5 ms·

I'm surprised (and a bit disappointed) by the lack of HDMI and DisplayPort/Thunderbolt ports. I'm even more surprised by the lack of a physical escape key. I'm

I'm surprised (and a bit disappointed) by the lack of HDMI and DisplayPort/Thunderbolt ports. I'm even more surprised by the lack of a physical escape key. I'm concerned that it could break some applications (Vim, Emacs, all kinds of command-line stuff), even if <Esc> isn't as big a deal with Apple's non-developer user base. ... At least they kept the 3.5mm jack.

nodesocket 10y ago
Map "esc" to caps lock should work.
- verandaguy 10y ago
  That's not necessarily comfortable for everyone, and in any case, Caps may already be mapped to something else. (Personally, I've got vim-arpeggio and my Normal Mode key sequence is simultaneously mashing <jk>). My point is, it shouldn't be necessary. Most people don't remap keys if they're using editors on a server because many people might use those, so setting up a personal configuration could be counterproductive and interfere with other users. If the soft <Esc> key conflicts with the editors in any way, this could cause a lot of annoyance.
- nkw 10y ago
  But that is where my control key goes!
- djhworld 10y ago
  I have Ctrl mapped to my caps lock key :(
  - bobwaycott 10y ago
    I have both mapped to caps lock. Single press is esc. Hold with another key is ctrl. I do a similar thing with my shift keys. Single press of left/right shift places the appropriate parentheses. Holding acts like shift.
    - sic1 10y ago
      Whoa, whoa... explain your magic wizard. I've had caps lock mapped to control for years (i don't use the actual control keys for anything, don't like the weird pinky motion), but having a quick esc like that sounds great.
      - bobwaycott 10y ago
        First, I use OS X Keyboard preferences to map caps > ctrl. Then, I use Karabiner like so: https://cl.ly/3W2X1A2j3y3l https://cl.ly/3W2X1A2j3y3l (screenshot of my settings). I don't go too crazy with things. But I have the caps > ctrl+esc, shifts > parens when pressed alone, and I have my backtick/underscore key swapped so a single backtick press gives me an underscore, and I do shift+hyphen to get a backtick (which I need far less frequently than I need underscores). Sometimes, when I feel like going really crazy, I swap my numbers and symbols so I get symbols as unshifted keypresses and numbers with shifted keypresses. But that sometimes gets confusing to years of muscle memory. EDIT: You can find Karabiner here: https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/ https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/ EDIT2: I also have my pipe symbol & backslash swapped (mostly for Elixir, where pipes are more common than in, say, Python). You can setup your own private.xml with Karabiner to do that like so: https://gist.github.com/bobwaycott/d3a52718927519f3a11fbff8b849b03f https://gist.github.com/bobwaycott/d3a52718927519f3a11fbff8b...
skykooler 10y ago
Plenty of other stuff uses escape too. Almost all games use it to get to the main menu. And every online video player uses it to get out of fullscreen.
mrfusion 10y ago
How would you do external monitors?
- verandaguy 10y ago
  I suppose either via USB-C, or using a dongle that connects to it.
  - MiguelHudnandez 10y ago
    I have a 4k monitor (LG 27UD88-W) that supports USB-C input. The 12" MacBook drives it at full resolution at an unusable 15 Hz. It drives the screen at 1080P resolution at 60Hz. The laptop charges from the monitor's power supply while plugged in, so I think it is a pretty good setup if only the refresh rate was better at native resolution. The monitor has just two USB 3.0 type A ports so it can be used as a dock. It's no refresh of the thunderbolt display, but it'll do. Thunderbolt 3.0 runs on USB-C so you can consider this a 4-port thunderbolt machine. USB-C should start catching on now that Apple finally made a decent machine with the port. I was really bummed when the iPhone 7 did not feature USB-C instead of lightning. I'm optimistic about the new MacBook Pro driving a 4K display at 60Hz. Luckily I will get to order through work and test it out before considering it personally.
    - kgwgk 10y ago
      13" Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and: One display with 5120-by-2880 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors Up to two displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors 15" Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and: Up to two displays with 5120-by-2880 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors Up to four displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors
ben174 10y ago
Also killed the SD card slot. A lot of photographers are going to particularly pissed off about that.
swang 10y ago
they did break the ESC key. i upgraded to sierra on monday. vim wasn't working. just thought it was some new vim setting that came over from sierra. then the following day i tried hitting escape to exit out of the search interface in sublime. didn't work. figured out that my esc key was broken. the fix was to kill siri which gave me back access to the ESC key. i was wondering why QA, developers, product never ran into this problem when they were building out sierra. then i saw those leaked version of the MacBook Pro, and then it made a lot more sense.
- cozzyd 10y ago
  sounds like they're bringing esc-to-enter-command-mode to a native OS feature. Why settle for your crusty old vim command line when Siri is so much more courageous.
  - majewsky 10y ago
    Except that Esc enters normal mode. But equating Siri with "normal mode" is an even more eerie proposition about where Apple wants to take us.
massysett 10y ago
Surely the Touch Bar will have Esc, along with a bunch of F keys if in Terminal. Indeed, many photos I saw today featured Esc in the Touch Bar. Indeed, it was a large Esc, which would be nice for Vim work. I'm surprised people see a touch screen and somehow think there would be no way to make it a bunch of old-fashioned F keys.
- vladimir-y 10y ago
  What about tactile contact, blind key clicking? What about running Linux/Windows on the new Macbooks?
- xenadu02 10y ago
  Yes, it has a function key mode. And yes there is an Escape key in the upper-left when in Terminal, Xcode, etc.

nodesocket 10y ago

Map "esc" to caps lock should work.

verandaguy 10y ago
That's not necessarily comfortable for everyone, and in any case, Caps may already be mapped to something else. (Personally, I've got vim-arpeggio and my Normal Mode key sequence is simultaneously mashing <jk>). My point is, it shouldn't be necessary. Most people don't remap keys if they're using editors on a server because many people might use those, so setting up a personal configuration could be counterproductive and interfere with other users. If the soft <Esc> key conflicts with the editors in any way, this could cause a lot of annoyance.
nkw 10y ago
But that is where my control key goes!
djhworld 10y ago
I have Ctrl mapped to my caps lock key :(
- bobwaycott 10y ago
  I have both mapped to caps lock. Single press is esc. Hold with another key is ctrl. I do a similar thing with my shift keys. Single press of left/right shift places the appropriate parentheses. Holding acts like shift.
  - sic1 10y ago
    Whoa, whoa... explain your magic wizard. I've had caps lock mapped to control for years (i don't use the actual control keys for anything, don't like the weird pinky motion), but having a quick esc like that sounds great.
    - bobwaycott 10y ago
      First, I use OS X Keyboard preferences to map caps > ctrl. Then, I use Karabiner like so: https://cl.ly/3W2X1A2j3y3l https://cl.ly/3W2X1A2j3y3l (screenshot of my settings). I don't go too crazy with things. But I have the caps > ctrl+esc, shifts > parens when pressed alone, and I have my backtick/underscore key swapped so a single backtick press gives me an underscore, and I do shift+hyphen to get a backtick (which I need far less frequently than I need underscores). Sometimes, when I feel like going really crazy, I swap my numbers and symbols so I get symbols as unshifted keypresses and numbers with shifted keypresses. But that sometimes gets confusing to years of muscle memory. EDIT: You can find Karabiner here: https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/ https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/ EDIT2: I also have my pipe symbol & backslash swapped (mostly for Elixir, where pipes are more common than in, say, Python). You can setup your own private.xml with Karabiner to do that like so: https://gist.github.com/bobwaycott/d3a52718927519f3a11fbff8b849b03f https://gist.github.com/bobwaycott/d3a52718927519f3a11fbff8b...

skykooler 10y ago

Plenty of other stuff uses escape too. Almost all games use it to get to the main menu. And every online video player uses it to get out of fullscreen.

mrfusion 10y ago

How would you do external monitors?

verandaguy 10y ago
I suppose either via USB-C, or using a dongle that connects to it.
- MiguelHudnandez 10y ago
  I have a 4k monitor (LG 27UD88-W) that supports USB-C input. The 12" MacBook drives it at full resolution at an unusable 15 Hz. It drives the screen at 1080P resolution at 60Hz. The laptop charges from the monitor's power supply while plugged in, so I think it is a pretty good setup if only the refresh rate was better at native resolution. The monitor has just two USB 3.0 type A ports so it can be used as a dock. It's no refresh of the thunderbolt display, but it'll do. Thunderbolt 3.0 runs on USB-C so you can consider this a 4-port thunderbolt machine. USB-C should start catching on now that Apple finally made a decent machine with the port. I was really bummed when the iPhone 7 did not feature USB-C instead of lightning. I'm optimistic about the new MacBook Pro driving a 4K display at 60Hz. Luckily I will get to order through work and test it out before considering it personally.
  - kgwgk 10y ago
    13" Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and: One display with 5120-by-2880 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors Up to two displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors 15" Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and: Up to two displays with 5120-by-2880 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors Up to four displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors

ben174 10y ago

Also killed the SD card slot. A lot of photographers are going to particularly pissed off about that.

swang 10y ago

they did break the ESC key. i upgraded to sierra on monday. vim wasn't working. just thought it was some new vim setting that came over from sierra. then the following day i tried hitting escape to exit out of the search interface in sublime. didn't work. figured out that my esc key was broken. the fix was to kill siri which gave me back access to the ESC key. i was wondering why QA, developers, product never ran into this problem when they were building out sierra. then i saw those leaked version of the MacBook Pro, and then it made a lot more sense.

cozzyd 10y ago
sounds like they're bringing esc-to-enter-command-mode to a native OS feature. Why settle for your crusty old vim command line when Siri is so much more courageous.
- majewsky 10y ago
  Except that Esc enters normal mode. But equating Siri with "normal mode" is an even more eerie proposition about where Apple wants to take us.

massysett 10y ago

Surely the Touch Bar will have Esc, along with a bunch of F keys if in Terminal. Indeed, many photos I saw today featured Esc in the Touch Bar. Indeed, it was a large Esc, which would be nice for Vim work. I'm surprised people see a touch screen and somehow think there would be no way to make it a bunch of old-fashioned F keys.

vladimir-y 10y ago
What about tactile contact, blind key clicking? What about running Linux/Windows on the new Macbooks?
xenadu02 10y ago
Yes, it has a function key mode. And yes there is an Escape key in the upper-left when in Terminal, Xcode, etc.