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New MacBook Pro models to feature magsafe, no touch bar and more ports: analyst

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61–70 of 474 posts

Re: New MacBook Pro models to feature magsafe, no touch bar and more ports: analyst

#61
post #49

Why is it that software engineers can understand the idea of software ports and adapters, but collectively seem to lose their minds when the idea of physically manifest? USB-C is the one port to rule them all, and is here to stay.

Every single dongle I’ve used, without fail, runs stupidly hot and inevitably has random failures within ~6 months (display channels drop out, network adapter disappears, USB devices chug) and concentrating all peripheral load into one port almost always leads to thermal throttling issues (https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/363337/how-to-find...).

USB-C isn’t there yet.

Re: New MacBook Pro models to feature magsafe, no touch bar and more ports: analyst

#62

I know it's from Kuo, but these leaks don't pass the smell test for me. It makes no sense for them to add the touchbar to the base model 13" MBPs only to remove them from the higher end versions. It makes even less sense to add more ports which aren't USB-C, as the bits about MagSafe and no dongles imply. Further, I don't understand what is meant by "iPhone 12 like" non-curvy design - I have a 2018 MBP 15", and the s…

> remove them from the higher-end versions

The 14" MBP will be the new 13", so if that rumor is true, it will be the end of Touch Bar.

Re: New MacBook Pro models to feature magsafe, no touch bar and more ports: analyst

#63
post #26

I quite like the Touch Bar, with things like pock it means I can have full screen, hide the dock entire and still have notifications And the ability to set custom apps inside it with iterm, and not have to loose a key on the board itself I spend most of my time in vi when in terminal, and never had a “I’m missing an escape” ever

No post body was provided.

Re: New MacBook Pro models to feature magsafe, no touch bar and more ports: analyst

#65
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Great to hear a couple iterations ago they restored the keyboard. Magic Keyboard was only introduced in mid 2020. And they are still not as good as MBP 2015 in terms of typing experience. Magic Keyboard Key Travel - 1mm MacBook 2015 Key Travel - 1.3mm Key Spacing as well. They are tiny in Magic Keyboard Layout and it is harder to "sense" the keys apart. >Took them 5 years to go back and restore the old school. Track…

Ah, I thought the whole bringing back of the Scissor mechanism had brought the glory back. Reminds me of a blog post (via HN of course) that discussed how Apple is hurting itself by being obsessed with making devices smaller (Ugh, can't find the link). A friend was grilling his boss who was fan boying over a particular iPhone release. Where the device was 10% thinner. In the real world it was a 1mm difference.

1mm for a phone is quite a bit though. Pursuing thinness (and thus lightness) makes a lot of sense for a device you lug everywhere with you.

Re: New MacBook Pro models to feature magsafe, no touch bar and more ports: analyst

#66
If anyone from Apple is reading, let me just say – this is exactly what I want. Magsafe charging. Function keys instead of the touchbar. 15-16" screen. M1 CPU. 32GB Memory.

I also prefer the 2015 keyboard, but it's not a dealbreaker.

I'll pay for the kickstarter now if it means it'll come out in the next 18 months. Please make it happen.

Re: New MacBook Pro models to feature magsafe, no touch bar and more ports: analyst

#67
post #15

Reading this, it feels like the MacBook Pro of 2015 is finally getting an upgrade. Took them 5 years to go back and restore the old school. Great to hear a couple iterations ago they restored the keyboard. Now with dropping the touch bar and bringing back mag safe. My 2015 daily driver might see retirement.

>Great to hear a couple iterations ago they restored the keyboard. Magic Keyboard was only introduced in mid 2020. And they are still not as good as MBP 2015 in terms of typing experience. Magic Keyboard Key Travel - 1mm MacBook 2015 Key Travel - 1.3mm Key Spacing as well. They are tiny in Magic Keyboard Layout and it is harder to "sense" the keys apart. >Took them 5 years to go back and restore the old school. Track…

> key travel 2019 1mm vs. 2015 1.3mm

The comparative overall height of the keyboard modules is more than 0.3mm different, and the new computers are dramatically thinner and lighter than the previous ones. The overall effect is a substantial improvement. I don't use the touchbar too much, but it is a moderate improvement over F keys for me (I appreciate the return of a physical escape key).

Subjectively these two keyboards are pretty similar (I slightly prefer the previous ones). Scissor switches are all pretty mediocre; the shape to fit in a laptop just forces very sharp compromises on the design.

I also think making the key tops larger was a mistake, but it is also a relatively marginal difference in practice. Part of the goal may have been to increase the space available for international legends. (That's why IBM and every other vendor increased desktop-keyboard keytop size and switched from a spherical to cylindrical shape in the 1980s.)

In terms of typing experience alone, I like the Apple laptop keyboards from circa 2002 better than any of the laptop keyboards since. And the Mac Portable keyboard from 1989 is way better. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Portable

* * *

Edit: in response to: > TrackPad, being too large in Post 2015 models causing much higher false positives

Let me highly recommend getting a Japanese language keyboard, which looks like this: http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/gists/da70b0140c8a29...

... and then remapping the letter keys to be wider separated, along the lines of: http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/gists/a578960e19e2c9...

Moving your left hand slightly left and your right hand substantially to the right relative to a typical US-ANSI keyboard will keep you from accidentally palm-swiping the trackpad.

Re: New MacBook Pro models to feature magsafe, no touch bar and more ports: analyst

#68
post #59

I know it's from Kuo, but these leaks don't pass the smell test for me. It makes no sense for them to add the touchbar to the base model 13" MBPs only to remove them from the higher end versions. It makes even less sense to add more ports which aren't USB-C, as the bits about MagSafe and no dongles imply. Further, I don't understand what is meant by "iPhone 12 like" non-curvy design - I have a 2018 MBP 15", and the s…

It will probably be physical keys with screens in them. As seen in this patent. https://www.macrumors.com/2020/12/29/apple-researching-keybo... Mag safe is going to be on the charging cable and not the computer. Like on old game consoles with wired controllers.

I have the feeling that it's not going to be on the charging cable. Benson Leung often comments that extensions and modifications to USB-C cables are not compliant with the USB-C standard, which Apple helped write.

What I could imagine though, is if the charger itself incorporates MagSafe.

Re: New MacBook Pro models to feature magsafe, no touch bar and more ports: analyst

#69
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HDMI is simply too thick. I can't see this happening.

Mini/micro-HDMI are plenty slim enough.

Good point. Most people are going to be using this for presentations or for connecting to a TV. If you're going to need an adapter since most cables are full sized hdmi, then why not just use an adapter from usb-c?

Re: New MacBook Pro models to feature magsafe, no touch bar and more ports: analyst

#70
Now also say goodbye to the high-gloss screen (don't tie the design aesthetic to a glossy top, and offer matte display options), make a strong statement about the ability to switch off notarization for good, and you're golden for developers like me once again, Apple.
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