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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

#431

Post by the_watcher »

Spartan-S63 wrote: post #371
bisby wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a vim user, esc is pretty important. I would say the author clearly knows very little computer specs: "The MacBook Pro had options with 2.4 gigahertz dual-core processors back in 2010. Anything new in 2016? Not really, well… nope." Because a 2010 2.4ghz dual core is identical to a 2016 2.4 ghz dual core.... I thought we got over comparing processors purely by their clock speed a long time ago. (I will agree that t…

As a fellow Vim user, I don't use the escape key anymore. It's awkward to hit and I rebind it to "jj" (or more recently "jk"). It's unergonomic to reach for the escape key where it customarily is. If it were where Caps Lock is, it would make much more sense. That said, I don't like rotating my hand or remove my fingers from the home row. It's really a non-issue because you can rebind keys so easily, it's not even fun…

> If it were where Caps Lock is, it would make much more sense.

You can remap your key bindings to exactly this layout using Karabiner-Elements.

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

#432

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

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…

I think it's a completely fair post.

Devs are a huge market for Apple, but Apple is ignoring them.

This isn't about ESC, it's about whether Apple has any interest in acknowledging the dev market and keeping devs on board.

The answer is "no."

Apple is making no concessions to developers or professional power users who need performance. Instead, Apple is producing vanilla-grade laptops with a touch of gimmicky brand frosting to justify the high price.

The real heuristic is skimping on performance and connectivity to maintain margins. The cost to users is significant lost productivity.

This is the MacBook Pro Intern Edition. It could have been more, but that's where Apple is now.

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

#433

Post by denzil_correa »

city41 wrote: post #427
denzil_correa wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As a vim user, esc is pretty important. Would it not be possible to map the dynamic touchbar keys to Esc when one is using vim?

But then how do you change the volume when using vim? Does vim need a special touchbar that basically completely emulates the old keys? That seems excessive.

Uh, I mean the touchbar has so many keys. Escape would be one of them and the touchbar could behave like old keys once there is Terminal.

I fail to see the issue here.

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

#434

Post by j2bax »

sbarre wrote: post #379
tincholio wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ctrl-[ works as escape. Also, what kind of devs don't get to customize their setup??

You'd be surprised. Some corporate environments keep machines pretty locked down in terms of what you can change in the System Preferences, or install on your own.

Can you request the change from your IT department?

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

#435

Post by AtticHacker »

_kst_ wrote: post #315
drakenot wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remapping Esc has always been one of the first tips that I read from experienced Vim users. I've had Caps Lock remapped to Esc for years now.

I map Caps Lock to Control.

I do both! https://github.com/alols/xcape (Linux only)

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

#437

Post by otterley »

city41 wrote: post #427
denzil_correa wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As a vim user, esc is pretty important. Would it not be possible to map the dynamic touchbar keys to Esc when one is using vim?

But then how do you change the volume when using vim? Does vim need a special touchbar that basically completely emulates the old keys? That seems excessive.

The volume controls remain on the right.

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

#440

Post by tomswartz07 »

gtsteve wrote: post #229
uw_rob wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you could enlighten me to some of the possibilities. Besides a slider, I'm not really seeing much productivity enhancements that functions keys cannot do.

I guess you can have virtual function keys as well as buttons for specific terminals. It depends how locked down the SDK is - knowing Apple it'll probably become more extensible as time goes on. I imagine that when IDEs can integrate with it, you'll be able to get some pretty nice features. You can also show stuff like CI status, notifications for IMs, etc.

Here's the thing though:

How is that any better or different than notifications that already exist on your system?

GitLab has web browser notifications that trigger on CI builds.

Literally every instant messaging service has notification systems that work on the OS.

What is the added benefit of putting it off of the main screen and on a small 1" tall screen where you have your hands?

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