Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features • Hacker News Board

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

#101

Post by moreati » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 12:32 PM UTC

lambdasquirrel wrote: post #15

On one hand, this seems like welcome news for many of us. Who doesn't miss MagSafe? A lot of the previous years was like someone at Apple read Calvino's Six Memos and took the notes on "lightness" a little bit too far. On the other hand, one wonders if we'll have to replace all the sleeves and bags that have been made with the previous dimensions in mind. Hopefully not. Even the new 16-inch MacBook Pro fits in sleeve…

I'm typing this on a MagSafe laptop. I don't like MagSafe.

The cables fray and the MagSafe tips wear out, that means buying an entire new charger (or soldering on a donor cable), I'm on my 5th or 6th. The surfaces get dirty, and because they just butt up (rather than sliding) they become high resistance and heat up.

If MagSafe 2021 doesn't fuse the cable to the charger brick, then I might consider it. The fickle electrical connection is inherent to the design though.

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

#102

Post by pharmakom » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 12:34 PM UTC

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…

If Apple can make a Magsafe cable for USB C that would be the best of both worlds. (I know third parties have made them but Apple would probably do a better implementation)

I also can't wait for the removal of the Touchbar. This prevented me from buying previous Macbooks because it was just one compromise too far for such an expensive machine.

Is this Apple's "Coke Classic" moment?

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

#103

Post by skohan » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 12:38 PM UTC

augstein wrote: post #95

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…

If you really want or need MagSafe, as I do, you can have it with USB-C only Macs too. There are many magnetic adapters you can buy, the good ones working better than the original MagSafe 2, which easily fell off when using MacBooks on your Lap, due to the connector being T shaped (instead of MagSafe 1 being L shaped, which worked great). I also hope they don‘t bring back SD card readers and big clunky HDMI ports int…

I hope they don't bring back USB-A, but the SD card slot and hdmi have been sorely missed. If you do anything with photography, being able to just plug the card directly into your laptop makes a world of difference. Same thing with walking into any meeting and already knowing you'll be able to plug into a projector if needed, without having to run out and grab a dongle.

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

#104

Post by BlackVanilla » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 12:39 PM UTC

davidrm wrote: post #92

BlackVanilla wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love this and have considered doing it myself. However, what worries me is whether using a single power adapter will shorten the life of devices which require different levels of wattage. Sure you can use the same USB-C cable, but the benefit is largely diminished if you have to carry a bunch of different power adapters for each device's unique wattage. Or am I worrying about this unnecessarily?

It’s not a concern, the more powerful the charger, the better. The devices that are being powered are the ones controlling the charging, the charging brick will derate itself if devices demand more than it can handle. It might hurt the brick, it will get hot or perhaps noisy if it’s a cheaper one. It’s like openning every single faucet at your house, as long as the pressure and flow at the source are ok, the faucets…

Thanks for this. Would that "slowing down" harm the device though? Obviously, I should err on the side of higher wattage, but if the power adapter provides lower wattage than is required, would that harm the device?

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

#105

Post by deergomoo » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 12:41 PM UTC

grishka wrote: post #42

The last paragraph mentioning touchscreens is weird. Please don't add a touchscreen to a device running a desktop OS. 99% of people won't be using it anyway, but it would lead to those atrocious spacious phone-style UIs I despise so much.

Agree 100%, this is a hill I will die on. The usual counter point is “well you don’t have to use it”, but once it’s there developers will inevitably start to change their software to account for it.

Not to mention that reaching out to touch a vertical surface is clumsy and unergonomic, even if the UI is designed for touch, like an iPad in a keyboard case (which I expect is why they added pointer support).

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

#106

Post by rzzzt » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 12:41 PM UTC

BlackVanilla wrote: post #84

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…

I love this and have considered doing it myself. However, what worries me is whether using a single power adapter will shorten the life of devices which require different levels of wattage. Sure you can use the same USB-C cable, but the benefit is largely diminished if you have to carry a bunch of different power adapters for each device's unique wattage. Or am I worrying about this unnecessarily?

USB-C is probably smarter and more unified in this regard, but back in USB 2.0 land the devices negotiated how much power they need/can accept, and compliant adapters wound themselves down as appropriate: https://www.maximintegrated.com/en/design/technical-document...

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

#107

Post by Symbiote » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 12:44 PM UTC

pharmakom wrote: post #102

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…

If Apple can make a Magsafe cable for USB C that would be the best of both worlds. (I know third parties have made them but Apple would probably do a better implementation) I also can't wait for the removal of the Touchbar. This prevented me from buying previous Macbooks because it was just one compromise too far for such an expensive machine. Is this Apple's "Coke Classic" moment?

Doesn't Apple generally make worse cables than the competition?

It is very rare for a PC laptop power cable to break. There's a rubber grommet which protects the cable as it enters the plug from extreme and repeated bending.

For supposed aesthetics, Apple don't include this, and their cables fray easily.

(This is based on my experience managing hardware for a small organization, Dell/HP/Lenovo/etc business laptops come back with the cables in good condition, the matt screens suffer less even with similar keyboard marks, but the cases usually look a bit scruffy. Depending on usage, we might have replaced the battery after ~3 years, which is either easily done by the user, or takes 5 minutes with a normal screwdriver to remove the back case.)

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

#108

Post by smichel17 » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 12:45 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #52

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…

> 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. I'm on the same side, though I wouldn't mind one-two USB-A ports added for when I'm on the go in a hurry without a USB-C/A cable. Or the addition of some smart "mag-safe but still usabl…

> one thing is clear: ... Apple has to make its choices and be done with it.

It is not clear to me why Apple cannot sell a small handful of models. Two otherwise identical machines, one all-in on usb-c, the other with a mix of ports.

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

#109

Post by solarkraft » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 12:47 PM UTC

johnwalkr wrote: post #63

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…

Same here. I like the touch bar but unless they find a way to make it feasible on a Bluetooth magic keyboard, I’d rather have no touch bar for consistency. If they are going to kill it they should have killed it with the first M1 MacBooks. I’m also all in on USB-c (even my shaver uses it for charging) and don’t miss MagSafe at all. Charging from either side is surprisingly handy. One charger for everything is a trave…

> Hopefully MagSafe in this case means wireless iPhone charging

That would require a massive change, since you can't transmit power through metal. I can't really see the top surface being made out of glass, thus the only other place for charging would be the touchpad.

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

#110

Post by ofou » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 12:47 PM UTC

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…

The problem with the TouchBar is that it disrupt the flow of attention towards the keys. The cool thing about having just ONE screen is that you can forget about looking your fingers because the content is fixed (not dynamic) and therefore can be internalized. The TB doesn't solve any problem, and by the way, it created a UX's hiccup because:

Attention is limited. Focus is limited. Flow is limited.

Don't break that Apple.