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

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

#251

Post by chrisseaton » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 3:34 PM UTC

waheoo wrote: post #246

chrisseaton wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why would having multiple options be bad? Because this is how you end up with a Homer Car of a device.

That's a bit myopic. You can strike a balance. You're argument is the same thing that led to "we should get rid of headphone jacks because we have Bluetooth." Bluetooth is an option, its not the best option, but I wouldn't suggest removing Bluetooth because we have a headphone jack.

> You're argument is the same thing that led to "we should get rid of headphone jacks because we have Bluetooth."

I mean... yeah it's the same argument and I agree with both. When we got Bluetooth and decent ear pods... time to get rid of the headphone jack we don't want both, one is redundant. Simpler, cleaner, more uniform is better for these devices in my opinion.

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

#252

Post by varispeed » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 3:35 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…

I use SD cards daily to transfer data from cameras or different devices for further processing. It is handy to be able to just slide it in. I also have a dongle in an other laptop which works fine, but you need to be careful with these - I bought one cheaper dongle and it totally destroyed my SD card upon inserting. Unfortunately there was no backup as there was original material on it. So now I first do backup on a trusted SD card reader and then use it anywhere else.

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

#253

Post by ajmadesc » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 3:39 PM UTC

javajosh wrote: post #239

fastball wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like a terrible idea. Why have a proprietary charge port if it can also charge with USB-C?

Yes, a terrible idea, like putting a motor on a sailboat! I mean, why would you ever need 2 methods of propulsion?! (Some boaters even bring oars and towline! Insane!)

A bad attitude and a bad analogy. A second charging port is redundancy, a second motor is auxiliary.

Don't start about multiple usb ports because those are also auxiliary in purpose

Edit: Not making a judgement as to if a second charging point is a good idea or not. I don't care, why not.

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

#254

Post by kevindong » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 3:40 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…

Meetings are generally held in meeting rooms (well, pre-Covid that is). In meetings, you typically have something to present or discuss over.

It's generally better for employees to have a single machine (that they're very familiar with) to present on rather than having a machine per employee in addition to a machine per meeting room.

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

#255

Post by dschuler » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 3:40 PM UTC

toper-centage wrote: post #210

fastball wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like a terrible idea. Why have a proprietary charge port if it can also charge with USB-C?

I had an XPS that had both and indeed it was useless to have a port for just charging. But if the charging port is also used for magsafe that makes it worth it.

The XPS 15 has a dedicated charging port that can draw much more power for the discrete GPU - up to 130W, but lets you charge it on the go with the USB-C port. You get full graphics performance with one but have the choice not to lug around a larger power brick on the go.

Why would I want only one option when I can have both?

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

#256

Post by tjr » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 3:40 PM UTC

dognotdog wrote: post #191

totalZero wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Maybe consider that it’s more nuanced in real life. That $12 card reader, even expensive USB-3 card readers, are often a lot slower than that builtin one. They get lost and broken, not even considering that when you’re on the go, many photographers will absolutely try to shed as much unnecessary weight as possible, as not many people are built like the hulk or have an entourage of assistants doing the heavy lifting.…

I bought a new MacBook Air last year, and a USB A/C adapter with it. I somehow lost the adapter. Bought another one. Then bought a dual A/C USB thumb drive. I'm getting along, but would appreciate at least one USB-A port.

I am also a photographer, and miss the SD port. But I realize that's kinda niche, and can understand it going away. I wouldn't be surprised to see cameras move away from SD cards eventually anyway.

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

#257

Post by behnamoh » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 3:41 PM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #82

emdowling wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like everyone else, I love the MacBook 12. Give me one with a M-series, at the same (or less) weight, with Touch ID and the new keyboard. Like others, I don’t need more than 1 port. Not discounting anyone else’s need for it, but after living with it for a few years I really don’t need additional ports.

The thing is that while you might be reasonable about this, there seems to be a completely baffling number of people whose argument seems to be "I don't need it, therefore they shouldn't include it". It's like.....no one is forcing you to use these extra ports? But it's very nice to have them and some people will need them. If it doesn't increase the weight or thickness of the device(and it definitely doesn't to add…

I agree. Reading all these comments made me realize how selfish some people could be.

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

#258

Post by dwighttk » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 3:42 PM UTC

>Schiller had squashed all hope of the SD card returning ...

>Schiller said “probably not” but added that “nothing about the future is in stone and things can always change.”

what?

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

#259

Post by Retric » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 3:44 PM UTC

chris_wot wrote: post #250

javajosh wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, a terrible idea, like putting a motor on a sailboat! I mean, why would you ever need 2 methods of propulsion?! (Some boaters even bring oars and towline! Insane!)

That analogy is silly. Two methods of propulsion is a good idea - when the wind is not blowing then use the engine. If the engine runs out of petroleum use the engine. Having a proprietary power interface and a USB C interface that does the same thing is ridiculous.

USB-C can’t charge nearly as quickly as a high power proprietary charger. In use USB-C needs to supply power for both charging and operating the laptop, so what might take 3 hours to charge with USB-C might take 20 minutes to charge with a dedicated connector.

That’s not to say every laptop’s proprietary charger will supply noticeably more than 100W, but many examples exist.

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

#260

Post by p_l » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 3:46 PM UTC

jimnotgym wrote: post #236

m463 wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Since 2015 we have had all this clutter in the meeting rooms with different chargers, adaptors for monitors, projectors etc. In fact every mac user I know has a little hub to run everything! I'm currently using a Thinkpad and I have never felt that I had too many ports! I don't carry any adaptors.

on site at a client fresh after they started upgrading people to USB-C/thunderbolt MBPs/Airs...

Very quickly meetings started with question of "who has a laptop with real HDMI/DisplayPort? We would like to start in 15s instead of 15 minutes of fighting with dongles..."