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MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

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Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#931

Post by bayindirh »

cantSpellSober wrote: post #871
bayindirh wrote: post #723

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had three devices with 30-pin connector, and have another three with Lightning connector. I never replaced a female connector, or any cable which connects to these connectors, made by Apple or otherwise.

Exactly, 30-pin connectors' longevity faded quickly, so they started using Lightning for new devices (on its way out). They sure were flashy though!

From my preliminary research, 30-pin lasted a little less than a decade. However, from my understanding, the replacement of 30-pin with Lightning is not because of mechanical reasons. One of my 30-pin devices is still with me, and it works flawlessly.

30-pin connector is in fact a compact ribbon cable with plethora of interfaces and signals (analog audio i/o, FireWire, USB, Video, etc.) [0]. Lightning replaces this with a single digital bus which can be configured for plethora of things [1]. And the connector is both much smaller in both host and cable side, too.

For example, Lightning to video out adapters download a firmware from the host and boot first, then they negotiate the protocol and they start talking. Similarly, Lightning to 30-pin converter is a high-quality A/V station inside a small shell. It contains all the hardware required to expand lightning port to a full-capability 30 pin connector [2].

This is why also Apple is hesitant to convert Lightning devices to USB-C. Because it's not a simple USB port disguised in a reversible 8 pin connector. It's a whole software/hardware stack which allows port and connection to morph and adapt.

The port's introduction was indeed flashy, but I guess it was iterated for a couple of years inside Apple before introduction, I guess. So, the technology was already mature and boring before it's rolled out.

Another similar technology is "quick burst charging" (Charge 5 mins for 2 hours of use kind of thing). Pioneered by Sony almost a decade ago, now offered by everybody else (Apple, JBL, Philips, etc. on their rechargeable devices). The feature is flashy, but it's matured for over a decade by Sony before everybody jumped the bandwagon.

[0]: https://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/30-pin_Connector [1]: https://nyansatan.github.io/lightning/ [2]: https://www.techinsights.com/blog/apple-lightning-30-pin-ada...

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#932

Post by bayindirh »

ant6n wrote: post #784
taylodl wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My daily driver is the "irreparable" 2012 MBP Retina. You may remember this machine as the one everybody bitched about because the RAM and SSD were soldered into the mainboard and weren't upgradeable or replaceable? Let's see, it's 2023, hmmmm, seems the machine is coming up on 11 years. IDK about you but I think 11 years is incredible longevity for a laptop. You know, it just might be that making the machine "irrepa…

My 2013 MBP is a car wreck. Screen broke at some point had to be replaced. The second battery is now so bad it won’t even turn on anymore when plugged in. I think Bluetooth is dead too. All USB ports are dead too - although that one was “my“ fault since I plugged in a broken cd Rom drive that apparently nuked the USB ports - didn’t think that was even possible. When on, the thing often had the fans blowing at full sp…

> I plugged in a broken cd Rom drive that apparently nuked the USB ports

While USB has resettable fuses and whatnot to protect itself, every protection circuit has its limits. There are even tools which can nuke the whole mainboards by charging capacitors and dumping all that energy to data lines.

> I guess if u keep a laptop stationary at your desk and plugged in at all times, then it could last 11 years.

Yes. Mine has seen quite a few countries and spent considerable amount of time trying to cool itself off while I'm developing my Ph.D. and try to get every bit of performance from its processor, all while using my first Mac's power adapter.

While I take care of my computer the best I can, it's not a "house PC" in any sense.

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#933

Post by skwee357 »

I must admit I'm disappointed.

I own a Mac Mini M1 and a Macbook Pro 16" M1 (the later given to me by my employer), and as a software engineer - I don't feel that the current M1 processor is limiting me in any way.

I, however, wanted to get a MacBook for personal use to be more mobile. And postponed my purchase until the release of new Macbooks with one anticipation - lighter devices. Instead I got a new CPU with a bunch of abstract claims by Apple on performance (which for me was never an issue) - in the EXACT same for factor. Same bulky width. Same heavy weight.

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#935

Post by sbuk »

znpy wrote: post #548
itslennysfault wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like people have ALWAYS had problems when upgrading MacOS (or OSX). However, those problems aren't with the OS itself usually, but 3rd party software that lags. For that reason I always intentionally lag 1 major version behind. I'll upgrade to Ventura whenever the next version is released. Been doing this forever and can't recommend it highly enough.

> but 3rd party software that lags Microsoft does distribute beta versions of Windows for third-parties to test against. Does apple do the same? If Apple doesn't, then it's Apple's we have to blame it onto.

Two beta streams - dev, where a dev account is required ($99 per year) and the public beat which is basically a few weeks behind dev, minus early betas. The availability is always announced at WWDC, normally the dev availability is on the day of the keynote.

Much like Windows devs, Apple devs need to pay attention to this. If your livelihood is dependent on a platform, not paying attention is on you.

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#936

Post by voidskie »

skwee357 wrote: post #933

I must admit I'm disappointed. I own a Mac Mini M1 and a Macbook Pro 16" M1 (the later given to me by my employer), and as a software engineer - I don't feel that the current M1 processor is limiting me in any way. I, however, wanted to get a MacBook for personal use to be more mobile. And postponed my purchase until the release of new Macbooks with one anticipation - lighter devices. Instead I got a new CPU with a b…

Might I ask, with no intention of being rude, why you thought Apple would introduce lighter laptops? The 14" and 16" chassis are barely over a year old, so a redesign was unlikely, and the M2 Macbook Air is even more recent. Were you expecting a 12" Air perhaps?

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#938

Post by camgunz »

blehn wrote: post #903
camgunz wrote: post #368

I bought a MBP 14 (max 32, 32GB, 2TB) Dec 2021 and I mostly don't regret it (probably should've only gotten 24 GPU cores and gone silver). Here are some pros and cons I don't think get enough play: - Turning on "Low Power Mode" when on Battery gives me roughly 10h of battery life. Functionally this is more than good enough for me. - Backlight leakage around the keys feels janky - It's pretty hard to pick it up unless…

I had an M2 Air and ended up swapping for the 14 M1 Pro. The Air was plenty powerful and I loved the weight and battery life, but: - The 14" Pro's native resolution is 3024x1964, which means at 1512w you're getting perfect doubling of the pixels. The M2 air is natively 2560x1664 but it defaults to 1470x956, so you don't get that clean doubling and the sharpness suffers IMO. You can drop it down to 1280w to increase s…

Those are good points; I will say in particular the speakers on my MBP are amazing and have provided the music for lots of occasions, and video calls are great. But my partner has an M1 Air and they're totally fine to me. Maybe if you're sensitive you should beware, but then you should beware of all non-MBP laptop speakers.

I use the incredible SwitchResX [0] so you can get the res and refresh rate you want. I wear contacts so I tend to use screens at native resolution, and I'd probably either have the Air at native or one tick down. Native on the 14" is too small even for me (this is less font size and more low-contrast UIs though), but I had my 2018 MBP 16" at native and it was pretty good, so maybe what I'm complaining about doesn't apply to that size.

Black levels are good, but I suspect the blooming is responsible for the difference between dark on light and light on dark. If I were in video or photography this might be a good tradeoff, but for Vim it's not ideal--I'd prefer an IPS.

I'll also say my MBP was $3,700, so jumping down to the M2 Air (24GB, 2TB) is a $1,200 savings. There's a lot you can do with configurations, but higher end MBPs are just in their own class. I justify it by saying "well of course I would spend $5/day to use a computer, which is about 2 years, and if I stretch it out to 3 it's a pretty good upgrade cycle (plus resale maybe).

[0]: https://www.madrau.com/

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#939

Post by camgunz »

orangecat wrote: post #733
camgunz wrote: post #368

I bought a MBP 14 (max 32, 32GB, 2TB) Dec 2021 and I mostly don't regret it (probably should've only gotten 24 GPU cores and gone silver). Here are some pros and cons I don't think get enough play: - Turning on "Low Power Mode" when on Battery gives me roughly 10h of battery life. Functionally this is more than good enough for me. - Backlight leakage around the keys feels janky - It's pretty hard to pick it up unless…

As it is, the integer scale is 1512x982, which many websites think (including some you might build!) is a tablet. That's odd, I've never noticed that on my 14". Websites usually choose layouts according to width and 1512 is well into desktop territory. the Air's resolution is more mainstream and usable The Air is 2560x1664, and at the default (non-integer, so less sharp) scaling it presents as 1470x956 which is also…

It's pretty rare; usually it's in the form of a sidebar defaulting to collapsed or a hamburger instead of nav buttons. The main thing is you can't have anything else taking up horizontal space.

Re: MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max

#940

Post by skwee357 »

voidskie wrote: post #936
skwee357 wrote: post #933

I must admit I'm disappointed. I own a Mac Mini M1 and a Macbook Pro 16" M1 (the later given to me by my employer), and as a software engineer - I don't feel that the current M1 processor is limiting me in any way. I, however, wanted to get a MacBook for personal use to be more mobile. And postponed my purchase until the release of new Macbooks with one anticipation - lighter devices. Instead I got a new CPU with a b…

Might I ask, with no intention of being rude, why you thought Apple would introduce lighter laptops? The 14" and 16" chassis are barely over a year old, so a redesign was unlikely, and the M2 Macbook Air is even more recent. Were you expecting a 12" Air perhaps?

Not rude at all.

Before I got M1 macbook, I've had the opportunity to use Intel 15" and later Intel 13" macbooks. They were thin and light.

The first thing, after the speed of M1, that comes into mind with ARM based macbooks - is the bulkiness.

And so I naturally, assumed, that Apple will try to reduce the bulkiness. I just don't see the point of pumping raw processing speed every year, because not everyone needs it. And my general feeling is that apple is moving away from mid-range machines - light, portable, fast enough - to a high range and ultra-high range machines instead. Not everyone who uses a Mac is rendering 4k videos all day long, and I'd appreciate having a lighter, thinner laptop on the expense of raw processing speed.

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