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The new MacBook

apple.com

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Re: The new MacBook

#541

Post by jfernandez »

oinksoft wrote: post #534
jfernandez wrote: post #102

Accidentally clipping the power cable is something I definitely got used to not worrying about anymore. I'm loving the single mother-of-all ports USB-C will provide but I highly appreciated the magnet component of MagSafe..

Was clipping the power cable a big problem? I've never done that with a laptop, but have found the brittle MagSafe connection to be an almost daily annoyance since it was introduced.

I think it probably speaks to how 'mobile' you are with your laptop, either walking around in an office or even just actual traveling etc. I liked that it was easily detachable without any thought. Now I'll have to worry about whether or not the port will get loose over time if I aggressively pull it out at angle, etc.

Re: The new MacBook

#542

Post by beyondcompute »

nkoren wrote: post #261

This is a beautiful machine. Once again, Apple excels at hardware. But what the living hell is going wrong with Apple's desktop software? OS X and Apple's applications suite have been getting steadily worse with every release. Look at the App store: the latest releases of OS X, iPhoto, iMovie, Pages, and Numbers are (in stark contrast to earlier versins) all rated at 2.5/5 stars, with the plurality being 1-star revie…

Agree about bugginess of Software. It seems that Apple shifted focus from overall flawlessness and coherence of UX to craftsmanship and advanced technological processes in hardware. And since we started to see all those weird "Connect phone to iTunes to receive push notifications" popups, etc. If we will have products, whose surface was polished by zirconium particles but that are always buggy and unreliable, it will be not the Apple we all loved. Not "advanced features" but "lack of annoyances and irritation" is what made Apple what it is now, in my opinion.

Re: The new MacBook

#543

Post by Perceptes »

npalli wrote: post #468

Looks like apple has finally introduced a netbook or iPad with a keyboard. Frankly, I'm disappointed with this macbook as I was expecting a full scale retina macbook air. After seeing the Dell XPS 13, I was hoping apple will take the retinafy the regular air. Ah well, the wait continues. Let's see -- 1. Resolution of 2304x1440 which means at Retina this is 1152x720!. This is worse than the 11 inch air, much less the…

This is where I stand as well. I have the 2011 MacBook Air 13" and I just wanted a version of my current computer with a retina screen (plus the latest processor). I don't want anything smaller/lighter and certainly nothing less powerful.

With this update, we effectively have three choices:

1) Low powered, nice screen. (MB) 2) Medium powered, regular screen. (MBA) 3) High powered, nice screen. (MBP)

What I want is 2') Medium powered, nice screen.

Re: The new MacBook

#544

Post by larzang »

pbreit wrote: post #461
nickysielicki wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry but when you ship a machine with ONE PORT for the purposes of charging and peripherals, this absolutely needs to be in the box. Nickel and $80'ering me on a $1400 computer is ridiculous. I'll stick with my thinkpad.

With Bluetooth, the cloud and AirPlay, who even needs those ports? People are up in arms every time Apple changes/deletes ports and are almost always wrong. Go ahead and stick with your thinkpad.

Yeah, who on earth uses headphones with a laptop. Crazy.

Re: The new MacBook

#545

Post by deeviant »

hengheng wrote: post #533
bsbechtel wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe overlooked rather than resource-starved. Apple's sitting on $100B in cash. Resources shouldn't be an issue in any department.

Even $100B is not a reason to dump money mindlessly. I generally don't trust moves that seem purely driven by money (e.g. facebook's VR hiring spree), and which don't have a clear goal in mind, and a strategy along the way. Given Apple's high aspirations, they probably don't know what to do with the desktop. Ive's expectations seem way beyond what native apps can fulfill ... perhaps the Windows way was the right appr…

I think it's pretty one dimensional to call Facebook's VR acquisitions purely motivated by having a pile of cash laying around.

There are plenty of smart people who see VR finally coming around to be the disruptive technology that it was thought to be 25 years ago.

Re: The new MacBook

#546

Post by igrekel »

zanny wrote: post #449
0942v8653 wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think about it. Eighty dollars just to get less than you had before (with the 11-inch Air). And you're already paying the Apple tax, plus that ugly adapter defeats the purpose of the whole making-it-pretty thing. All in the pursuit of a few millimeters.

I easily expect monitors to start supporting Type C input, where they feed the host machine power and do USB passthrough to a classic USB interface hub with maybe a daisychained type C port on there as well. Its temporary. In five years everything will have these ports and adapters will not be necessary. In the same way today you can get a DP to VGA adapter instead of having a bulky analog video output, even if it co…

Yes and yet I am still lugging adaptors - DP to VGA - DP to HDMI - DP to DVI Because I never know what I'll have when I present and you know what, I nearly always have to revert back to VGA, its not like HDMI is new !

I have a nice integrated laptop but I have all these parts around in my bag that I sometimes lose or forget connected to a projector somewhere. What may have seem like a simpler solution really wasn't in the end.

Re: The new MacBook

#547

Post by ForHackernews »

nkoren wrote: post #261

This is a beautiful machine. Once again, Apple excels at hardware. But what the living hell is going wrong with Apple's desktop software? OS X and Apple's applications suite have been getting steadily worse with every release. Look at the App store: the latest releases of OS X, iPhoto, iMovie, Pages, and Numbers are (in stark contrast to earlier versins) all rated at 2.5/5 stars, with the plurality being 1-star revie…

Just install Linux on your macbook?

Re: The new MacBook

#548

Post by ionforce »

jader201 wrote: post #334
bithush wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love a bigger battery for a slightly bigger device but this isn't what Apple is aiming for. Apple design the hardware to work with what they want it to look like not design a device around the hardware. I used to think that was stupid but it clearly works for Apple. Their business is not making the best device spec wise but the "best" device design wise (in their view obviously).

This makes sense, but when designing the new MacBook, they still have to take battery life into account. For example, if Apple truly wanted the best device design at any expense of hardware, it would be even thinner with only 1 hour battery life. But they knew customers would want more battery life than 1 hour. So rather than make it as thin as possible, they figure out: what is the best battery life:heft ratio? That…

I think the logic is that this particular chassis is constant, and we are to assume that battery technology will only get better.

So while the laptop may be underpowered/under ratio _today_, it won't be in its next incarnation, i.e. same chassis but better batteries.

So it's more of a bet/investment/concept car. This first gen isn't where the ratio is satisfied. It's v2 and onwards.

Re: The new MacBook

#549

Post by astrodust »

kbenson wrote: post #407
astrodust wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's small, but it's not as small. That thing's huge in comparison.

It's 0.94" wider, 0.14" deeper and 0.08" higher. Huge? For that you get another inch on your screen and 73% more pixels (3200x1800).

It's worth noting that the Quad-HD screen only comes on the more expensive models, starting at $1299. The lower priced ones come with a 1080p screen.

That depth difference could feel pretty significant when the thing is razor thin.

Comparison article: http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/9/8177065/apple-macbook-specs...

Re: The new MacBook

#550

Post by kbenson »

baddox wrote: post #472
codezero wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I followed the link hoping I could point out how wrong you are. Nope, that's a pretty beautiful laptop. Thin, light, great screen, etc... In the end, you can look at the 12 inch MacBook as being a new notebook for people who care about running Mac OS/don't want to switch to Windows. It's a big deal because the Dell isn't an option most people want to consider :)

Disregarding for the moment subjective issues like design and operating system, I would ask two important questions. How is the battery life, and how is the build quality? That's usually where Windows PCs quickly lose any desirability (to me) compared to Macs. Also, I notice that this XPS is 0.6-0.8 pounds heavier than the new MacBook, and as far as I can tell the XPS has a fan.

Battery life is supposed to be excellent[1]. TL;DR 15+ hours of light usage for the 1080p screen (tested and confirmed by Anandtech), supposedly 11+ hours light usage for the QHD+ screen with an i7.

1: http://www.anandtech.com/show/8983/dell-xps-13-review/6

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