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Apple Engineers Its Own Downfall with the Macbook Pro Keyboard

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Re: Apple Engineers Its Own Downfall with the Macbook Pro Keyboard

#891

Post by WalterBright »

stcredzero wrote: post #811
jmts wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps cheaper in space, but you will have to do an initial pass over the entire structure to zero your visited bits first, so it may not be cheaper in time.

Just ensure the bits are always zero on allocation, use DFS, and ensure you re-zero the bits on the way out.

Since the first pass quit when it finds the first marked node, the zeroing can traverse the structure, erasing marked bits, and stopping at the first 0. The entire structure doesn't have to be visited.

Re: Apple Engineers Its Own Downfall with the Macbook Pro Keyboard

#892

Post by eric-hu »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #577
eric-hu wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I own a 2012 MacBook pro 15' and work gave me a 2016. The difference is about 1.5 pounds, going from 5.6 pounds to 4 pounds. The difference is big enough that I've slowly started using my work laptop for most of my personal needs too, even though I initially wanted to keep my work laptop clean of unnecessary personal data.

I use the 2012 at home and the 2017 at work. Think I actually prefer it heavier but maybe it's because I also respect my 2012 more after growing to hate my 2017 with 5 stuck keys and return key deadzone so look at this supposed flaw as wanted power and sturdiness rather than unwanted weight. Plus the lightness is offset by having to carry a dongle and them only shipping the bulky powercord not the short cord in the 2…

Yep, I think I would feel the same as you do if my work laptop was a 2017. Work gave me an old laptop, and I was happy with that because I don't have to deal with the touch bar or USB C.

I also share your sense of value about the machines. The 2012 is the last MacBook pro I've paid for myself.

EDIT: I just checked and my work laptop is a mid 2015. It's still much lighter than my personal MBP, but I think this was the last generation before USB c charging and the elimination of ports.

Re: Apple Engineers Its Own Downfall with the Macbook Pro Keyboard

#893

Post by eric-hu »

arvinsim wrote: post #288
eric-hu wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I own a 2012 MacBook pro 15' and work gave me a 2016. The difference is about 1.5 pounds, going from 5.6 pounds to 4 pounds. The difference is big enough that I've slowly started using my work laptop for most of my personal needs too, even though I initially wanted to keep my work laptop clean of unnecessary personal data.

But then again, would you have noticed the heaviness of the 2012 if you weren't given the 2016?

Possibly not, but I did notice carrying my personal laptop around versus my work laptop. It made a fairly big difference in fatigue whether I was going to the cafe or to another country.

Re: Apple Engineers Its Own Downfall with the Macbook Pro Keyboard

#894

Post by eric-hu »

manigandham wrote: post #370
eric-hu wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I own a 2012 MacBook pro 15' and work gave me a 2016. The difference is about 1.5 pounds, going from 5.6 pounds to 4 pounds. The difference is big enough that I've slowly started using my work laptop for most of my personal needs too, even though I initially wanted to keep my work laptop clean of unnecessary personal data.

You drop more weight just going to the bathroom in the morning. I find it extremely hard to believe that a few pounds makes a difference to any physically capable adult.

Funny you mention that. I don't know about you, but I feel much more spritely and alive after doing those few pounds in the morning.

Re: Apple Engineers Its Own Downfall with the Macbook Pro Keyboard

#895

Post by cptskippy »

gowld wrote: post #880
cptskippy wrote: post #710

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They no longer have Steve Jobs Quality Control? He was the type of person to play with something for 5 minutes and say "yeah... no" or to eagerly take something he liked and abuse the hell out of it for 24 hours then come back with a laundry list of improvements. He was a jerk and he cared deeply about user experience. In his absence you have what exactly? Tim Cook lacks vision, if you want your mountain moved to Plu…

What's wrong with chamfer?

Absolutely nothing! I just don't care for Jon Ives, he's pretentious and likes to demonstrate his superiority by using domain specific terms in casual conversation to impress the layman. When the iPhone 4 came out Jon Ives would talk about how exquisite the matte chamfered aluminum edges were as if it was an engineering miracle and he single-handedly invented the chamfer mill.

Don't get me wrong, I think his passion is wonderful and I enjoy listening to him talk about physical design in much the same way I enjoyed watching the movie Helvetica. But he's still a pretentious twat and my impression is that he doesn't care about design beyond it superficially meeting his immediate needs. Similar to how an artist might build an installation for an exhibition with no concern for it surviving beyond that, I don't think Jon Ives designs products with longevity in mind.

Re: Apple Engineers Its Own Downfall with the Macbook Pro Keyboard

#896

Post by rashkov »

KhalilK wrote: post #320
yonkshi wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How’s the Linux battery management for laptops? This and driver compatibility are usually my biggest concern. I remember 2/3 windows laptops I used were having trouble sleeping/waking up when lids were shut

It depends on the model. For my XPS 15 with the bigger battery I can get up to 10 hours working on Python dev and checking out docs. But only when disabling the discrete Nvidia card, which is relatively straightforward[0] to do after having suffered setting up bumblebee. 0. https://github.com/khllkcm/dotfiles/blob/master/.config/scri...

I was just thinking about this today as I needed to conserve battery power on my xps 15 for an airplane trip. Thanks for reminding me to check out bumblebee.

Re: Apple Engineers Its Own Downfall with the Macbook Pro Keyboard

#897

Post by eecc »

fhood wrote: post #749
symfoniq wrote: post #738

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same boat. Against my better judgement, I bought a 2017 MacBook Pro about 6 months ago to make it easier to work with a client. I sold it this week at a big loss. Between the terrible keyboard, the useless Touch Bar, and the dongle hell, and general hardware flakiness, this was the worst laptop I've ever owned, Apple or otherwise (and I've owned almost every Apple laptop generation since the PowerBook G3). Good ridda…

Literally praying that they fix this crap in the next update. My mbp is getting on in years, and if they don't do something I'm going to move to linux for my next machine.

Amen. I'm using a company issued "new" MBP and oh! do I loathe it! Have been repeatedly one click away from buying a Carbon X1 for little more than half what an MBP would cost. Seriously, Apple... don't underestimate the domino effect, my home looks like an Apple Store but once I begin "fiddling around" to make something else work and it eventually does, there's no more incentive to remain inside your Gilded Enclosure

Re: Apple Engineers Its Own Downfall with the Macbook Pro Keyboard

#898

Post by newscracker »

Scott Forstall was fired for less serious issues, but Apple has continued to roll on without firing any other high level executives (directly connected to technology) in the last few years. Someone needs to take responsibility for the overall sad state of the Mac, all the software quality issues on its platforms, and the hardware quality issues.

To outsiders, Apple seems like an opaque and uncaring company, and for good reasons. What Apple needs is to spend time on self-reflection from top to bottom and radical thinking to change "the way things are". Until that happens, I wouldn't expect groundbreaking changes. "Think different" is what it badly needs. The sooner, the better.

Re: Apple Engineers Its Own Downfall with the Macbook Pro Keyboard

#899

Post by pedrocr »

nobleach wrote: post #626
pedrocr wrote: post #507

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is trivial to fix actually. Ubuntu 16.04 had "fractional" scaling by default but in reality all it did was between 1x and 2x use 1x with larger fonts. 18.04 lost that with the gnome transition but you can just change the font scaling manually. Less convenient and polished but still there in the tweak tool. Firefox also includes a scaling option in the configs. With those two settings my T460s with the 2560x1440…

What happens when you plug in a second monitor?

I believe it applies to all screens. I've only been using external screens to project stuff fullscreen so I haven't checked what happens if I use my 1920x1200 screen as a work screen. If it's like in Unity you get the larger fonts but it's still quite usable. Having the font scaling be per-screen would be ideal though.

Re: Apple Engineers Its Own Downfall with the Macbook Pro Keyboard

#900

Post by exadeci »

dleslie wrote: post #252

I like machines that are built to take a beating. My penultimate laptop was an HP Mini 101; I only replaced it on a whim, and still use it from time to time. The keys have been worn to be smooth, concave and most are missing the printed text. When I last opened it up to add an SSD a suprising amount of sand came pouring out; having been taken to many beaches, tossed in bags, and generally used outdoors it had accumul…

Battery life on linux is awful and if you want the latest version of something you end up raising hell to get everything to work, meanwhile on a mac you just do a brew install.

I'm a software engineer, I used to love to customize my computer and make it different, now I just want it to work and not having to waste hours and hours fixing it.

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