MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros • Hacker News Board

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

#711

Post by munk-a » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 7:39 PM UTC

utopcell wrote: post #705

theslurmmustflo wrote: post #699

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's okay, if you don't like it you can just plug an external keyboard into the dongle you have plugged into the dongle you have plugged into the only USB-C port they plan on offering!

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

#712

Post by garmaine » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 7:40 PM UTC

It has a new keyboard, which means Apple recognized the problem with the old keyboard months, maybe a the better part of a year before the recently announced new warranty on keyboard + body replacement, long enough to design a replacement.

That's a pretty shitty thing to do to keep denying the problem and collecting repair fees from their customers in the mean time.

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

#713

Post by munk-a » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 7:40 PM UTC

tjohns wrote: post #688

wwweston wrote: post #669

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

So maybe a nice compromise would be having both... having a touchbar that can be customized in addition to a standard set of function keys.

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

#714

Post by sneak » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 7:40 PM UTC

makecheck wrote: post #506

They need to take a page from “G4 Cube” and kill this entire product design , not tweak it. Touch Bar adds cost (both money and battery) for a net negative in functionality and has no external-keyboard equivalent. Wrong design, take it out. Machine is thin enough to cause unwanted trade-offs in capacity and performance. Wrong design, take it out. “Improved” keyboard means waiting more years to see if it breaks, where…

How do you know they haven’t done precisely this? It takes more than 18 months to bring a brand new case and motherboard design to market. This could have been underway for more than a year now. (To be clear: I don’t think they have. But if they did, neither you nor I would know.)

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

#715

Post by remir » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 7:42 PM UTC

plopz wrote: post #545

driverdan wrote: post #508

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and there are still some aspects of Windows 10 that annoy me (namely the prevelance of ads) This is why I won't run Windows 10. It's spyware you pay for. No thanks!

Has anyone actually paid for windows 10? Everyone I know got it for free.

You pay for the license when you buy a new machine. The free upgrade is now over, so if somebody is on Windows 8 and wants to upgrade to 10, he will have to buy a license.

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

#716

Post by makecheck » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 7:42 PM UTC

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…

Adding media keys did not require the loss of Function keys (“fn” toggle) so low use in apps was not a reason to remove keys entirely.

How is a touch volume slider better? Using modifier keys you can achieve any level of precision from keyboard volume keys, without looking down to find and watch what you tap. There are also slider controls already, using the mouse (both in the menu bar and System Preferences).

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

#717

Post by ehsanu1 » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 7:45 PM UTC

utopcell wrote: post #705

theslurmmustflo wrote: post #699

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's all about the implementation/execution. We'd need some new technology to really make this work well.

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

#718

Post by jhanschoo » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 7:46 PM UTC

The TouchBar models have much worse Linux compatibility. That's my make-or-break feature. :(

I won't be buying a MacBook that can't play audio through its speakers.

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

#719

Post by tkzzbneig » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 7:48 PM UTC

latch wrote: post #30

After ongoing problems and repairs with my gen 2 butterfly, I switched to Linux (Ubuntu). After many months, I'm still a little shocked at how much worse the desktop experience is. 11 year old OS X Leopard is more consistent, intuitive and usable. Hardware is slightly less polished, but no major complaints there (except for how poor the buying experience was). Still, keyboard works. It would take something amazing to…

Unity is very commonly despised in the Linux community. Some do like it, but to form your opinion of Linux DE usability based on that one experience isn't fair. Try Linux Mint for all the ease of Ubuntu in terms of setup and bundled software, but for the best DE out there.

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

#720

Post by bvy » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 7:49 PM UTC

I like the keyboard design but think it's also important to fix the reliability issues. Going back to the old design feels like the wrong thing to do.