2018 MacBook Pro Review • Hacker News Board

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#261

Post by shabble » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 1:59 AM UTC

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #255

inopinatus wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without an Escape key I'm doomed. The touchbar doesn't cut it. I tried a 2017 model and could only adapt with the daggy workaround of remapping Caps Lock to Escape. Unfortunately that is therefore in the "wrong" location for muscle memory for every other keyboard I use. Sadly I have such a strong preference for OSX that it seems I'll be using the limping 2012 Retina MBP on which I'm typing until it dies completely, a…

Now that I have a video demonstration, I feel obligated to post it any time I see someone complaining about the escape key. You can use escape on the touchbar by putting your finger in the exact same place as you would on any other keyboard. Escape didn't go anywhere. Video proof: https://streamable.com/ao18b

It's a little misleading to call it "the exact same place as any other keyboard".

Here's[0] is my previous MBP. Pressing anywhere on the escape key will trigger a keypress. You don't have to be perfectly centred on it, and even having a finger half-off the left side will work.

Does that work for the non-visible bit of the touchbar?

And how do you know when you've actually pressed it, if the app doesn't immediately indicate it, and you're not looking down at the "button"?

[0] https://cnet4.cbsistatic.com/img/27By8ZzhyWJoIxipAsZsz3W0bj8...

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#262

Post by aphextron » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 2:00 AM UTC

watertom wrote: post #239

$2,400 for a laptop, unbelievable. I guess it's the equivalent of women paying $1,200 for Manolo Blahnik shoes, or rednecks buying $60,000 pickup trucks, they sure are purty, but they just aren't worth the money, no matter how much you've bought into the hype.

>$2,400 for a laptop, unbelievable.

And that's for the bare bones base model. The one you actually want is $3500. Insanity.

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#263

Post by likeclockwork » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 2:03 AM UTC

sumedh wrote: post #228

josephg wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use USB sticks semi regularly and I have a USB-c MacBook Pro. I picked up a few USB sticks with dual A and C plugs on them. They work a treat.

> I use USB sticks semi regularly What do you use it for, is it something dropbox or others cannot do?

When did the sneakernet become a foreign concept to hackers?

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#264

Post by DuskStar » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 2:03 AM UTC

Acen wrote: post #151

gaius wrote: post #39

Wow the Blackmagic is huge!! I had no idea they were so big! Is there just 1 graphics card in there?

Keen in mind that Blackmagic sells a massive array of pro audio/visual equipment. From cameras to capture and playback, to format convertors etc.

Wouldn't the fact that they're experienced peripheral manufacturers mean they have less of an excuse for their external GPU being oversized? I have no idea how else that would be relevant in this situation.

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#265

Post by diek00 » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 2:04 AM UTC

I see they have also retained the massive POS trackpad, for those who have not experienced it, agony is a good word. Imagine typing away and next thing Siri pops up for absolutely no reason or the cursor changes position and you are typing in a new location. Jumping randomly regardless of what I have done. I am lucky I did not taken a hammer and smashed it to pieces.

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#266

Post by briandear » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 2:06 AM UTC

bodas wrote: post #174

lclarkmichalek wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because I go to meetings and work from home sometimes. Only thing I'd use a standard USB for would be charging, which isn't really something I do in meetings, and I have plenty of chargers at home.

As someone who occasionally writes apps for iPhone I have to use the USB port all the damn time.

They make thunderbolt lightning cables.

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#267

Post by bogomipz » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 2:06 AM UTC

bodas wrote: post #118

stupidcar wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost as if Apple aren't even basing their hardware strategy on what developers are complaining about on Hacker News.

I'd go further and say that Apple isn't basing their hardware strategy on the needs of any real person. It's a laptop with only USB-C ports (and the 13-inch only has two of them). You can't even plug a USB stick into it. The only people who asked for a laptop like that are working at Apple.

Indeed and perhaps the height of absurdity - if you were to go buy a brand new iPhone 8 today, the cable that comes with the phone has a USB 3.0 connector not an USB-C connector at the far end.

So you can't even plug a brand new iPhone 8 directly into a brand new Macbook Pro without buying a cable as a separate purchase.

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#268

Post by eddieroger » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 2:08 AM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #139

mancerayder wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately for us, Apple bases its decisions on expected sales numbers more than our feelings. That said, does anyone know if the sales numbers are stronger after these mean keyboard and touchbar (and dongly) redesigns?

Sales numbers lag behind consumer satisfaction. Meaning people may still buy this MBP but decide that their next computer won't be a Mac, this means the "lost sale" could be four or five years into the future. Plus there's the magnifying effect of "influences." Are technical people still going to recommend to their less technical family members a Mac? My point isn't "Apple is doomed!" rather, any company, has to look…

Returns don't lag like that. If people were that unhappy with the keyboard, they'd take the Mac back. Apple can read HN or the like all day, but if laptops are leaving the door, then they have no reason to change anything.

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#269

Post by ouid » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 2:10 AM UTC

ubernostrum wrote: post #246

etatoby wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too little, too late, IMHO.

So... they have to get everything literally perfect on the first attempt in order for you not to dismiss it? Do you even own a computer? Is there any company that manages to meet your standards?

It replaced magsafe, which is a superior technology.

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#270

Post by slavik81 » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 2:12 AM UTC

bigiain wrote: post #254

bodas wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd go further and say that Apple isn't basing their hardware strategy on the needs of any real person. It's a laptop with only USB-C ports (and the 13-inch only has two of them). You can't even plug a USB stick into it. The only people who asked for a laptop like that are working at Apple.

"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." -- Henry Ford Nobody asked for USB ports when they had serial/parallel ports, or for the floppy drive to disappear, or to lose the VGA connector. I don't know if Apple have made the right calls here (on either the USB-C ports or the keyboard), but they do have some history in making eventually-winning calls on at least some of these things.…

> Nobody asked for USB ports when they had serial/parallel ports, or for the floppy drive to disappear, or to lose the VGA connector.

I don't recall being annoyed by those changes. In particular, the VGA->DVI transition was handled really well. Just about everything was DVI-I and would accept a VGA signal over a DVI cable, so you just bought a VGA->DVI cable and continued using VGA.