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2016 Retina MacBook Pro Caveats

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Re: 2016 Retina MacBook Pro Caveats

#181

Post by UseStrict »

Kiro wrote: post #108
TheDrizzle43 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before it was announced I was 100% sure going to grab a new MacBook Pro but now I find myself looking at refurbished 2015 models.

Why not the 2016 model without TouchBar?

For me, I frequently use multiple ports and the reduction to 2 USB ports for the non-touch MBP2016 isn't ideal. Also, the non-touch version still comes with all the associated negatives (still 16GB memory limit, everything still soldered in, excessive need for dongles). Plus I really love MagSafe.

Re: 2016 Retina MacBook Pro Caveats

#183

Post by Stratoscope »

mescalito wrote: post #74
Stratoscope wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With my late 2013 MBPR and ViewSonic VX2475SMHL-4K, all I had to do was use a mini-DP to DP cable and everything just works, both in OSX and Windows 10. I hardly ever boot into OSX any more - most of my work is in Windows and I generally like Windows better anyway - especially with the crisper font rendering after using the ClearType tuner compared to the fuzzier OSX text. (Yes, OSX - I haven't even bothered to upgra…

You normally use Windows on your 2013 MBPR? All hardware working nicely?

Yes, with Apple's Boot Camp drivers it actually makes a very nice Windows machine. I used to run Windows in a Parallels VM under OSX, and that worked well for a while, but at some point my OSX installation started getting very slow, and Parallels even slower.

So I started using Boot Camp more and found it to be very snappy. Also I was doing some VR work on Windows, and that only works on physical hardware. (The MBPR is not a great machine for VR, but it's good enough for the system integration stuff I was doing.)

The only hardware issues I've run into compared to running Windows in Parallels are:

* Apple's Ethernet dongle is not hot-pluggable in Windows like it is in OSX/macOS. A reboot is required if you want to plug it in. You can plug and unplug the Ethernet cable on the fly, just not the dongle itself.

* By default, the trackpad two-finger scrolling works in the traditional "scrollbar" style (swipe your fingers down and the display content moves up). I prefer the "natural" style where it is more like using a touchscreen. I found an easy registry tweak to fix this on this page:

http://waded.org/2013/01/15/perfecting-trackpad-scrolling-in...

I didn't use any of the other tweaks on that page, just the scroll direction.

* The touchpad driver is not as good as the one in OSX. Specifically, it's much more susceptible to false right clicks, and it's fussier about the style of click-dragging where you hold the touchpad down with one finger and drag with another. In OSX this works pretty naturally; in Windows it works only if I hold the pad down at the left bottom corner and then drag with another finger.

* And of course, I miss the TrackPoint from my ThinkPads.

The finishing touch was to get one of these Windows logo decals to cover up the Apple logo:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014I1ICX8/

So now my MacBook Pro is officially a WinBook Pro!

Re: 2016 Retina MacBook Pro Caveats

#184

Post by r00fus »

wcarron wrote: post #162
Tom1971 wrote: post #8

While, over time, a lot of today's annoyances with the new Macabook's will fade away, the lack of ESC key is a deal breaker for me. I tried it at the Apple Store and it's pretty much unusable. (It had the seen issue as the writer, apparently relying on the physical click to know whether or not I had pressed it. In addition, I also mistyped it a lot. Maybe hack to replace the whole touch bar as one single ESC key will…

I remapped my ESC key to `jj`. Set the timeout to 1 sec and it's been working flawlessly for me.

Where did you remap?

Re: 2016 Retina MacBook Pro Caveats

#186

Post by awesomerobot »

A big caveat I have is that the SSD is soldered directly to the logic board.

I've used a single Macbook for stretches of 4-5 years at points and I've had to pull out the HD when the logic board has died... seems really sad that I'd be tied to Apple's support in the event I need to access data to use on another machine when previously it was something I could solve in 15 minutes.

Re: 2016 Retina MacBook Pro Caveats

#187

Post by nilkn »

izacus wrote: post #154
nilkn wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I picked up a new MBP and I have to say I do like the Touch Bar. It's certainly not a must-have, but Apple's implementation is pretty polished. My favorite use is music/volume control. I can control music from both iTunes and a buried YouTube Safari tab at the same time through the Touch Bar.

How is that different from pressing Fn + F keys before?

I'm not sure which key combinations specifically you're referring to. How would I use the old function keys to switch music playing from iTunes to a paused YouTube tab in a Safari window on another desktop? And how would I use the function keys to scrub through a song to find a specific part all without giving focus to the music playing app?

Maybe all this was possible before but I never knew about any of it. If that's the case that's another strength of the touch bar -- I had no issue discovering this functionality this time.

Re: 2016 Retina MacBook Pro Caveats

#188

Post by undersuit »

otterley wrote: post #9

We bought a 15" 2016 Macbook Pro ("Retina" is redundant; there are no 2016 MBPs that lack a Retina display.) We also bought a LG 27UD88-W monitor to go with it. (It's one of the few that has a USB-C input.) I have to say, I'm really impressed by the single-cable solution. The monitor charges the laptop (57W maximum, which is less than the Apple charger, but "good enough"), and the laptop sends both video and USB peri…

>When the display goes to sleep, it disconnects all the devices on the hub. This is a problem for external disks, as the OS complains that it has been detached without being ejected first. I hope LG fixes this in a future firmware version.

Is there a monitor that doesn't suffer this issue? My Dell's USB hub power is linked to the monitor power. I can't plug a mouse into the monitor if I want to use that mouse to wake up the computer.

Re: 2016 Retina MacBook Pro Caveats

#189

Post by oneeyedpigeon »

Caballera wrote: post #30
Tom1971 wrote: post #8

While, over time, a lot of today's annoyances with the new Macabook's will fade away, the lack of ESC key is a deal breaker for me. I tried it at the Apple Store and it's pretty much unusable. (It had the seen issue as the writer, apparently relying on the physical click to know whether or not I had pressed it. In addition, I also mistyped it a lot. Maybe hack to replace the whole touch bar as one single ESC key will…

The escape key is still there, it's on the Touch Bar, I have no issues with using it, and I haven't had to re-map it. Also you can hit the 'fn' key and the 'Function' bar and escape key will appear while using any other 'app' that changes the Touch Bar.

Was it not a problem getting used to it being in a different position? How do you find pressing a key with no physical presence - do you have to look down at it, or are you just used to it now?

Re: 2016 Retina MacBook Pro Caveats

#190

Post by otterley »

undersuit wrote: post #188
otterley wrote: post #9

We bought a 15" 2016 Macbook Pro ("Retina" is redundant; there are no 2016 MBPs that lack a Retina display.) We also bought a LG 27UD88-W monitor to go with it. (It's one of the few that has a USB-C input.) I have to say, I'm really impressed by the single-cable solution. The monitor charges the laptop (57W maximum, which is less than the Apple charger, but "good enough"), and the laptop sends both video and USB peri…

>When the display goes to sleep, it disconnects all the devices on the hub. This is a problem for external disks, as the OS complains that it has been detached without being ejected first. I hope LG fixes this in a future firmware version. Is there a monitor that doesn't suffer this issue? My Dell's USB hub power is linked to the monitor power. I can't plug a mouse into the monitor if I want to use that mouse to wake…

I don't expect the hub to work when the display is powered off or unplugged. I do, however, expect it to work when the monitor is "asleep", i.e., in power-saving mode.

My Dell P2715Q display does work properly as a hub when it's asleep.

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