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Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

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Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#141

Post by knolan »

manmal wrote: post #128
tornato7 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My camera, like many modern ones, has USB-C and can transfer photos over Wi-Fi, so I find it pretty convenient to connect to a Mac.

Cameras have SD cards instead of internal storage for a reason - plugging in the whole camera is often cumbersome or in some scenarios not possible.

While Image Capture is fine the transfer speeds directly from camera are usually poor.

Cameras also have CF and now CFexpress. I’ve personally never used an SD card in any of my cameras so USB card readers have been part of my workflow for many many years.

It’s a difficult one to get right. Moving to all in on USB-C TB achieves pleasing nobody equally.

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#142

Post by foldr »

sitkack wrote: post #131
foldr wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The new keyboards are utter crap! They are still crap Hold on, are you claiming that the new scissor switch keyboards have similar reliability issues to the older butterfly keyboards? If not, then this is really just a matter of taste. You can't please everyone with keyboards. People do genuinely have different preferences regarding feel and key travel. It honestly seems hyperbolic to describe a keyboard that most p…

I am not saying they have similar reliability issues, not enough time has passed for that to be determined. Utter is too strong of a word, the keyboard has the same qualities for me that made the butterfly keyboards suck. They may have fixed the reliability issues, but they have not fixed key travel issues. The person that designed this keyboard is a very particular person, and this person probably does not like the…

>It isn't just preference, the new keyboard is slightly uncomfortable to use, the key pressure is too high and the travel too low, so the impulse on the tendons is too sharp.

Sure, but some people (like me) find keyboards with shorter travel more comfortable to use. So as far as I can see it is just a preference – and a question of what your fingers are accustomed to.

I'm old enough to remember when the chicklet macbook keyboards that everyone now idolises were the Worst Keyboards Ever because they didn't have enough travel.

>The gist is that Apple has over designed its product and made design the number one metric.

Apple is now using an ordinary chicklet keyboard that's very similar to the ones used by most other modern laptops. It's a very conservative and unremarkable design as far as I can see.

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#143

Post by aphextron »

AndriyKunitsyn wrote: post #94
BluSyn wrote: post #14

My controversial hot take-- I have never needed an SD card, and have gone all-in on USB-C. I will be very disappointed if they add back in USB-A/HDMI/SD ports, or remove USB-C charging in favor of proprietary charge port. Sounds like unnecessary feature bloat. Please just do MagSage + USB-C, so I can maintain my one-cable-for-everything, making traveling lighter and simpler. Here's my counter argument to all those th…

What is “unnecessary feature bloat”? Do you think something like “gosh, I _hate_ all these additional ports” about MBP 2015? There’s a reason it is still holds (not much, but) some value on second-hand market.

> There’s a reason it is still holds (not much, but) some value on second-hand market.

Not much? A base model 15" 2015 RMBP is still easily $800+ on eBay. Unheard of for a 6 year old laptop.

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#144

Post by violetgarden »

crossroadsguy wrote: post #57
Brajeshwar wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I suggest a little different look at the use of SD Card slot on your MacBook (Pro). About 5 years back, I had one of those SD Drive stick-in for MacBook Pro that stays there. There were few (Nifty Drive, MiniDrive, etc). The primary use I see are; 1. Have a clone backup of your primary drive. (Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper, Time Machine). 2. Have an extra storage handy for a rather economical price without luggi…

I am always amazed at how people do not even think of this excellent use-case (let alone use it). This is something I have always loved in laptops and have used. Besides that card is barely even visible unlike a pen drive or a hard disk. It just stays there subtly. I was also planning to have a bootable Linux on one of those, but I never got around to actually doing that. Now that my 2012 MBA's flash storage is dead…

Oh good idea! Bootable Linux would be so handy.

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#145

Post by DennisP »

smichel17 wrote: post #108
coldtea wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have never needed an SD card, and have gone all-in on USB-C. I will be very disappointed if they add back in USB-A/HDMI/SD ports, or remove USB-C charging in favor of proprietary charge port. Sounds like unnecessary feature bloat. I'm on the same side, though I wouldn't mind one-two USB-A ports added for when I'm on the go in a hurry without a USB-C/A cable. Or the addition of some smart "mag-safe but still usabl…

> one thing is clear: ... Apple has to make its choices and be done with it. It is not clear to me why Apple cannot sell a small handful of models. Two otherwise identical machines, one all-in on usb-c, the other with a mix of ports.

Maybe MacBook Pro with all the ports, MacBook without.

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#146

Post by gsich »

BluSyn wrote: post #14

My controversial hot take-- I have never needed an SD card, and have gone all-in on USB-C. I will be very disappointed if they add back in USB-A/HDMI/SD ports, or remove USB-C charging in favor of proprietary charge port. Sounds like unnecessary feature bloat. Please just do MagSage + USB-C, so I can maintain my one-cable-for-everything, making traveling lighter and simpler. Here's my counter argument to all those th…

Why not both. Allow Magsafe charging and USB-C, have USB-A ports/HDMI as well as USB-C. There is no space constraint on the devices. Most of the edge is unpopulated.

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#147

Post by rbanffy »

m463 wrote: post #133
BluSyn wrote: post #14

My controversial hot take-- I have never needed an SD card, and have gone all-in on USB-C. I will be very disappointed if they add back in USB-A/HDMI/SD ports, or remove USB-C charging in favor of proprietary charge port. Sounds like unnecessary feature bloat. Please just do MagSage + USB-C, so I can maintain my one-cable-for-everything, making traveling lighter and simpler. Here's my counter argument to all those th…

An extra port is not inconvenient - you just won't use it. A missing port is SUPER inconvenient. Can't tell you how annoying it is to require a USB-A dongle or adapter, same with HDMI.

The extra port competes with USB-C. If Apple wants to make USB-C more valuable to users, they must ensure companies make more products for it and, therefore, remove such redundant ports.

I have an HDMI monitor connected to my MacBook via a USB-C to HDMI/USB dongle, which also charges the computer, keyboard and trackpad, and another another via a UDB-C to DisplayPort cable.

I've been using my SDcard based camera less and less, both because my phones got much better and because they are much smaller. With an iPhone, which is a pretty decent camera, everything happens transparently and all my photos are automagically imported.

A reasonable docking station/port extender is small and has all those ports. I keep one in my backpack (even though I used it like once while traveling).

I really prefer it this way. I'd also love if Apple went back into making monitors that could charge my Mac and offer plenty of rarely used ports on its back.

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#148

Post by anthonyaykut »

BluSyn wrote: post #14

My controversial hot take-- I have never needed an SD card, and have gone all-in on USB-C. I will be very disappointed if they add back in USB-A/HDMI/SD ports, or remove USB-C charging in favor of proprietary charge port. Sounds like unnecessary feature bloat. Please just do MagSage + USB-C, so I can maintain my one-cable-for-everything, making traveling lighter and simpler. Here's my counter argument to all those th…

I’m in the market for a reliable single 2xUSB-C power brick — could I ask which one you’re using?

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#149

Post by keepingscore »

scyzoryk_xyz wrote: post #130
Mistri wrote: post #90

I'm excited about everything mentioned in the rumors, except for the "flat edge design similar to the iPhone 12". One of my favorite parts of the MacBook design is how easy it is to pick up off of a flat surface with one hand. The tapers help me slide my fingers underneath the computer to hold on. I feel like if there is a flat edge, it'll be hard to grip on the side unless you're using 2 hands.

Fair point. I do think that they have a team in place to make these decisions and the experience you’re describing was thoroughly tested and designed already. One thing they’re frequently berated for is an emphasis on visual aesthetics. But I think that’s a misunderstanding - they design for function, and the aesthetic pleasure comes from that function. I suspect they will find a way to make these match the visual lo…

Was this team on holiday when they designed the mouse to have it's charging port on the bottom?

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#150

Post by rbanffy »

Honestly, the thing that I like the most about this is the wonderful IBM 3278 terminal in the background. Those things were the best terminals I ever used (even though they couldn't scroll) and had the very best (although the loudest) keyboards ever built.

Which reminded me I released a new version of my 3270 font yesterday, so it's doubly fortunate.

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