3 ms·

I wish apple would just make a line of laptops aimed at professionals. They could give us back a real keyboard, give us back USB ports, give us back swappable

by blhack 8y ago

I wish apple would just make a line of laptops aimed at professionals. They could give us back a real keyboard, give us back USB ports, give us back swappable batteries, and give us back SD card readers (although this could be microsd at this point). They could even call it "macbook professional" or something like that. /s There is just absolutely no reason for these changes. The lack of USB ports on this laptop is something that I absolutely have not gotten used to. While I've been able to make due with the keyboard, I dug my old 2013 MBP out today, and instead of feeling bulky and old, it just felt good. If the screen hadn't become so badly delaminated, I'd probably switch back to it full time and just eat the ~$2300 loss on this thing (or maybe make it a desktop?).

toomanybeersies 8y ago
A MicroSD reader would be fairly useless. Outside of phones, MicroSD isn't really used, and nobody uses MicroSD for transferring files. SD cards are still the standard format for cameras, which are the main use case for SD card slots.
- 88 8y ago
  Every SD card I’ve bought in the last few years has just been a microSD card with full size adapter.
  - fooker 8y ago
    Cameras need fast full size SD cards.
    - sneak 8y ago
      My full frame RX1Rii shoots 20+MP raw just fine onto micro SD.
      - petepete 8y ago
        All will, the underlying technology is the same and the 'micro' just refers to the plastic shell; the adapter is just a spacer with electrical contacts.
- sneak 8y ago
  That’s not remotely true. I shoot all kinds of video and record audio onto micro SD.
- blhack 8y ago
  It's used in micro controllers, drones, some cameras etc. the whole point of my post is that apple should make a line of laptops that caters to people like artists, photographers, engineers, etc. They used to, and it was called the MacBook Pro. A perfect example of this: I was recently at EDC, a massive music festival in Nevada, and one of our lighting displays had its controller stop working. I had my laptop with me, though, so I installed the control software on it. The comical part was that I had to plug I first a dongle to get USB, and then ANOTHER dongle to get Ethernet (controllers like this talk over artnet). It was just really annoying. It felt like I was using a fashion device for work.
__m 8y ago
don't forget the cd drive and sweet floppy disc
- blhack 8y ago
  Those have ubiquitous replacements. USB and flash memory don't.
keymone 8y ago
> give us back USB ports, give us back swappable batteries, and give us back SD card readers also dvd, ethernet, hdmi, vga and floppy, yeah. sorry, i want neither of these in my laptop. i want it to be lightweight, small, solid and durable body without moving parts or too many holes. what you want is achievable with dock station.
- metargz 8y ago
  > sorry, i want neither of these in my laptop. i want it to be lightweight, small, solid and durable body without moving parts or too many holes. Thinkpad T480s weights about the same as the current MBP, has more useful ports (I find having hdmi, ethernet and older usb handy on a device I use in my work trips), good keyboard, replaceable hardware and whatnot. It is bigger, but Lenovo makes smaller Thinkpads too. Subjectively, I find it more robust than my MBP at work, but that's not the point. The point is, the sacrifices Apple makes on their current Macbook Pros are simply design choices, not engineering tradeoffs.
  - keymone 8y ago
    i'm not defending macbooks here unconditionally. of course keyboard is worse than previous generation. i hope apple fixes it in the next. but otherwise, macbooks are hands down best hardware design of a laptop on the market. touchpad alone makes me not even consider any of the lenovo stuff. visual, tactile and functional design matter more to me than having 32g ram. not having more holes is preferable to me than having more holes. abandoning everything for 4 usbc ports is painful at first, but a great decision that will move the industry as a whole forward. of course this is all subjective, use whatever works best for you.
- blhack 8y ago
  Ethernet sure, but the rest of that stuff has been completely replaced. This is what I mean: make a laptop for people who need stuff like SD card readers and USB, and make another for people who don't. The way I see the breakdown is the "pro" or "air" lines.

by blhack 8y ago

toomanybeersies 8y ago

A MicroSD reader would be fairly useless. Outside of phones, MicroSD isn't really used, and nobody uses MicroSD for transferring files. SD cards are still the standard format for cameras, which are the main use case for SD card slots.

88 8y ago
Every SD card I’ve bought in the last few years has just been a microSD card with full size adapter.
- fooker 8y ago
  Cameras need fast full size SD cards.
  - sneak 8y ago
    My full frame RX1Rii shoots 20+MP raw just fine onto micro SD.
    - petepete 8y ago
      All will, the underlying technology is the same and the 'micro' just refers to the plastic shell; the adapter is just a spacer with electrical contacts.
sneak 8y ago
That’s not remotely true. I shoot all kinds of video and record audio onto micro SD.
blhack 8y ago
It's used in micro controllers, drones, some cameras etc. the whole point of my post is that apple should make a line of laptops that caters to people like artists, photographers, engineers, etc. They used to, and it was called the MacBook Pro. A perfect example of this: I was recently at EDC, a massive music festival in Nevada, and one of our lighting displays had its controller stop working. I had my laptop with me, though, so I installed the control software on it. The comical part was that I had to plug I first a dongle to get USB, and then ANOTHER dongle to get Ethernet (controllers like this talk over artnet). It was just really annoying. It felt like I was using a fashion device for work.

__m 8y ago

don't forget the cd drive and sweet floppy disc

blhack 8y ago
Those have ubiquitous replacements. USB and flash memory don't.

keymone 8y ago

> give us back USB ports, give us back swappable batteries, and give us back SD card readers also dvd, ethernet, hdmi, vga and floppy, yeah. sorry, i want neither of these in my laptop. i want it to be lightweight, small, solid and durable body without moving parts or too many holes. what you want is achievable with dock station.

metargz 8y ago
> sorry, i want neither of these in my laptop. i want it to be lightweight, small, solid and durable body without moving parts or too many holes. Thinkpad T480s weights about the same as the current MBP, has more useful ports (I find having hdmi, ethernet and older usb handy on a device I use in my work trips), good keyboard, replaceable hardware and whatnot. It is bigger, but Lenovo makes smaller Thinkpads too. Subjectively, I find it more robust than my MBP at work, but that's not the point. The point is, the sacrifices Apple makes on their current Macbook Pros are simply design choices, not engineering tradeoffs.
- keymone 8y ago
  i'm not defending macbooks here unconditionally. of course keyboard is worse than previous generation. i hope apple fixes it in the next. but otherwise, macbooks are hands down best hardware design of a laptop on the market. touchpad alone makes me not even consider any of the lenovo stuff. visual, tactile and functional design matter more to me than having 32g ram. not having more holes is preferable to me than having more holes. abandoning everything for 4 usbc ports is painful at first, but a great decision that will move the industry as a whole forward. of course this is all subjective, use whatever works best for you.
blhack 8y ago
Ethernet sure, but the rest of that stuff has been completely replaced. This is what I mean: make a laptop for people who need stuff like SD card readers and USB, and make another for people who don't. The way I see the breakdown is the "pro" or "air" lines.