Apple Company • Page 138

Thanks for this, enjoyed that piece quite a bit.

 

Although I don't really have a negative opinion of this product launch, I can't really say I disagree with a lot of that. The decision to go with Skylake this late in the cycle is surprising, I know they Kaby Lake HQ parts needed for the 15 inch aren't slated to ship until December but Intel says they're ahead of schedule and we have seen some laptops ship with those parts, albeit not in the quantity you would maybe expect for the MBP.

I don't really understand the questioning of the headphone jack still existing though, yes they said wireless is the future but the macbook can support wireless headphones with a headphone jack all the same and they didn't need the space back so there was no reason to remove it. Not having a lightning port may be a downside but it's a fallback, the iPhone uses lightning headphones because they didn't want to pay to put wireless ones in the box and the headphone jack isn't on the phone.

As for the SD card slot, yes they should have included it, no argument there. This has always been a device for creatives and you just removed the universal storage standard for them. Yes you can get an adapter but you shouldn't have to for the SD card, which does not ordinary require a cable like USB devices do.

The toucher is a wash for me, I will probably not use it that much but it's interesting and it doesn't make my life worse.

The comparison to Microsoft is interesting because I do really feel like MSFT is doing a better job of creating inspiring unique devices for this market that is usually dominated by Apple. If i were in that category I'd be buying MSFT products right now, but as a dev of mostly web stuff all I care about is having a unix based OS so there's functionally no difference for me now that Windows has the Linux subsystem, but I have macs now so there's no reason for me to switch work ecosystems right now.

We'll see how it goes. I'll get one of these new MBPs eventually but yeah I definitely think Apple is a bit confused/behind on this market right now and it shows both in the time takes them to update devices and in the updates they do come out with then they come forward.

 

As pretty as the Touch Bar is, no function keys is a dealbreaker for every software engineer I know, myself included.

 

My understanding is that the function keys can be displayed on the Touch Bar.

 

Yes, but having the physical keys is huge. Any time we're debugging code we're using function keys, and we need to be able to press them frequently without having to look down at the keyboard every time to make sure we're pressing the right one. I imagine using the Touch Bar for debugging will be like trying to text on a touchscreen without looking at the screen. You used to be able to text just by feel of the buttons, now you can't.

 

Good point. I hadn't thought about it that way.

 

What do you all like more, the classic silver, or the space gray on the new Macs?

 

I would've strongly preferred black to either, so I'd take space gray. The current/previous silver MacBooks were slick but silver is usually low on my color preferences for anything.

 

I like the space gray more but I'm the kind of moron that likes my devices to match so I'll probably get the silver. My SE is silver and no matter if I go with an iphone or a pixel next I can't get it in "space gray". The Pixel only comes in silver, black and blue, and the iphone doesnt come in space gray anymore.

 

I hope Thunderbolt 3 docks start getting pushed out soon, or at least the current ones start listing as being mac compatible. So far my favorite looking one is actually made by HP, can connect 3 1080p monitors (which is my work setup) plus ethernet, two USB type A ports, and some other stuff I don't care about. That one dock covers everything I want to hook up, right nowI need a dock + an extra thunderbolt cable to cover everything with my two monitor setup because OSX doesn't support the MST standard and you can't connect multiple monitors in anything but a daisy chain configuration

 

I type without looking at the screen on touch devices all the time. You'll probably just end up remapping keys to shortcuts tho for debugging. Or muscle memory will kick in. I don't think it'll be a big issue.

 

I've seen the opposite on Twitter.

 

They have four ports, right?

 

Honestly I would say most PCs have no idea who they are for ... it's a shrinking industry. I disagree on the Mac distinction however. There's an argument to be made about the MacBook Pro, but ... the iMac and MacBook I think are very clearly defined.

 

Honestly impressed that you're able to type on touch devices without looking haha, I've never gotten to that level. And I'm sure I'd get used to it eventually, the consensus in my office was pretty negative though. Admittedly I wasn't following on Twitter at the time so I didn't see the response there.

 

I need thiught I was until I went on a walk and found myself just not even looking down and typing. I'm gonna try it right here and not edit my post.

Oh nice. That worked well!ish.

I'm curious t see how it works out. If they release a magic keyboard with it ... I may give it a shot. I don't use function keys often, but it I use shortcut keys allllllll the time.

(Need = never.)

 

This pretty much summed up all of my feelings. Their past two conferences have been a disaster in my opinion and if I was in need of an upgrade, I'd probably be looking elsewhere. I'm already moving to Google for my phone, and the OS on Apple is really the only thing that would keep me on the Mac.

 

Might get an HP x360 this time since they are comparable with specs but so much cheaper in price. Anyone have an experience with one?

 

If any of you do pick up the MBP and need the legacy ports, this isn't a bad option. One USB-C plug gets you 2 USB type A ports, a standard SD card and micro SD card, and a USB-C passthrough

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019PHF9UY/?tag=absolutepunk-20

 

Speaking of picking up a new MBP, I just preordered one. Might change my mind before it ships (end of November) but figured I'd try to get an order in early so I don't have to wait

 

Ok threw down money on a 1tb external. Hopefully I never have to panic like I did last week again

 

I'm not not currently in the market for a new laptop, but I probably will be soon (early-2011 MBP). These new models are disappointing to me, but I'm sure the performance will be drastically better than what I'm used to.

 

If your current laptop doesnt have an SSD...

 

I have seriously been considering this lately. Do you have any recommendations on a solid 500 GB model? Also, what is the installation process like? Not sure if I should risk it by installing myself or bringing it in somewhere.

 

Its pretty simple, follow this guide

MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Hard Drive Replacement - iFixit

And I'd go with this drive

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OBRE5UE/?tag=absolutepunk-20

And make sure you enable TRIM to keep the drive running fast over time, it may enable it automatically but it's one terminal command to do it yourself so id do it just to be safe. This works both in 10.10.4 and Sierra.

Latest OS X update allows you to enable TRIM for third-party SSDs