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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

#561

Post by gurkendoktor »

SG- wrote: post #74
slg wrote: post #23

This doesn't even get into the dongle problem. The simplest example is that if you want to hook up Apple's flagship phone up to their flagship laptop for development, you need a dongle. And if you want to share one of their flagship wired headphones between the two devices, you need another dongle. Therefore if you want to connect three of Apple's flagship devices together on a daily basis, you can't go anywhere with…

All those arguments were once said when the first iMac came out and all it had were USB ports. All devices will have USB-C connectors soon, and instead of getting dongles, you'll be simply replacing your cables to be USB-C versions of them all.

All these arguments were also said when Apple replaced Firewire/mini-DVI/... by Thunderbolt, a fantastic new standard, and we all had to buy the adapters that we'll now throw away.

It seems that USB-C will be more successful than Thunderbolt 1/2 have been, but Apple really isn't helping it with the way they're doing the switch (some devices USB-C only, some devices USB-A only, Lightning headphones...).

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

#562

Post by troncheadle »

WayneBro wrote: post #380
untog wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because sometimes you need to work on the move? I like to get things done on flights, and there's no space for a mouse there. > Touchpads all stink, including Apple's. Couldn't disagree more. I've actually ended up getting a Magic Trackpad for my desk - the gestures etc are genuinely useful.

> Because sometimes you need to work on the move? I like to get things done on flights... Uggh. That sounds like a terrible way to work. If open floor plans are bad, working on a flight has got to be even worse. I guess I'm lucky that I don't have to do any of that. > I've actually ended up getting a Magic Trackpad for my desk... Well, you're a rare bird then.

See if you can find sales numbers for your elitist 5 button vertical mouse vs. the trackpad.... Then we'll talk about who the 'rare bird' is. Grow up.

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

#563

Post by falcolas »

rbanffy wrote: post #461
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 vim user, esc is pretty important. I am pretty sure that when you open a terminal, esc and function keys will be up there. It'll not be a mechanical key, but I'm sure it'll still work.

In their presentation, Terminal had some contextual functionality mapped to it, including a tray which slid out and hid the escape key.

So no, by default, you will not get the F keys when you open Terminal.

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

#564

Post by squeaky-clean »

bsenftner wrote: post #383
matt_wulfeck wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Latency, even as low as 30ms if you're right near your desktop, is simply unbearable to me.

I've been working with remote desktops for a few years now, and I don't feel the latency, if any. Plus, I'm not gaming, I'm writing code.

I guess you're lucky, or generally have a good connection. There's a dev in my office who's bluetooth keyboard has a latency of around 100ms. Two of us get instantly sick when trying to type on it, but no one else in the office can detect the latency.

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

#565

Post by mikeash »

51Cards wrote: post #449
mikeash wrote: post #337

I'm always amazed at how techies are so often unable to consider other people's points of view. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but no. If you don't like the new design, that's totally fine. I've seen a lot of people saying that. But when you say that the new design is bad for everybody , or bad for millions of people you haven't met, based solely on your own personal reasons, you've lost it. I'm a developer. T…

Here is my issue with the new touch bar as a general UI element. Things meant for fingers should have tactile feedback unless you're also looking at the same location (like a touch screen) where you can get visual feedback. This offers no tactile response when used, and its layout changes constantly, thus it needs to be looked at to use it. That means you have to shift your vision focus from screen to keyboard repeat…

I don't think the "shift your vision" part is a big deal, since it's right next to the screen. I do think there is a disadvantage in not having tactile feedback all the same, and it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. As it stands currently, the presence of tactile feedback for those keys doesn't do me any good, because I don't use them. If the touch bar ends up being useful for me, it'll be a net gain even if the experience of locating the controls is worse.

For people who actually use the function keys, I sympathize and I can totally understand how this is likely to be a huge step backwards. But "developers" does not equate to "uses function keys regularly."

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

#566

Post by comex »

mgkimsal wrote: post #480
zzzcpan wrote: post #467

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ESC key is the default in vim, most vim users do use it.

Thanks for some sanity. The other anecdote is I've been using vim for about 15 years, and use esc daily. I am constantly in multiple vim environments - different servers, different clients, different OS, etc. I don't have the luxury of saying "I'm going to install all my default vim keybindings and plugins on every vim installation I ever use". Walking someone else over the phone who has to do vim - I need to count o…

You don't need to customize your vim keybindings if you map Caps Lock to ESC at the OS level, which is a builtin preference as of macOS 10.12.1.

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

#568

Post by falcolas »

denzil_correa wrote: post #451
jljljl wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

During the demo, they showed an Esc key in the touch bar when using Terminal and a few other apps

Pretty much. I am struggling to understand the issue here.

Three points: The escape key is not where it is normally. The escape key is not present in all contextual operations (that is, you can open up a menu on the touchbar which causes the escape key to disappear in favor of a "close" button). There is no physical feedback that you've hit escape.

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

#569

Post by guelo »

tkxxx7 wrote: post #509
guelo wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is bullshit. You know what else is not on the home row? Most of the keys on the keyboard. The ESC key is very easy to hit without looking down, there is absolutely no need to remap it and I refuse to believe that people that grew up with keyboards with ESC keys ever feel the need to remap it.

> This is bullshit. You know what else is not on the home row? Most of the keys on the keyboard. ...So? You know where you spend most of your time in Vim? the home row. It's called that for a reason... I grew up with `esc` way up in the corner, and as soon as I started learning Vim I googled for common workarounds to reaching so far. Refuse to believe it, but it's true. I've never been able to touch-type a function k…

Programming is not regular touch typing. There are all kinds of punctuations and weird key combos you have to do frequently that are not on the home row. And yes, I hit function key combos without looking many times a day. I will not be buying this laptop.

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

#570

Post by palunon »

EugeneOZ wrote: post #503
lucisferre wrote: post #463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then just map Esc to Caps Lock if you like. Unless you feel Caps Lock is still critical for commenting on YouTube videos, in that case I guess the new MBP is just a useless paperweight.

It will not remap his muscle memory.

If it's a key you use frequently, and no longer have the other option, muscle memory isn't that hard to retrain.
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