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The new MacBook

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Re: The new MacBook

#71

Post by rayiner »

colinramsay wrote: post #8

Are there things here where Apple is significantly further ahead than the competition? Innovating on keyboards, trackpad, battery life, power usage and form factor - there just seem to be innovating simultaneously on more levels than the competition. Another thing - that vibrating trackpad gizmo feels like a couple of innovations away from true touch feedback on an iPhone? Any thoughts?

I don't think anyone else has done a terraced battery. Apple was also one of the first companies to move to moldable Li-Po cells to fit more capacity in smaller form factors.

Re: The new MacBook

#72

Post by zodvik »

Ezhik wrote: post #37

No (standard) USB port. Weird. I wonder if it'll ship with a USB cable? To be honest, the one USB device that I use the most is my mouse, and I suppose Apple expects me to get a wireless one, and that is fine. But what about stuff like USB drives? I am not looking forward to not being able to just give somebody a file on a USB drive because they forgot their OTG cable.

It does have a USB-C port.

Re: The new MacBook

#73

Post by PhasmaFelis »

drblast wrote: post #9
dchuk wrote: post #3

Say what you will about the logic behind a single port for everything (as far as I know this is the first computer to do this so there's nothing to compare it to), this Air is a pretty drastic change from what we're all used to when it comes to laptops. We're basically hitting the limits of thinness at this point right?

I'd hate to have to worry that I'll cut myself on my laptop. Is there anyone that's super-excited about a thinner Air? My preference is always for greater battery life. I'm curious if there are people that wish their already thin laptop were even thinner, and if so, why?

Airs are for people who need a full keyboard but don't need a lot of power, and do a lot of commuting/running around (possibly with a bag already packed with other stuff).

Come to think, it's probably great for most students. Plenty fast enough to browse and write papers, and it doesn't add to the volume or burden of your already-overstuffed bookbag.

It doesn't fit my needs, but that's okay.

Re: The new MacBook

#74

Post by Animats »

"designed for a world where your primary computing device is your smartphone, not your laptop."

So it's a laptop for people who don't do any real computing on their laptop?

Re: The new MacBook

#75

Post by geoelectric »

codezero wrote: post #50
jkot wrote: post #30

I am bit disappointed. Dell has similar sized laptop, with bigger display, smaller bezel and higher resolution. http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-9343-laptop/pd

I followed the link hoping I could point out how wrong you are. Nope, that's a pretty beautiful laptop. Thin, light, great screen, etc... In the end, you can look at the 12 inch MacBook as being a new notebook for people who care about running Mac OS/don't want to switch to Windows. It's a big deal because the Dell isn't an option most people want to consider :)

I have to admit that, even as a "no Windows" person at this point, I'm a little on the fence about this vs. waiting for the Ubuntu version of the New XPS 13. So Dell's got at least that much going for them.

Re: The new MacBook

#76

Post by bryanlarsen »

bane wrote: post #24
DannyBee wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm glad apple picked this up after so many others pushed it forward :) But 1 port is sad, because now you have to choose between a lot of things (charging, using hdmi, whatever)

It just means we're going to stay stuck in dongle hell. When I'm on the road the minimalism of a Mac is nice, but at my desk, hooked up to everything I really need for heavy work, my desktop is a cluster-f of cables and adapters and wires.

This seems like the fix for dongle hell to me. You plug everything into your monitor, tucking your cables away nicely, and then you have a single cable going from your monitor into your laptop.

Re: The new MacBook

#78

Post by mwcampbell »

dchuk wrote: post #15
drblast wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd hate to have to worry that I'll cut myself on my laptop. Is there anyone that's super-excited about a thinner Air? My preference is always for greater battery life. I'm curious if there are people that wish their already thin laptop were even thinner, and if so, why?

The combo of thinner/lighter/no fan is pretty awesome in my opinion. These aren't for peopled doing hardcore computing, they're for people doing hardcore commuting really.

Do you have a source for the "no fan" bit? If the Core M processor can deliver the same performance as a Haswell ultrabook processor (i.e. the previous Air) without requiring a fan or getting unreasonably hot, I think that's a pretty nice feature.

Re: The new MacBook

#79

Post by PhasmaFelis »

mmastrac wrote: post #2

USB-C as the "one connector to rule them all" is the big news. That's the end of MagSafe and the exploding era of USB-C docking stations that work for multiple devices. I think we'll start to see an era of expandable computing coming up soon: USB-C is a perfect connector to push your data and state into a larger desktop experience. Why not carry around your laptop in tablet form when you are mobile? [1] [1] https://g…

My only regret is that MagSafe is actually really cool.

I think I'd have to say it's worth it for full standards-compliance, though.

Re: The new MacBook

#80

Post by toomuchtodo »

chatmasta wrote: post #55
toomuchtodo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this the end of Thunderbolt as well?

I have two thunderbolt displays daisy chained into the single thunderbolt port on my 2013 MacBook Air. Each display is basically also a dock, with other peripheral ports in the back. It works very well because as I understand it thunderbolt is 10gbps transfer. Does USB-C work the same way?

This is exactly what I'm wondering. I only have one Thunderbolt display, but I want another, and am curious if I should hold out for a bit.
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