Who even needs a laptop that powerful?
Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro
931–940 of 1001 posts
Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro
#932Who even needs a laptop that powerful?
For whatever reason a lot of companies are going laptop only. The company I work, for example basically banned workstations in the latest round of upgrades. So a lot of people who need what would be a moderately powerful desktop computer end up having to buy ridiculously powerful laptops like this one.
Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro
#933They can try to cram all the overheating CPU power into the thin chassis as much as they like, but it is lagging so much behind in GPU power. The top-of-the-line option, a Radeon Pro Vega 20 with 4GB of HBM2, doesn't seems like it's going to perform much better than an NVidia Geforce GTX 1050[0], and at $350 extra it's twice the cost of a standalone NVidia Geforce GTX 1050. [0]: https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/…
The sad part about this, I thought I'd put together a new Mac Mini as a once a month gaming machine and a daily OSX driver so I didn't have to built an entire gaming desktop. Well there's an absolute ton of issues with external GPUs in bootcamped Windows. So.. that's not even an option.
Yes, it's a bad idea. At that point I'd suggest
- getting a console, which probably offers the best price/performance ratio
- using something like ASRock's Deskmini A300 which is really affordable and features a GPU capable of light to medium gaming
- or use a proper desktop setup if you don't want to cut any corners
In any case stick to a proper Windows environment for gaming. My daily driver is a Mac Mini, but for gaming I boot up a dedicated Windows box.
Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro
#934I had the most maxed-out 15” MacBook Pro at the job I just retired from (now at 68 I am just writing and working on my side business developing a knowledge graph- deep learning product). While it was a nice laptop, the System76 laptop with a 1070 GPU I bought for myself blows away the MBPros for what I need (good model training performance and really fast recompile’s of my Haskell code base when I can’t ‘stack —fast’).
I have a fairly new MacBook that I still love for its portability and it is great for light weight stuff, but it is not my main driver.
Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro
#935Earlier quoted context omitted.
I recently was forced to upgrade by 2015 laptop at work because the battery life was finally short enough that I couldn't stand it. I hate dongles. The 2015 Macbook will stand as their last best laptop. Nothing about the 2018 laptop is better, it's only worse. I don't understand why they don't see this. There should really be a huge multi-billion dollar class action lawsuit for their keyboards and fixability to wake…
I'm disappointed that Apple didn't either kill the Touchbar, or commit to it fully: why is there no desktop keyboard (wireless or wired) with the Touchbar? Presumably a huge amount of Pro users (this is a Macbook "Pro", right?) plug into keyboard, pointing device, and monitor frequently...
Killing the touch bar would make Tim Apple lose face, and he lacks the Jobsian stagecraft spin to salvage it.
The touch mbp should've been a macbook air-like spin off, used to demonstrate the viability of the tech by letting people who want it choose it... instead of forcing everyone who wants a high end laptop to pick that model.
Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro
#936Apple should really consider including AppleCare+ in these top end machines, particularly given the quality issues of the current model. Apple should provide some indication of confidence in their own workmanship. Or their confidence in their Foxconn quality control commitments. Don’t push that uncertainty off on the customer.
I love my 2016 MacBook Pro (touchbar is not great but kinda neat, I’ve replaced my usb-b->a to usb b->c cables so only need a dongle to travel, I can fly on the keyboard IFF my fingernails are trimmed very tight (lol), screen is great, sound is great, it’s fast as hell).
However, as you can see in my comment history, I’ve had substantial issues with keyboard and screen outside of warranty. Apple, fortunately and rightfully, has completely taken care of it; but I had several days of consternation while I had to wait and see what Apple decided to do. Makes me really think twice spending a lot on a new one.
Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro
#937Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Windows is perfectly viable for doing development, so is Linux. Viable, yes. I've spent the last year (since replacing a 2013 MB Pro) with a Dell 15 XPS, roughly 50/50 Windows & Linux (Ubuntu then Fedora). Both work. They each run everything I need a laptop for. Honestly neither is quite as good a desktop for me as macOS, but they are near enough that even if I liked the current generation of MacBooks (which I don'…
> Linux is more appealing and almost worth it for the speedy file access, but is too time-consuming for me to to commit to. I hear a variation of this semi-often and I never quite get what that's supposed to mean. Maybe being a full-time Linux user for a decade has made me used to whatever people are complaining about, but I don't think so, people are complaining about having to fix broken HW/SW occasionally, however…
- All the keyboard shortcuts are consistent across apps.
- Hit space to instantly quick-look almost any file, in the finder, in my torrent client, etc.
- Global menu bar doesn't waste space.
- Time Machine provides revision control for your entire drive, integrated into apps, where you can browse and revert to old versions. Even works when you only occasionally hook up your backup drive as it syncs.
- Window/desktop management with real multitouch gestures (not triggers that only kick in after you complete a gesture).
- Smooth font rendering without gamma or hinting errors. Smart kerning adjustment for long labels in tight spaces. Smart ellipsis that displays the start and end of long filenames.
- Icons represent files and can be dragged e.g. from document window titlebars. Right click to get a breadcrumb of all the directories the file sits in, so you can trivially open a finder window for what you're looking at.
- Half downloaded files are resumable bundles that keep the source URL inside. Can even copy to a different machine and resume there just by double clicking.
- Integrated disk, partition and image management, including creating encrypted disk images through the UI, and restoring images to drives.
Just a few things keeping me on this platform.
Oh also, when I upgraded my 2013 mbp to a 2015, migrating was trivial, as both laptops set up an adhoc wifi and transferred everything 1-to-1 without having to do anything. My customized Unix environment that lived though 3 or 4 major OS upgrades transplanted as if nothing changed.
Linux doesn't want to provide that level of convenience because it requires too much cat herding and agreement, while Microsoft can't without breaking years of legacy crap.
Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro
#938Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the flip side I switched from a Dell (XPS 15 9570) to a MacBook Pro 2018 15" last August after multiple issues with the Dell. I've not had a single issue with the MacBook Pro yet. Not a single crash/kernel panic, no keyboard issues, no T2 or TouchBar issues. I open the laptop in the morning and it wakes from sleep and works all day. I almost only ever reboot it for system updates that require it so usually every 4…
The attention on Apple really isn't unfair when you a) compare their 2016+ machines to their 2015 ones, and b) dig a little deeper into some of the design flaws of the machines beyond the keyboard. For example: * The trackpad on 2016+ models is too large for many users who experience palm rejection issues. * The display cable on 2016 and 2017 machines was too short, and is now starting to cause the issue known as "fl…
> Apple made far better computers in 2015. The competition also being shit doesn't excuse Apple's regressions.
Totally agree with you there.
My opinion on it being "unfair" on Apple is more to do with the fact that such things are not unique to Apple yet they are the only ones who get pulled up in the tech and even media.
I had two Surface devices from Microsoft; a Surface Book 2 and a Surface Laptop and both were pieces of crap yet cost the same (or there abouts) as an Apple laptop. Sure I see people complain about it here and there but no way near the level you see complaints about Apple products.
One area that bugs me quite a bit is YouTube and tech website "reviewers" such as The Verge et al. Right out the gate the 2018 15" model was ripped apart for the thermal throttling (and it should have been, it was a problem that Apple mostly fixed within a week to be fair) but the same people never mention the same or worse throttling from an XPS or Surface. Or any other long term issues those product lines have had and never been properly addressed. The XPS 15 coil whine, DPC latency, colour saturation issues, speaker crackle, squeaky spacebar, etc. All have been issues on the XPS 15 for several revisions and Dell have still hardly even acknowledged such problems.
So while I think Apple did fuck up with several design decisions on the current MBP I feel it is only fair to point out that the alternatives people often recommend come with their own set of issues as well. My Surface Laptop had a fan issue after just two days. The solution? Total unit replacement because the whole thing is glued together and you can't open it without damaging the alcantara keyboard fabric! So that meant a full system backup and restore which brought along another issue as the machine had been upgraded to Windows 10 Pro via the Windows Store but that is locked to the motherboard and ARRRRRRGH it was such a pain in the ass.
The sad truth is Dell, Apple, Lenovo, Microsoft, Asus, etc. all make shitty hardware decisions in the name of appearance and/or thinness. It sucks but it is reality. I just wish people would bitch about Dell, etc. as much as they do Apple. Maybe then they would fix things rather than deflect to Apple for being "worse" (which is false but believed to be true because of reporting).
Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro
#939Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is my personal laptop but the screen is really crap. My work laptop is a 2015 13” MBP. Work recently offered to upgrade me to a new MBP. I declined.
The Air's display isn't that bad. It's a good TN panel with a good non-retina resolution (1440x900 on the 13"), decent contrast, and good (for TN) viewing angles. It's certainly a big step up from the frankly abysmal base WXGA TN displays of many Lenovo/HP/Dell machines. But yes, it's not even close to the retina IPS displays.
I own two of them. And a 2015 13” MBP with a Retina display. And a current iPad mini and an iPhone XS. And a BenQ 32” 4K display. And before that I had a 2009 13” MBP.
All of the non-iOS displays are calibrated via a munki.
The MBA display from this generation (my kids have the 11” MBAs with basically the same crap display) is the worst I’ve used by far. So bad it’s basically useless for photo editing. The contrast stinks. The color gamut stinks. You can’t look at it off-axis at all.
No no, I’ve looked at a lot of displays in my life. It’s my least favorite. The 2009 13” MBP display was better.
That there are non-Apple laptop displays that are even worse is cold comfort.
Re: Apple introduces 8-core MacBook Pro
#940After 8 years of macbooks, after using the 2018 model, I switched to a Dell Precision 5530 running Ubuntu 18.04 and it is awesome. The hardware is great, and having Unix under it all was the only real reason I liked Macs (used to be hardware, too). Granted, I don't need Adobe stuff, or anything else that doesn't run or have an alternative on Ubuntu (although it is dual-booted with Win10, but I've never used it, just…
Come on, didn't you have a Dell Inspiron 8000? Those things were the Macbook Pro of the day, sexy and horrible with BSODS due to flexing motherboards and gorgeous 1600x1200 displays.
My previous worse experience was on a Dell, actually :) Forget the model, but it was a 17" monster and horribly unstable with a crap keyboard and dim display. But that was back in the early 2000s, and I'm shocked it's Apple that gave me an experience that was nearly as bad.