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

Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 224 posts

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#201

Post by d3ckard »

Honestly, ports is one thing in new MacBooks I do not understand why everyone seems to nag about. Right, you will likely need some accessories for now. But in two years, when basically everything will work on USB-C and your computer will be in half of reasonable lifetime, it will be a bliss. I hate port multiplication and I'm happy Apple is in the front of moving to one standard.

On the other hand, I cannot seem to understand decision behind MagSafe, card reader and keyboard. Why? Everybody with a MacBook has a story about MagSafe saving his laptop from a fall. Cards are important for many people and they are not likely to go away. Esc is important and it could be incorporated in the new design - if they wanted to get rid of function keys, they could go all-in and just change the whole freaking design.

Also, I do not get their priorities. They made thing thinner, but I would much more appreciate if they made it smaller (smaller as bezel-free display like Dell did). I would gladly accept a bit thicker MacBook, if they put better battery in it and even better fans, so it stays cool.

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#202

Post by bryanlarsen »

plandis wrote: post #85
matthewaveryusa wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Going linux on decent hardware isn't biting the bullet one bit. Thinkpads are seriously nice and the days where you couldn't get your audio and wifi working on linux have been over for ~5 years. Give it a shot, and you just might like it.

How's the build quality though? I was under the impression that Thinkpads are mostly plastic. Honestly, one of the best perks of a MacBook is the machined aluminum body. Does Lenovo have anything like that?

Thinkpads are traditionally made with a cage of magnesium covered with plastic. Best of both worlds: the strength durability and protection of metal combined with the light weight and ability to absorb drops and dings of plastic.

Dunno how many still do that, the system may have been dropped in the pursuit of thinness.

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#203

Post by 4ad »

rayiner wrote: post #96
matthewaveryusa wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Going linux on decent hardware isn't biting the bullet one bit. Thinkpads are seriously nice and the days where you couldn't get your audio and wifi working on linux have been over for ~5 years. Give it a shot, and you just might like it.

> Thinkpads are seriously nice I use a T450s for work. My wife took one look at the FHD screen (she uses a 15" rMBP) and said "can't the firm spring for something less shitty?" The backlight bleeds, the keyboard is warped near the touchpad, and the touchpad isn't that precise. I bought my own for personal use and then sold it because it was so underwhelming. The one redeeming quality of the machine is sick battery li…

Thanks for posting this.

I have about 14 ThinkPads at last count. The earliest functional ThinkPad I still have is a T42p. The newest one is a X250. My favorite one is the high-resolution X61T (I have two).

There was a time when the build quality of ThinkPads was great, that time has passed. The quality has declined, while the Mac quality has increased. There is simply no comparison on this front anymore.

What is sad is that ThinkPads are still better than other, non-mac laptops. I feel sorry for anyone who uses a non-ThinkPad, or a non-Mac laptop.

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#204

Post by 6nf »

kabdib wrote: post #24

It's pretty bad. We use YubiKeys a lot, and there are no ports for them. So sad. Also: Magsafe is great (it's saved my bacon a few times). Gone. ESC key, gone. Don't know about the keyboard yet, but everything I've read doesn't point to it being decent. Probably not buying this generation of MacBooks. Might just bite the bullet and finally go to Linux on some decent hardware. So, what's a decent laptop for running Li…

There will be USB-C YubiKeys in 2017, and in the meanwhile you can still use your adapter.

Esc key is still there, it's just not a physical key. You'll have to try it for yourself of course, but since it's on the edge of the strip it's still pretty easy to touch-type it.

They keyboard divides users. Some people hate it but I really like my 12" Macbook butterfly keyboard. I can type on it just fine at almost any speed. I do have to admit that it took a while to get used to it.

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#205

Post by 4ad »

ufmace wrote: post #31

Looks like apple is indeed going all-in on USB-C. What's interesting is: > People won’t even be able to physically connect their iPhones to Apple’s flagship laptops without a $25 new cord. I wonder if this means that Apple's going to switch the iPhone and iPad over to USB-C? It'd be a pain for everybody invested in Lightning ports, but Android phones seem to be slowly converging on it. It'd be pretty cool if USB-C be…

The USB-C connector is significantly larger than the Lightning connector.

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#206

Post by rayiner »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #202
plandis wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How's the build quality though? I was under the impression that Thinkpads are mostly plastic. Honestly, one of the best perks of a MacBook is the machined aluminum body. Does Lenovo have anything like that?

Thinkpads are traditionally made with a cage of magnesium covered with plastic. Best of both worlds: the strength durability and protection of metal combined with the light weight and ability to absorb drops and dings of plastic. Dunno how many still do that, the system may have been dropped in the pursuit of thinness.

It's been sliding. The T450s is a rock: carbon fiber lid, magnesium body covered in soft-touch plastic. The T460 is a step back--glass-fiber plastic on top of magnesium roll cage. The T460s is not a viable replacement for the T450s because it has no removable battery.

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#207

Post by majewsky »

4ad wrote: post #203
rayiner wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Thinkpads are seriously nice I use a T450s for work. My wife took one look at the FHD screen (she uses a 15" rMBP) and said "can't the firm spring for something less shitty?" The backlight bleeds, the keyboard is warped near the touchpad, and the touchpad isn't that precise. I bought my own for personal use and then sold it because it was so underwhelming. The one redeeming quality of the machine is sick battery li…

Thanks for posting this. I have about 14 ThinkPads at last count. The earliest functional ThinkPad I still have is a T42p. The newest one is a X250. My favorite one is the high-resolution X61T (I have two). There was a time when the build quality of ThinkPads was great, that time has passed. The quality has declined, while the Mac quality has increased. There is simply no comparison on this front anymore. What is sad…

You don't need to be. I'm still amazed by the build quality of my ZenBook after four years of daily usage.

Re: Apple’s new MacBook Pro kills off most of the ports you probably need

#210

Post by unclenoriega »

sandipc wrote: post #29
unclenoriega wrote: post #12

MagSafe was one of my favorite things about Apple laptops. I'm sorry to see that go.

Here's an alternative... surprised Apple didn't introduce something similar today https://griffintechnology.com/us/breaksafe-magnetic-usb-c-po...

Thanks, that looks nice.
Post reply on HN