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New MacBook Pro Is Not a Laptop for Developers Anymore

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Re: New MacBook Pro Is Not a Laptop for Developers Anymore

#271

Post by [deleted] »

ekianjo wrote: post #166
m3ta wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've developed on a MacBook Pro for the last 5 years in vim and I have never touched the escape key or any of the F keys, ever. If you're using vim and reaching for the escape key you are doing it wrong imho. Rebind esc to something else (like capslock) or learn another pattern that has more ergonomic value.

> If you're using vim and reaching for the escape key you are doing it wrong imho. So generations of Vim users are doing it wrong but you have the right answer?

[deleted]

Re: New MacBook Pro Is Not a Laptop for Developers Anymore

#272

Post by easytiger »

foxylion wrote: post #106
AlexMuir wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good luck using Sublime or atom over SSH.

Sometimes I've a feeling that some people really like it complicated. Today it is no mysterium to mount a remote machine via SSH and edit all the files using atom/sublime/vs code/... so mostly no need for a terminal editor on a remote server. And have you ever tried to use a terminal (editor) on remote over a connection with high latency? Awful.

> And have you ever tried to use a terminal (editor) on remote over a connection with high latency? Awful.

You have no idea what you are talking about. Hilariously so.

Re: New MacBook Pro Is Not a Laptop for Developers Anymore

#273

Post by mibbiting »

macmac wrote: post #188
mibbiting wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had macbooks for years. I got sick of the really poor performance, constant spinner, etc. Now, I have a Dell XPS running Ubuntu. It is considerably faster. Far better battery life. Far high spec. Extremely slick display.

Agree on the speed. I routinely run a bunch of VMs and docker images without any sort of impact.

Forgot to mention the other reason... The magsafe charger is ridiculously poor quality. I've had several of them fail. They all burn the casing off the wire just outside the plug, and then it stops working. The advantage of a magnetic connector isn't worth spending another ton of money to replace it every year.

Re: New MacBook Pro Is Not a Laptop for Developers Anymore

#274

Post by _ix »

yoz-y wrote: post #125
chairmanwow wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many common applications that developers use have many keybindings that heavily rely upon the Escape key (Vim for sure).

The escape key can be right there on the capslock (option to be enabled in System Preferences -> Keyboard). Using Esc key heavily with its default location is not practical at all. As for the F-keys I think this is more of a problem.

How do you achieve this with just System Preferences? On 10.11.6, I see the System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Modifier Keys allows re-mapping to Nothing, Control, Option, and Command, but not Escape. Is this a macOS Sierra thing? Tell me your secrets!

Re: New MacBook Pro Is Not a Laptop for Developers Anymore

#275

Post by michaelkaufman »

The reason I'm not impressed with the new Macbook Pro is I, like a huge percentage of developers I know, use the computer as a 3rd monitor and use a different keyboard than the built in one. I'm not going to reach 3 ft away to hit a Spotify shortcut on the TouchBar ever when I can use my finger on my magic trackpad to do it in a fraction of the time. WTF. And will the function keys on my keyboard of choice even work now?

Re: New MacBook Pro Is Not a Laptop for Developers Anymore

#276

Post by matwood »

easytiger wrote: post #230
matwood wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good luck with HiDPI. It is very application dependent, so I would check what you typically use. From what I have tried and read, macOS handles HiDPI and multi-monitors much better than any other OS out there right now. I'm so used to HiDPI just working on my MBP that I never even realized it was an issue on the other OSes until I started thinking about switching.

> multi-monitors much better than any other OS out there right now. No it doesn't. OSX in fact has a completely innane behaviour when a MBPr is connected to an external monitor. Meaning you have to mirror or put it in clamshell mode. You can't extend the monitor ontot he laptop screen. Works perfectly well in Linux for me.

Huh? I have 2 external monitors (connected using DP) and my laptop running as 1 large desktop right now. Both externals are 1920x1200 running off a rMBP. Dragging windows around scales properly and mostly works.

Last time I tried this on Linux it was a mess, particularly when moving windows from the HiDPI to the normal and back.

Re: New MacBook Pro Is Not a Laptop for Developers Anymore

#277

Post by jbmorgado »

ericjang wrote: post #37

I dislike this post intensely. The opinion comes across as uncharitable, as the author probably has not used this Macbook Pro yet. How can you (alexeysemeney) be so sure? I consider myself a developer, and I almost never use the Fn and ESC keys on my Mac. Everybody uses the computer differently, but I'm pretty sure this is not a deal-breaker for most. One could also argue that the touch bar might lead to innovative d…

Well, he goes trough more than the bar.

I have a 2013 15" MacBook Pro, the diference with the top of the line that came out yesterday comes down a slight bump in the dedicated Graphics Card (which I don't appreciate since I use CUDA a lot and as such I actually prefer the GTX 750M to a only slightly better AMD card in the new model), and a 0.1 GHz bump in the processor (back from the 2.3 GHz i7 my MacBook Pro has).

I do understand that taking out the Esc and F* keys and replace it for a smart bar can be seen as a valid design option, but I can't see how shipping a Laptop 3 years later with, lets face it, basically the same specs and ask for the same price can be something positive.

Re: New MacBook Pro Is Not a Laptop for Developers Anymore

#278

Post by fabiant7t »

fabiant7t wrote: post #196
peller wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can have the best of both worlds on *nix: tap == ESC, hold == CTRL http://www.economyofeffort.com/2014/08/11/beyond-ctrl-remap-...

Interesting, but on macOS 10.12.x it must be Karabiner-Elements and at least the UI does not make me replicate this behavior.

Editing the JSON config will do the trick as described here: https://github.com/tekezo/Karabiner-Elements/issues/8

There is also a solution for Hammerspoon users here: https://gist.github.com/arbelt/b91e1f38a0880afb316dd5b573275...

Re: New MacBook Pro Is Not a Laptop for Developers Anymore

#279

Post by Szevth »

rayiner wrote: post #7

Honest question: what's the alternative? I've got a 2013 rMBP 15 inch. What's my next machine? I'm not willing to regress on display (220 ppi or better), screen size, or battery life (8-9 hours real use). I might regress on quad core to dual core if everything else is perfect. EDIT: The XPS 15 gets more like 5-6 hours with the high res display by my understanding. The Surface Book has the right combination of resolut…

Why do you need a new Macbook when your machine probably does everything? The specs between a 2016 and 2013 are negligible for web browsing and programming. Unless you're doing heavy video editing or 3D rendering..

So many people upgrading notebooks when they don't need to.

Re: New MacBook Pro Is Not a Laptop for Developers Anymore

#280

Post by nojvek »

I really hope my current air doesn't breakdown. It's proper USB ports, fn keys and built in hdmi port. I use fn and esc every single day. Fn6-8 are debugging continue, break etc shortcuts.

I see absolutely zero value in buying the new iPhone or Mac line. Why apple why? Precisely this reason why I am selling all my stock in Apple.

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