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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

#721
post #651

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…

My gripe with it is that it's not sufficiently customizable. If it were heavily customizable it could be pretty useful.

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

#722
post #87

I’m glad to see that Apple has finally updated its MacBook Pro line, but it’s a little too late for me. After using Macs for nearly 12 years, I bought a Dell XPS 15 9570 a week after WWDC 2018 (I couldn’t put off a new computer purchase any longer), and I couldn’t be happier. It turns out that Windows 10 really shines on a computer with six processor cores, a 4K display, and a NVMe SSD, a dramatic improvement from th…

> (namely the prevelance of ads) Where are all these ads that people complain about? Is it the half pre-installed apps that come with your computer that you can promptly uninstall?

Microsoft does a lot of cross-promotion: e.g. the weather app that upon first run shows an ad for the news app.

Under the default and recommended settings, it sends telemetry, and occasionally asks you to rate how likely you are recommending win10 to a friend.

When you launch Firefox or Chrome for the first time, a popup appears from the start bar, saying something like "Have you tried Edge? Edge is XX% faster than firefox/Chrome".

Basically you have to be prepared for a new product placement everytime you launch a Micrsoft app for the first time.

I've related on reddit that psychologically, this feels like the difference between being in your own house and being a house guest of an old acquaintance trying to get you into their MLM scheme.

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

#723

The first line of this press release should say: "We have done a thorough review of the keyboard issues people have been experiencing and have made a series of significant improvements..." That's literally all I care about. As I sit here typing on my MacBook Pro with a second keyboard sitting on top of the completely unusable built-in keyboard.

Most people who are considering buying this computer have never heard about any keyboard issues.

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

#724
Wah!!!! The keyboard isn't how I LIKE IT. WAH!!!! The Touch Bar doesn't work in a way that I MUST HAVE IT.

Guess what, that's life suckers. Grow the fuck-up. Rise about your typical, entitled d-bag bullshit for a change (I know it's hard HNers, you are after all young and dumb but think you are smart and wise).

Seriously, 99% of these comments are a f-n joke. I own and use a MacBook Pro and the keyboard is a-ok, you get use to it. The Touch Bar is cool too if you aren't stuck in your ways and pathetically expecting the world to conform to your whinny ass needs.

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

#725
post #531

This is so frustrating. I'm a longtime/loyal Apple customer, but they refuse to make any hardware lately I'm willing to buy. I don't want a laptop with a touchbar. They don't make any desktop computers: Their last Mac Pro was a disaster, the Mac Mini hasn't been updated in many years, and the iMac Pro is just a (powerful) laptop on a desk. I need to upgrade my home computer and I guess I'm switching to Linux?

The iMac Pro is absolutely nothing close to “a powerful laptop on a desk”. You’re fooling yourself with your narrative.

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

#726
Why is Apple's approach on introducing new things so punishing?

iPhone X - introduce Face ID AND remove Touch ID

Macbook - introduce Touch Bar AND remove physical function keys

I'm sure there are other examples but I don't follow Apple's hardware close enough to know. It doesn't have to be this way. In both cases above, both items could easily have been kept to maximize user choice AND maximize innovation at the same time.

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

#727

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…

Was very disappointed to see tha the new 13" models don't come with a 32GB of RAM option.

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

#728
post #713
post #688

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Or one model with and one model without. I don't like the touchbar (keys move around and change size depending on context, escape can be triggered by touching areas outside of the escape key, touch bar locks up / crashes) but I'm largely indifferent to it. My primary complaint is the awful butterfly keyboard itself. There's too little travel, the keyboard itself is far too delicate (only took a few weeks for the spacebar to start crapping out on my 2016), and the layout is subpar.

My mid-2012 MPB is in need of a replacement, but the butterfly keyboard is a dealbreaker. I'm not thrilled with the touch bar, generally supportive of USB-C (although I miss magsafe), will tolerate the glossy screen and oversized trackpad, and don't give two hoots about the fingerprint reader. If Apple could see fit to provide a current gen MBP with a proper keyboard I'd buy one in a heartbeat. As it is, when my MBP dies for good I'm almost certainly moving to a Linux laptop.

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

#730
The bump in specs is very much welcome, but I'm considerably irked by the continuation of USB-C only connectivity. I'm not joking with this. I would like, at least on the 15-inch model:

- An HDMI port

- Two mini-display ports

- At least two standard USB 3 compatible ports

- A mag-safe power connector to avoid damage to the machine, and the connector itself, if somebody (like me!) trips over the power cable

- At least they haven't got rid of the headphone socket but I'd also like the line in back, please: makes recording on the fly much more convenient, which is something I need to do reasonably regularly

Overall these additions would make the machine much more convenient and versatile when travelling because it means I don't have to carry (and find space for) a bunch of dongles that will inevitably suffer periodic loss and replacement. I know this will make the machine cost more but I JUST DON'T CARE.

Seriously Apple, the clue is in the name: Macbook Pro. Please: wake up - stop building toys and start building tools! You used to be really good at this and I don't really understand why you chose to stop.

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