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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

#521

Post by geofft »

mozumder wrote: post #454
lucisferre wrote: post #450

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I nearly exclusively use VIm and any other editor I use has a VIm mode plugin installed. I pretty much can't work productively in anything else. I can tell you that I haven't used Esc in ages. I have Caps Lock mapped to Ctrl (as it is a vastly more useful a key than Esc and Caps Lock is a much better position for it and is just as an extraneous as Esc is). I use Ctrl-C or Ctrl-[ to exit insert mode and it works just…

Same. Been using vi as my primary command-line editor for 25+ years, and have never used the ESC key, and just use the default setup. I don't even know what commands would use the ESC key?

What do you use to get out of insert mode? Like, you've just finished typing some text and want to save and quit, what do you press?

EDIT: Thanks for the replies, other people. I personally use ^C, I was curious what 'mozumder specifically used. :)

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

#522

Post by SocratesV »

overcast wrote: post #476
SocratesV wrote: post #465

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those that do need more RAM are probably are already using desktop options. I understand it would be nice to have more RAM by default or optional, I would also like it since I tend to keep my laptops for a long time (current one is a 2008 13'' Macbook Unibody), but there's always a reason for not doing it, either it be technical, economical or commercial. It's not a decision you take on a whim. They introduced a majo…

Actually, you used to get pretty solid performance for the price/form factor from Apple. For instance when I purchase my Mac Pro desktop in 2008. It was a RIDICULOUSLY good deal for what you got. The Xeon processors alone were $1500 each on NewEgg the day I purchased it. They've just progressively gone less and less value, as the years have gone by.

Not doubting the price you were seeing in NewEgg, but find it hard to believe you couldn't build your own PC with the same CPU and equivalent RAM, GPU, cheaper by sourcing the parts from retail stores yourself.

Was it a case where Apple was getting an incredibly good deal on those?

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

#523

Post by prh8 »

waffl wrote: post #86
the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #2

Honestly, the only thing I will miss is the escape button but that was misplaced on the keyboard anyways. 10.12.1 added support for making caps lock into an escape key and that's if anything an improvement over where escape was before.

For ages I've had ~ remapped to escape (if no modifiers pressed so tilde still works as expected, and caps to ctrl) so the missing ESC isn't a big deal, although I did have it remapped for ` Anyone looking for extremely fine grain keymap control (with a UI that far surpasses any kind of keyboard remapping I've tried doing in Linux) should look up karabiner. https://github.com/tekezo/Karabiner

Make sure you don't upgrade to Sierra yet! The next version of Karabiner (karabiner-elements) that works on Sierra is still under development.

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

#524

Post by ryanqian »

blowski wrote: post #36

I was waiting for the new Macbook Pros as I need to buy a new laptop, and was going to give my old Macbook Pro (2014 model) to my wife. But given that they have nothing of value (I don't care about gimmicks like the new touch bar), I've decided to abandon Mac and go back to Linux. I'm just a typical web developer, running a bunch of virtual machines, and an IDE. Any recommendations? I saw the Dell XPS 15 for around £…

I like this price :)

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

#525

Post by geofft »

blowski wrote: post #391
boardwaalk wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Avoid_the_escape_key

My laptop should work the way I want it to, not the other way around.

Yes! I can't believe no one will sell me a laptop with the ESC key in the proper place for vi: http://vintagecomputer.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/LSI-ADM...

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

#526

Post by to3m »

SG- wrote: post #235
peatmoss wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple may prove me wrong with the ergonomics of the TouchBar, but I've yet to find a virtual button that I've liked as much as a physical button.

The feel of a real button is great, but you can imagine the possibilities of what you can do with that space when you look at your MacBook keyboard right now and notice you likely never use a thing but the escape key, brightness and volume. I haven't used it yet, so I can't judge it too much, but I imagine Escape actually works well since it's the top corner of the keyboard and easy to feel, if escape were anywhere e…

The only F key I don't use regularly is f6. (Though f2 is mainly a Windows thing... I doubt I use it much in OS X.)

I've got a keyboard with clicky button-type Esc and F keys, which might be a fair approximation to the new F key strip. (Pressing them isn't a million miles away from clicking on the Force Touch trackpad.)

It's bearable, but not really very nice.

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

#527

Post by rbanffy »

I get it may not be the laptop for the developer who wrote the article, but I see no big issue with the new Macbook Pro.

I want a well-built laptop with a decent Unix-like OS, long battery life and a good screen and keyboard for when I'm not on my desk. When I'm on my desk, which is most of the time, I have a big screen and a keyboard attached. If I really cared about portability, I probably could get by with a MacBook.

TB3 promises a single cable to connect the screen, keyboard and power. I like that (I currently connect 2). Will I need to get a new monitor? Yes. It happens every couple years anyway. I once had a wonderful Intergraph CRT that could go all the way up to 2048x1536 and I miss it, but things change and we eventually move on.

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

#528

Post by ropiku »

slg wrote: post #349
masklinn wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That might remove the dongle but is it any better? Er… yes? > I now need either two cables, one to hook my phone up to my laptop and one to hook it up to my computer Except you carry one cable with you and the other one stays hooked to an eventual desktop computer, rather than having to carry around a cable and a dongle.

What kind of plug do you find in cars? What kind of plug do you find in hotel nightstands? What kind of plug do you find in airplanes? What kind of plug do you find in almost every outlet charger made by Apple or anyone else? The answer to all of those isn't USB-C. So if you want to connect your iPhone to both your laptop and almost all charging sources in the real world, you need either two cables or one cable and a…

Correct but by this line of thinking we're never ever going to evolve beyond USB-A.

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

#529

Post by arxpoetica »

lucisferre wrote: post #450
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…

I nearly exclusively use VIm and any other editor I use has a VIm mode plugin installed. I pretty much can't work productively in anything else. I can tell you that I haven't used Esc in ages. I have Caps Lock mapped to Ctrl (as it is a vastly more useful a key than Esc and Caps Lock is a much better position for it and is just as an extraneous as Esc is). I use Ctrl-C or Ctrl-[ to exit insert mode and it works just…

Not even a developer key: `escape` is a very convenient UI mechanism for getting out of something modal or otherwise overlayed and open.

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

#530

Post by sirn »

fabiant7t wrote: post #278
fabiant7t wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

Or Keyboard Maestro: http://apple.stackexchange.com/a/256055

https://files.grid.in.th/11RiNt.png

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