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Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

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Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#61

mbp2020 - https://cfenollosa.com/blog/img/cam-mbp.jpg air2013 - https://cfenollosa.com/blog/img/cam-mba.jpg iphonese2016 - https://cfenollosa.com/blog/img/cam-se.jpg Perfect illustration of "Apple is iphone-first company".

I do wonder why they don't put more effort into the camera on the MBP. Of course it's not going to get used as a camera like a phone but with the economies of scale they have with the cameras going into iPhones you would think they could at least be on par with their own phone cameras from years ago.

Many more people are using the camera on their computers now for videoconferencing. Of course the decision was made long before anyone had heard of COVID-19, but it turned out to be a bad one.

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#62
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, why not simply run Linux at that point?

Because the experience is terrible for the uninitiated. And this is coming from someone who ran Arch as their primary OS since I was 10. Laptop Linux on the whole is not a fun experience for those who just want a machine to work (which was what MacBooks were supposed to be about). I just bought a Surface Laptop 3, and the machine is great. The hardware is nice, Windows on a laptop has improved tenfold since I've last…

I must disagree with you. I have been installing Linux for people who barely know how to use a mouse and the experience was always successful. Of course, I choose a distro with simple UI and software with GUI every time. I don't want to get into the typical "if my mom gets it everyone can" (also because she is a power user) but trust me, the people I installed it for had the same problems they would have had with any OS (some quite funny).

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#63

I bought the 2018 air. I loathe it. What a waste of money and junk keyboard. That said my new job gave me a System 76 laptop and I’ve been delighted all week with it. I don’t care for the offset keyboard but at least it actually works correctly. If it had better palm detection on the trackpad it would be the best laptop I’ve owned since my 2013 MBP (which is still goin strong).

I hear you, trackpads have kept me in Mac camp for awhile. I loathe the glass ones Apple switched to though. I bought the 13 inch with emjoi bar when it came out. Returned it. Recently bought the 16inch when it came out. Like the new keyboard but ended up returning it as it got insanely loud when plugging in external display.

Hard to beat my 2013 mbp retina I guess I’ll stay with it for now.

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#64
post #37

"8-9 hours with all apps closed except Safari. Browsing lightly, with an occasional video, and brightness at the literal minimum. This brightness level is only realistic if it's night time. In a normally lit environment you need to set the brightness level at around 50%." "When I push the laptop a bit more, with a few Docker containers, Pycharm running, Google Chrome with some Docs opened, and brightness near the max…

[deleted]

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#65

I have the new 16 MBP and love the touch bar. I find it much easier to change brightness/sound (place the finger and drag); I find it much easier to control apps, like music, safari, and all, and the habituation period was shorter than with the keys back in the day (when i started using macs). I would love to be able to easily customize the touch bar though, the author mentions BetterTouchTool, looks good, might be w…

Another appreciation for BetterTouchTool. That app change the way you use macOS and open up some new way of interaction you didn't think it's possible, all in a well- designed app.

Also it made the touchbar usefulness rating goes from "yeah, that's...okay?" to "I LOVE IT!" instantly. Apple seems didn't really care about the touchbar much, which is a pity.

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#66
Just got my first MBP.

Found problems with USB devices on day 1 with USB 2.0 devices intermittently freezing.

Documented https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/gp5b1z/usb_20_issues_o... , and there is a workaround... do not use any hub that shows a USB 2.0 device to the Mac, find and use a USB-C hub that presents everything as USB 3.0 to the Mac even if it's USB 2.0

I believe that this is a Catalina software bug, and now I have a workaround I am happy. Sucks for those who can't figure out the debugging though.

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#67
post #55

I have the new 16 MBP and love the touch bar. I find it much easier to change brightness/sound (place the finger and drag); I find it much easier to control apps, like music, safari, and all, and the habituation period was shorter than with the keys back in the day (when i started using macs). I would love to be able to easily customize the touch bar though, the author mentions BetterTouchTool, looks good, might be w…

Changing music on Spotify doesn't work for me 80% of the time. Physical keyboard worked 100% of the time. I hate the touchpad greatly. 0 benefits to me but tons of annoyances. I keep touching random buttons I never intended. I cannot press the correct button without looking (used to put volume to really low in bed)

I don’t mean to belittle any issues you have, but

> I cannot press the correct button without looking

does this seem like a really really minor problem to anyone else? I can’t imagine using function keys often enough that this would actually become annoying.

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#68
I go between last years Pro for work and this years Air for all things personal and I loathe the Pro. This years keyboard on the Air is by far the best typing experience I’ve ever had on a laptop. I have no idea why they are leaning so hard into the Touchbar, it is the most frustrating “innovation”. I frequently accidentally perform actions and need to break flow to look at it to do actions as simple as changing the volume.

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's harsh but I agree with those points, Windows is still a consumer oriented operating system at its core, which has a lot of undesirable features for a developer.

Like ? You probably should be using a windows pro install and not one with crapware from the manufacturer

My employer provided workstation ( which presumably uses Pro) is still always spamming me about Teams and OneDrive.

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#70

My biggest concern/blocker is the soldered storage. 1st - if it fails during warranty, how do I send it for repair safely (as in my data be safe)? 2nd - it decreases its value imho. I mean how many people buy/trust used storage? I wouldn't.

> how do I send it for repair safely (as in my data be safe)?

You have backups, right?

(That is, unfortunately, the legit answer to this question.)

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