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

Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 392 posts

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#171

Post by maxsilver »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #100
masklinn wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The price has skyrocketed though, entry model is $800 (used to be $500), the top end with all options is $4200.

It would be interesting to compare that to an equivalent Intel NUC, my guess is you are paying a lot for the ability to run macOS.

The Mac Mini (standard configs) are pretty comparable to the latest Intel NUC, compared to something like this https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/boards-kits... (and folks can debate whether the Mini's 6-cores and no dGPU is better/worse than the NUC's 4-cores with a Radeon GPU).

What's neat is that the Mini now runs a full desktop CPU (60W TDP?). So while the default configs of the Mac Mini are roughly equivalent to a NUC , the Mini has higher max upgrade headroom and a fully-tricked-out Mini will significantly surpass a NUC in speed/memory/networking.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#172

Post by detaro »

vesrah wrote: post #106
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be interesting to compare that to an equivalent Intel NUC, my guess is you are paying a lot for the ability to run macOS.

There aren't NUCs that compare. You can't buy a NUC with an i7 6 core, one with 64GB of memory, or one with 10GBit.

There aren't NUCs that compare for all variants.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#174

Post by yoz-y »

YetAnotherNick wrote: post #156

I think the entry level macbook pro is better buy than this. For $100, the CPU is much better, and very likely the build quality too. And everything else including weight, keyboard, ports, battery life etc. mostly the same.

Which one? MacBook Pro without Touch Bar has older cpu generation (albeit it is faster) but it still has the previous version of the keyboard (without membrane).

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#175

Post by drewmol »

zaroth wrote: post #137
falcolas wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In contrast - my USB hubs, external USB drives, and CD reader are all USB A. My phone is Lightning. My spare chargers are two flavors of magsafe. The cords I've begun to accumulate to work with a USB C computer have varying capabilities, to the point where I can't safely interchange them for fear of blowing past their tolerances accidentally. I'm not so keen on this change.

If your drive enclosures are USB A you’re leaving massive throughout on the table and wasting your time for what would be a $30 part on Amazon. The new “spare charger” is a 10kmAh battery pack which will have USB-C and some double as a way to jump start your car (assuming you still drive ICE). It’s also a worthwhile upgrade and much more useful than something that has you hunting for outlets at the airport, or god fo…

>But a C D Reader? What is that? Is that like the radio that truckers used to use to talk to each other in the road?

Yes, like that in terms of: expect decades for complete migration as all benificial use cases for them have not yet been superceeded by technology sucessors.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#176

Post by Bluestrike2 »

Latteland wrote: post #74
scarface74 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A second port and it should be noticeably faster.

one usb-c port on the smaller macbook was of course just a silly stupid idea. But I think 2 is less good than 3 or 4. I'd rather have multiple. next apple needs to convert the phone to use usb-c so we can all move over to one port type.

With the iPad Pro now using USB-C, I think it's a given that the next iPhone will do the same. If only my next Kindle would do the same.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#177

Post by freehunter »

setquk wrote: post #125
Ratiofarmings wrote: post #99

So they finally removed the last computer with mag safe and a good keyboard from their lineup. I am not at all happy about that. All this computer needed was a new cpu, memory and a type-c port.

I wasn't a fan of magsafe. I'd rather have a machine that doesn't die if you look at it funny apart from the narrow case of falling over the cable. (I have killed three macbooks) Not only that I've seen a magsafe connector on fire.

Personally I disliked Magsafe because it never worked for its intended design. I say this in a household with three Magsafe laptops. The most common case where Magsafe disconnected was sitting on my lap. The laptop isn't wide enough to not hit my leg occasionally, causing the connecter to disconnect.

But other than that, it's supposed to be a breakaway, right? So if my laptop is sitting on the table and I trip on the cord, the cord unplugs. But that's never happened to me. If you pull the cable straight out (like if it's wrapped around your leg and you pull your leg away), the cord will stay connected and will easily pull the laptop off the table. I don't know if it was designed for heavier laptops or what, but Magsafe has never broken away for me when the cable is pulled straight out.

The only time it works as intended is if I step on the cable and it pulls the cable down, or if my leg hits the connector and it pushes straight up.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#178

Post by yodsanklai »

starbugs wrote: post #165
ksec wrote: post #152

I wonder if a lot of people are leaving the Mac ecosystem. Apple has been selling roughly ~19M Mac per year since 2012, and its new user to Mac has also been steady at ~50%. Apple has had 60M Mac user in 2012 announced in WWDC, and they has been nearing 100M since early 2017. I assume that actual number is larger than 90M at the time, so after nearly 20 Months, ~20M New Mac Users on board, it manage to add a total ~1…

I bought my first 15" MBP in 2006 after Apple switched to Intel. I was a student back then and I got it for about 1800 EUR. It was a beautiful machine, I could replace the battery myself without unscrewing anything, and if I wanted to upgrade the memory or HDD I could do that easily. Now here we are 12 years and a couple of Macs later. The current MBP is a bit more beautiful than the first one I got, it's noticeably…

> It just feels natural to look for an alternative at this point.

I don't consider myself an Apple fanboy (I'd certainly not buy an iphone). But as far as laptops go, I don't see any viable alternative. I'd get a MBP for Mac OS alone, but the hardware is great too.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#179

Post by freehunter »

gumby wrote: post #116
stakecounter wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any info on whether the 2018 keyboard update fares much better [1]? I’m seriously considering buying this MBA, but I’m happy with the travel and durability on my 2011 MBA keyboard and primarily spooked by the butterfly keyboard complaints. [1] https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/macbook-pro/#keyboard

I had a lot of problems with my 2016 keyboard (repaired four times and getting ready for a fifth when it took an unplanned drink of water). I now have a 2018 MBP and the keyboard is really reliable and actually pretty great.

I recently got a 2018 for work and I'm enjoying the keyboard. I like clicky keyboards with low travel, I think it makes touch typing easier and I have to move my fingers up and down less. After going back to my 2015, the keys on the older one feel mushy and not as clicky, and I tend to drag my fingertips across the tops of the keys because they have more travel.

I never used a 2016/2017 keyboard though so I can only compare 2018 to 2015, and I like the 2018.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#180

Post by starbugs »

yodsanklai wrote: post #178
starbugs wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought my first 15" MBP in 2006 after Apple switched to Intel. I was a student back then and I got it for about 1800 EUR. It was a beautiful machine, I could replace the battery myself without unscrewing anything, and if I wanted to upgrade the memory or HDD I could do that easily. Now here we are 12 years and a couple of Macs later. The current MBP is a bit more beautiful than the first one I got, it's noticeably…

> It just feels natural to look for an alternative at this point. I don't consider myself an Apple fanboy (I'd certainly not buy an iphone). But as far as laptops go, I don't see any viable alternative. I'd get a MBP for Mac OS alone, but the hardware is great too.

I agree, the software is the primary factor locking me in as well. I am happy to pay a premium for great hardware (and software), but I don't like the feeling of being ripped off. I guess at some point these bad feelings will outweigh the benefits of the platform. For me personally, that point isn't far in the future anymore.
Post reply on HN