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Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro

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Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro

#761
post #261

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100% agree. I'm typing this on a 2015 Macbook Pro, and holding on for dear life, even as it has started alerting me about servicing the battery. It's a great machine. I tried using the touchbar on my son's newer MBP. It's awful, and not meant for serious use. His laptop has been replaced once already due to keyboard issue, and starting to show defects again.

weird I'm on an early 2013 MBP (original battery) at 81% health (226 cycles)

Late MBP 2013 at 87% health capacity (481 cycles)

Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro

#762

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> I feel too old to compile my own kernel for a glitchy wifi driver, and Windows? Nah, get away... Linux hasn't had issues with the major wifi chipsets in ages. It's as plug and play as Mac and Windows are. There are plenty of reasons people might choose to avoid Linux, but drivers (outside of specialty, niche or obscure hardware) aren't really a reason anymore.

Graphics drivers are a constant source of trouble and confusion (so many driver projects and PPAs). My gf has a Linux laptop that stops working after every dist upgrade, and it's always some driver issue (or yet another Ubuntu NetworkManager bug). Also, if the system isn't shut down cleanly, it will never just boot up again in spite of supposedly using a journaling file system. She always has to run e2fsck in manual…

The place where I remember a gap was laptops with dual graphics cards designed to use a low power one for light duty and a more powerful one for heavy duty tasks.

That said, avoiding that mess is fine for a non-gaming laptop. And I've had no trouble installing Linux on Dell, Asus, or Lenovo. Many configurations specifically listed Ununtu as an OS option (but why bother getting it preinstalled), so sure any of those would be fine. They're not especially rare anymore.

Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro

#763
post #717

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I get why they'd like like to sell a pro device to more people. That's fine. It marketing world pro/professional seems to often equate to "better". If someone wants to spend an extra thousand to load the news a bit faster, sure. Apple will and should happily take their money, and they can repurpose product names in service of this all day. I would like to imagine there's space in the market for a "pro" model that wou…

I see this time and time again on Hacker News, and really don't understand why people seem to think that "pro" in any way equates to "developer" or to "someone who needs a lot of computing horsepower". "Pro" means professional. The vast majority of working professionals, in the vast majority of professional fields, run Office, a mail client, a browser, and maybe a line-of-business app. Professionals regularly attend…

Everybody needs a functioning keyboard.

Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro

#764
post #392

After 8 years of macbooks, after using the 2018 model, I switched to a Dell Precision 5530 running Ubuntu 18.04 and it is awesome. The hardware is great, and having Unix under it all was the only real reason I liked Macs (used to be hardware, too). Granted, I don't need Adobe stuff, or anything else that doesn't run or have an alternative on Ubuntu (although it is dual-booted with Win10, but I've never used it, just…

> I switched to a Dell Precision 5530 running Ubuntu 18.04 If you want a desktop experience that comes close to MacOS on Ubuntu, give Budgie Desktop a try; it's developed for Solus: https://github.com/solus-project/budgie-desktop ...but is available for Ubuntu - you can install it separately, or as it's own distro: https://ubuntubudgie.org/ Note that the 18.04 LTS will have the older version of Budgie and not the lat…

Manjaro i3 version running Pantheon and Gala, for me :) I love it more than MacOS.

Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro

#765
post #125

What a clusterF is modern Mac hardware: - Keyboards with much worse action that are more prone to failure (from dust no less) and require replacing the motherboard to fix... all for a Touchbar no one wants and 0.5mm cut in thickness. - Loss (over the years) of the ability to upgrade the CPU, SSD or memory; - Display failures due to broken ribbon cables; - The USB-C clusterF; and - Loss of MagSafe (this one still hurt…

> Loss of MagSafe (this one still hurts). I will NEVER forgive them for this. Jobs was RIGHT when he said this was a major innovation over everyone else. Now Apple is either saying he was wrong or THEY are wrong. They're not BOTH right. My 2015 is the last MBP I will ever buy and it's aging fast... I think it's hackingtosh from here on out. I primarily use Ubuntu but I have to have a Mac as our app runs cross platfor…

The green LED sucks. I would charge my 2012 MacBook Pro in my bedroom, but can’t because of the light. Also, I can’t charge it and use the laptop in my lap because the MagSafe falls off easily. The new charger solves both of these problems.

Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro

#766
post #720

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I don’t get the touch pad complaint (I don’t agree with the others either but that’s a boring worn out argument) - macOS has had excellent “accidental touch” detection in my experience.

So I come from the weird world of Thinkpad point-stick users so take my ergo desires with a grain of salt if you hate that thing. I don't like having to use a buttonless touchpad to begin with and while the MBP touchpad is the best I've ever used I loved it on my 2015 and despise how large it is on the 2016 I've got now. I do EVERYTHING I can to not use this laptop as a laptop. It's keyboard and touchpad experience a…

Meanwhile my palm can literally rest on the touchpad while typing and I don’t trigger it. Are you in a particularly dry area or something? This is completely the opposite of my experience and I’ve used every MBP since they changed the name from PowerBook. I agree on the keyboard though, but then again I dislike any laptop keyboard due to the short key travel and lack of a mechanical option

Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro

#767
post #522

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Or just take it to the Apple Store and pay them $199 to repair the battery which also gets you an entirely new top case and keyboard (old, original stock)

Yeah in my experience that 199$ price doesn’t happen in real life, as they tell you they need to replace the whole top case. Never understood why they publicly list the 199$ battery change price. Am I missing something?

I just had the battery replaced in two mid-2014 MBPs. They said that I'd be paying for the battery replacement (199), but that they would also replace the keyboard and trackpad and I wouldn't be charged for either. However, the way they stated it initially was a little confusing, since it sounded like I'd be paying an additional 100, but they were quick to clear it up.

They did say that they might need to replace the shell (battery was slightly swollen in both machines) and that I'd be responsible for that cost, but that didn't happen for either box. I don't think they replace the shell unless it's really, really deformed. Neither of my machines would sit flat and both were obviously swollen. One I could practically spin like a top (and the trackpad was screwed).

I got both back with no deformities, a new battery, keyboard, and trackpad, and a 199 bill (plus tax).

I wouldn't rule out getting it fixed. If you do end up paying a little more, then you can probably sell it for more than the price it cost to fix.

Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro

#768

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"I don't want thinner" is really what apple needs to hear. Thinner means you take away my ports so I have to carry dongles. Yes, I'd actually love to have at least one old-fashioned USB2 port. I know, I'm insane, but USB2 devices didn't exactly disappear just because USB-C is great. I still have a lot of them. Thinner means you take away magsafe, which is one of those great "gosh, apple is so clever" features that's…

> Thinner means you take away my ports so I have to carry dongles. I'm not sure it does really. The modern MacBook Air chassis is the same size as the old one. But it's lost Magsafe, a useful keyboard, USB-A, it's lost a port on the 13 inch, and no SD card slot. Apple hasn't got rid of these things for thinness. It's gotten rid of them because of a misguided belief that the replacements are better than the loss of fl…

People have complained about Apple removing things since they first removed floppy drives. They remove them not because of some misguided belief, but because it’s old tech. I have a MBP from 2012 still going strong. When laptops last that long a bit of future proofing is a bonus. If you swap laptops every other year then you obviously miss out on this benefit. PC manufacturers will start removing USB ports and if history is any judge we’ll see zero complaints about them doing it, just like with the floppy

Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro

#769
post #716

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> Agreed, the keyboard is awful. I don't really get the hate for these keyboards. I benchmarked my typing speed on my 2019 MBP and a few other keyboards, I didn't notice any significant difference. Just a keyboard...

The two main issues for me are failure rates and key travel. My fingers literally hurt when I use it. The 2012-2015 form was probably less beautiful to look at (and slightly thicker), but it was much better to type with.

I'm glad someone else mentioned their fingers physically hurting when using it. I haven't seen many other complaints round this online and its shocking - This made me stop using the device completely - I was in pain just by typing normally!

Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro

#770
post #693

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CapsLock to Esc is a new feature? I've had control mapped to CapsLock for years...which is one reason I'm actively avoiding the TouchBar.

I have the Caps Lock key mapped to Control (for Unixy things, especially Emacs), and the Control key mapped to Escape -- which, incidentally, improves locality of the Force Quit key combination. I never use Caps Lock anyway. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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