16 ms·

I don’t get all the hate on the new MacBook Pros. I have a 2016 with TouchBar. It’s not a beast but it’s definitely faster compared to the 2015 model I replaced

by minton 8y ago

I don’t get all the hate on the new MacBook Pros. I have a 2016 with TouchBar. It’s not a beast but it’s definitely faster compared to the 2015 model I replaced.

trevyn 8y ago
You haven’t had any issues come up with the keyboard? I’m honestly surprised.
- alonmower 8y ago
  I've had two of the new pros for the last ~year (one for work and one at home) and haven't had any keyboard issues on either. I don't doubt that it's a problem but it probably gets blown a little bit out of proportion
- ddoolin 8y ago
  Mine's a year and a half old now, no problems here. Works like a charm. I should note that roughly 25% of that time has been on an external keyboard (Apple display, MBP lid closed), so it might not see as much use as others.
  - tajen 8y ago
    If I could do it this way, I’d buy a super-specs 11-inch machine: I mostly use it closed anyway.
- jdietrich 8y ago
  I dn't knw what yu're talking abut. My Macbk Pr keybard is wrking fine.
- Eric_WVGG 8y ago
  The keyboard fails are double the rate of the old model, which elevates it from "very rare" to "rare." The problem is that the repair was $700, so the folks to whom it happened (including myself) were very, very vocal.
- parasubvert 8y ago
  I’ve had a 2017 MacBook Pro in daily heavy use for a year now - no keyboard troubles. Our IT Department anecdotally reports that about 15% of the 2016 models had issues, and fewer of the 2017 models. Nearly all of our 2500 employees have MBPs or iMacs of some sort.
  - abhorrence 8y ago
    I've heard similar reports from the IT department at my employer as well. However, on my personal computer (and I've seen similar with a few friends), I've had to have the keyboard repaired 3 times. This makes me suspect there's something that aggravates the issue, or that a lot of people use external keyboards (which a glance around the office suggests is true). The majority of the keys that have failed on my computer have been in the areas that get hot when the processor is under load.
  - xaldir 8y ago
    Our sample size is smaller but we are closer to 40% with models needing multiple fixes. It doesn't help that most of our people are traveling with them and working in various environments. The few that uses them as desktop workstations (with external keyboard constantly plugged in) have a lot less issues.
redial 8y ago
The MacBook Pro gets all the hate because is the only model even worth talking about...at this point if you buy a MacBook Air with its 4yo internals and 8yo screen you end up feeling they took you for a chump, so you buy a $2000 machine when you only needed a $1000 one but then the keyboard breaks.
- sgspace 8y ago
  hahaha my exact experience. 5 trips to the apple store and finally my 2017 13 inch pro is usable. I've had the battery, screen, and keyboard all replaced under warrantee. Easily the worst experience Ive had with an Apple product.
  - saagarjha 8y ago
    You're mad that Apple replaced those under warranty, rather than, say, the issue happening past the warranty period or not being covered?
    - bagels 8y ago
      Maybe the issue is that it required that many repairs in the first place.
      - saagarjha 8y ago
        I do get angry when something breaks and I need to pay for a fix, obviously, but generally I'm a lot less annoyed when the company offers to fix something at no cost/under warranty/free replacement/whatever. Forgive and forget?
        slantyyz 8y ago
        How about it not breaking in the first place? When people talk about their Macs with pride, the first thing you'll probably hear is "Apple has the best build quality". A 2017 13" Macbook Pro should not require 5 service trips in its first year. Warranty or not, we're not talking about some $200 piece of crap that's made in China, we're talking about a premium laptop at a premium price.
sprite 8y ago
They are not building what people actually want. A modern macbook pro with F keys and a physical escape key instead of a Touchbar and ports that actually get used in addition to USB-c (USB, HDMI, maybe a memory card reader). They are so out of touch it's a joke. I'm not sure how they are managing to make each iteration of the Macbook Pro worse except for the actual specs.
- freehunter 8y ago
  Is that what people want, or is that what you want? I couldn't care less about a row of keys I never use, so I'm not sure you speak for everyone when you say what "people" actually want. What this person wants is a home, end, forward delete, pgup and pgdn key on the keyboard, which the touchbar lets me have. Funny how what "the people" want manages to line up exactly with your expectations and doesn't match mine at all.
  - rhlsthrm 8y ago
    Exactly right. And I made the jump and bought a USB-C monitor which plugs right into the MBP and charges and connects video in the same connector (which is awesome). Then I bought the USB C to Lightning cable, which fast charges my iPhone. I wish Apple had gone with USB C for the iPhone instead of Lightning, but I think they are too deep in with Lightning at this point. I have the HDMI/old-USB to USB C dongle, but I hardly ever use it these days. I'd gladly support an all USB C future.
  - platinumrad 8y ago
    The full size SD card slot is important to photo/videographers, a market that Apple seems to be taking for granted recently. The range of "professional" users that the Macbook Pro is actually appealing to seems to be getting narrower and narrower over time.
    - abakker 8y ago
      Can attest as a non-pro photographer (but as someone who cares a lot about photography), that the SD card built in is not that important. I tend to use a dock/reader anyway because most of my cameras use CF or mini SD. True, full sized SD cards are actually not used in any equipment I have now.
CountSessine 8y ago
I don’t get all the hate on the new MacBook Pros I'm a heavy tmux/vim user. Apple replaced the best programmer's laptop on the market (their previous-gen MBP) with the MBP model that they sell now. It's not a bad laptop per se, it's just that it's not a programmer's laptop. Apple sells the MBA which doesn't have enough pixel density to support tmux with multiple panes. Apple sells the MB and the MBP with that execrable butterfly keyboard which is terrible for touch-typing for long periods. There's nothing else anymore. They stopped selling that Ivy-bridge-era MBP model they were keeping around for serious touch-typists. Everyone I know who has one of these turkeys defends the keyboard, but then admits that, "anyways, I usually use an external keyboard anyhow." I need the built-in keyboard to be useable and Apple has given up on making those. I'd buy a new programmer's laptop from Apple, but they just don't make those anymore. Apple took something we loved away from us - that's why the new MBP gets so much hate.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  > Apple sells the MB and the MBP with that execrable butterfly keyboard which is terrible for touch-typing for long periods. The MacBook and MacBook Pro's keyboards are markedly different. Sure, they're both butterfly, but MacBook Pro's keyboard is a lot more clickly/springy than MacBook's, which I can only describe as mushy. Have you tried using them for an extended period of time?
  - nojvek 8y ago
    God I love my MacBook Air 2013 keyboard. I still think it’s tons better than the 2018 MacBook Pro crap. The MBP was given to me my the employer but I don’t quite enjoy typing. It’s like walking on grass vs walking on tarmac. One just makes your fingers so goddamn happy when you type. The MBP keyboard keys get stuck all the time. The spacebar get stuck at times! WTF! That’s just terrible engineering. Steve jobs or whoever it was doing QA, I gotta say really had a knack for what is usable and makes the evokes a feel good emotion. The new macs nowadays look beautiful but horribly lack in usability in many ways. Steve Apple was very focused on usability. Aesthetics came later, now it’s the reverse.
nxc18 8y ago
HDMI isn't dead and it pisses me off that they sacrificed it in exchange for any amount of thinness. I don't notice how things my laptop is day to day, but I definitely notice when I can't plug into a projector.
- sumedh 8y ago
  > HDMI isn't dead People said the same things about floppy drives and cd roms.
  - imtringued 8y ago
    I'm pretty sure HDMI will support 8k and resolutions beyond that.
    - sumedh 8y ago
      Great but USB C can do that as well and much more. There is no need for both.
      - sangnoir 8y ago
        I'm yet to see a TV with USB C inputs. Unless of course , if you're suggesting dongle-hell as an alternative for all missing ports, in which case, whatever few mm you save in thin laptops are gained back and more by much fatter dongles you have to carry around (or forget).
        sumedh 8y ago
        > I'm yet to see a TV with USB C inputs. That is not how Apple works, the reason they do such drastic changes like dropping support for floppy/cd drives, usb A ports is because they want to move the industry forward.
- xaldir 8y ago
  As a professional I encounter still too many VGA only projectors in clients offices, but HDMI is the dominating standard by far. So many people use TV in their conference room and that is not going to change any time soon. Getting rid of the HDMI port to save a few mm of thickness is just plain stupid. I watched my boss buying a new MBP on day one. Months later I still laugh when I see him fiddling with adapters that never work reliably.

by minton 8y ago

I don’t get all the hate on the new MacBook Pros. I have a 2016 with TouchBar. It’s not a beast but it’s definitely faster compared to the 2015 model I replaced.

trevyn 8y ago

You haven’t had any issues come up with the keyboard? I’m honestly surprised.

alonmower 8y ago
I've had two of the new pros for the last ~year (one for work and one at home) and haven't had any keyboard issues on either. I don't doubt that it's a problem but it probably gets blown a little bit out of proportion
ddoolin 8y ago
Mine's a year and a half old now, no problems here. Works like a charm. I should note that roughly 25% of that time has been on an external keyboard (Apple display, MBP lid closed), so it might not see as much use as others.
- tajen 8y ago
  If I could do it this way, I’d buy a super-specs 11-inch machine: I mostly use it closed anyway.
jdietrich 8y ago
I dn't knw what yu're talking abut. My Macbk Pr keybard is wrking fine.
Eric_WVGG 8y ago
The keyboard fails are double the rate of the old model, which elevates it from "very rare" to "rare." The problem is that the repair was $700, so the folks to whom it happened (including myself) were very, very vocal.
parasubvert 8y ago
I’ve had a 2017 MacBook Pro in daily heavy use for a year now - no keyboard troubles. Our IT Department anecdotally reports that about 15% of the 2016 models had issues, and fewer of the 2017 models. Nearly all of our 2500 employees have MBPs or iMacs of some sort.
- abhorrence 8y ago
  I've heard similar reports from the IT department at my employer as well. However, on my personal computer (and I've seen similar with a few friends), I've had to have the keyboard repaired 3 times. This makes me suspect there's something that aggravates the issue, or that a lot of people use external keyboards (which a glance around the office suggests is true). The majority of the keys that have failed on my computer have been in the areas that get hot when the processor is under load.
- xaldir 8y ago
  Our sample size is smaller but we are closer to 40% with models needing multiple fixes. It doesn't help that most of our people are traveling with them and working in various environments. The few that uses them as desktop workstations (with external keyboard constantly plugged in) have a lot less issues.

redial 8y ago

The MacBook Pro gets all the hate because is the only model even worth talking about...at this point if you buy a MacBook Air with its 4yo internals and 8yo screen you end up feeling they took you for a chump, so you buy a $2000 machine when you only needed a $1000 one but then the keyboard breaks.

sgspace 8y ago
hahaha my exact experience. 5 trips to the apple store and finally my 2017 13 inch pro is usable. I've had the battery, screen, and keyboard all replaced under warrantee. Easily the worst experience Ive had with an Apple product.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  You're mad that Apple replaced those under warranty, rather than, say, the issue happening past the warranty period or not being covered?
  - bagels 8y ago
    Maybe the issue is that it required that many repairs in the first place.
    - saagarjha 8y ago
      I do get angry when something breaks and I need to pay for a fix, obviously, but generally I'm a lot less annoyed when the company offers to fix something at no cost/under warranty/free replacement/whatever. Forgive and forget?
      - slantyyz 8y ago
        How about it not breaking in the first place? When people talk about their Macs with pride, the first thing you'll probably hear is "Apple has the best build quality". A 2017 13" Macbook Pro should not require 5 service trips in its first year. Warranty or not, we're not talking about some $200 piece of crap that's made in China, we're talking about a premium laptop at a premium price.

sprite 8y ago

They are not building what people actually want. A modern macbook pro with F keys and a physical escape key instead of a Touchbar and ports that actually get used in addition to USB-c (USB, HDMI, maybe a memory card reader). They are so out of touch it's a joke. I'm not sure how they are managing to make each iteration of the Macbook Pro worse except for the actual specs.

freehunter 8y ago
Is that what people want, or is that what you want? I couldn't care less about a row of keys I never use, so I'm not sure you speak for everyone when you say what "people" actually want. What this person wants is a home, end, forward delete, pgup and pgdn key on the keyboard, which the touchbar lets me have. Funny how what "the people" want manages to line up exactly with your expectations and doesn't match mine at all.
- rhlsthrm 8y ago
  Exactly right. And I made the jump and bought a USB-C monitor which plugs right into the MBP and charges and connects video in the same connector (which is awesome). Then I bought the USB C to Lightning cable, which fast charges my iPhone. I wish Apple had gone with USB C for the iPhone instead of Lightning, but I think they are too deep in with Lightning at this point. I have the HDMI/old-USB to USB C dongle, but I hardly ever use it these days. I'd gladly support an all USB C future.
- platinumrad 8y ago
  The full size SD card slot is important to photo/videographers, a market that Apple seems to be taking for granted recently. The range of "professional" users that the Macbook Pro is actually appealing to seems to be getting narrower and narrower over time.
  - abakker 8y ago
    Can attest as a non-pro photographer (but as someone who cares a lot about photography), that the SD card built in is not that important. I tend to use a dock/reader anyway because most of my cameras use CF or mini SD. True, full sized SD cards are actually not used in any equipment I have now.

CountSessine 8y ago

I don’t get all the hate on the new MacBook Pros I'm a heavy tmux/vim user. Apple replaced the best programmer's laptop on the market (their previous-gen MBP) with the MBP model that they sell now. It's not a bad laptop per se, it's just that it's not a programmer's laptop. Apple sells the MBA which doesn't have enough pixel density to support tmux with multiple panes. Apple sells the MB and the MBP with that execrable butterfly keyboard which is terrible for touch-typing for long periods. There's nothing else anymore. They stopped selling that Ivy-bridge-era MBP model they were keeping around for serious touch-typists. Everyone I know who has one of these turkeys defends the keyboard, but then admits that, "anyways, I usually use an external keyboard anyhow." I need the built-in keyboard to be useable and Apple has given up on making those. I'd buy a new programmer's laptop from Apple, but they just don't make those anymore. Apple took something we loved away from us - that's why the new MBP gets so much hate.

saagarjha 8y ago
> Apple sells the MB and the MBP with that execrable butterfly keyboard which is terrible for touch-typing for long periods. The MacBook and MacBook Pro's keyboards are markedly different. Sure, they're both butterfly, but MacBook Pro's keyboard is a lot more clickly/springy than MacBook's, which I can only describe as mushy. Have you tried using them for an extended period of time?
- nojvek 8y ago
  God I love my MacBook Air 2013 keyboard. I still think it’s tons better than the 2018 MacBook Pro crap. The MBP was given to me my the employer but I don’t quite enjoy typing. It’s like walking on grass vs walking on tarmac. One just makes your fingers so goddamn happy when you type. The MBP keyboard keys get stuck all the time. The spacebar get stuck at times! WTF! That’s just terrible engineering. Steve jobs or whoever it was doing QA, I gotta say really had a knack for what is usable and makes the evokes a feel good emotion. The new macs nowadays look beautiful but horribly lack in usability in many ways. Steve Apple was very focused on usability. Aesthetics came later, now it’s the reverse.

nxc18 8y ago

HDMI isn't dead and it pisses me off that they sacrificed it in exchange for any amount of thinness. I don't notice how things my laptop is day to day, but I definitely notice when I can't plug into a projector.

sumedh 8y ago
> HDMI isn't dead People said the same things about floppy drives and cd roms.
- imtringued 8y ago
  I'm pretty sure HDMI will support 8k and resolutions beyond that.
  - sumedh 8y ago
    Great but USB C can do that as well and much more. There is no need for both.
    - sangnoir 8y ago
      I'm yet to see a TV with USB C inputs. Unless of course , if you're suggesting dongle-hell as an alternative for all missing ports, in which case, whatever few mm you save in thin laptops are gained back and more by much fatter dongles you have to carry around (or forget).
      - sumedh 8y ago
        > I'm yet to see a TV with USB C inputs. That is not how Apple works, the reason they do such drastic changes like dropping support for floppy/cd drives, usb A ports is because they want to move the industry forward.
xaldir 8y ago
As a professional I encounter still too many VGA only projectors in clients offices, but HDMI is the dominating standard by far. So many people use TV in their conference room and that is not going to change any time soon. Getting rid of the HDMI port to save a few mm of thickness is just plain stupid. I watched my boss buying a new MBP on day one. Months later I still laugh when I see him fiddling with adapters that never work reliably.