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

Basic features that will hopefully return to the MacBook Pro

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 83 posts

Re: Basic features that will hopefully return to the MacBook Pro

#41

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

apo wrote: post #32

The elimination of MagSafe is nearly too painful to talk about. It was magical. Now it’s dead. Here’s how it worked: The power cable was magnetic. Instead of sticking into the laptop, it connected to the side of it. If someone tripped over the cable, the cable would harmlessly disconnect from the laptop. That feature was really removed? I've accidentally yanked the power cord multiple times on my laptop. MagSafe save…

Good riddance!

In my experience MagSafe 2 ruined the MagSafe connector design. It’s nearly impossible to use MagSafe 2 in anything but a stable flat position. Forget using it while laying down.

Also, I work in a metal fabrication workshop, which means the brass contacts and their housing on the laptop side of the MagSafe 2 connector on my MacBook Pro are now blanketed and burned from poor contact due to metal dust interfering with the connector.

There are aftermarket MagSafe type connectors for the new MacBooks. This is a superior design in my opinion because it makes both sides of the connector replaceable.

Re: Basic features that will hopefully return to the MacBook Pro

#42

Post by toomuchtodo »

trey-jones wrote: post #34

I use a 2013 MBP and I agree with this article in that I don't really want to "upgrade" to a Macbook without most of those features. In fact, even the 2013 is missing some features compared to the 2011: * The old style Magsafe, where the cord comes out the back instead of the side. I still feel that one was superior. * Accessible RAM. I upgraded the RAM in my 2011 from 4GB to 16GB for a fraction of what the 16GB in m…

Is the hard drive and battery still user-swappable on a 2013 MBP? I have a cache of MBAs to last me a decade or two, but I'm always interested in other options if I come across them inexpensively.

Re: Basic features that will hopefully return to the MacBook Pro

#43

Post by pentae »

What i'd really love is if there was a service where I could pay a technician to take previous generation Macbook Pro with it's excellent keyboard and no touchbar and transplant a new logic board with modern 8th generation intel processor, 16gb of ram and an nvidia max-q gtx 1070 (or AMD equivalent) into it, complete with working USB-A ports. I wonder if it could still fool MacOS into thinking it's a real mac without having to go the hackintosh route.

That would be the perfect laptop.

Does anyone know anyone who has done this? Could you get something like that done in China?

Re: Basic features that will hopefully return to the MacBook Pro

#45

Post by eecc »

lostgame wrote: post #21

I find the Touch Bar to be incredibly dim and low-resolution compared to the monitor or display of my iPhone. It doesn't relay a lot of practical use. The removal of basic features like MagSafe and the little power LED's is maddening. The removal of the classic white glowing Apple on the back is practically an announcement that they're not even the same company any more. I do iOS development for a living, and I'm roc…

I saw the end coming when they removed the breathing standby led from the Unibody design.

Re: Basic features that will hopefully return to the MacBook Pro

#46

Post by vosper »

apo wrote: post #32

The elimination of MagSafe is nearly too painful to talk about. It was magical. Now it’s dead. Here’s how it worked: The power cable was magnetic. Instead of sticking into the laptop, it connected to the side of it. If someone tripped over the cable, the cable would harmlessly disconnect from the laptop. That feature was really removed? I've accidentally yanked the power cord multiple times on my laptop. MagSafe save…

I had to switch to a newer non-magsafe Macbook Pro, and it has been less of an issue than I had thought. The USB-C cable pops out fairly easily if you (eg) catch it on your foot and drag it, or walk with the computer without unplugging it.

But it's definitely not as good as Magsafe - if the angle of the cable is not out from the computer (say it's being pulled back under the computer) the connector may not pop loose and you might end up with it detaching from the wall charger instead (it's nice that the cable plugs in at both ends). And if you drag the cable there's a good chance the computer will drag a bit, too, rather than staying still like it would when the Magsafe connector detached immediately. So, you could still end up with the computer on the ground because it dragged a bit before the USB-C connector detached.

Re: Basic features that will hopefully return to the MacBook Pro

#47

Post by pickdenis »

pentae wrote: post #43

What i'd really love is if there was a service where I could pay a technician to take previous generation Macbook Pro with it's excellent keyboard and no touchbar and transplant a new logic board with modern 8th generation intel processor, 16gb of ram and an nvidia max-q gtx 1070 (or AMD equivalent) into it, complete with working USB-A ports. I wonder if it could still fool MacOS into thinking it's a real mac without…

Ha, that's going to thermal throttle like nobody's business. Just get a proper laptop if you want specs like that.

Re: Basic features that will hopefully return to the MacBook Pro

#50

Post by [deleted] »

apo wrote: post #32

The elimination of MagSafe is nearly too painful to talk about. It was magical. Now it’s dead. Here’s how it worked: The power cable was magnetic. Instead of sticking into the laptop, it connected to the side of it. If someone tripped over the cable, the cable would harmlessly disconnect from the laptop. That feature was really removed? I've accidentally yanked the power cord multiple times on my laptop. MagSafe save…

[deleted]
Post reply on HN