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

Fixing the MacBook Pro

marco.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 132 posts

Re: Fixing the MacBook Pro

#101

Post by acranox »

csomar wrote: post #100
stevewillows wrote: post #95

I'm on a late 2013 15" MBP and I am dreading the day when I need to replace this joy of a machine. I like the idea of the touch bar, but I don't actually want it for keys. I think it'd be handy as a ticker for notifications, macros, etc, but not common keys. Having a bar for macros / shortcut keys for Illustrator (etc) would be extremely useful for designers, and I don't doubt that there are hundreds of other applica…

The touch bar is optional. In my opinion, it is great. The only issue is that it consumes more of your battery. I agree that the new machine is lacking in terms of Battery and Memory (only 16GB!). I'm waiting for the next release.

The models without the touchbar have fewer USB ports. That’s why it’s questionably optional. My work setup uses two external monitors and wired Ethernet. So I’d like three ports and no touch bar. If I want enough ports for my setup, I have to take the touch bar too. I don’t like having to make that kind of choice.

Re: Fixing the MacBook Pro

#102

Post by csomar »

acranox wrote: post #101
csomar wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The touch bar is optional. In my opinion, it is great. The only issue is that it consumes more of your battery. I agree that the new machine is lacking in terms of Battery and Memory (only 16GB!). I'm waiting for the next release.

The models without the touchbar have fewer USB ports. That’s why it’s questionably optional. My work setup uses two external monitors and wired Ethernet. So I’d like three ports and no touch bar. If I want enough ports for my setup, I have to take the touch bar too. I don’t like having to make that kind of choice.

I didn't know that. Any good reasons for that?

Re: Fixing the MacBook Pro

#103

Post by jwilcoxson »

csomar wrote: post #100
stevewillows wrote: post #95

I'm on a late 2013 15" MBP and I am dreading the day when I need to replace this joy of a machine. I like the idea of the touch bar, but I don't actually want it for keys. I think it'd be handy as a ticker for notifications, macros, etc, but not common keys. Having a bar for macros / shortcut keys for Illustrator (etc) would be extremely useful for designers, and I don't doubt that there are hundreds of other applica…

The touch bar is optional. In my opinion, it is great. The only issue is that it consumes more of your battery. I agree that the new machine is lacking in terms of Battery and Memory (only 16GB!). I'm waiting for the next release.

The Touch Bar is mandatory on the 15” model, and while there is a 13” without it, it has two USB ports instead of four, and is using a lower power class CPU. They advertised it more as a replacement to the MacBook Air in the original keynote.

Re: Fixing the MacBook Pro

#104

Post by molestrangler »

Pharylon wrote: post #19

I have a 2016 MacBook Pro, and I really dislike it. Part of that is the dongles, and the dongles plugged into the dongles. I also dislike the keyboard, but I rarely use it as an actual laptop so it's fine I guess

The new style keyboards from Apple are terrible.

I have a 2017 MBP and their BT external keyboard (provided by work) and it is noisy, it's like having a mechanical keyboard...clack....clack....clack...

Its just so difficult to type silently, unlike their previous keyboards.

Re: Fixing the MacBook Pro

#105

Post by saurik »

iscoelho wrote: post #51
ricardobeat wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’ve also been lucky. Everyone is getting sticky and dead keys on these. I had “B” stick and double press, eventually it stopped after a few more weeks of use, but you can feel a key here and there being a little stubborn. It’s way more fragile than older keyboards.

That's really wierd because I'm told that I smack my keyboard, and I've never had an issue with the keys breaking or becoming dead/sticky. I guess I'm really lucky, but I'm fine with that. Either way, the butterfly keyboard shouldn't be blamed for a technical failure. The keyboard itself when it's working is perfectly fine to use. Apple justs needs to perfect it until they get it right.

It isn't that the keys break due to you hitting them, it is that if there is even a miniscule piece of dust that gets into the keyboard it makes the key simply stop working entirely and the probability of breaking the key trying to replace or fix it is very high.

Re: Fixing the MacBook Pro

#106

Post by saurik »

robraven wrote: post #71
blhack wrote: post #68

We aren't apple's target market anymore, and these are not "pro" laptops. They're "pro" iPads. The target market is upper-middle class/upper class people who want a really attractive, designer laptop. Developers have got to be such a tiny niche of Apple's customer base now that they don't care anymore. Go into an apple store sometime. Try to guess how many of the people there buying macbook "pros" are software develo…

Really couldn't disagree more. So many software engineers at tier-1 tech companies use apple machines (I'd put the percentage at around 50% depending on tech stack.) Walk into any engineering class at a university and you'll likely see the same ratio, perhaps even further skewed towards macs. Disclaimer: I own a mac and a pc

Even if 100% of those people are using a Mac (and they aren't... I help teach CS at a University in California and 75% of the people in my intro class this year have a Windows laptop: I counted, as I was that shocked at how different this is than five years ago when everyone had a Mac), you first have to show that there are actually a lot of those people, and there simply aren't... "engineers at tier-1 tech companies" plus students in "any engineering class at a university" is a tiny tiny tiny percentage of the market Apple is optimizing for.

Re: Fixing the MacBook Pro

#107

Post by cordite »

iscoelho wrote: post #56
xirdstl wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When it was announced, there was a lot of backlash, but I thought I'd keep an open yet skeptical mind. Fast forward, I hear mostly indifferent or negative things. I am very curious to see what Apple does with it going forward. Can they admit it was a bust and move past it? Will they insist it is the amazing innovation they advertised and keep pushing it? Will they get rid of it but spin it in such a way that it was a…

I personally think if they can lower the price they can justify it and nobody will really care anymore. People only really care because of two reasons: 1) It costs $400 more. 2) It steals their ESC key. Both of these issues can be solved in due time. I think the hate against the Touchbar itself is completely unwarranted and all that is needed is changes. Everything new is something to get used to.

The ESC key is the only thing my coworkers with this laptop use the bar for.

Re: Fixing the MacBook Pro

#108

Post by engi_nerd »

csomar wrote: post #99

I disagree with a couple points here. = More ports No. This should be a strict no. Not including Flash on the iPhone has pushed the community to adapt. If Apple wasn't blunt, we'll be still stack with these "plugins". Not that I hate flash but it isn't the right way to do it even if it is more performant right now . There is no reason to have multiple different confusing ports. And different kind of cables. Let's sto…

You keep your world with "one port to rule them all". I need to interface with a wide variety of old and new devices, and I don't see that changing any time soon. As old gear of mine breaks, I will upgrade it, but I won't upgrade just for the sake of moving to USB C.

Re: Fixing the MacBook Pro

#109

Post by mikerg87 »

i essentially want Apple to give me the capabilities of a thinkpad P51 in the fit and finish Of a MacBook Pro. I realize they are somewhat beholden to Intel on this as so many laptops in this class are stuck with 16GB barrier.

Re: Fixing the MacBook Pro

#110

Post by Girlang »

chrisbennet wrote: post #22

I think they should show some courage and make a Pro quality laptop again - one that doesn’t require dongles. Make it thicker, maybe even make it black. Developers don’t want the thinnest , we want the best . It’s probably never gonna happen because they are a mobile device company now and that is where the money is.

Developers don’t use Macs. Mac users love the touch bar because all the typical MC user does is swipe left and right on Grindr all day long.
Post reply on HN