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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

#561

Post by Kirby64 »

Nextgrid wrote: post #560
Kirby64 wrote: post #550

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See, you could technically design something that does that. Per-port up to 100W charging it definitely possible. Basically you have a USB PD controller on every port with dynamic voltage control. This is all possible, it's just a HUGE pain in the ass (and costs a lot) to design that way. The problem is you essentially end up with potentially a giant, VERY expensive USB hub. And no one wants to spend $400 on a USB hub…

Which is why USB-C is bad, nobody asked for a protocol where the benefits are marginal but the downside (one of many) is that a proper hub that replicates the behavior of previous generations now costs more, and since nobody would pay that much, economies of scale don't apply and thus it doesn't exist at all or is available as very niche specialized units (kinda like opto-isolated USB hubs which go for $200. You coul…

The thing is, you're not replacing it with something identical. If you want to replicate the behavior of a previous generation USB2 hub, I don't think it would even be that expensive. You just need a USB port controller on each port and negotiate 5V, 1.5A on each of them in addition to the standard USB hub. It would be a bit more expensive, but not terribly so. USB3 may be similar but require some extra switches...

The ask for the 'really expensive' $400 one has vastly more options and capabilities than the traditional USB hub. It's basically a Thunderbolt hub with even more complexity, so it's not unreasonable to think those would be damn expensive.

I'm honestly not sure why no one has made a standard USB2.0 Type-C hub. There's really nothing stopping you from doing it. I guess maybe because it could be confusing for a consumer? I agree, that's a huge issue with Type-C right now. It's very unclear by looking at the port (or the cable) what it's actually capable of. If you're lucky there will be a tiny symbol indicating some subset of functionality, but often times there isn't.

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

#562

Post by doubleunplussed »

megadethz wrote: post #418
modernerd wrote: post #123

The XPS 17 will be my next “MacBook”. It should be out this month and it ticks all the boxes for me (great screen, supposedly good cooling, user-replaceable SSD/RAM, acceptable weight and size for a 17" laptop). https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/13/21257006/dell-xps-17-15-r... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyRUWM_LOPQ I've been trying Windows again after ~20 years on Macs (via a borrowed Lenovo Carbon X1 and then a s…

The keyboard on the new XPS is awful. No travel. Only viable alternative is a Thinkpad.

Is it different to the existing XPSs? I've had an XPS 13 and now precision 5520, and am totally happy with the keyboard. Sure it's low travel but it's not typical of most laptops, not as low as recent macbooks

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

#563

Post by ClumsyPilot »

Sangeppato wrote: post #332
ClumsyPilot wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes i read thing like this and I feel they are from a different universe. I am the first port of call for IT issues of the whole family, including grandma. Like 10 people, and the last time we had issue caused by windows update was like 5 years ago when a laptop was trying to update to W10 from W8. That required a bit of manual intervention. Game icons certainly arent there for me any more. Whats the issue with…

Lucky you! In the last 6 months Windows tried to install an upgrade, failing endlessly, on both my mother's and sister's laptops. It just tried to upgrade, failed during the reboot, reverted back and booted on the old version, just to start the whole process again after a few hours. And all the Microsoft Windows Update Assistant tools or whatever didn't work at all, so I just clean installed in frustration. TBF thoug…

Paradoxically, driver issues and update issues never show up on any desktops I had, they only show up on laptops with carefully selected and entirely manufacturer-controlled supply chain and parts.

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

#564

Post by CydeWeys »

roboyoshi wrote: post #491
CydeWeys wrote: post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Conversely, I know someone who fried their Macbook by using a counterfeit MagSafe charging cable. The charging cable was sold through Amazon (!!) and claimed to be genuine, but it was not.

So the advice to use only good cables is universal. With USB-C at least you can get a good cable for a lot less than $79.

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

#565

Post by grandinj »

nvarsj wrote: post #512
grandinj wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not with the ongoing Wayland, Systemd, Pipewire, etc, rewrite-from-scratch work. e.g. I don't have working VNC server at all on latest Fedora, with either X11 or Wayland, and no sign of it being fixed anytime soon. And that is just one of many irritations with desktop linux, that simply don't occur on Windows, mostly because of MS superior QA

> that simply don't occur on Windows, mostly because of MS superior QA You're comparing an OS that hasn't had a major release in almost 5 years to a bleeding edge Linux distribution. Install an older LTS version of Ubuntu or Debian and things will be quite stable.

Actually, no, I havent had an out-of-the-box working VNC for more than 5 years now, through various Ubuntu LTS releases and now Fedora.

Every single one of them has had various annoying bugs that would not have survived decent QA.

But your point is partially correct - at least the LTS releases had workarounds for the problems, whereas with Fedora I am SOL

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

#566

Post by modernerd »

mydongle wrote: post #270
modernerd wrote: post #123

The XPS 17 will be my next “MacBook”. It should be out this month and it ticks all the boxes for me (great screen, supposedly good cooling, user-replaceable SSD/RAM, acceptable weight and size for a 17" laptop). https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/13/21257006/dell-xps-17-15-r... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyRUWM_LOPQ I've been trying Windows again after ~20 years on Macs (via a borrowed Lenovo Carbon X1 and then a s…

I wish Dell would stop using the Killer wifi and use an Intel one though...

The Precision laptops use the Intel Wi-Fi chips. They're in the same shells as the XPS, and have some extra configuration and aftercare options, as well as more intelligent charging software.

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

#567

Post by technotarek »

technotarek wrote: post #138

“Sometimes, after resuming from sleep, the laptop doesn't detect its own keyboard. I can assure you, the keyboard was there indeed, and note how the dock is still the default one. This happened to me minutes after setting up the computer for the first time, before I had any chance to install software or change any settings.” Glad to hear it’s not just me. I think I solved this by re-enabling Bluetooth (2020 MBA). The…

For anyone else that stumbles upon this post because of this issue -- please upvote the issue on Apple Communities: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251455368
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