MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros • Hacker News Board

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#51

Post by teekert » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 1:10 PM UTC

latch wrote: post #30

After ongoing problems and repairs with my gen 2 butterfly, I switched to Linux (Ubuntu). After many months, I'm still a little shocked at how much worse the desktop experience is. 11 year old OS X Leopard is more consistent, intuitive and usable. Hardware is slightly less polished, but no major complaints there (except for how poor the buying experience was). Still, keyboard works. It would take something amazing to…

It is well known that Ubuntu is going through a phase of rapid change at the moment. I understand how you feel but I'm pretty sure the quality and consistency will only increase from here on. Otherwise, try a Plasma desktop or Mate (if you feel like a minimalist).

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#52

Post by nailer » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 1:11 PM UTC

jawilson2 wrote: post #48

nailer wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're used to MacBooks, check out the Surface Laptop or Surface Book. - The hardware (particularly the keyboard and massive trackpad) is great - apt-get on WSL is better than homebrew will ever be (powershell too if you have the time to learn it) - Windows 10 has a dedicated team working on it (Apple has merged iOS and macOS teams since a few years ago, which may be because iOS makes a lot more money).

Can you develop for iOS on a Surface?

Not for Swift/Objective C - you'll need a Mac device to run the simulator. I mainly used my Macbooks for Python, node.js, some C and bash.

Edit: changed emulator to simulator (which is true, it's x64 iOS).

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#53

Post by EnderMB » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 1:11 PM UTC

nailer wrote: post #38

no1youknowz wrote: post #20

> The new keyboard has the same dimensions and look as its two predecessors, but the keys feel just a little bit different. They're quieter, for one thing. They have a softer, less click-y feel that is a little closer to the pre-2016 models' chiclet keys. We found the new keyboard to be a little nicer to type on, but it's not a radical difference. It's unlikely to convert the detractors, but it's a welcome iteration…

If you're used to MacBooks, check out the Surface Laptop or Surface Book. - The hardware (particularly the keyboard and massive trackpad) is great - apt-get on WSL is better than homebrew will ever be (powershell too if you have the time to learn it) - Windows 10 has a dedicated team working on it (Apple has merged iOS and macOS teams since a few years ago, which may be because iOS makes a lot more money).

I'd be interested in knowing how many people switched from the MBP to the Surface(Book) due to delays and changes/issues in the MBP range.

I bought a first generation Surfacebook a few years ago because I couldn't wait any longer for Apple to release their new MBP range, and I'm glad I didn't wait. It's the best laptop I've ever owned.

Even though I've moved away from .NET dev and work mostly with Ruby and Node it's still my favourite machine to use. I run Debian with minimal problems, and I'm started to get more into WSL, which seems to work brilliantly for all the use cases I've thrown at it.

If the numbers are strong on people moving from MBP to the Surfacebook, then it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for it to become a real option for developers, regardless of whether they want to use Windows or not.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#54

Post by ZeroCool2u » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 1:11 PM UTC

The keyboard and the touch bar are deal breakers for me. For the first time in a while I've been considering buying a new laptop, but the touch bar is basically zero utility and the keyboard is negative utility. I can't spend $2400+ on a laptop and feel good about it.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#55

Post by boobsbr » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 1:11 PM UTC

eej71 wrote: post #6

If only they might restore the escape key in the 15 inch model...

Seriously, how do you exit vim insert mode without an ESC key?

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#56

Post by grzm » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 1:12 PM UTC

boobsbr wrote: post #55

eej71 wrote: post #6

If only they might restore the escape key in the 15 inch model...

Seriously, how do you exit vim insert mode without an ESC key?

https://vi.stackexchange.com/questions/300/other-ways-to-exi...

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#57

Post by fatbird » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 1:13 PM UTC

m_mueller wrote: post #29

Still only 16GB of memory. Keyboard, this and lack of ports means I'm going to switch to a Thinkpad T480s for at least a year.

You're mistaken: they got bumped to 32 for this model, which is now DDR4.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#58

Post by skuhn » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 1:14 PM UTC

varrock wrote: post #32

no1youknowz wrote: post #20

> The new keyboard has the same dimensions and look as its two predecessors, but the keys feel just a little bit different. They're quieter, for one thing. They have a softer, less click-y feel that is a little closer to the pre-2016 models' chiclet keys. We found the new keyboard to be a little nicer to type on, but it's not a radical difference. It's unlikely to convert the detractors, but it's a welcome iteration…

The 15-inch 2015 Retina model is no longer being sold on their website, too. It was there as an option for some time, but it appears this new update called for getting rid of it. I was planning on saving up to finance that as my next laptop purchase, but seems as if I'll have to go through a third party seller.

The mid-2015 model (which I still use and think is way better) is over 3 years old now. It was always bound to be discontinued eventually.

There are still some available in the Apple Store under the clearance section (https://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/clearanc...). Definitely your last chance to get this model new from Apple.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#59

Post by mtarnovan » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 1:14 PM UTC

I really hope there's going to be a 15' MacBook Pro without Touch Bar.

edit: clarify I was talking about the 15' model.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#60

Post by madeofpalk » Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 1:14 PM UTC

cshenton wrote: post #50

latch wrote: post #30

After ongoing problems and repairs with my gen 2 butterfly, I switched to Linux (Ubuntu). After many months, I'm still a little shocked at how much worse the desktop experience is. 11 year old OS X Leopard is more consistent, intuitive and usable. Hardware is slightly less polished, but no major complaints there (except for how poor the buying experience was). Still, keyboard works. It would take something amazing to…

Well if you're comparing it to Leopard / Snow Leopard no wonder. That's probably the most neat and polished a desktop operating system has ever been. edit: To clarify, I think current macOS is a better OS, its features are worth less neatness, but Snow Leopard did a smaller amount of things in a neater and more polished way.

Ahh yes, who can forget the extremely polished Snow Leopard bug that just flat out deleted people's user accounts https://gizmodo.com/5379817/reports-snow-leopard-bug-eats-us...