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Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

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Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#181

Post by apricot »

kristiandupont wrote: post #98
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…

This bothers me as well. I also have issues with the esc key though. Apparently, I tend to rest my finger on it without noticing (I had no idea). So my subconscious experience with this new laptop is that it seems quite neurotic, constantly closing windows in front of me for no apparent reason, until I discover my finger on the touchbar.

> I also have issues with the esc key though.

First they came for Scroll Lock and I did not speak out -- because who uses Scroll Lock?

Then they came for the PgUp and PgDown keys and I did not speak out -- because I could always use Fn-arrows.

Then they came for Esc and I did not speak out -- because I use Emacs.

Then they came for the whole keyboard -- and there was no way I could write about it.

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#182

Post by innocenat »

notalaser wrote: post #128
meddlepal wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wasn't aware the Linux desktop needed salvation. Maybe it needs salvation for non-technical end users but it's good to excellent for end-users whose primary use involve actually using Linux for what it's good at which is basically being a fully open OS and IDE for software and other engineers.

It has been exactly two days since the last time I had to dig down and figure out what broke in PulseAudio this time. Things are certainly bad for non-technical users, but those of us who write Linux software for a living don't have it much better, either.

Do you know why it breaks? Because Ubuntu 16.04 just works on my laptop. Things that require one-time technical setup: Function key (screen brightness) and Optimus/bumblebee. I also set up touchegg because Unity hates multi-touch trackpad. But since initial setup I never have to touch anything again, and can upgrade everything via Software Update.

I would say it is no better than Windows at all (since you also need to install correct driver on Windows).

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#183

Post by JustSomeNobody »

g4k wrote: post #110
nunodonato wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

The laugh gets me every time.

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#184

Post by erelde »

chvid wrote: post #63
muninn_ wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Holy shit. Why?? Is it around the same cost in Euros? I don't understand this. I literally paid half of that for mine.

The version that is referred to has to be the 15" with extra SSD and more expensive CPU. Before taxes Apple's prices varies around 10% with Japan and USA consistently being the cheapest. (Excluding "special" cases like Venezuela or mainland China with has either special import taxes or a failing currency.) VAT (sales tax) in Europe is in general around 20%; for a company this tax is fully deductible.

Also in Europe we usually talk about VAT included prices, while in the US they talk about VAT excluded prices.

I don't know if that's the case here. The only Apple products I have are a 1991 PowerBook and a Macintosh II (first model) I keep as mementos.

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#185

Post by apricot »

chrisseaton wrote: post #154
Wildgoose wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously? I use them ALL the time.

I'm a programmer and I don't use keyboard shortcuts either, apart from Control-C, Control-V and Control-Z.

I play the piano and I never use the black keys, except C# once in a while.

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#186

Post by netcraft »

rsynnott wrote: post #178

> Apple have increased the native resolution/scaling in comparison to my previous MBP. It’s now practical to work with two half-width, adjacent windows on this laptop’s display. Something that never seemed workable on its predecessor.2 This fact alone makes for some serious productivity wins. You could actually always set it to do this; they've just changed the defaults. A surprising number of users seem to be unawar…

I didn't know this and just did it on my previous gen macbook, thanks!

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#187

Post by nicky0 »

Wildgoose wrote: post #105
nicky0 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What for? I don't know a single F key shortcut. People say debugging, which seems fair enough. I guess I've always found the mouse-based controls sufficient to use the Xcode debugger.

Apart from the debugger, what do people need the F keys for? Are people really debugging that often?

I use a hell of a lot of keyboard shortcuts, mind you. But none of them are F keys.

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#188

Post by mcintyre1994 »

daigoba66 wrote: post #151
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 particularly bad for those of use that run Windows/Visual Studio from a Mac. Microsoft products are historically heavily dependent on the F keys with well known conventions (F1=help,F2=rename,F3=find/next,etc).

How does the Touchbar work in Windows? Do you just get esc/f keys permanently?

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#189

Post by notalaser »

innocenat wrote: post #182
notalaser wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has been exactly two days since the last time I had to dig down and figure out what broke in PulseAudio this time. Things are certainly bad for non-technical users, but those of us who write Linux software for a living don't have it much better, either.

Do you know why it breaks? Because Ubuntu 16.04 just works on my laptop. Things that require one-time technical setup: Function key (screen brightness) and Optimus/bumblebee. I also set up touchegg because Unity hates multi-touch trackpad. But since initial setup I never have to touch anything again, and can upgrade everything via Software Update. I would say it is no better than Windows at all (since you also need t…

Cynically, I'd say it breaks because the only mistakes that we live with, try to work around or fix are the ones made no later than the mid-90s. Everything else, we live with for a while, then boldly proclaim that they're outdated, junk from another age, no longer appropriate for a modern system and then promptly rewrite -- so unsurprisingly, a lot of components of a major Linux desktop are basically beta-quality and/or in a continuous state of flux.

Look at the Gnome 3.22 changelog. It lists things like support for multiple renaming, being able to set alarms for events in Calendar and seamless photo sharing via Google Photos and email. I remember being excited about all these features (except Google Photos, for obvious reasons) when I was using Windows. 2000. I was using Windows 2000.

That's why we're rejoicing that we'll soon have ASLR in all mainstream distros and support for a display server/compositor where windows can't snoop on other windows is just around the corner, while Microsoft is perfecting call-flow integrity and has had a proper compositor since the days when we were barely able to bolt our applications on top of an X11 compositor.

Edit: Non-cynically: most of the breakage happens because the level of complexity involved in a most modern technologies is way over the level that can be meaningfully managed by a community. systemd, xdg-everything, they're all very useful tools, but only a handful of people can properly use them, and it doesn't help that so many of them work for Red Hat and aren't exactly transparent about a lot of things. This breeds mistrust and brings about a lot of unjustified criticism along with the justified one.

As for why PulseAudio in particular keeps breaking, I'm not familiar enough with its source code to say. My problems revolve around things like randomly deciding to use another output device. I work around it by not using it, really. Every couple of months I take KDE and Gnome for a ride, they keep breaking, I open up the page of my local Apple dealer, I gaze incredulously at how much money they want for that hardware, close the page, pacman -Rcs plasma-meta and get back to WindowMaker.

Re: Thoughts on the Late 2016 MacBook Pro

#190

Post by [deleted] »

tachion wrote: post #94
SEMW wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> when the device fails in whatever way It's still not that simple. It's not like you get six years of unlimited state-mandated insurance. The 'six years' is just from the statute of limitations -- it's just the limit after which you can no longer do anything about a violation of a contract of sale. [0] But there still has to be violation of the contract of sale. Which means it only applies to defective products. (Or…

I never mentioned anything about accidental damage, so I am not sure why you've brought it and why you're mentioning state mandated insurance. As far as I am aware, neither Apple's warranty nor Apple Care does cover accidental damage, so when compared to free 6 years consumer right to have the device operating without faults during normal usage barring any accidents, buying Apple Care makes no sense.

[deleted]
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