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Yep. I actually looked around for alternatives, something that I haven't done in years, but I haven't seen anything else more compelling. If you want a laptop w

Yep. I actually looked around for alternatives, something that I haven't done in years, but I haven't seen anything else more compelling. If you want a laptop with 16 GB of RAM, HiDPI screen, a discrete GPU and 10 hours of battery life, then there really aren't very many choices. So yeah, the new MacBook Pro still looks like a pretty good options for developers. I am surprised about them dumping MagSafe, because it's a superior power option to USB-C. And it's also surprising that they didn't include at least one USB-A port for compatibility, but that's a minor issue in the grand scheme of things. The touch bar I am actually excited about for what it's worth. There's a lot of developers out there that still use the mouse for a lot of actions in their editor / IDE because they can't be bothered to learn the keyboard shortcuts. When those IDEs start to embrace the TouchBar it will make a lot of their lives easier by surfacing actions like stepping through a debugger, refactoring, etc. So on the whole I really don't see that Apple is abandoning developers. I just look at what Microsoft is doing with the Surface line and I wish that Apple was investing more heavily in the same direction.

2muchcoffeeman 10y ago
I think the new MBP seem expensive like everyone else, it I species out a Lenovo Carbon X1. There was a rebate available at the time. But otherwise the price was pretty much the same ... as usual.
- cstejerean 10y ago
  It's definitely a bit more expensive, especially if you opt for the 1TB SSD. But the X1 Carbon doesn't have a discrete GPU.
btym 10y ago
There is one line of laptops I definitely prefer and highly recommend: the previous generation of the MacBook Pro.
- ghshephard 10y ago
  The current generation of MacBook Air, with Five (5) Ports (Power, 2xUSB, 1xTB, 1xSD), not including the mic is pretty good value as well for a certain group of people who use a lot of connected devices in the field. I have zero reservations about recommending the i5 1.6Ghz w/8GB to anybody but the most demanding professional, who probably already knows they want something different.
- erickhill 10y ago
  I bought my 2015 15" refurb the day of the MBP Apple Event from the Apple Store. A couple of days ago all of the 15" models were sold out, but I think they have since replenished with a new batch. They seem to be selling well.
- nihonde 10y ago
  It's funny that this whole "controversy" about the new MBP had me take a closer look at my mid-2014 MBP, which is my daily workhorse. I honestly had no idea that it even had an HDMI socket. I've never once used either of the Thunderbolt sockets. I routinely forget about the second USB plug. So I basically need a single USB socket to allow me to run apps on my phone for testing. I sometimes use the SD card slot to pull images off my camera, but I could easily use a dedicated USB-C interface for that. So am I a "pro" user? I make iPhone and web apps with lots of users that generate many millions of dollars per year, so I'm at least "prosumer", which is probably more in line with Apple's target market for MBP than someone who makes 3D games or does VFX or motion graphics, etc.
  - ChristianGeek 10y ago
    Lol...I used my 2014 MBP as my daily for about a year with an external screen running off a DisplayPort to HDMI dongle before I realized it had an HDMI port built-in. (The only reason I even noticed is because I tried to use it as a USB port...I just never looked closely at the ports on that side.)
PascLeRasc 10y ago
I don't think most developers make use of the discrete GPU. Does forgoing this open up alternative options?
hguant 10y ago
> If you want a laptop with 16 GB of RAM, HiDPI screen, a discrete GPU and 10 hours of battery life, then there really aren't very many choices. Off the top of my head: Dell XPS 15 has up to 17 hours of battery life, a 4k screen (that can be upgraded to a touchscreen), dedicated Nvidia GPU and up to 32 gigs of Ram The Razor Blade and perpetually on the horizon Razor Blade Pro have QHD or better touchscreens, 16 gigs or more of RAM, and the best line up of dedicated graphics cards you're going to find in a laptop. Oh, and they did reactive/programable touch keyboards without removing core functionality from the device. Can't find specs on battery life at the moment. Plus, mechanical keyboard and glowy lights! And there's the ThinkPad line up which has basically everything under the sun now. Not to mention the Surface Book, which claims 12 hours of battery life, meets your dedicated GPU and RAM needs, and has a killer scree, that supports a some rather interesting input devices. And it can connect to an iPhone 7 without a dongle. There are options out there.
- sanswork 10y ago
  >Dell XPS 15 has up to 17 hours of battery life, a 4k screen (that can be upgraded to a touchscreen), dedicated Nvidia GPU and up to 32 gigs of Ram Every report I've seen from owners of the 15 says that even the 1080 version struggles to get 6 hours so where did you get 17 hours from?
  - jerf 10y ago
    Dell's own self reporting on their website, I presume. I got an XPS15 a couple of months ago and I have no idea what crack Dell smoked to get that number. I don't have a problem with the battery life personally since I'm coming off a very old laptop which has about a 6 minute lifetime, so the 4-5 hours I can get is a breath of fresh air, plus I tweaked the battery to the "mostly plugged in all the time" setting which I think works by lowering the max charge limit to 80%, so most people will probably get more than I do (at least at first). But if you're used to getting 10 hours from an existing system you may be disappointed.
  - majormajor 10y ago
    Are you guys seeing 15" MBPs with discrete GPUs really get 10 hours of battery life? I've got one at home and one at work, and moderate usage manages to kill them both in 4 or so hours a lot. Big difference from the 13", which consistently lasts longer for me. That GPU likes to switch on, and that screen is a big hog too.

2muchcoffeeman 10y ago

I think the new MBP seem expensive like everyone else, it I species out a Lenovo Carbon X1. There was a rebate available at the time. But otherwise the price was pretty much the same ... as usual.

cstejerean 10y ago
It's definitely a bit more expensive, especially if you opt for the 1TB SSD. But the X1 Carbon doesn't have a discrete GPU.

btym 10y ago

There is one line of laptops I definitely prefer and highly recommend: the previous generation of the MacBook Pro.

ghshephard 10y ago
The current generation of MacBook Air, with Five (5) Ports (Power, 2xUSB, 1xTB, 1xSD), not including the mic is pretty good value as well for a certain group of people who use a lot of connected devices in the field. I have zero reservations about recommending the i5 1.6Ghz w/8GB to anybody but the most demanding professional, who probably already knows they want something different.
erickhill 10y ago
I bought my 2015 15" refurb the day of the MBP Apple Event from the Apple Store. A couple of days ago all of the 15" models were sold out, but I think they have since replenished with a new batch. They seem to be selling well.
nihonde 10y ago
It's funny that this whole "controversy" about the new MBP had me take a closer look at my mid-2014 MBP, which is my daily workhorse. I honestly had no idea that it even had an HDMI socket. I've never once used either of the Thunderbolt sockets. I routinely forget about the second USB plug. So I basically need a single USB socket to allow me to run apps on my phone for testing. I sometimes use the SD card slot to pull images off my camera, but I could easily use a dedicated USB-C interface for that. So am I a "pro" user? I make iPhone and web apps with lots of users that generate many millions of dollars per year, so I'm at least "prosumer", which is probably more in line with Apple's target market for MBP than someone who makes 3D games or does VFX or motion graphics, etc.
- ChristianGeek 10y ago
  Lol...I used my 2014 MBP as my daily for about a year with an external screen running off a DisplayPort to HDMI dongle before I realized it had an HDMI port built-in. (The only reason I even noticed is because I tried to use it as a USB port...I just never looked closely at the ports on that side.)

PascLeRasc 10y ago

I don't think most developers make use of the discrete GPU. Does forgoing this open up alternative options?

hguant 10y ago

> If you want a laptop with 16 GB of RAM, HiDPI screen, a discrete GPU and 10 hours of battery life, then there really aren't very many choices. Off the top of my head: Dell XPS 15 has up to 17 hours of battery life, a 4k screen (that can be upgraded to a touchscreen), dedicated Nvidia GPU and up to 32 gigs of Ram The Razor Blade and perpetually on the horizon Razor Blade Pro have QHD or better touchscreens, 16 gigs or more of RAM, and the best line up of dedicated graphics cards you're going to find in a laptop. Oh, and they did reactive/programable touch keyboards without removing core functionality from the device. Can't find specs on battery life at the moment. Plus, mechanical keyboard and glowy lights! And there's the ThinkPad line up which has basically everything under the sun now. Not to mention the Surface Book, which claims 12 hours of battery life, meets your dedicated GPU and RAM needs, and has a killer scree, that supports a some rather interesting input devices. And it can connect to an iPhone 7 without a dongle. There are options out there.

sanswork 10y ago
>Dell XPS 15 has up to 17 hours of battery life, a 4k screen (that can be upgraded to a touchscreen), dedicated Nvidia GPU and up to 32 gigs of Ram Every report I've seen from owners of the 15 says that even the 1080 version struggles to get 6 hours so where did you get 17 hours from?
- jerf 10y ago
  Dell's own self reporting on their website, I presume. I got an XPS15 a couple of months ago and I have no idea what crack Dell smoked to get that number. I don't have a problem with the battery life personally since I'm coming off a very old laptop which has about a 6 minute lifetime, so the 4-5 hours I can get is a breath of fresh air, plus I tweaked the battery to the "mostly plugged in all the time" setting which I think works by lowering the max charge limit to 80%, so most people will probably get more than I do (at least at first). But if you're used to getting 10 hours from an existing system you may be disappointed.
- majormajor 10y ago
  Are you guys seeing 15" MBPs with discrete GPUs really get 10 hours of battery life? I've got one at home and one at work, and moderate usage manages to kill them both in 4 or so hours a lot. Big difference from the 13", which consistently lasts longer for me. That GPU likes to switch on, and that screen is a big hog too.