Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro • Hacker News Board

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#101

Post by WillPostForFood » Tue, Feb 21, 2017, 9:24 AM UTC

WildUtah wrote: post #44

hmigneron wrote: post #42

I'm always surprised when developers don't talk about the F keys in their reviews of the new MBP. I mostly agree with the author regarding the escape key, the touch bar isn't really a problem in that regard, it still works and I got used to "pressing" it on the touchbar really quickly. I really really miss physical F keys though. I spend a lot of time debugging (either in the Chrome debugger or in IDEs) where pressin…

It's a real detriment to UI, it costs you battery life, it's a distracting gimmick, and it adds $200 to the cost of your machine. And Apple will never give up on it. Every Mac is going to be worse for years and years because of it. Enjoy.

With only a slightly smaller touchpad, Apple easily could have included a row of function keys, which are half height anyway. Then the touch bar would either be additive, or ignorable depending on one's attitude. But the trade-off makes it painful.

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#102

Post by EnderMB » Tue, Feb 21, 2017, 9:27 AM UTC

I waited for over a year for the new MBP to come out, but in the end I shelled out a bit more money for a Surface Book.

Since then, I've used the new MBP, and while it's a great machine I don't regret my purchase for a second. My only gripe with the Surface Book is that installing Linux is a bit of a nightmare (not sure if this is still the case), but I'm happy enough with running Ubuntu on a virtual machine.

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#103

Post by 8draco8 » Tue, Feb 21, 2017, 9:35 AM UTC

yokohummer7 wrote: post #100

hmigneron wrote: post #42

I'm always surprised when developers don't talk about the F keys in their reviews of the new MBP. I mostly agree with the author regarding the escape key, the touch bar isn't really a problem in that regard, it still works and I got used to "pressing" it on the touchbar really quickly. I really really miss physical F keys though. I spend a lot of time debugging (either in the Chrome debugger or in IDEs) where pressin…

Well, my experience is the opposite: while using the new MacBook I realized how infrequent I was using the function keys. The only times that I noticed the "missing" function keys were when I tried to open up the web developer console (F12), or rename a file (F2). I did see Apple's rationale here: ordinary users won't miss them, given I, being a developer, didn't miss them either. But unlike you and the OP, pressing…

But on mac to open Developer Tools you are using Cmd + Opt + I or Cmd + Shift + C and to rename a file Enter key is used. There is almost no use for F-keys on macOS other than volume and brightness controls. I don't have newest MBP but on daily basis I am using 60% keyboard without F-keys row and very rarely have to go to F-keys layer even on Ubuntu and Windows.

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#104

Post by HalfwayToDice » Tue, Feb 21, 2017, 9:36 AM UTC

I wish there was more acknowledgement of how NOISY the keyboard is on the new MacBook Pros. It's not possible to use it in a quiet environment without being embarrassed.

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#105

Post by Wildgoose » Tue, Feb 21, 2017, 9:37 AM UTC

nicky0 wrote: post #81

hmigneron wrote: post #42

I'm always surprised when developers don't talk about the F keys in their reviews of the new MBP. I mostly agree with the author regarding the escape key, the touch bar isn't really a problem in that regard, it still works and I got used to "pressing" it on the touchbar really quickly. I really really miss physical F keys though. I spend a lot of time debugging (either in the Chrome debugger or in IDEs) where pressin…

I have made my living for the past 8 years as a macOS software developer. I never use the F keys.

Seriously? I use them ALL the time.

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#106

Post by yokohummer7 » Tue, Feb 21, 2017, 9:38 AM UTC

EnderMB wrote: post #102

I waited for over a year for the new MBP to come out, but in the end I shelled out a bit more money for a Surface Book. Since then, I've used the new MBP, and while it's a great machine I don't regret my purchase for a second. My only gripe with the Surface Book is that installing Linux is a bit of a nightmare (not sure if this is still the case), but I'm happy enough with running Ubuntu on a virtual machine.

And Windows Subsystem for Linux! While all my server and development stuffs are based on Linux, I wasn't particularly a fan of the Linux GUIs. The reason MacBook was attractive was that it runs POSIX. But now Windows can do that too thanks to WSL. It's not complete but even the current partial support does enough for me. It's a cheap, lightweight alternative to Linux VMs. I guess I would go with a Windows-based laptop next time. It is truly a game changer.

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#107

Post by Wildgoose » Tue, Feb 21, 2017, 9:43 AM UTC

bradgessler wrote: post #48

jwilliams wrote: post #15

I've got the 13" maxed out Late 2016. I've owned every form factor of the MacBook Pro and this is my least favorite. I like the USB-C and have bought into the tradeoff of having no Magsafe. It's also a minor plus to be able to plug in either side of the machine. The TouchID is good too. However, I've found the TouchID extremely laggy for some reason (esp. on unlock) which really reduced the benefit. The keyboard is _…

Same. The TouchBar needs a lot of tweaking at a software level. My problem is when I hit "Play" or "Pause" I expect my music to play or pause. The problem is that it's possible for other apps to steal focus for play and pause. For example if you're watching a video clip in Safari and hit Pause to stop your music after you started playing the video, it will pause the video. The most annoying thing I'm dealing with at…

I wonder if they would have been better leaving the Escape and Function keys alone and adding the Touch Bar as a (useful) additional interface rather than a (bad) replacement interface?

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#108

Post by xaldir » Tue, Feb 21, 2017, 9:44 AM UTC

It's a well written review, but I can't think of it as anything else than a "loyal Apple customer" trying to convince himself that his £3,700 toy is not that bad.

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#109

Post by jrapdx3 » Tue, Feb 21, 2017, 10:06 AM UTC

Smaug123 wrote: post #76

One point of the website design I loved: the hover-over on each acronym. It gives you something to Google if you don't know what the acronym means.

That is a nice addition that should be used more often. On this site the abbreviations were common, but many articles use obscure, domain-specific, or non-standard abbreviations, where the full name "tool-tips" would be extremely useful in making the info accessible to a wider range of readers.

Most of the time the full name is something I recognize. Problems arise because abbreviated names frequently collide, a short identifier can apply to several different things especially across fields.

Even a list at the end of the piece would be better than having to hunt around trying to find out what was meant in a particular context.

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#110

Post by g4k » Tue, Feb 21, 2017, 10:09 AM UTC

nunodonato wrote: post #92

symmitchry wrote: post #8

He says dongles and cables are "a non-issue" and buys over 7 new dongles, 2 new custom cables, plus a new card reader?

I laughed at this, so hard. I guess the distortion field is really strong :)

If you haven't seen this clip, check it out. You might laugh even more: Apple Engineer Talks About New 2016 Macbook Pro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxhGXZoS8ws