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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

#421

Post by Zenbit_UX »

ksec wrote: post #359
mstudio wrote: post #283

Totally agree. After reading so many reviews panning the new MBPs, I ended up replacing my ancient 2011 MBP with a 2015 model. You can still find new/unopened or relatively unused models on eBay. I love this laptop. i7, 16GB memory, AMD Radeon R9, great keyboard with F-keys... plus, it has all the standard ports I need: USB, HDMI, Thunderbolt. All for much less money than a new machine from Apple. No complaints at al…

This. Funny last time I wrote about the same large trackpad issue on HN I was heavily downvoted. And despite how many have said this new magic keyboard is better. I still dont get it. It felt exactly the same as the previous butterfly keyboard, and to me it felt awful. The 2015 scissors keyboard is still million times better. 1.5mm of Key Travel, 60g grams of actuation force was the perfect combination. The newer Key…

> I wish Apple just make a MacBook Pro Classic.

I could get behind this, but I'd like the touch ID button added too, not the whole touch bar, just the power button / fingerprint scanner.

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

#422

Post by stevehawk »

fluffything wrote: post #368
StavrosK wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can she disable the touchbar?

I've offered to help, but she doesn't want to mess with configuration. I've posted in other threads how she "fixed" it. She actually bought one of those keyboard covers, cut off the touchbar part, and fixed it with tape. She literally has a crappy piece of plastic on top of her keyboard that physically prevents here from accidentally touching the touchbar. A 10 dollar hack on a 2k$ machine. I don't think she will buy…

does it close properly and not damage the screen?

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

#423

Post by leetrout »

bcrosby95 wrote: post #251
leetrout wrote: post #23

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).

Curious - which System 76 laptop is it?

It’s the 16” oryx pro. 16gb ram.

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

#424

Post by Nextgrid »

IceWreck wrote: post #409
Nextgrid wrote: post #385

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USB-C is garbage from so many perspectives. User friendliness is a problem. There's no easy way to tell what protocols a USB-C device actually supports, whether it's USB 2, USB 3, DisplayPort, etc. USB-C hubs are not possible like you could do with USB 2 or 3, so you're always limited to the number of USB-C ports on your machine. The only possible hubs are those that give out USB-A ports, which is fine now because mo…

> USB-C hubs are not possible like you could do with USB 2 or 3 TIL. Why is this not possible?

You'd probably find a more authoritative source and better documentation by searching, but here's my understanding of it:

USB-C can be used with alternate modes like DisplayPort or Thunderbolt, where the wires are no longer transmitting USB data but are used as a dumb pipe for the underlying protocol.

If you get a hub it can choose to either operate in the following conditions (depending on its type and capabilities):

* Upstream port is in USB mode, it can provide USB 2 and 3 to downstream ports, however the downstream device can no longer use DisplayPort or Thunderbolt.

* Upstream port is divided into USB 3 lanes and DisplayPort lanes. The DisplayPort side can be mapped to a single downstream port, but there is less USB 3 bandwidth available to share across the remaining ports. Still no luck if a downstream device wants to use Thunderbolt.

* Upstream port is Thunderbolt. Since TB is essentially PCI Express the hub could pass through some TB lanes to a single downstream port while having its own USB 3 controller to provide the USB side of things. Still no luck for DisplayPort downstream devices.

This doesn't even address the issue that not all devices can do Thunderbolt (my 12-inch Macbook can't) and it becomes very hard to find a hub that will actually work and do what you want. It took quite a bit of research for me to understand the specs so I could find a solution to do both 4K 60Hz video and USB (2 only, not enough bandwidth for 3) on my MacBook with a single USB-C port.

I won't even get into the bullshit naming conventions they use that they decided to apply retroactively. WTF is USB 3.1 Gen 1? Is the next one gonna be called USB 10 X Pro Max?

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

#425

Post by tomp »

modernerd wrote: post #350
SahAssar wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no such thing as essential telemetry. There should be an option to turn it off completely.

Let's say Microsoft adds one. You tick it and what MS currently considers “essential telemetry” is turned off completely, instantly, and for real. The risk seems to be that people who don't understand the implications of not sharing basic telemetry, when faced with a box that says “share nothing”, “share essential“, and “share essential and optional” would choose “share nothing” every time, because it just _feels_ be…

I understand those and I still don't want to share any telemetry. I'm just asking for freedom to be able to select this option.

Btw, what you're saying is 100% bullshit. There is an obvious trivial way of doing all what you suggested, properly & legitimately: paid software testers. Or, alternatively, actually pay users for telemetry (I love it when companies say "we value your feedback" you value it at $0 all right!)

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

#426

Post by rayiner »

nvarsj wrote: post #198
cameronbrown wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

It's simply not true. Install Ubuntu or Fedora, run Gnome 3 and everything "just works". You can't use Arch as an example here - it is intentionally very basic, and takes a lot of effort to learn as you do almost everything from scratch. While many people appreciate that level of control, it is unnecessary if you're just trying to get work done.

I'm running Ubuntu 20.04 on a built-for-it new Intel-based machine. The amount of "just works" is surprisingly good. But when it goes downhill, it goes downhill steeply. Took me a day to figure out why it wasn't connecting to my Exchange server (TLS 1.3). No screen sharing on Wayland. Etc.

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

#427

Post by npongratz »

qayxc wrote: post #181
disposedtrolley wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> stupid non-uninstallable games icons in start menu You can remove them now. At least I was able to in the Windows 10 v.2004 update. Why Candy Crush is included with Windows 10 Pro however is beyond me.

Why was Solitaire bundled even with the NT (i.e. enterprise/business) versions of Windows? No one ever questioned that, but everybody takes issue with Candy Crush? Weird...

I always assumed Solitaire was included with Windows to help people learn how to use a mouse.

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

#428

Post by WWLink »

mstudio wrote: post #283

Totally agree. After reading so many reviews panning the new MBPs, I ended up replacing my ancient 2011 MBP with a 2015 model. You can still find new/unopened or relatively unused models on eBay. I love this laptop. i7, 16GB memory, AMD Radeon R9, great keyboard with F-keys... plus, it has all the standard ports I need: USB, HDMI, Thunderbolt. All for much less money than a new machine from Apple. No complaints at al…

Ahh man that's a tough call! My personal laptop is a 2014 that I bought in 2015 (or was it 2016?) for dirt cheap because it was on clearance. So I totally agree with you there! On the other hand, my biggest issue with the 2016-18 keyboard is the lack of inverted T arrow keys. It drives me nuts!

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

#429

Post by tomp »

modernerd wrote: post #207
alpaca128 wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree. Also the automatic updates which potentially just close an open session including unsaved files is not something that helps trust. Windows has become less transparent and much more controlling, actively ignoring or overriding user preferences, and I don't know why I should use a software like that, not to mention pay for the "privilege" of being messed with.

Automatic updates interrupting work hasn't been an issue for me for a long time. You can set updates to install outside of an 18-hour window, defer updates for a set period, or disable them: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-stop-updates-installing-a...

Does this actually work? I tried (permanently) disabling updates on my Surface Go (running Windows 10) a few months ago but kept failing. The worst thing is, you don't know if what you did works or not, because you need to wait until the next update :D

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

#430

Post by modernerd »

mehrdadn wrote: post #363
philliphaydon wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the font is large as if I'm elderly It's probably the easiest to configure terminal ever... https://www.hanselman.com/blog/HowToMakeAPrettyPromptInWindo... > and opening Settings fires up Visual Studio of all things Settings opens what ever editor is your default for .json files. > with GUIDs that I have no idea what to do with 1 guid to identify each option? I guess Windows Terminal was designed for developers and…

It seems to have been specifically designed for developers who enjoy a difficult UX because anything not up to that standard that is childish to them, which in my experience is the same thing Linux tools optimize for. I guess Windows has been very much trying to cater to that sector, so maybe now I can understand its appeal.

The main advantages of config as JSON for me as a developer are:

- Settings become more portable.

- Settings become more shareable.

That said, VS Code started with JSONC-based configs and now presents a UI by default (still editable directly as JSONC for those who prefer). It seems possible JSONC could be used to bootstrap a UI for Windows Terminal too if there's demand.

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