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New 13-inch MacBook Pro

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Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#811

Post by dkonofalski »

cletus wrote: post #624
warent wrote: post #579

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why people hate the touch bar or the keyboard. It's imperfect yes but the entire MBP keyboard+trackpad layout enables me to be insanely productive. The only reason I don't buy something like a Mac Mini is because I can't get a peripheral keyboard that is the same as the one on the MBP. The only thing I wish it had was a number pad. Maybe you're just not realizing its potential. I definitely recomme…

So there are a couple of glaring problems: 1. The keyboard. Ugh. The keyboard was ostensibly changed to shave half a millimeter off the thickness of an MBP. 0.5mm. The old chiclet keyboard was fine. The new one is basically worse in every way. It's louder, feels crappier to type on, has a high failure rate (as witnessed by Apple's free repair program) and is otherwise expensive to replace. There is absolutely nothing…

I disagree with everything stated here and, maybe I'm just lucky, but I haven't had any issues at all with the keyboard on any of my Macbook Pros (work, personal, or my SO's) and I can't go back to not having a Touch Bar.

I'm really curious about the numbers surrounding this. Especially with the latest sales figures, I'm curious if this is just a vocal minority or if most users agree with you that this is a step backward.

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#812

Post by mekster »

sylens wrote: post #763

I wonder how many people buying Macbook Pro's this year are trying to load up before Apple starts the ARM migration, thereby avoiding what may be a rough first year or two

In that sense, the resell value may be quite high on this one as one of the last working x86 machines where some apps may not migrate or migrate very slowly to ARM architecture in the coming years.

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#813

Post by obrajesse »

gowld wrote: post #708
MaintenanceMode wrote: post #632

Bringing back the escape key is such a admission of their original screw up. I'm glad they admitted it and reversed the design decision. But I'm still on a 2012 15" MacBook that's running strong. I normally would have updated but using my work 15" has been horrific between the dongles, the keyboard randomly dropping keys (last week "G" would not work, now it's back. The most infuriating thing about the touch bar, out…

Apple just launched a $300 keyboard for iPad Pro, with no Esc key.

...which is perfectly reasonable for a device with an operating system with no legacy of needing one for day to day operations.

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#814

Post by mekster »

shrimpx wrote: post #608

I’ve been dreaming of a 32G 13” for years but now that it’s here I wish it were 64G. This for me sums up the problem with the 13” offering. Attractive form factor (for me), always 2-4 years behind on specs. Apple apparently thinks that smaller form factor means the audience is “junior pro” or something. People who want smaller laptops are probably also running proportionally smaller workloads, thinks Apple. It makes…

Not every "pro" needs huge amount of ram. I'm living fine with 8GB as a web developer. Though thinking to go 16GB on the next machine, just because.

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#815

Post by faizshah »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #733
MaintenanceMode wrote: post #632

Bringing back the escape key is such a admission of their original screw up. I'm glad they admitted it and reversed the design decision. But I'm still on a 2012 15" MacBook that's running strong. I normally would have updated but using my work 15" has been horrific between the dongles, the keyboard randomly dropping keys (last week "G" would not work, now it's back. The most infuriating thing about the touch bar, out…

The "real" Escape key is essential. I'm using a new 16" MBP at work and it's quite nice, but without the real Escape key I'd probably be cursing the computer every day. I thought I'd hate the touchbar, but I actually thought it was cute -- for about an hour. Then I realized it was just a useless gimmick and reset it to "Expanded Control Strip" which is Apple's euphemism for "Make the touchbar look and act just like t…

The touchbar is for sure a gimmick, but I found some use for it in PyCharm. There’s a lot of commands you can run from the menubar in pycharm so its kinda useful to skip a complicated hotkey and just add it to the touchbar. Maybe in video editing programs theres some use?

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#816

Post by pfranz »

buttsu_ wrote: post #768
chrischen wrote: post #745

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Real Vi/emac users don’t use the esc key. It’s way too far frome home row.

i am a real vi user its not too far I use esc

I think the parent was a bit tongue-in-cheek. It's in reference to the keyboard layout vi was developed with and the fact many vi users are obsessed with keeping their fingers on/near the home row (much like, "a /real/ vi user doesn't use the mouse"). Ctrl-[ is an equivalent to ESC on American English keyboards.

https://dave.cheney.net/2017/08/21/the-here-is-key

https://vim.fandom.com/wiki/Avoid_the_escape_key#Avoiding_th...

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#817

Post by eanzenberg »

I recently got an 11" ipad pro with the new keyboard/touchpad. After using it for some time, I don't think I'll have a need for a personal mpb anymore. I have a tower with windows/linux and a 1080ti for heavy lifting when needed. There's just a freeing feeling to getting a device with a small form factor that can be just a screen if needed.

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#818

Post by dkonofalski »

anbop wrote: post #686
dkonofalski wrote: post #641

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm still surprised that so many people are stuck on the Escape key but it's probably no surprise that the ones that are stuck are all developers using vi or emacs. I love the Touch Bar and had no problem adjusting/remapping and find the utility of the Touch Bar for video and audio editing to be invaluable now. I wasn't sold on it before but, over the last year or so, I'll be really disappointed if they remove it. Ad…

The problem is most heavy computer users set themselves up with a proper ergonomic setup, i.e. external keyboard. And by not building the touch bar into external keyboards, they killed the entire concept of the Touch Bar, because any "pro" application has to assume that you may or may not have a touch bar and can't put essential functionality there. Which limits the Touch Bar to proper first-class support primarily i…

This is basically a repackaged "no true Scotsman" fallacy. We're talking about a laptop here. Most people that bought a laptop are using it because they need something portable and self-contained. On top of that, the Touch Bar isn't meant for "essential" functionality just like the F-keys were never meant for essential functionality. They were meant to be shortcuts for commonly used functions.

I use an external keyboard with the Touch Bar all the time. Pretending like you have to use one or the other is disingenuous.

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#819

Post by bobbylarrybobby »

starbugs wrote: post #735
120photo wrote: post #712

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They tried something, failed, now they are changing course. That is a plus in my book. I have a 2016 15" MBP and I hate the keyboard. One of the worst laptops ever made by Apple. I hope next they bring back letting user upgrade components (like let me install my own RAM and SSD upgrades.)

Next press release may read as follows: "The new magic keyboard, not only with the new inverted T arrangement of arrow keys, but also with absolutely brand new physical function keys featuring all new haptic feedback experience."

More like their past press release; here's some text from their newish 16" MacBook Pro page (https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-16/):

The 16-inch MacBook Pro takes workflow efficiency to a new level. The new Magic Keyboard features a refined scissor mechanism with 1 mm travel for a responsive, comfortable, and quiet typing experience. The Touch Bar puts powerful shortcuts front and center, and Touch ID provides fast authentication. A dedicated Escape key allows quick switching between modes and views. And the inverted-T arrow keys enable fluid navigation whether you’re flying through lines of code, navigating spreadsheets, or gaming.

Re: New 13-inch MacBook Pro

#820

Post by truculent »

nbrempel wrote: post #458

I’ve been a Big Mac user for the last 7 years or so. I initially moved over from Linux after experiencing the ease of the OSX operating system when working in software development without the overhead of maintaining something like Arch Linux. I’m now looking at system76 and Pop!_OS for my next machine. They seem to be doing a really good job of creating compelling hardware and software that works well together. From…

Pop!_OS looks interesting. Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve been using Linux since switching from MacOS and have been finding the additional setup and configuration an extra hassle I don’t want. Although not enough of a hassle to drop $1,500+ on a new machine. I might have to give this a spin.
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