16-inch MacBook Pro • Hacker News Board

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#781

Post by Zanneth » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 9:01 PM UTC

asciident wrote: post #553

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…

I'm the opposite so I guess our desires cancel each other out. I will never buy a laptop or any device that has USB-A on it. None of my devices use USB-A and it's a legacy port that is ugly and wastes space. Same with micro-usb, mini-usb, lightning, etc. I'm living a 1 port lifestyle and it's phenomenal for traveling, minimalism, and just not having to worry about having the right cable in the right place.

Same here. I love using just one charger and cable for my laptop, tablet, game console, headphones, and more. I’ll never go back to USB-A.

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#782

Post by cmcd » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 9:04 PM UTC

ActorNightly wrote: post #609

pwthornton wrote: post #513

This is Apple going all in on pro for this laptop. The display is fantastic all around, 64 GB of ram, 8 GB of DDR6 VRAM, 8 cores, biggest battery FAA will allow on planes, 8 TB SSD, etc. This will also be able to connect to Apple's upcoming 6K 32-inch display. This is a very impressive update all around and it shows Apple putting a lot of space between their pro laptops and the MBA and iPad Pro now. The lineup is sta…

Except for the small fact that its starting price is $2300, that buys you absolutely nothing better except for something that looks nice. Mac OS has been declining in quality, and the hardware design still lacks quality. Im willing to put money on the fact that this thing will thermal throttle.

Looks nice and has the specs to back it up, you might can find another laptop with the same specs for $2300 but the build quality, software, and support will be lacking.

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#783

Post by llampx » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 9:05 PM UTC

dmix wrote: post #617

donkeyd wrote: post #587

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

So you're saying you only need one USB-C port... whereas the Macbook Pro has 4 and not a single USB-A one.

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#784

Post by volkl48 » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 9:05 PM UTC

wwweston wrote: post #712

throwanem wrote: post #17

I'm astonished and pleased to see they walked back the two worst things about the original Touch Bar MBPs - the lack of a physical Escape key, and the full-size left and right arrow keys. The lack of physical function keys remains regrettable, and the Touch Bar is still no worthy substitute, but perhaps this is a sign that Apple is finally interested in listening to feedback from its long-term customer base, even if…

It turns out that people who buy laptops -- a mobile-ish form factor differentiated from a tablet by its keyboard -- might really really care about keyboards as the main interface between user and device. I'd concluded that Apple didn't really think much of laptops anymore, and had simply moved on to caring more about other form factors: it seemed a logical conclusion if one assumed that people at Apple were in fact…

If you're dealing with Apple/an Authorized Service Provider, there is a replacement method available to them to get data off of a failing system. (Uses the USB-C ports and DFU mode).

Anecdotally, it does work on some boards that are otherwise hosed, but may be less frequently successful than with the prior data connector, as there's more pieces that do have to be still functional for it to work.

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#785

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 9:06 PM UTC

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…

[deleted]

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#786

Post by joshgachnang » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 9:10 PM UTC

schwartzworld wrote: post #773

donkeyd wrote: post #587

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Things change, deal with it Things do change, but change for the sake of change isn't a good thing. Meanwhile, I can use all 4 ports to: - Run a display With a dongle - Charge my laptop Did you need 4 ports to do this? How is this better than a magsafe connector? - Charge a phone Existing USB ports do this fine, and most charger cables have USB-A on one end. USB-C-USB-C cables are extremely limited in their use and…

> Charge my laptop Did you need 4 ports to do this? How is this better than a magsafe connector?

Being able to charge on either side is really, really nice. I miss MagSafe, sure, but this mostly makes up for it. I can also run my laptop off the ubiquitous USB-C battery packs now, which is glorious.

USB-C-USB-C are going to be much more ubiquitous too, especially when the iPhone switches next cycle.

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#787

Post by fortran77 » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 9:10 PM UTC

balefrost wrote: post #777

Zenst wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When it comes to function keys, you either use them lots or rarely and for the former, yes - a physical key is prefered by far. However I see the advantages in other situations with the touchbar, however it would be great if the users had a choice. How hard would it be to have the touchbar in a modular design form that was user changeable and they could fit a row of keys instead? However, there is always the option o…

Heck, I wonder why they don't have BOTH function keys AND a touch bar. It looks like they could shrink the oversized touchpad slightly to recover enough space. Is it because the cost would be too high? Is it because it would ruin their design? Or is there some other reason?

or make the trackpad a screen like Asus does...

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#788

Post by appleiigs » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 9:12 PM UTC

1_player wrote: post #182

Someone1234 wrote: post #22

Holy heck, they re-added a physical escape key. That's a huge improvement. a slight shame they didn't just move the touchbar up and re-add the F key row too, but it is a good compromise and improvement regardless. This could be the one a lot of people have been waiting for if the new switches/design pans out. PS - Although I might be an unusual demographic as I touch type and wouldn't use the touchbar regardless (sin…

> physical escape key I'm happy we VIM users have been loud enough to get the most important key back. :-) I know there's Ctrl-[ but it's 20 years of muscle memory to retrain, and I don't want to do that.

I think it's more like Excel users have been loud enough. Esc is very important for Excel.

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#789

Post by volkl48 » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 9:15 PM UTC

JonathonW wrote: post #711

Zenst wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When it comes to function keys, you either use them lots or rarely and for the former, yes - a physical key is prefered by far. However I see the advantages in other situations with the touchbar, however it would be great if the users had a choice. How hard would it be to have the touchbar in a modular design form that was user changeable and they could fit a row of keys instead? However, there is always the option o…

We have a modular laptop in our office-- it's a Dell Precision, and practically everything in the machine's serviceable and replaceable (complete with a detailed service manual, provided by Dell). Replaceable, externally accessible disk drives, replaceable RAM, replaceable modular keyboard, even (IIRC) a socketed processor. The catch is that all that modularity makes the thing massive -- the thing's a good 2-3 inches…

The current (post ~2015 or so) Precision models aren't like that. They're pretty sleek and competitive.

No socketed CPU or externally accessible disk drives, but you do get easily replaceable RAM, drives and battery if you're willing to pop the cover.

Keyboard and other components are replaceable individually as well, although it might be somewhat labor intensive in terms of disassembly.

Re: 16-inch MacBook Pro

#790

Post by notSupplied » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 9:16 PM UTC

balefrost wrote: post #777

Zenst wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When it comes to function keys, you either use them lots or rarely and for the former, yes - a physical key is prefered by far. However I see the advantages in other situations with the touchbar, however it would be great if the users had a choice. How hard would it be to have the touchbar in a modular design form that was user changeable and they could fit a row of keys instead? However, there is always the option o…

Heck, I wonder why they don't have BOTH function keys AND a touch bar. It looks like they could shrink the oversized touchpad slightly to recover enough space. Is it because the cost would be too high? Is it because it would ruin their design? Or is there some other reason?

I would love this. I have the touch bar set to show my dock at all times which just clicks for me. I'd love to still have function keys for IDE shortcuts in this configuration.