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The meltdown is about the HN audience in particular. From my perspective, the new MBP is not very compelling from a hardware perspective. It's high price is n

The meltdown is about the HN audience in particular. From my perspective, the new MBP is not very compelling from a hardware perspective. It's high price is not reflective of the computing power (in my mind). The lack of physical buttons (15" is my preferred size) is annoying to scary considering how many shortcuts I rely on use fn keys or esc (Emacs man myself).

chrischen 10y ago
Computer power relative to what? A desktop class super computer? This has been discussed before: similarly configured PC laptops cost just as much or more.
- gshulegaard 10y ago
  > This has been discussed before: similarly configured PC laptops cost just as much or more. What? * Razer Blade 14" [http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade] * Alienware 13" [http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-13-laptop http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-13-l...] * Alienware 15" [http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-15-laptop http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-15-l...] * Dell DE workstation [http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/555/campaigns/xps-linux-laptop?c=us&l=en&s=biz http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/555/campaigns/xps-linux-lapt...] [1] So basically every other power machine in that price range has better specifications for less or equal pricing (including premium niche brands like Razer) [1] These come with Ubuntu preinstalled if you want too! --- Edit: Just for grins I thought I would break down the comparison of the Macbook Pro 13" against the Razer Blade. Stats: MBP 13 (max configured), Razer Blade Price: $2,499, $2,299 CPU: i7 DUAL core, i7 QUAD core GPU: Intel Iris (integrated), Nvidia GTX 1060 RAM: 16 GB LPDDR3, 16 GB DDR4 Disk: 512 GB PCIE SSD, 512 GB PCIE SSD Display: Retina (2560 x 1600), QHD w/ Touch (3200 x 1800) Basically, the Razer Blade destroys the performance of the MBP for $200 LESS. --- Edit 2: The price discrepancies get even worse when talking about the 15" laptop...just saying.
  - eslaught 10y ago
    Take any of your 15" options and try to satisfy the following requirements: * Quad core CPU * >= 16 GB RAM * >= 1 TB SSD * Retina display with resolution at least as good as the MacBook 15" * Battery life at least as good as the MacBook 15" * Weight at least as good as the MacBook 15" With those requirements---if you can meet them at all, which most can't---the price gap shrinks substantially. The Razer Blade, for example, is $2700 for the QHD+/1TB option, and it's not obvious if it can meet the last two requirements. The Alienware in a similar configuration is $2600 depending on the graphics card but the best screen option is 1080p and again, not obvious if battery is good and the weight is just a joke. No amount of money is going to get me to carry a > 7 pound laptop. And that's without going into more subtle issues like build quality, track pad quality, etc.
    - JamesMcMinn 10y ago
      Dell's XPS 15 comes closest to that, although perhaps doesn't have quite the same battery life, it does have: Quad Core i7, 32GB RAM, 1TB SDD, higher resolution, approximately same weight, and a more powerful GPU.
      - gshulegaard 10y ago
        I would check into the battery life. But I did recall hearing that the new MBPs had battery issues? http://www.macrumors.com/2016/12/03/macbook-pro-battery-life-concerns/ http://www.macrumors.com/2016/12/03/macbook-pro-battery-life...
        JamesMcMinn 10y ago
        As I understand it, they fixed whatever issue was causing the battery life issues through a software patch. I've got a XPS 15 9560 and the battery life sits around 7 to 8 hours for "basic" tasks at around 30% brightness (which is still quite bright). This is running Fedora 25, so it's probably a bit longer under Windows. Not going to reach the 10 hours of a MBP, but it's still quite good.
- forgetsusername 10y ago
  >similarly configured PC laptops cost just as much or more. I guess that depends on what "similarly" means. The Dell XPS 15", for the same price has a far better processor, far better video card, 32GB of RAM, 4k screen and a 1TB SSD. The Macbook has a touchbar? http://www.dell.com/ca/p/xps-15-9560-laptop/pd?oc=nxps159560_bt_s1609e&model_id=xps-15-9560-laptop http://www.dell.com/ca/p/xps-15-9560-laptop/pd?oc=nxps159560... I'd love to see the laptops that cost more...

chrischen 10y ago

Computer power relative to what? A desktop class super computer? This has been discussed before: similarly configured PC laptops cost just as much or more.

gshulegaard 10y ago
> This has been discussed before: similarly configured PC laptops cost just as much or more. What? * Razer Blade 14" [http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade] * Alienware 13" [http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-13-laptop http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-13-l...] * Alienware 15" [http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-15-laptop http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-15-l...] * Dell DE workstation [http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/555/campaigns/xps-linux-laptop?c=us&l=en&s=biz http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/555/campaigns/xps-linux-lapt...] [1] So basically every other power machine in that price range has better specifications for less or equal pricing (including premium niche brands like Razer) [1] These come with Ubuntu preinstalled if you want too! --- Edit: Just for grins I thought I would break down the comparison of the Macbook Pro 13" against the Razer Blade. Stats: MBP 13 (max configured), Razer Blade Price: $2,499, $2,299 CPU: i7 DUAL core, i7 QUAD core GPU: Intel Iris (integrated), Nvidia GTX 1060 RAM: 16 GB LPDDR3, 16 GB DDR4 Disk: 512 GB PCIE SSD, 512 GB PCIE SSD Display: Retina (2560 x 1600), QHD w/ Touch (3200 x 1800) Basically, the Razer Blade destroys the performance of the MBP for $200 LESS. --- Edit 2: The price discrepancies get even worse when talking about the 15" laptop...just saying.
- eslaught 10y ago
  Take any of your 15" options and try to satisfy the following requirements: * Quad core CPU * >= 16 GB RAM * >= 1 TB SSD * Retina display with resolution at least as good as the MacBook 15" * Battery life at least as good as the MacBook 15" * Weight at least as good as the MacBook 15" With those requirements---if you can meet them at all, which most can't---the price gap shrinks substantially. The Razer Blade, for example, is $2700 for the QHD+/1TB option, and it's not obvious if it can meet the last two requirements. The Alienware in a similar configuration is $2600 depending on the graphics card but the best screen option is 1080p and again, not obvious if battery is good and the weight is just a joke. No amount of money is going to get me to carry a > 7 pound laptop. And that's without going into more subtle issues like build quality, track pad quality, etc.
  - JamesMcMinn 10y ago
    Dell's XPS 15 comes closest to that, although perhaps doesn't have quite the same battery life, it does have: Quad Core i7, 32GB RAM, 1TB SDD, higher resolution, approximately same weight, and a more powerful GPU.
    - gshulegaard 10y ago
      I would check into the battery life. But I did recall hearing that the new MBPs had battery issues? http://www.macrumors.com/2016/12/03/macbook-pro-battery-life-concerns/ http://www.macrumors.com/2016/12/03/macbook-pro-battery-life...
      - JamesMcMinn 10y ago
        As I understand it, they fixed whatever issue was causing the battery life issues through a software patch. I've got a XPS 15 9560 and the battery life sits around 7 to 8 hours for "basic" tasks at around 30% brightness (which is still quite bright). This is running Fedora 25, so it's probably a bit longer under Windows. Not going to reach the 10 hours of a MBP, but it's still quite good.
forgetsusername 10y ago
>similarly configured PC laptops cost just as much or more. I guess that depends on what "similarly" means. The Dell XPS 15", for the same price has a far better processor, far better video card, 32GB of RAM, 4k screen and a 1TB SSD. The Macbook has a touchbar? http://www.dell.com/ca/p/xps-15-9560-laptop/pd?oc=nxps159560_bt_s1609e&model_id=xps-15-9560-laptop http://www.dell.com/ca/p/xps-15-9560-laptop/pd?oc=nxps159560... I'd love to see the laptops that cost more...