After years of fighting with the broken butterfly keyboard, the missing ESC key (Vim!) and Apple’s recent ambitions in censorship, I finally made the move, after 15 years with Macbooks, to switch to a free and more transparent platform, as in “a system that respects the user’s freedom”. Yes, moving to System76 and their Pop! OS will come with efforts of re-abituation but I appreciate the freedom that comes with it.
Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features
171–180 of 562 posts
Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features
#172All of these opinions (from this comment thread) perfectly sum up my view of the Touch Bar.
It's one of the reasons, aside from performance, that I believe that the M1 MacBook Air is currently the best laptop that Apple make.
> I am all for removing the TouchBar. The new MacBook Air with TouchID + physical function keys is a perfect combination of features. There are a few things about the TouchBar I do like -- eg, having a custom one-touch screen lock button that's always present. However vast majority of the time I use external keyboard+trackpad+monitor, so the touchbar can't be part of my usual workflow anyway. (BluSyn)
> while I believed in the initial promise of the touchbar (especially for specialty apps like DAWs, NLEs, etc), I welcome its removal now, and I think most do. (coldtea)
> I also can't wait for the removal of the Touchbar. This prevented me from buying previous Macbooks because it was just one compromise too far for such an expensive machine. (pharmakom)
> I like the touch bar but unless they find a way to make it feasible on a Bluetooth magic keyboard, I’d rather have no touch bar for consistency. If they are going to kill it they should have killed it with the first M1 MacBooks. (johnwalkr)
> The problem with the TouchBar is that it disrupt the flow of attention towards the keys. The cool thing about having just ONE screen is that you can forget about looking your fingers because the content is fixed (not dynamic) and therefore can be internalized. The TB doesn't solve any problem (ofou)
> the Touchbar should have been a new UI paradigm at the bottom of a touchscreen. I'd also dig a Touchbar accessory for my keyboard tray. Just saying. But for the love of god, keep it off my F-key row. (acjohnson55)
> No Touchbar. I love the idea, but it should be in addition to the Fn keys, on top of it, or in some other way. (maz1b)
> If they so wish their touchbars, why not to put them _above_ function keys ?! Make option to turn them off completely if required so they would not disturb at night or stand on the way. They never heard of people with muscle memory? (lovelyviking)
Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features
#173My 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 should point out first that I don't believe these rumors are correct. But I need an SD card reader all the time, my camera and my field recorder both use them and it makes it super simple to transfer data - without having to carry an extra cable. I don't see why a device that claims it is aimed at professionals (especially creative professionals) could justify omitting it. My solution is a dongle, but as you say, t…
> But I need an SD card reader all the time
Ok, but I never need one for my profession so I don't want the port. Which one of us gets it the way we want it? We both can't have it our way. They went for people who want to use it are the ones to use a dongle, which seems fair to me - the person who wants it pays for it.
Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features
#174Earlier 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…
Probably because carrying your backup inside of your device is a horrible way to preserve your media in the event that the device is lost or stolen.
Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features
#175I still use my 2015 MacBook Pro. Built in hdmi port, card reader, USB ports, MagSafe charging.
same here. they are just super hard to get (even refurbished) and are still expensive.
Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features
#176Anyone still remember Apple Remote? It used to come free with your MacBook and is to this day one of my favorite features of my mid 2012 MBP that I will miss terribly once I have to upgrade (no Big Sur support...).
Yep, it was great. I used it regularly to give presentations, and many people were curious about the remote (where it came from, was it included, etc...).
Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
You aren't making much sense. If someone is making a desktop app , how could it possibly be mobile first ? Even if you're using the cancer that is Electron, that design with a lot of whitespace is always deliberate. I'm not saying that it's not fine to use a touchscreen laptop for something. I'm saying that no one uses them like that with any kind of seriousness because it's awkward and physically inconvenient to pok…
> I'm saying that no one uses them like that with any kind of seriousness because it's awkward and physically inconvenient to poke your fingers into a vertical surface in front of you for any extended period of time. I think users of Windows laptops have embraced touchscreens in spite of these downsides, because a touchscreen is still less bad than the touchpads on those laptops. But Apple doesn't have the problem of…
I feel the same about Apple laptops not having a TrackPoint which is why they need to compensate with a good trackpad. ;)
But seriously, I think the larger advantage I see of touchscreens on Windows devices and potentially future MacBooks is pen support (with pressure-sensitivity) and a 360° foldable display so you can write on it for taking notes or annotating documents. Apple has already started down this road with the iPad and Pencil, so I think it's conceivable to see a full convergence at some point.
Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe I’m being naive, but when a common IO interface has been pretty much standardized for several years, I’m confused by why people are asking the companies dedicated to the standard to make exceptions and not asking the companies stuck on exceptions to adopt the standards.
How do I plug in a storage device without it sticking out if it’s not an SD card in an SD port?
With a really small USB-C memory stick that fits completely in the hole.
Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
I have to wonder if that design came about because Apple didn’t want people to leave the mouse plugged in all the time. It’s the kind of reasoned institutional blunder that I feel like I encounter in my work life fairly often out of momentum and groupthink.
Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features
#180Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you really want or need MagSafe, as I do, you can have it with USB-C only Macs too. There are many magnetic adapters you can buy, the good ones working better than the original MagSafe 2, which easily fell off when using MacBooks on your Lap, due to the connector being T shaped (instead of MagSafe 1 being L shaped, which worked great). I also hope they don‘t bring back SD card readers and big clunky HDMI ports int…
It's important to note these adapters go against the USB C spec.
Most consumers miss being able to simply connect their laptop to their tv with an HDMI cable, but they know they have no voice in this modern day enlightened absolutism.