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MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar Teardown

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Re: MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar Teardown

#71

Post by doomtop »

marvindanig wrote: post #49
kalleboo wrote: post #28

I love the fake speaker grilles that don't even go all the way through the machine... Form follows function, minimal design indeed.

I hate to admit this but I'll bite. Apple is being steered by fifty shades of Steve Ballmer now. Colored and extra-large iPhones, death to magSafe, stupid mini-iPads that have no reason to exist other than being a marketing offer. Decisions for the sake of making decisions.

I agree on all points except re: the mini iPad. I have no use for a full-size iPad, but I have the 9.7" Pro and Mini 4, which are perfectly sized, in my humble opinion.

Re: MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar Teardown

#72

Post by SyneRyder »

bwindels wrote: post #29

> Repairability 1 out of 10 This is my main reason to stop buying Apple hardware, not so much the lack of an Esc key. The Mid 2012 model still scored 7 / 10.

I bought a Mid-2012 in late 2015 partly for this reason. If the hard drive dies, I should be able to swap it out myself. Apple's maximum storage was 1TB when I bought it, but I'll be able to upgrade this machine to a 2TB SSD if I want.

I still miss the 2006 MacBook design though. That made replacing the hard drive, RAM & battery extremely easy to do yourself.

Re: MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar Teardown

#73

Post by joezydeco »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #62
dubcroster wrote: post #61

Could anyone tell me why there is a three-microphone array built in to the touchbar? My privacy-sense is tingeling like crazy over this.

Well microphone arrays are directional. Is that the question? It allows an app to home in on the speaker, avoiding background noise.

Probably necessary to make Siri more reliable.

Re: MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar Teardown

#74

Post by trymas »

marvindanig wrote: post #49
kalleboo wrote: post #28

I love the fake speaker grilles that don't even go all the way through the machine... Form follows function, minimal design indeed.

I hate to admit this but I'll bite. Apple is being steered by fifty shades of Steve Ballmer now. Colored and extra-large iPhones, death to magSafe, stupid mini-iPads that have no reason to exist other than being a marketing offer. Decisions for the sake of making decisions.

> Colored and extra-large iPhones, being a marketing offer.

I do not understand how they are stepping on the same thing like 20+ years ago - they have too many versions for the same type of device.

They have different names for it: Pro, SE, S, Plus, Air, mini. And it's inconsistent, e.g. ipad Air is not the smallest ipad, where does SE stack in current Apple naming?

They add colors to mix all this (not to mention gazillion bands for watches).

They do not transition their mobile tech to usb-c which creates miserable dongle-gate within their own hardware ecosystem. Maybe can someone give a reason why they are still sticking with lightning? Even using it for their pencil, new mouse, new trackpad and new keyboard.

Apple has much better name and consistency than most hardware manufacturers, but it's getting so confusing than it used to be[0]. I understand there are more products today, but I guess all of them can be delivered in Pro and consumer versions with consistent peripherals so when people spend couple of thousand bucks on your products they do not need to go back to the store and spend another hundred to dongle up.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iTNWZF2m3o

Re: MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar Teardown

#75

Post by reacharavindh »

n1000 wrote: post #25
n1000 wrote: post #19

can anybody tell me why Apple didn't try harder to max out the battery?? apparently the 15" version has even more unused space: https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/15/2016-macbook-pro-non-removabl... if this is really a compromise to hit some weight target I will have to join the "Apple don't care about the Pros anymore" camp...

I can see the marketing storyline: 3.0 pounds sounds cooler than 10+h battery life. Because: 10 hours = 1 working day = enough

I use a 2014 rMBP. I need to keep Virtual desktop client running all through the day, Outlook for corporate email, and Safari for everything web-based. I can go though 70% of my day without needing to plug in. I really really really wish Apple add little more capacity so I don't need to be anxious about spending a work day on the move.

Re: MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar Teardown

#76

Post by maxxxxx »

overcast wrote: post #54
maxxxxx wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people know how to add a bigger disk or more RAM. Or they know somebody who knows.

I think you're vastly overestimating the knowledge of end users. Been working on the IT side of things for the better part of fifteen years. Majority of people clueless, including our entire engineering department. That's why IT exists.

Interesting. At work we get our machines from corporate IT but I know plenty of people who have replaced disks, memory or replaced DVD drives with a second disk. Now that I think of it, I helped all those people, so maybe it's just me.

Re: MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar Teardown

#77

Post by overcast »

maxxxxx wrote: post #76
overcast wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're vastly overestimating the knowledge of end users. Been working on the IT side of things for the better part of fifteen years. Majority of people clueless, including our entire engineering department. That's why IT exists.

Interesting. At work we get our machines from corporate IT but I know plenty of people who have replaced disks, memory or replaced DVD drives with a second disk. Now that I think of it, I helped all those people, so maybe it's just me.

The user base here, much like many niche places on the internet, is a very unique sampling of individuals. Most people have absolutely no clue about what is going on inside a computer.

Re: MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar Teardown

#78

Post by marvindanig »

doomtop wrote: post #71
marvindanig wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate to admit this but I'll bite. Apple is being steered by fifty shades of Steve Ballmer now. Colored and extra-large iPhones, death to magSafe, stupid mini-iPads that have no reason to exist other than being a marketing offer. Decisions for the sake of making decisions.

I agree on all points except re: the mini iPad. I have no use for a full-size iPad, but I have the 9.7" Pro and Mini 4, which are perfectly sized, in my humble opinion.

This wasn't said lightly.

Steve Jobs revolutionized many industries -- music, mobile, laptops, animation and so on… he wanted to revolutionize education as well. That aim was best served with the original 9" tablet iPad. It stoked the way kids and kids-in-adults would consume content -- learn / read / watch videos before going to bed/sleep or in the classroom.

A slate-like form functionally draws a better parallel to the stone slates we used to have in schools back in the day! iPad Mini on the other hand makes people lose their focus from the original intent of the product i.e. revolution of education. It does fit the palm but doesn't help the cause at all.

iPad proper is easy to tap/touch, carry, flip pages on: more or less like an evolved form of Kindle but a lot more (also the reason why iPad Air still does better than the rest). We already know to whom this product appeals the most. Another reason why Jobs was dead against letting in the porn usecase on the iPad was because he wanted to start with children on board -- again to push for revolutionizing education. Child-safe and all that.

This CEO has failed that goal objectively.

Tim (and his team) don't even know what they want -- their launches signal that they have nothing on their minds except making more money in the name of some marketing revolution. And when something will do well they will surely hide behind that success (like the touchbar MBP) because really deep within they are running blind. Apple will continue to introduce more product lines to open up additional revenue streams and that is all there is to it.

My 2 cents/opinion: Tim Cook, with all due respect, is just a salesman. He thinks revolutionary products are about tech, design, form and function whereas those are merely a few vectors that lead to a revolution but not the revolution itself. I don't think their heart or mind is in the right place.

Re: MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar Teardown

#79

Post by davidf18 »

marvindanig wrote: post #49
kalleboo wrote: post #28

I love the fake speaker grilles that don't even go all the way through the machine... Form follows function, minimal design indeed.

I hate to admit this but I'll bite. Apple is being steered by fifty shades of Steve Ballmer now. Colored and extra-large iPhones, death to magSafe, stupid mini-iPads that have no reason to exist other than being a marketing offer. Decisions for the sake of making decisions.

> death to magSafe

I have constantly had problems with the MagSafe adapter and am glad to see it go. If you're working on a table at a coffee shop and have papers next to your 15" rMBP, the cord hangs over the edge and doesn't stay on after a few months of adapter use. A new adapter fixes the problem.

I've had laptops, Thinkpads from 1999 to 2011, and I have never had a problem that the MagSafe tries to prevent.

Re: MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar Teardown

#80

Post by [deleted] »

overcast wrote: post #77
maxxxxx wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. At work we get our machines from corporate IT but I know plenty of people who have replaced disks, memory or replaced DVD drives with a second disk. Now that I think of it, I helped all those people, so maybe it's just me.

The user base here, much like many niche places on the internet, is a very unique sampling of individuals. Most people have absolutely no clue about what is going on inside a computer.

[deleted]
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