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New 13-inch MacBook Pro

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Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#361

Post by j45 »

Tepix wrote: post #158

Funny anecdote: Apple offers a trade-in when buying a new Macbook. I decided to have a look. I entered the serial number of my Macbook Air 11" (Late 2010). I confirmed that it boots up, has no defects, has no optical faults and that I will include the power supply. Apple offered 10€ ($12). Yay?! PS: This ancient notebook runs macOS High Sierra with the current 2020-2 security patch and sells for an astonishing 200€ o…

Like most trade in programs, Apple’s trade in program is for their financial benefit on both ends of the deal, kind of like trading in a car at a dealership.

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#362

Post by cactus2093 »

hidiegomariani wrote: post #149

I've a macbook pro 13' 2017 - It's the worst laptop I've used in the past 10 years. It continuously gets smoking hot lot of fan noise and very often kernel panics. I have lost faith in apple macbook especially when price to hardware ratio is higher than anyone else in the industry I expect the machine to just work seamlessly. I'm very soon disposing the laptop and buy a dell or a thinkpad. I'm not looking at apple ag…

Lots of piling on the hate, but I will add my own experience - no problems here with 2018 15” MacBook Pro at work. No keys have broken, though I know that is common, glad they’ve fixed it. Never kernel panicked, though my old 2012 MacBook Air used to occasionally, that’s still the only time I’ve seen the Apple gray screen of death. Doesn’t run particularly louder or hotter than I’d expect, if the fans are blasting it’s generally because the cpu is actually being maxed out, sometimes because I’m compiling something and sometimes because I’ve clicked a link to an average news article in chrome, but that’s a different problem and not the hardware's fault.

Overall, for me there's been no big dramatic declines from the laptops of yore in terms of day to day productivity and reliability.

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#363

Post by mdrachuk »

cactus2093 wrote: post #336
alexggordon wrote: post #125

I was curious how the 13 inch was priced so I compared it to a new Dell XPS 13. Dell has a better processor (maybe, [2]) , but I couldn't find the option to upgrade the Dell to 4TB internal SSD, so I compared both with the 2 TB option. Ram is the same at 32GB. Dell came out to $2399[0] USD and Apple came out to $2999[1] USD. Dell Pros: * Row of function buttons (I've used BTT to customize my touch-bar to the point wh…

Genuinely curious, have you had your MacBook Pro knocked over from the power cord since switching away from MagSafe? Lots of people complain about missing MagSafe but I’ve never seen or heard of this actually happening. I’m sure it has happened but it just doesn’t seem like a big problem. For me, just in the past month I’ve had the usb charger yanked out by the cord multiple times by people and pets tripping over it…

My dog did it on several occasions.

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#364

Post by fluffything »

DonHopkins wrote: post #340

What are the most essential or coolest add-ons to get for a new MacBook Pro? Is there a good all-or-many-in-one dongle with several USB or other ports? Are the any options for extra power supplies? Is there a good dock for using it with a big display on a desktop?

As others have mentioned, get a silicone keyboard cover, cut the touch bar part of it, and use a hot glue gun to glue it over the touchbar.

If you happen to buy a 2019 macbook pro, then don't worry with that, just type on the silicon keyboard cover. It will be bad, but not as bad as using the actual keyboard directly.

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#366

Post by kylec »

bnt wrote: post #38

What I find irritating is the fact that you have to get the 2ghz CPU in order to be able to get 32gb RAM. It feels like artificial price inflation because the refresh is definitely not as exciting as people had hoped (no 14" micro LED screen, like every single "leak" suggested). Also, the base CPU is an 8th gen chip, you need to fork out a lot of extra $$$ to get to 10th gen.

It's non-obvious, but the 13" MacBook Pro is actually two different computers. On the low end it has a 15W CPU, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, and a single fan, and on the high end it has a 28W CPU, four Thunderbolt 3 ports, and a dual-fan system. The low end version can only be configured with 16GB of memory, whereas the high end version can be configured with 32. It's not artificial price inflation, they're actually different computers.

(p.s. - I mentioned the fans not because it's an important spec for consumers, but to highlight that the two variants are physically different internally, it's not just about swapping in a 28W CPU for a 15W one)

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#367

Post by jen20 »

rootusrootus wrote: post #271
quicklime wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, this has been a problem on all the laptops I've ever owned, including 4 different MacBooks built between 2011-2019, and a Chromebook Pixel.

And eventually the marks don't wipe off, they remove whatever coating is on the screen. I've had this happen on pretty much every MBP I've ever owned.

I've had this happen once, and the Apple store replaced the screen no questions asked. I usually use a microfibre cloth between the screen and the keyboard though. It's a problem with all (modern) laptops from what I can tell - my Thinkpad T480s suffers from it, though my X220 does not.

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#368

Post by j45 »

ianhowson wrote: post #127
bnt wrote: post #38

What I find irritating is the fact that you have to get the 2ghz CPU in order to be able to get 32gb RAM. It feels like artificial price inflation because the refresh is definitely not as exciting as people had hoped (no 14" micro LED screen, like every single "leak" suggested). Also, the base CPU is an 8th gen chip, you need to fork out a lot of extra $$$ to get to 10th gen.

Agreed. MacBook Air has quad-core in similar clock ranges but tops out at 16GB of RAM. Pay an extra $1300-ish for Pro, you can get 32GB of RAM. There's literally nothing else in this refresh that's compelling. And the only reason I want that RAM is for Chrome.

FWIW, Firefox on 32 gb got me to over 2000+ tabs the one time I tried.

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#369

Post by DonHopkins »

RedneckBob wrote: post #338
cHaOs667 wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I HATE the touch bar. I simply H A T E it. I hate it so much that I started to carry an TKL keyboard all the time with me just to avoid using this piece of sh*t touch bar and internal keyboard (MBP 2017). As a developer it is crucial that I can use my keyboard without any looks but as there is no way to tell which function key you press on the touch bar the bar itself is completely useless for me. Beside the butterfl…

I just purged Apple from my life largely because the touchbar continues to live on. Love my new Lenovo, btw. As a workaround for the touchbar that worked pretty well, I bought a silicon keyboard protector for the Apple Magic Keyboard, cut out the area for the function keys, and used hot glue to glue it over the touch bar. Prevented the touchbar from activating at the slightest touch and did return some of the feel of…

The original Apple ][ had a reset key in the upper right corner of the keyboard that was WAAAAAY too easy to press.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e3/1b/53/e31b53767fad646fc635...

They eventually put a stronger spring under it so it was harder to press, but it was still terrible. There was actually a thriving after-market for $3.25 "RESET KEY PROTECTORS": square plastic tube shields that fit over the reset key so you had to stick your finger down inside of it to press reset.

https://apple2history.org/history/ah13/

RESET KEY PROTECTOR, which prevented accidental RESET on the earliest models of the Apple II, was available for only $3.25 from Special Systems Design. This was necessary because the RESET key, on the upper right of the keyboard, was easy to press because it had the same spring action as the other keys on the keyboard. Various methods (like this product) were used to stiffen that key, and make it harder to press.

https://imgur.com/a/jGpcT4Z

Special Systems Design ad for Apple ][ Reset Key Protector, from Apple Orchard v1n1 1980 Mar Apr, page 107.

https://archive.org/details/Apple-Orchard-v1n1-1980-Mar-Apr/...

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#370

Post by pier25 »

Eric_WVGG wrote: post #220
Karupan wrote: post #84

A little disappointed it’s not the rumoured 14” model as I’ve been looking to replace both my 15” and 13” MacBooks. Also, regarding other comments on “just” the 4 core CPU - it’s probably all they could squeeze in without having to redesign the chassis/thermal design. I’m going to hold off for a tear down to see if they have improved the cooling system like they did (Or claimed to) with the 16” version.

I’ve always found the 13” Pros to be the “worst of both worlds” compromise. You don’t get the svelte lightness of the Air, or the generous desktop or raw power of the big boy. Whatever your priority is, it’s just not there. A 14” screen would have at least differentiated the product. I think a lot of these are bought by corporate bean counters and people who assume that Airs must be awful if they’re the most affordab…

I'm still using a 2014 13'' MBP as my secondary machine and for web dev it's fine. It would be great if it was a bit faster, but being a 6 year old machine I'm surprised it's still so usable.

For me the 13'' is the perfect balance between mobility and performance. At least for web dev, obviously not for video editing or gaming.

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