do it right inside Keyboard settings "Modifier Keys".

Make sure you choose the real keyboard if you also have a Yubikey plugged in :)

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

#702

Post by fit2rule »

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've had a touchbar-mBP since release day, and I've only just recently found a use for the touchbar: in Zoom, to start recording the session, and in iTerm to change the colours.

Just this week I noticed with surprise that I'm actually using the touchbar 'productively' in this fashion - but its been a long time coming.

However I'd throw away this newfound appreciation of the touchBar in an instant, if both of these apps just .. you know .. had icons for the task. Maybe some sort of strip of icons, even ...

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

#703

Post by Xcelerate »

gervase wrote: post #476
mbesto wrote: post #445

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They didn't do that because it is not what most people want. > Better to focus on the 90% of customers who buy products So either you're wrong, or Apple's PR team is really bad positioning their product. From the Press Release itself in the first few paragraphs: ideal for manipulating large data sets, performing complex simulations, creating multi-track audio projects or doing advanced image processing or film edit…

I believe this is a case of a disparity between who they say their products are for (power users), and who they are actually for (people who want to think of themselves as power users). This would be similar to, for example, many sportswear brands who say they are for professional athletes, but whose primary consumer base is... not. In both cases, they may still attract the audience they claim to target, but in pract…

It’s funny because I “perform complex simulations and handle massive data sets” but no laptop (or even desktop) is capable of handling them. I normally need to SSH to some cluster with thousands of CPU cores and terabytes of RAM. I’m actually kind of curious who the target user is for a high performance laptop nowadays. Video editors? What kinds of tasks require more performance than a standard laptop but less than a desktop?

I currently have a 2012 MBP Retina, but am not sure if I want my next laptop to be another MBP or just the regular MacBook. I really like the 15” screen and would have a hard time giving that up. I wish they had a regular MacBook with a high quality screen, battery, and keyboard and not much else.

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

#704

Post by theslurmmustflo »

Cd00d wrote: post #698
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 wonder why they don't just through haptics into the touchbar to diminish the tactile complaint? My Galaxy S9 has touch haptics that feel rather nice.

Smartphones have less mass to move. The touchpad is haptic but the Taptic chip is fairly large and the whole pad is kind of suspended so that you can feel the vibrations. I bet they will do this but it might be tricky since it has a display in it.

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

#705

Post by utopcell »

theslurmmustflo wrote: post #699
roryisok wrote: post #686

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I think so too, especially with further improvements to the Taptic Engine. This might also lead to a more “solid state” device with less mechanical parts to worry about. I wonder if there will be a backlash or if we will all get used to it.

I think that would be horrible. Yoga book has already brought this idea to market, and typing on it is a nightmare.

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

#706

Post by buu700 »

tjohns wrote: post #692
buu700 wrote: post #682

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

The escape button shows up in practically all apps, and extends beyond the area indicated by the OLED screen to the edge of the glass. Basically, the entire left 1" of the touchbar is a large dedicated escape key. System Preferences allows you to do some limited customization of what buttons show up, including adding a dedicated Spotlight button. (I replaced the Siri button with that on mine.) See: https://www.howtog…

Interesting, thanks! Sad that it requires third-party software to add the iTerm shortcut (which was my biggest concern since I use it so often), but sounds like the touchbar will probably be a net positive, or at least not a dealbreaker when I do eventually upgrade.

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

#707

Post by zerr »

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…

> Most mac apps don't use function keys as shortcuts

Many buy MBPs for the perceived quality of hardware, and install Windows or Linux as their primary OS.

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

#708

Post by ronyeh »

tjohns wrote: post #692
buu700 wrote: post #682

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

The escape button shows up in practically all apps, and extends beyond the area indicated by the OLED screen to the edge of the glass. Basically, the entire left 1" of the touchbar is a large dedicated escape key. System Preferences allows you to do some limited customization of what buttons show up, including adding a dedicated Spotlight button. (I replaced the Siri button with that on mine.) See: https://www.howtog…

I'm a developer and BetterTouchTool is great. I have terminal shortcuts and others bound to touch bar buttons. BTT even lets you run bash scripts from the touch bar.

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

#709

Post by sneak »

skohan wrote: post #284
artimaeis wrote: post #112

Looking at the specs on the sales pages: https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/15-inch https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/13-inch It's interesting to me that they've widened the gap between the 13" and 15" -- it looks like the 15 has been updated to use DDR4 while the 13 is still on LPDDR3. I get where they're coming from in that the 15 has notably more battery to work with, but it seems surprisi…

I would love a discreet graphics option on the 13" version.

They’re laptops, just cover the brand name in stickers and nobody will know what kind of GPU you have inside there.

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

#710

Post by kps »

lloeki wrote: post #441
mullikine wrote: post #401

The touch bar is an ergonomic nightmare. Apple's soul truly died back in 2011 with the loss of Steve Jobs. Their computers are now appropriate funeral attire. Lifeless, fragile and gaunt. The operating system, a pale reflection of the past, reminds me of disney movies and EA games these days -- forumlaic, unimaginative, designed to take your money. iTunes sucks the soul right out of you. It's Apple's laboratory and y…

> The touch bar is an ergonomic nightmare. > > Apple's soul truly died back in 2011 with the loss of Steve Jobs. Hilariously, the TB was in the works way before Job's disappearance (according to a tweet by Bret Victor I can't find right now).

Long ago, Apple sold keyboards that are regarded as some of the best ever made (up with the IBM M, but quiet).

‘I asked [Jobs] if he would sign my Apple Extended Keyboard. He burst out: “This keyboard represents everything about Apple that I hate. It’s a battleship. Why does it have all these keys? Do you use this F1 key? No.” And with his car keys he pried it right off. “How about this F2 key?” Off they all went. “I’m changing the world, one keyboard at a time,” he concluded in a calmer voice.’ — Steve Jurvetson at https://web.archive.org/web/20111007191749/http://www.busine...

Post reply on HN