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Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

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Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#491

Post by roboyoshi »

CydeWeys wrote: post #470
fluffything wrote: post #353

I also still have the same MacBook air as the author and have been wanting to upgrade for... 2 years or so. Not only the Webcam is a downgrade. You also loose Magsafe. Not a big loss, but a downgrade none the less. > The touchbar. [...] Regular users probably find it useful and cute. No they don't. My GF bought herself a new Macbook because... she has an iPhone and thought "For what I use the computer, any computer s…

I'm either in the minority of people who aren't going to miss MagSafe, or there's a minority of people supporting it who happen to be particularly vocal. Here's why I think USB-C is an upgrade to MagSafe: 1. Apple doesn't do cables well; they've always been bad at it. I'm on my third Macbook Pro power cable in 6 years (and this one is now fraying too). Their attempt at strain relief is a good case study of form over…

I just had to send my macbook into repair and get a full logicboard replacement, because the USB-C cable fried my mac. So much for an upgrade that costs almost 1k in repair. I hope you have high quality USB-C cables everywhere.

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#492

Post by whycombagator »

klmadfejno wrote: post #311
harryf wrote: post #45

These days owning a MacBook feels like being in an abusive relationship. The sex is still great but price you pay for being slowly distanced from your friends, family and peripherals is high.

This does not feel representative of how people describe abusive relationships to me.

Me either, but maybe it's a description from the other side than what you are assuming.

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#493

Post by alpaca128 »

modernerd wrote: post #207
alpaca128 wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree. Also the automatic updates which potentially just close an open session including unsaved files is not something that helps trust. Windows has become less transparent and much more controlling, actively ignoring or overriding user preferences, and I don't know why I should use a software like that, not to mention pay for the "privilege" of being messed with.

Automatic updates interrupting work hasn't been an issue for me for a long time. You can set updates to install outside of an 18-hour window, defer updates for a set period, or disable them: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-stop-updates-installing-a...

Last time I used the OS disabling updates just didn't work reliably, at least not with a clear and simple setting(let's be honest, this helping link you posted should not need to exist). Deferring updates will only work for some time, until Windows 10 will just update it without warning the next time you wake it up from suspend, resetting your session with multiple reboots. This behaviour alone is inexcusable, no matter how the settings look.

Automatic updates are unacceptable for me, and that's not because I don't do updates(quite the opposite), it's just that I expect the behaviour to be predictable without nasty surprises, and with Windows 10 that became a gamble. I never knew if an update could suddenly run without my permission and wreck the OS(which happened multiple times to me, leading to some stressful weekends).

Maybe not everyone shares that opinion, but I rarely get annoyed by something more than software that tries to be smarter than the user, and automatic updates are just one part of that.

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#494

Post by thr0w__4w4y »

Many people have said this many times, but love him or hate him, Steve Jobs did a good job of keeping this kind of stuff from deteriorating. (Sure there was AntennaGate and "You're holding it wrong", that wasn't Apple's or Jobs' best moment for sure...)

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#495

Post by proverbialbunny »

Nextgrid wrote: post #157
proverbialbunny wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you figured it out? It sounds like a hard drive issue and you have some important system file or swap located on a part of the solid state that locks up, but not enough for the hardware to mark it as bad. If you format there is a chance the issue will go away. I had similar symptoms even after formatting on a 2015 MBP, so I formatted, wrote a 4GB file to the HDD, then after that everything worked fine. Amusingly…

Disk IO is working fine, if not I'd experience these issues all the time. The issue is that a combination of camera access, hardware video encoding/decoding (for video conferencing) and bluetooth earphones (AirPods) is now able to crash WindowServer. This used to work totally fine on a previous version so it's clearly a solved problem. Maybe Apple should stop "fixing" things that ain't broke? But hey, there is a silv…

It's a one off issue specific to you so it's a hardware issue.

(Corrupt data, like if windows server has a bad bit, counts as a hardware issue.)

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#496

Post by disposedtrolley »

qayxc wrote: post #181
disposedtrolley wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> stupid non-uninstallable games icons in start menu You can remove them now. At least I was able to in the Windows 10 v.2004 update. Why Candy Crush is included with Windows 10 Pro however is beyond me.

Why was Solitaire bundled even with the NT (i.e. enterprise/business) versions of Windows? No one ever questioned that, but everybody takes issue with Candy Crush? Weird...

> Why was Solitaire bundled even with the NT (i.e. enterprise/business) versions of Windows?

I mean, everybody knows you’re supposed to sneak in a game or two in between spreadsheets.

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#497

Post by Sangeppato »

rednum wrote: post #379
Sangeppato wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's weird, reliable low latency audio is one of the few things where I still find the Mac to be pretty solid. I've got a 2015 15" and I've used several times a 2018 13", on both Mojave and Catalina and I have to say that it outperforms my 2015 (it can easily manage a 32 buffer with some plugins loaded, while my 15" starts to struggle under 64). This was using Reaper with an Apple USB-A to USB-C adapter and a UMC20…

I use Ableton with Focusrite Scarlett 2nd gen. I'm currently using 256 buffer. I've tried using 128 but it screwed up some vocal takes I did the other day (there are 5-10 seconds of cracks in the middle of each 4 minute long complete song take). Also I froze the other tracks (eight of them, so not that many) before starting recording. No FX on master track. Maybe I should've bought 2015 MBP then. Or maybe I should do…

As I've said, the 13" 2018 I use from time to time can easily manage a 32 buffer, even on Catalina, so your device should be just as good.. My suggestion is to try with a different adapter and maybe with a different DAW such as Reaper, just to double-check (although I don't really think the DAW is the issue here). It may also be related to the plugins you're using, maybe they're just heavier than mine..

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#498

Post by rooam-dev »

foldr wrote: post #79
rooam-dev wrote: post #56

My biggest concern/blocker is the soldered storage. 1st - if it fails during warranty, how do I send it for repair safely (as in my data be safe)? 2nd - it decreases its value imho. I mean how many people buy/trust used storage? I wouldn't.

>as in my data be safe You should have disk encryption turned on. I would not worry unless you think there is someone who is willing to spend an enormous amount of time and effort to access your data.

Thank you.

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#499

Post by rooam-dev »

stevewodil wrote: post #313
garmaine wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> how do I send it for repair safely (as in my data be safe)? You have backups, right? (That is, unfortunately, the legit answer to this question.)

The question is ambiguous but I interpreted it as if the laptop fails and I need to have it repaired how do I keep my data safe because I can't just pull the hard drive out before sending it for repair. The T2 chip already encrypts the SSD using a unique identifier generated and known only by that host's T2, so it's sort of a non-issue imo

Thank you for your input, that's exactly what I meant.

Re: Seven years later, I bought a new MacBook. For the first time, I don't love it

#500

Post by pocw »

I still roll an old Macbook Air for my primary computer. It really sucks under Catalina. I used to run two browsers, one for work and one for personal. Now I just run the work one. I often find myself evicting things from RAM so I can get my job done. Nerfing the ram slots was the first unforgivable sin. Don't get me started on usb-c and the thrice damned touchbar. At least they gave us the escape key back.

I'm tempted to upgrade, but this article is not helping. Maybe I'll get an Air with 16gb and call it good. My favorite recent machine purchase was a Chromebook Pixel i7 with 16GB of ram. The only problems are the locked rom and the nerfed storage. Both of which I've worked around. It's my primary pen-test machine and the most capable machine in my fleet. If only the Linux trackpad drivers were better. (fingers crossed https://bill.harding.blog/2020/04/26/linux-touchpad-like-a-m...)

If I could buy a machine like the Chromebook (that I was allowed to install linux on) I'd drop Apple in a heartbeat.

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