16-inch MacBook Pro • Hacker News Board

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#611

Post by lotsofpulp » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 6:09 PM UTC

bhauer wrote: post #434

insta_anon wrote: post #242

Can someone explain to me how Apple can justify only including a 720p FaceTime HD camera into the "the world’s best pro notebook"? The last iPhone that had this FaceTime camera was the 6S, released in 2015. Since the iPhone 7 (2016) the phones have had at least a 1080p FaceTime camera. Given that FaceTime / Skype calls are such a common use case and rarely anyones uses external webcams anymore, why doesn't Apple use…

There's a lot of Good-Enoughism and Apple apologism in the responses to your question, even though you never said this was a deal-breaker. You are fairly asking why this particular corner was cut for costs, and it does seem a weird place to save a few bucks when, as you say, the price is ~$4,000. For what it's worth, the front and rear cameras on Microsoft's Surface products are both high-quality and it's generally a…

>You are fairly asking why this particular corner was cut for costs, and it does seem a weird place to save a few bucks when, as you say, the price is ~$4,000.

Because the marginal cost of a better camera doesn't yield a sufficient increase in marginal revenue.

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#612

Post by twobat » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 6:14 PM UTC

izolate wrote: post #538

snowwrestler wrote: post #52

11 years ago I bought a 15” MacBook Pro, the first model year with the unibody design. I’m still using it almost every day for web browsing, watching videos, editing documents, etc. In 2008, it cost $2,400. The new 16” released today costs... $2,400.

I have the same 15” from late 2008 sitting in storage at home. Surprised you’re still using it! What OS version? Sometimes I like to look at the price of Apple stock in 2008 and wonder how much money I would have today if I had instead bought 2.5k USD worth of shares in 2008 instead of the laptop - it’s depressing.

Give or take: it's x10 today.

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#613

Post by kitsunesoba » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 6:15 PM UTC

fjp wrote: post #560

ben7799 wrote: post #494

64GB RAM is like "hallelujah". Doing enterprise dev with Docker + Java is pretty horrible with 16GB on my 2017 MBP. The fact that this review didn't even once mention the fact that this machine is now thicker & bigger and yet they didn't add any useful ports back in is amazing. I still hate that the 2017 one I have has only USB-C + Headphone jack. I appreciate that it still has the headphone jack. But at our office w…

I have the 15" with 32gb and I thought docker was making my laptop shit the bed - screens flickering all the time, mouse barely moving, etc. It turned out to be docker plus Firefox (current version/Quantum yada yada) that was too much - I can't stop using all this docker stuff but I switched to Safari and haven't had any problems at all

Both Chrome and Firefox are much more demanding than many realize. It’s gotten to the point that they should consider a feature freeze and focus on nothing but efficiency and performance for the next few years.

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#614

Post by mantap » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 6:15 PM UTC

charlesju wrote: post #584

ben7799 wrote: post #494

64GB RAM is like "hallelujah". Doing enterprise dev with Docker + Java is pretty horrible with 16GB on my 2017 MBP. The fact that this review didn't even once mention the fact that this machine is now thicker & bigger and yet they didn't add any useful ports back in is amazing. I still hate that the 2017 one I have has only USB-C + Headphone jack. I appreciate that it still has the headphone jack. But at our office w…

What are you using that isn't USB C/Bluetooth at this point? Honest question.

Not OP but I don't own a single device that uses USB-C. Every USB device I have uses USB-A, including a mouse I bought last month.

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#615

Post by fhood » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 6:17 PM UTC

EnderMB wrote: post #531

While it's nice to see an opinionated company like Apple admit fault and revert to what people want, I wonder if this move is too late for many of those that decided to move away from Apple? Years ago, I switched to a Surface Book, and while I'm tempted to go back for this MBP I reckon that a Surface Book update would be enough to kill any desire for the Mac range. While Apple stagnated, many of the high-end manufact…

MacOS. These points have been made a million times, but I'll make them again.

Windows is fine for day to day casual use, but the moment you attempt to peek under the hood you encounter a hostile and alien landscape.

Linux is usually consistent, well organized, and highly configurable when you are under the hood, but is a pain in the ass for day to day use. Edit: Illustrator and Photoshop still aren't available for Linux as I just discovered.

MacOS is Unix under the hood, but it has software support near that of Windows, and it also adds a layer of convenience and thoughtfulness on top that isn't matched elsewhere. Ffs, It is still the only OS that recovers basically flawlessly from running out of batteries.

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#616

Post by dep_b » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 6:18 PM UTC

cracker_jacks wrote: post #485

I agree that the improvements like the ESC key and 16" screen are good things. But is it strange to anyone else that a company that prides itself on being innovative and motto is "think different" is parading around a screen size change and a keyboard regression as the biggest selling points for a product launch?

Well to be honest there's very little fanfare around this MacBook by Apple but it just happens to let the internet explode a bit because so many people were waiting for it.

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#617

Post by dmix » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 6:19 PM UTC

donkeyd wrote: post #587

blhack wrote: post #373

It's hilarious to me that their own marketing image has two dongles plugged into the laptop so that the user can still use USB. Apple please for the love of usability: please give me back USB. I AM the pro that you want to feature in every one of your marketing videos. I have a music studio in my house, I build interactive lighting installations for the biggest music festivals in the world, I build custom hardware co…

Things change, deal with it. I've swapped USB cables to USB-C cables. Only USB drives, which i rarely use anymore require an adapter. Meanwhile, I can use all 4 ports to: - Run a display - Charge my laptop - Charge a phone - Connect a drive I can even use a single port to both charge the laptop and run a screen with multiple USB devices attached to it. I now need to daisy chain converters to use my PS/2 mouse on my M…

You can also use one USB-C to both charge your Macbook and drive a powerful 4k monitor plus a few extra USB-A ports on the back of the monitor.

Being able to come to work and plug in a single cord and have it drive my mechanical keyboard, headphone amp, monitor, and power is pretty amazing IMO.

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#618

Post by abstractbarista » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 6:19 PM UTC

charlesju wrote: post #584

ben7799 wrote: post #494

64GB RAM is like "hallelujah". Doing enterprise dev with Docker + Java is pretty horrible with 16GB on my 2017 MBP. The fact that this review didn't even once mention the fact that this machine is now thicker & bigger and yet they didn't add any useful ports back in is amazing. I still hate that the 2017 one I have has only USB-C + Headphone jack. I appreciate that it still has the headphone jack. But at our office w…

What are you using that isn't USB C/Bluetooth at this point? Honest question.

(I'm not an Apple user.) I routinely simultaneously use all of the following:

Ethernet, 1-2 USB Type A, SD Card, 3.5mm audio, DisplayPort, (while charging too).

As we can see, Apple's 'Pro' products simply do not work me.

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#619

Post by lostgame » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 6:20 PM UTC

charlesju wrote: post #584

ben7799 wrote: post #494

64GB RAM is like "hallelujah". Doing enterprise dev with Docker + Java is pretty horrible with 16GB on my 2017 MBP. The fact that this review didn't even once mention the fact that this machine is now thicker & bigger and yet they didn't add any useful ports back in is amazing. I still hate that the 2017 one I have has only USB-C + Headphone jack. I appreciate that it still has the headphone jack. But at our office w…

What are you using that isn't USB C/Bluetooth at this point? Honest question.

All of them? I don’t have a single device that uses USB-C.

How about iPhones, as a great example? :P

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#620

Post by gfiorav » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 6:21 PM UTC

Windows development -- specially if you develop with a terminal editor -- has become very feasible with WSL.

I was scared away from Apple by the keyboards and found a new dev home in Windows. I've tried to go back for personal projects, but it's just too much conversion for very little compensation.

I think I'm done with Apple macs