5 ms·

Our company is sticking with our current stockpile of 2012-2014 Macbooks. They have a lot of life left in them anyway, but when it comes to an office, having to

Our company is sticking with our current stockpile of 2012-2014 Macbooks. They have a lot of life left in them anyway, but when it comes to an office, having to reinvest in new, HUGE displays, new cabling, new laptops? Apple needs to come up with something more compelling than a stupid bar. And agree, at home, Windows 10's unix capabilities are amazing. Apple needs to dedicate some real resources to the Mac line and turn them back from being overpriced toys and back to useful tools.

x0x0 10y ago
I just bought a new mid 2015 mbp for that reason. Beyond the $300 price increase, there's an additional $400 backdoor price increase for additional chargers and a pile of dongles to replace all the functionality that currently works. Not throwing in a single usb-A port was the final fuck you that tipped me over the edge to the older generation.
- nicky0 10y ago
  $400 for dongles? Got a breakdown on that?
  - Lio 10y ago
    Not the original poster but I'll have a go... 1. OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock so I can connect my existing monitor and wired network (not yet available): $279. 2. Replacement for my USB-A Superdrive: $39.99 3. Thunderbolt 3 hdmi media kit for presentations: $49 4. USB-C SD card reader: $29 5. USB-C to Lightning cable: $20 6. USB-C to USB-A dongle so I can connect my ANT+ dongle: $9 7. Power supply extension cable (you don't get that included anymore): $19 8. Probably would want a USB-C to microUSB lead too (although I could go through the USB-A adapter with existing cables): $19 Total: $463.99 That doesn't seem too outlandish a set up for me. I haven't included an extra PSU, VGA or TB3 to TB2 for example. Now I live in the UK and the exchange rate isn't doing us any favours at the moment so all of the above will be somewhat more expensive too.
    - matwood 10y ago
      Just a note. If you get the TB 3 dock most of the other dongles are redundant unless you need the functionality on the go.
      - Lio 10y ago
        Yep that occurred to me too. It becomes a case of do you disconnect and bring the TB 3 dock with you, buy a second 'traveling' dock or get just what you need for travel and hope for the best.
        matwood 10y ago
        Honestly, I think a docking situation like that looks awesome. I like the idea of just usb-c, but Apple was probably a bit ahead of the curve here. In a year no one will be talking about it, and places like monoprice will have cheap dongles. I also get what Apple is trying to do. My current MBP has the sd-card reader. I use it because I have a d7100, but everyone else I know with a mbp has literally never used that reader. For them it's a complete waste of space/weight. It is easy to get caught up in what we (as in HNers) need, and miss the fact that many people probably never using anything beyond the power port. It's a similar situation with the removal of the headphone jack. Apple has stats and those show that the majority of people either use the headphones that come with the phone or have bought BT ones. Apple got ripped hard, but the rumors are most of the flagships coming out next year will also not have a headphone jack.
    - FussyZeus 10y ago
      It's also worth noting that the OWC dock is not official hardware and so may not behave quite as smoothly as the Thunderbolts (currently) do.
    - nicky0 10y ago
      Good list, although replacing all your USB-A peripherals can be avoided with a C->A adapter or two.
  - x0x0 10y ago
    Two additional chargers, one that stays in my backpack and one for the other room in my house where I work: $180. $150-ish worth of dock for my desk so various stuff works including Logitech wireless mouse, monitor, external drives -- I didn't choose one yet but that's the price range. DVI for projectors and HDMI for various stuff: $100. Three $10 usb-A dongles, one each of which would probably be tied to the power adapters because I personally and professionally have a dozen devices that use usb-A. And the above is well over $400.
wwweston 10y ago
I'm still sticking with the 2012 pre-retina because it's apparently the last MBP you can get if you don't want the damn glossy screen, which somehow is standard even though it makes the problem of reflected lighting/glare worse.

x0x0 10y ago

I just bought a new mid 2015 mbp for that reason. Beyond the $300 price increase, there's an additional $400 backdoor price increase for additional chargers and a pile of dongles to replace all the functionality that currently works. Not throwing in a single usb-A port was the final fuck you that tipped me over the edge to the older generation.

nicky0 10y ago
$400 for dongles? Got a breakdown on that?
- Lio 10y ago
  Not the original poster but I'll have a go... 1. OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock so I can connect my existing monitor and wired network (not yet available): $279. 2. Replacement for my USB-A Superdrive: $39.99 3. Thunderbolt 3 hdmi media kit for presentations: $49 4. USB-C SD card reader: $29 5. USB-C to Lightning cable: $20 6. USB-C to USB-A dongle so I can connect my ANT+ dongle: $9 7. Power supply extension cable (you don't get that included anymore): $19 8. Probably would want a USB-C to microUSB lead too (although I could go through the USB-A adapter with existing cables): $19 Total: $463.99 That doesn't seem too outlandish a set up for me. I haven't included an extra PSU, VGA or TB3 to TB2 for example. Now I live in the UK and the exchange rate isn't doing us any favours at the moment so all of the above will be somewhat more expensive too.
  - matwood 10y ago
    Just a note. If you get the TB 3 dock most of the other dongles are redundant unless you need the functionality on the go.
    - Lio 10y ago
      Yep that occurred to me too. It becomes a case of do you disconnect and bring the TB 3 dock with you, buy a second 'traveling' dock or get just what you need for travel and hope for the best.
      - matwood 10y ago
        Honestly, I think a docking situation like that looks awesome. I like the idea of just usb-c, but Apple was probably a bit ahead of the curve here. In a year no one will be talking about it, and places like monoprice will have cheap dongles. I also get what Apple is trying to do. My current MBP has the sd-card reader. I use it because I have a d7100, but everyone else I know with a mbp has literally never used that reader. For them it's a complete waste of space/weight. It is easy to get caught up in what we (as in HNers) need, and miss the fact that many people probably never using anything beyond the power port. It's a similar situation with the removal of the headphone jack. Apple has stats and those show that the majority of people either use the headphones that come with the phone or have bought BT ones. Apple got ripped hard, but the rumors are most of the flagships coming out next year will also not have a headphone jack.
  - FussyZeus 10y ago
    It's also worth noting that the OWC dock is not official hardware and so may not behave quite as smoothly as the Thunderbolts (currently) do.
  - nicky0 10y ago
    Good list, although replacing all your USB-A peripherals can be avoided with a C->A adapter or two.
- x0x0 10y ago
  Two additional chargers, one that stays in my backpack and one for the other room in my house where I work: $180. $150-ish worth of dock for my desk so various stuff works including Logitech wireless mouse, monitor, external drives -- I didn't choose one yet but that's the price range. DVI for projectors and HDMI for various stuff: $100. Three $10 usb-A dongles, one each of which would probably be tied to the power adapters because I personally and professionally have a dozen devices that use usb-A. And the above is well over $400.

wwweston 10y ago

I'm still sticking with the 2012 pre-retina because it's apparently the last MBP you can get if you don't want the damn glossy screen, which somehow is standard even though it makes the problem of reflected lighting/glare worse.