Live data from Hacker News

Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

9to5mac.com

641–650 of 666 posts

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#641

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Can you help me understand why you believe that Apple needed to move to USB-C to on the computer end in order to make a cable removable at the power supply end?" The thing is, once you make the cable detachable at both ends, it eliminates the need for MagSafe in the first place. A USB-C laptop will not go flying across the room if someone trips on the cable, because the cable will detach at either or both ends bef…

I'm not going to test this, but I seriously doubt it. My 13" MacBook is very light, and I can even lift it half way with the USB-C cable. Pretty certain it would fly to the floor if my feet swept the cable that way. Of course, I don't have it set up so that can happen.

Good point about the MacBook - they're much lighter than my MacBook Pro.

I'm surprised you can actually pick it up by the cable, however! The fit of the power cable in the USB-C ports on my (2017) 13" Pro is very loose - in fact, sometimes the power cable slips out on it's own with even a small movement. Maybe this has changed in the 13" MacBook?

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#642
post #544

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's seemed wildly obvious to me that Ive, whatever good work he did under Jobs, did horrible work without Jobs to constrain him. I hope that Apple returns to making quality hardware without Ive present.

Outside of the keyboard fiasco what else has Apple designed that’s so bad? I quite like Face ID, the latest gen iPad Pro, and even the new Mac mini, and Mac Pro. Sure the keyboards were bad, but like it or not Apple has a pretty obvious goal to get MacBooks as thin and light as possible. At some point they needed a switch from the existing keyboard design to make it thinner.

> Outside of the keyboard fiasco what else has Apple designed that’s so bad?

How about the first generation Pencil? To charge it you had to plug it in to your iPad.... it looked ridiculous and was very distracting. Thankfully, they fixed this in the second generation.

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#643

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Caps lock should be banished from all keyboards Blasphemy! How am I supposed to type variable names in Bash without it ?

I realize this is a joke, but when typing e.g. "echo $ITERM_PROFILE", you have to press shift anyway to type the $ and any subsequent _'s, and I find it considerably easier to hold down the shift key, type the whole word, and release, instead of: press shift for $, release, press caps lock, release and press shift for _, release, type rest of word, and disable caps lock at the end. Seriously, the only non-facetious u…

For non English keyboards, they let you toggle between different ‘alphabet’ sets. For Japanese keyboards, you can toggle them between hiragana and katakana, or full and half width characters.

There used to be an option for Chinese keyboards but I don’t remember what those were anymore.

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#644

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the bulblet and bought a used 2013 15” MBP after a year in Lenovo exile. Cost me $600 for a six year old computer, but it feels great.

Man you guys really have Stockholm syndrome.

MacOS is amazing in many ways, and is spyware-free, which makes it the only choice for privacy-savvy users who also want to use adobe products.

Unless you go the Hackintosh route, you’re locked into Apple hardware.

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#645
post #406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, while I have never once used the touchbar, I do think the ability for apps to display contextual function keys has a lot of use cases. I would be happy if they released physical keys with little oled screens on them, like that old Optimus keyboard. Apparently it was garbage but the tech has come a long way in ten years.

Apps can display contextual functions on the screen! The main problem with the touchbar is that you never look at it. It's not discoverable.

The problem with the touch bar is that you have to look away from the screen to use it. Physical buttons would allow you to touch type, and I don't think it's a problem to scan the keys a few times when you start using a new app. In that sense they are just as discoverable as keyboard shortcuts. You look them up a few times, and eventually you use them without thinking about it.

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#646

Earlier quoted context omitted.

About 15 years ago during my studies I dreamt of a tablet device with pen input and hand writing recognition for advanced maths. I was writing a lot during my physics lectures but almost no plain text. I would still like to have such a device, but also with a CAS integrated with the handwriting recognition. This would take the pain out of typing stuff into a CAS using obscure syntax.

IMO iPad Pro with the appropriate software would be perfect. However, I think handwriting recognition for math might be too much a niche for developer to focus and polish into software that’s a pleasure to use.

And recognizing math is hard. That is a huge set of symbols (sometimes with semantically meaningful "tiny" variations like doubled up vertical lines on an R) and their size and relative positioning carries a lot of meaning. Handwriting is a walk in the park compared to that.

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#648

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USB-C is a clusterfuck and Apple forcing that as their only connector is just plain bad design. I have a MBP but opted for the non-touchbar model because I happen to like the escape key (lots of time spent in vi - amongst other things). My MBP only comes with TWO USB-C ports. That means I have no choice but to carry around a dongle when before I rarely used to. What's worse, the charger uses one of those ports and mo…

> when you're a self-confessed hard typist Whether or not you stick with the keyboard you dislike, you should try to fix this if possible. RSI is no joke, and “hard typing” causes excessive impact on your joints irrespective of keyboard. You want to be using just enough force to reliably actuate the key. (This is one reason that bad rubber dome keyboards are terrible: they don’t reliably actuate unless you really mas…

FWIW the parent misunderstood me; I said "I'm hard on keyboards" - mostly due to environment. I don't think I press particularly hard.

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#649
post #121

It seems like there are two camps of people: Those who are very pleased to hear they will be backpedaling on their updated keyboard designs. Those who "don't understand" because they actually like the new keyboards (and the TouchBar even). No matter where you stand, the new keyboards are highly controversial and divisive, and that's not good. The old keyboards didn't put people into opposing sides, they just were the…

> The old keyboards didn't put people into opposing sides, they just were there. Have you ever spoken to a thinkpad advocate re: chiclet keyboards? The previous mac keyboards were absolutely controversial. It took years for the previous keyboard to be 'just a keyboard', which I do acknowledge happened. > I look forward to a return to a non controversial, highly usable and widely accepted as "fine", keyboard. Honestly…

The mac chiclet keyboards weren't the best or the worst but these recent keyboards are awful.

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#650

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just last week bought a pristine, maxed-out 2015 MacBook Pro. Yet I think you're wrong about most of this. * I hate magsafe. I've owned a dozen of these and almost all of them have come apart just behind the magsafe connector. Expensive, proprietary, and fragile. I would much much rather have USB-C than shell out $90 every two years. * USB-C is great. A bunch of different ports means carrying a bunch of different c…

> I don't want a sexy svelte fragile expensive luxury status symbol. I want a rugged capital good that will reliably allow me to work for the next half-decade. Then why are you looking at Apple products at all? You're looking for a ThinkPad or an EliteBook. Fragile expensive luxury status symbols are exactly what Apple makes and always has ever since Jobs. Now they're just more blatant about it.

This seems like a weird question. I like OSX well enough and I would rather not incur the cost of switching to a different software toolchain.
Post reply on HN