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Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

businessinsider.com

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Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#331

Post by eropple »

macintux wrote: post #310
eropple wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. Or...y'know...FireWire. Also known as IEEE 1394.

I remember overhearing a Best Buy employee describe the FireWire port on the back of an iMac as a Sony proprietary camera connector. Not sure why I didn't correct him. Apple rarely goes proprietary with their ports. The original 30-pin iPod port. Lightning. ADB in the mists of time. All of which were I believe better than what was available.

Lightning was better-ish, but we also knew USB-C was on the horizon. I don't think that one is defensible.

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#332

Post by ndesaulniers »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #323
logicallee wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Googling displayport++ returns a bunch of confusing pages - can you summarize what the ++ signifies in your own words and with some examples?

DisplayPort++ means a DisplayPort port that can also use a passive DP-to-HDMI or DP-to-DVI adapter, such as a DP-to-HDMI cable. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort#DisplayPort.2B.2B The graphics chipset will actually detect this and handle it as though you hooked up an HDMI cable.

What a clusterfuck...

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#333

Post by MiddleEndian »

JimDabell wrote: post #87
MiddleEndian wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Show percentage is insufficient. If something in my behavior will cause the battery to drop from 50% to 0% in one hour instead of six, I want to know that.

You still do – that drop-down shows apps using significant energy, and if you want more details, Activity Monitor shows per-process stats, graphs, and time remaining.

That's still a big jump back in usability.

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#334

Post by rayiner »

en4bz wrote: post #322
rayiner wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of which, ironically, can match the new MBP in battery life.

True, but you can get double the performance for half the price of the 2016 MBPro, a 4x perf/dollar improvement. Obviously you pay for this increase with half the battery life.

The XPS 15 has the same CPU as the MacBook 15" and gets much worse battery life in the high-resolution configuration (and less battery life even with just a 1080p display). It's also not much cheaper.

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#335

Post by [deleted] »

en4bz wrote: post #322
rayiner wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of which, ironically, can match the new MBP in battery life.

True, but you can get double the performance for half the price of the 2016 MBPro, a 4x perf/dollar improvement. Obviously you pay for this increase with half the battery life.

[deleted]

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#336

Post by WildUtah »

dashoffset wrote: post #244
Bud wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "r" will very likely be dropped going forward, since the last remaining non-Retina MBP is now no longer produced.

Yeah, people seem to be calling the 2016 models tbMBP and ntbMBP.

It's the MacBook Escape and the Macbook Pro.

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#337

Post by mturmon »

organsnyder wrote: post #216
Daviey wrote: post #14

I'm not really a fan of Mac's, but I don't think too much weight should be put on this. Everything that Apple delivers is greeted with negative reports, and yet it turns out to be successful. Also... i've never even heard of "Consumer Reports" before.. but the name is pretty subjective.

Consumer Reports is a widely-respected nonprofit. They make their money from selling subscriptions (most of their information is behind a paywall), and do not sell advertising. Their board is elected by their membership. All products that they review are purchased at retail—in fact, they even make their purchases discretely, to make sure that they don't get preferential treatment.

Your summary is totally correct.

But, it must be noted that CR has a history of inventing ad hoc tests, and basing overall product ratings on the ratings in a single-point test. There have been errors in the past, with the rollover test of the Suzuki Samurai, and some infant car seat tests. See their wiki page. Their audio equipment reviews (don't know if they still do them) have been useless. Often their reviews may be useful for a general consumer, but not for a specialist.

(I'm a former subscriber, but don't buy enough of that kind of stuff to make it worthwhile to still subscribe.)

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#338

Post by vincnetas »

BlakePetersen wrote: post #190
mmjaa wrote: post #19

I've had mine for a week now, and have been able to use it alongside my late-2014 rMBP, which has been a solid workhorse. I'm starting to notice very subtle preferences for the 2017 model creeping in - after an hour of typing, for example, going back to the old keyboard feels really, really inefficient and antiquated, and my typing rate is lower than on the new rMBP. I also really enjoy the Touchbar - it hasn't been…

This sounds EXACTLY how my impression is after about 2 weeks of non-primary machine use. !00% agree with the keyboard, I even made a joke about it to my visiting parents yesterday (received no laughs). After working for a few hours on my new machine, jumping back to my old machine definitely feels greasy. 98% agree with touchbar, I wish there was a way to edit the default touchbar view (escape and mini functions). I'…

Not sure what this is "lil finger-shifty maneuver", but you can drag with two fingers. Click down on something you want to drag with one hand, and then start dragging with another hand (finger). While holding first finger down you can continue dragging.

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#339

Post by danielsju6 »

en4bz wrote: post #220

For those looking for alternatives here's a short video [1] that looks at some Windows based competitors in the same class. List below. Dell XPS 15 - http://amzn.to/2hZjqpT Asus UX501 - http://amzn.to/2hLG9VW MSI GS63 - http://amzn.to/2ik00Zf Gigabyte Aero14 - http://amzn.to/2ijMxk6 Razer Blade - http://amzn.to/2hvyGHj [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLsDn59fxdQ

I would add the HP Spectre x360 (w0XX models) for a 13" equivalent, I just replaced my MacBook with it after growing wary of Apple's direction.

http://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/Laptops/hp-spectre-x360---13-w...

Battery life holds up to Apple.

Re: Newest MacBook Pro is the first MacBook not recommended by Consumer Reports

#340

Post by en4bz »

rayiner wrote: post #334
en4bz wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but you can get double the performance for half the price of the 2016 MBPro, a 4x perf/dollar improvement. Obviously you pay for this increase with half the battery life.

The XPS 15 has the same CPU as the MacBook 15" and gets much worse battery life in the high-resolution configuration (and less battery life even with just a 1080p display). It's also not much cheaper.

I'm talking more about the Aero 14 and the GS63. Both of which are roughly half the price and have GTX 1060s which have 2x the GPU performance.
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