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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

#291

Post by chrisseaton »

scrose wrote: post #286
chrisseaton wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If there’s a trade off involved then the “best” solution is the one that works for me at the cost of inconveniencing others :) But Apple aren't just trying to please you - they're trying to please most people. Most people don't use SD cards or USB-A devices anymore. The few who do can still do it using dongles, but the majority get a better laptop without them.

Doesn’t this article that shows Apple is backtracking on that by reintroducing ports completely contradict what you’re saying?

> Doesn’t this article that shows Apple is backtracking on that by reintroducing ports completely contradict what you’re saying?

Maybe Apple changed their mind, yes (it's just a rumour at the moment), but I'm explaining why Apple does it the way they do at the moment. That was their thinking.

And you can't 'contradict' people's opinion on the way things should be done!

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

#292

Post by SkyPuncher »

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?

I have a Surface Go with a similar setup.

The proprietary one is a magnet-style and rests flush against the device.

USB-C is convenient to have, but the proprietary charger is much better if I'm going to be using the device while charging.

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

#293

Post by plussed_reader »

veridies wrote: post #272
exhilaration wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The dramatic decline in camera sales has been discussed a few times on HN, here's a random google result: https://www.mirrorlessrumors.com/dont-look-at-this-graph-sho... Cameras are rapidly turning into a niche product, it makes no sense for any laptop manufacturer to include an SD card reader at this point.

Cameras are used for multiple professional purposes, including videography and commercial photography. SD cards are also used in devices such as Zoom audio recorders, which I often use for recording music. Especially right now, I'll loan a Zoom and a nice mic to a musician so that they can record tracks for me remotely. They're also the standard boot device for computers like the Raspberry Pi. Basically, they're a pr…

Apple stopped catering to that kind of professional when Jobs died.

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

#294

Post by blhack »

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…

Then get a MacBook Air? The whole point of the MacBook Pro was that it was feature rich.

The amount of dongles and crap I have to carry around with me to make effective use of a “pro” laptop is ridiculous. Good on Apple for fixing it.

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

#295

Post by tomjen3 »

chrisseaton wrote: post #173
tomjen3 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It is Apple we are talking about, we are already overpaying for stuff, the port is thin enough and will cost epsilon at scale so you lose nothing and may even find it useful in the future.

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

#297

Post by least »

asiachick wrote: post #38
cpgonzalez wrote: post #8

The article's criticism of the 12-inch MacBook are preposterous. The 2 lb Macbook is the best laptop I've ever owned, by far. Maybe I'm too sensitive about weight, but I feel an incredible difference between 3 lb and 2 lb laptops, especially if its sitting on your lap for extended periods of time. The keyboard and charger have never once been a hindrance to my workflow, as the article makes it out be. I really wish A…

I agree I wish Apple would find a way to make a 16inch MBP weight 3lbs and an Air weigh 2lbs. It *seems* possible given an 12.9 inch iPad Pro only weighs 1.4lbs and other manufacturers have entries in that range. For whatever reason this idea always gets downvoted but I believe it will happen someday and every who downvoted will suddenly "get it".

> It seems possible given an 12.9 inch iPad Pro only weighs 1.4lbs The iPad Pro's weight jumps up significantly if you have to add a keyboard and trackpad to the mix. Though personally I would welcome a tablet mac with no included keyboard since I use an ergonomic keyboard the vast majority of the time anyway.

> and other manufacturers have entries in that range.

The one that comes to mind is the LG Gram series, of which they make a lot of compromises in order to accomplish their weight goals. Opening up the chassis of the LG Gram 17 and 15 you'll see a lot of empty space and a battery that is much smaller than it could accommodate. I think it'd be doable if apple made a 16 inch variant with the m1 chip in it but I'm not sure that you could without making similar compromises that LG does.

Personally for a 16 inch laptop I'd rather have longer battery life and processing power which I think more closely aligns with people who prefer the larger form factor anyway. Still, it'd be nice to have options!

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

#298

Post by jessriedel »

hatchnyc wrote: post #137

I use two MacBooks for programming for several hours each every single day, my personal machine has a touchbar, my work machine does not. I realize this is blasphemous to say and I did think I would hate the touchbar for all the reasons, but I actually ended up liking it. I had imagined myself tapping virtual function buttons and the whole thing seemed silly and useless and worse than having physical keys, but VS Cod…

Yea, what I really want is physical keys that travel but also have OLED screens built in on the top. Expensive, but best of both worlds.

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

#299

Post by YetAnotherNick »

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…

I think laptops are more convenient as primary developer machine with the CPU heavy tasks being delegated to cloud. Most tasks take less than or much more time than around 30 seconds. This is the division I roughly take for running locally or in cloud. At least that's the workflow for me and most developers I know of. Having a desktop forces you to work in just one position and this could could cause a lot of obvious inconveniences like not being able to work in cafe or in both home and office.

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

#300

Post by SkyPuncher »

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…

> They are inefficient and conflated machines - two things that tend to be contradictory with software engineering.

Perhaps by your set of metrics.

For me, it's the best option because I always have exactly what I need with me - locally. I can work from home, a coffee shop, an airplane, conference room, a different couch/chair/table, etc without a second thought.

I also rarely need the full compute power of a desktop. Sure, it'd help with cold builds - but incremental builds are so fast that it's just not worth being tethered to a desktop.

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