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

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

#181

Post by vemv » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:14 PM UTC

Honestly I've never understood why laptops are so strongly associated with developer culture.

They are inefficient and conflated machines - two things that tend to be contradictory with software engineering.

More practically, many people find themselves completely dependent on Apple's design whims.

Mac Pros (or server racks in general) are closer to the kinds of machines that we deploy to (they use Xeons for one thing). They don't overheat so easily.

Their 'sea of cores' approach enables more productive workflows and tooling.

And one gets to use his favorite peripherals, in an ergonomic position (instead of slouching around a laptop).

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

#182

Post by muro » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:15 PM UTC

sneak wrote: post #124

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…

Anyone who shoots photos or videos on a real camera uses SD cards near-constantly. It wouldn't affect your not using the port for them to include it. Adding magsafe doesn't mean not supporting usb-c charging, or removing any usb-c ports. Your take obviously isn't that controversial: the maker of the best laptops in the world agrees with you, or at least they did at one time.

I wish. Nikon uses XQD

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

#183

Post by 67868018 » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:15 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 they remove USB-C charging they won't be compliant with the spec anymore which means they can't use the USB logo in their marketing materials

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

#184

Post by totalZero » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:16 PM UTC

varjag wrote: post #153

solarkraft wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

You can transmit power through non-ferrous metals.

Even a non-ferrous metal can interfere with electromagnetic fields (try dropping a cylindrical neodymium magnet down a copper tube if you don't believe me). There exist some wireless charging methods that aren't affected by metallic enclosures, but that's not true for all wireless charging in general.

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

#185

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:16 PM UTC

totalZero wrote: post #164

skohan wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If you do anything with photography, you are carrying around a camera, batteries, and lenses anyway. Just buy a 12$ card reader and put it into your camera bag with all your other expensive stuff. It surprises me that people who buy high-dollar computers are so reluctant to buy an extra cable. TB3 natively supports DP at faster speeds than HDMI 2.0b can push. You can buy a TB3 to DP1.4 cable online for $15. Even the…

[deleted]

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

#186

Post by joaomoreno » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:19 PM UTC

vemv wrote: post #181

Honestly I've never understood why laptops are so strongly associated with developer culture. They are inefficient and conflated machines - two things that tend to be contradictory with software engineering. More practically, many people find themselves completely dependent on Apple's design whims. Mac Pros (or server racks in general) are closer to the kinds of machines that we deploy to (they use Xeons for one thin…

After having built a Ryzen Mini ITX setup about a month ago, I have to totally agree. Soooo smooth.

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

#187

Post by paulcole » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:21 PM UTC

67868018 wrote: post #183

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 they remove USB-C charging they won't be compliant with the spec anymore which means they can't use the USB logo in their marketing materials

I hate to break it to you but Apple’s marketing materials don’t rely on the USB logo to do a lot of heavy lifting.

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

#188

Post by Brajeshwar » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:21 PM UTC

totalZero wrote: post #174

crossroadsguy wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am always amazed at how people do not even think of this excellent use-case (let alone use it). This is something I have always loved in laptops and have used. Besides that card is barely even visible unlike a pen drive or a hard disk. It just stays there subtly. I was also planning to have a bootable Linux on one of those, but I never got around to actually doing that. Now that my 2012 MBA's flash storage is dead…

Probably because carrying your backup inside of your device is a horrible way to preserve your media in the event that the device is lost or stolen.

My suggestion was one of the convenient tips of the proverbial iceberg in the world of backups and redundancies. Today, I'd be astonished if one lost their devices and loses any data along with it.

Personally, all my devices are endpoints or tools. For instance, if I lost my phone, it will take me a few hours or a day/two at best to get back to where I was. The same goes for my other devices (desktops, laptops).

In the most critical situation, say, I lost my phone while traveling, but lucky my wife's phone is in-tact, I can pick up hers and go through my contacts (we sync our contacts two ways). I can then login to anything anywhere by getting to her Password Manager, which fortunately has a copy of mine. I might need to ask her to authenticate it for me.

I strongly feel that one should have a pattern and system of redundancies and be independent of the devices one uses. I'm still discovering and learning a lot; not yet the best, but I'm happy I started quite a while back.

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

#189

Post by chrisseaton » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:23 PM UTC

m463 wrote: post #133

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…

An extra port is not inconvenient - you just won't use it. A missing port is SUPER inconvenient. Can't tell you how annoying it is to require a USB-A dongle or adapter, same with HDMI.

> An extra port is not inconvenient

An extra port:

- is e-waste for everyone who never uses it

- reduces the rigidity of the case

- increases costs

- adds weight

- takes up space

- lets in dust and potentially liquid spills

You can see why people who never use them say ‘no thanks’. Isn’t it better that the people who do want them take on the costs of the port via a dongle?

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

#190

Post by mojuba » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:23 PM UTC

ofou wrote: post #110

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 A…

Agreed but let's also give credit to Apple for trying to innovate. The TouchBar wasn't a bad idea just that it probably wasn't tested thoroughly with all types of users. It more seems like a "I think everyone's going to love it" kind of a designer's idea. Anyway, would happily buy a model without it.