2018 MacBook Pro Review • Hacker News Board

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#481

Post by cygned » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 2:40 PM UTC

nkkollaw wrote: post #480

cygned wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a great summary! Thing is, if the keys work, I love typing on them. I read that the new releas has improvements and I hope they work. Concerning the second point; I use some Mac-only tools plus Microsoft Office plus developer tools like Docker, terminals, etc. Combined with the need to have a reliably working machine, I have no choice other than buying a Mac again at this point. Was looking into buying a Carbon…

> I read that the new releas has improvements and I hope they work There are no improvements related to keys not working, only less clicky. > Combined with the need to have a reliably working machine, I have no choice other than buying a Mac That's funny, I would think that a machine where about 1/4 of the keys don't work properly (or work at all)--which can die and take all your data with it, is not exactly the defi…

> There are no improvements related to keys not working, only less clicky.

People say they changed something related to dust and sticky keys.

> What am I missing here..?

You’re missing that there’s more than just the keyboard. Even with the keyboard broken, the device has a long battery life, good screen and the software works. I can open it and start working - which is extremely important, when you’re at a client to present something. And that is something i have yet to experience with a Linux or Windows notebook.

Frankly speaking, if I could, I’d switch to using CentOS as main OS.

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#482

Post by imron » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 2:42 PM UTC

NickNameNick wrote: post #444

imron wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I on the other hand wouldn't mind if they made the laptop a little bit thicker in exchange for better battery life. When the discrete graphics chip is being used, plus a retina display, and or several dongles plugged in for ethernet, usb-a or whatever, battery life on my 2017 MBP while doing development work is maybe 3-4 hours. It was quite a shock to go to that from the 8-9 hours I used to get from my older MacBook…

They can only make the battery 99WH, and still have it allowed to go on an airplane. The battery is already ~83WH, so sadly, there may not be much to gain there.

That's an interesting piece of information to know, thanks.

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#483

Post by xur17 » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 2:50 PM UTC

robto wrote: post #236

derefr wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's even more funny, because the MBP's touch-bar is essentially the same type of device as the YubiKey—an isolated offboard CPU with its own TPM that can be unlocked with a fingerprint and then asked to encrypt secrets for the host/parent PC. The touch-bar just has more screen. I'm surprised nobody's hacked the YubiKey app into making use of the touch-bar as the YubiKey "device."

Doesn't that kind of defeat the point of the Yubikey? I would think you would want to separate the key and the computer when you yourself are separated from your computer.

The device still requires a pin for most operations (depending on how it's configured), and locks itself if the wrong pin is used too many times.

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#484

Post by addicted » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 2:54 PM UTC

kuon wrote: post #301

Apple lost me two years ago. While I was a big macOS fan and developer, I now work under linux. I was very surprised to see how far linux has gotten as a desktop workstation. Including very good apps (darktable, ardour, inkscape and even gimp which had an horrible interface at the time). I still think macOS had a superior UI (I say "had" because I haven't touched a mac since sierra) and that the hardware was beautifu…

My biggest issue with Linux apps when making it my desktop was basic PIM apps. Any suggestions for those? Even better, are there any sources and places to hang out where you get this information for Linux?

One of the best things about the Apple ecosystem (which I cannot even find in Windows) are the number of Mac focused publications that discuss and critique the variety of apps available. This has been damaged lately since most Mac apps are now discussed as extensions of their iOS ones, but it’s still beyond what I have found on Windows or Linux.

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#485

Post by IloveHN84 » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 2:56 PM UTC

I still don't get why there's no 32 GB option on the 13" as a non-Intel card. Where's the "PRO" in this version, except the price?

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#486

Post by jason_slack » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 3:02 PM UTC

IloveHN84 wrote: post #485

I still don't get why there's no 32 GB option on the 13" as a non-Intel card. Where's the "PRO" in this version, except the price?

I feel you. I wanted to downsize to a 13", but 32gb being only available on the 15" I had to stay 15". :-(

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#487

Post by allwein » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 3:02 PM UTC

entee wrote: post #361

keyle wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't met anyone saying nice things about the missing ESC key... And the touchbar is too fiddly and situational to be useful, even to power users.

I have one of these in front of me now (been working on it for a little over a week, should have waited, d'oh!) and the virtual escape doesn't seem that big a deal. Even if my finger isn't quite on virtual key pretty much at all, but is in the middle of where the real escape key would be, it triggers "ESC".

Go ahead and return it. Apple's pretty good about returns/exchanges after new product releases. I think you have 14 days from purchase to make an exchange, so hop on it if you really like the new systems.

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#488

Post by jason_slack » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 3:03 PM UTC

I didn't realize that the esc key was gone before I ordered my new 15". I haven't had a "touch bar" model yet. Why didn't the touch bar take off with developers? I read Apple said you can develop functionality into apps to utilize the touch bar. Why didn't this happen?

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#489

Post by yurishimo » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 3:05 PM UTC

Kurtz79 wrote: post #458

fiblye wrote: post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Macbook Air wasn't in any way intended for developers, though. All the people I knew buying Airs (even first gen) were the frequent travelers and types of people who do loads of work involving email, text documents, and slideshows. Nothing that required heavy processing, but work that involves being out of your desk and having to haul your work with you. A lightweight PC small enough to slip in a folder was what…

It wasn't a powerhouse, but it was (the second generation one) the first successful "thin" laptop that made reasonable compromises so that it could be used a development machine. In an era of remote servers and web scripting languages, not every developer needs a full-blown workstation. I agree it wasn't indended for developers, but it ended up being adopted by many of them.

I used a 2013 Air with maxed specs as a dev machine for a while and still use it for web browsing and while traveling rather than lug around my more expensive MBP. With an i7, it's a very capable machine with great battery life.

Doing front end development, it was more than powerful enough for anything I had to throw at it.

Re: 2018 MacBook Pro Review

#490

Post by jason_slack » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 3:06 PM UTC

indemnity wrote: post #379

bodas wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Have you tried the WiFi running/debugging? Works pretty well for me.

Good point. I forget about Wifi running and debugging.