Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

inputmag.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 562 posts

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

#231

Post by alex_c »

chrisseaton wrote: post #189
m463 wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> An extra port is not inconvenient An extra port: - is e-waste for everyone who never uses it - reduces the rigidity of the case - increases costs - adds weight - takes up space - lets in dust and potentially liquid spills You can see why people who never use them say ‘no thanks’. Isn’t it better that the people who do want them take on the costs of the port via a dongle?

I mean... no? If there’s a trade off involved then the “best” solution is the one that works for me at the cost of inconveniencing others :) I don’t think you’ll convince people to think otherwise.

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

#232

Post by beowulfey »

fastball wrote: post #201
someonehere wrote: post #196

I bought a Microsoft Surface laptop 13” for work to test builds with. That laptop has a headphone port, USB-A, USB-C and a proprietary Microsoft port the power adapter plugs into. Don’t have that adapter handy while traveling? You can still charge it via the USB-C port with another charger. I can see Apple copying another facet of Microsoft’s Surface line. The other being the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro.

That sounds like a terrible idea. Why have a proprietary charge port if it can also charge with USB-C?

It’s a bit redundant, but pretty far from being terrible. I have it on my laptop. Offhand it’s nice to leave the port free if you have a lot of usb needs. If anything it provides some flexibility. Can’t say it’s necessary but I certainly don’t mind it.

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

#233

Post by raldi »

I agree about the return of function keys and preservation of Touch ID, but that's hardly a prediction; it's what they're already doing as they roll out new machines.

If you think Apple is returning the SD slot or adding a dongle to the power cord, you don't know Apple. But maybe they've found a way to magnetically connect USB-C while still maintaining compatibility and avoiding dongles.

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

#234

Post by markus_zhang »

I think it's a lot difficult for people NOT to change than to change. I do understand the reason: New employees seeking for ownership, teams need to grab for budget, etc. And I'd argue that keep changing is always better than NOT changing at all. The only thing is how to make more changes positive?

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

#235

Post by willio58 »

vemv wrote: post #181

Honestly I've never understood why laptops are so strongly associated with developer culture. They are inefficient and conflated machines - two things that tend to be contradictory with software engineering. More practically, many people find themselves completely dependent on Apple's design whims. Mac Pros (or server racks in general) are closer to the kinds of machines that we deploy to (they use Xeons for one thin…

For my development needs and work style I much prefer a laptop that I can dock at any workstation or just work off the laptop.

I recently worked off my laptop while in a car on a road trip. I just wouldn’t have that capability otherwise.

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

#236

Post by jimnotgym »

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.

Since 2015 we have had all this clutter in the meeting rooms with different chargers, adaptors for monitors, projectors etc. In fact every mac user I know has a little hub to run everything! I'm currently using a Thinkpad and I have never felt that I had too many ports! I don't carry any adaptors.

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

#237

Post by daxfohl »

wtallis wrote: post #138
grishka wrote: post #74

Earlier 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 have no problem with the touchpad on my XPS, but I find the touchscreen quite useful.

* Have to log kid into Teams classroom in the morning: pick up laptop, tap calendar, tap meeting, tap join, done. Much quicker than dragging a pointer around everywhere.

* Cooking dinner, greasy fingertips, want to skip songs: tap Skip with my knuckle.

* Looking at pictures, maps, reading a website, etc with family or looking through numbers with coworker: quicker and more engaging to zoom in on something with a touchscreen than a touchpad.

* Perusing Netflix at night, I find it nicer to keep my laptop in my lap and swipe though things.

There's no awkward "gorilla arm" thing involved: you pull the laptop in closer for a bit and your elbows stay on the table. When you're done you move back.

I mean, it's not a game changer, not something I use more than a couple times a day, short durations each, but there's lots of times when it's super convenient to have a laptop with a touchscreen. I think Apple really missed the ball on this one, and continues to do so.

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

#238

Post by Nextgrid »

uniqueid wrote: post #3
uniqueid wrote: post #2

Apple's previous MacBook plan was stupid stupid. I just can't bring myself to view 'several different ports' as a stroke of genius.

To save someone the time: 'it can't be stupid if it sold units'

It sold well because the competition is still worse. It doesn't mean you should intentionally make it worse just because you can get away with it (there's an argument that making it worse to lower cost thus earning more profit, but I doubt the added complexity of USB-C made the new design any cheaper).

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

#239

Post by javajosh »

fastball wrote: post #201
someonehere wrote: post #196

I bought a Microsoft Surface laptop 13” for work to test builds with. That laptop has a headphone port, USB-A, USB-C and a proprietary Microsoft port the power adapter plugs into. Don’t have that adapter handy while traveling? You can still charge it via the USB-C port with another charger. I can see Apple copying another facet of Microsoft’s Surface line. The other being the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro.

That sounds like a terrible idea. Why have a proprietary charge port if it can also charge with USB-C?

Yes, a terrible idea, like putting a motor on a sailboat! I mean, why would you ever need 2 methods of propulsion?! (Some boaters even bring oars and towline! Insane!)

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

#240

Post by lordnacho »

m463 wrote: post #136
pdimitar wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a 512GB SD card plugged at all times in my iMac Pro and I use it as an entry point for various backups (which get distributed to cloud storage for redundancy after). I too am a bit confused by the non-popularity of such a setup. SD cards are okay for rarely changing data (or data that changes little, exactly like the incremental backups) and are extremely compact. I view SD cards as the diskettes I always want…

I am partial to the samsung fit usb drives. You can boot off of them in a pinch. But current usb-c devices need a dongle.

I've got a USB drive that is USB-A on one side and USB-C on the other.
Post reply on HN