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Macbook Pro "improvements" over the last 3-7 years: * No more matte display * RAM soldered to the board * SSD soldered in * remove all ports except USB-C *
by wwweston 7y ago
Macbook Pro "improvements" over the last 3-7 years:
* No more matte display
* RAM soldered to the board
* SSD soldered in
* remove all ports except USB-C
* make keyboard worse
* remove function keys, replace with touch surface that's redundant at best
But it's very thin!
And even thinner was the recent Macbook, and if the law of "diminishing returns" matters as little as the usual defenses of all the above tradeoffs in pursuit of light/thin imply, you'd think that that'd be worth keeping.
Maybe there is a limit, and Apple's actually reflected on that?
Or... maybe it's just a recognition that the Air and Macbook had come to a place where there was little distinguishing them. And that really, the MBP is less and less designed/deployed with actual professionals in mind and more and more meant for a prosumer subsegment. In which case reducing focus to two models (general purpose consumer laptop, light netbook) makes sense.
- hanniabu 7y agoI like my 2013 MBP because the newer thin laptops I just feel like I'm going to break them.
- eanzenberg 7y agoI like my 2019 MBP because it's thin, has a better display, has a great trackpad, decent keyboard, and a touchbar that I use fairly frequently for auto-complete.
- wwweston 7y agoDisplays and trackpads are still something Apple does very well, maybe better than anyone else.
- inferiorhuman 7y agoI can't stand the current MBP trackpad. It's too big and too easy to accidentally touch.
- RohMin 7y agoThis thread is a perfect example as to why Apple will never please everyone.
- inferiorhuman 7y agoI mean, I'd live with it if the keyboard weren't utter shit and if there weren't reliability issues (keyboard and displays failing, unregulated power through the USB ports). I don't like the soldered RAM and storage, the glued on battery, but I still bought a (refurb) 2015 MBP last year. But as long as each revision of the MBP continues to have additional flaws with little benefit, I'll continue to consider alternatives. With this trend my next laptop will not be an Apple one. And, for the record, I don't like the flashygizmotouchbarthing, but if they had kept a hard power and escape button it wouldn't have been a deal breaker. I don't use vi all that much, but I do use the escape key to navigate dialog boxes and web sites.
- SilasX 7y agoI also hate that MacBook Pro touchpads are oversized and easy to touch with your thumbs by accident. I had one issued for a job and had annoying, error-inducing swipes about three times a day.
- truncate 7y agoSo, I use Dell XPS 13 personally, and when I got MacBook Pro 15 2018 model, I was super unhappy with size of trackpad. It took a while, but I got used to it and now prefer over my XPS-13 trackpad. The trackpad was always amazing (force touch, sensitivity, palm detection and all), but I think the extra size makes doing gestures super smooth. As in, my fingers don't feel constrained.
- farisjarrah 7y agoYou complained about the best part of the Macbook, the trackpad! I wish I could get that Mac trackpad on my thinkpad x1
- doctat 7y agoMaybe if they centered the damm thing with regard to where your hands rest, vs the center of the laptop. As it is now, the trackpad is shifted significantly to the right - so much so that my right Palm is constantly triggering it. I’m basically forced to use a mouse and disable the trackpad while the mouse is connected. Yet another aesthetic choice that screws up functionality..
- skyyler 7y agoIt absolutely boggles my mind that people can't keep in mind that everyone has different preferences. It's not the best part of the Macbook, it's your favourite part of the Macbook. There very rarely is an objective best in anything. There is only what you like and need.
- hombre_fatal 7y agoRight, but they were already making that point themselves. The comment they responded to literally hated the feature. They pointed out, okay, but it's my favorite feature.
- andrew_wc_brown 7y agoThe sticking keys on the new macbook pro is a serious problem. Always get Apple Care. I have had a problem with the last 3 mac purchases.
- dcsilver 7y agoI knew about the keyboards when I bought mine, but didn't opt for Apple Care because they're offering a 4 year warranty on the keyboards whether you bought Apple Care or not.
- chrischen 7y agoOf all the complaints about the keyboard, the reliability issue with them are real, but also they're the one thing Apple owns up to. When I get the keyboard swapped they often also swap out a new battery for me.
- ppeetteerr 7y agoI really (really!) appreciate how thin they are. The new 15in is as heavy as the old 13in. Really nice when you have to carry it around all the time. The biggest pain point is the lack of ports (4 ports including power) is not enough. The older models had around 5+ ports and still required dongles. Everything else aside from the keyboard is a minor issue (e.g. getting more ram today versus in the future is just a question of deferring costs).
- jedberg 7y ago> getting more ram today versus in the future is just a question of deferring costs Not really. I had a 2011 MacBook. In 2015 I was able to upgrade the RAM to chips that didn't exist in 2011. Technically they weren't supported, but they worked just fine. I couldn't have done that if the chips were soldered to the board. I also upgraded the drive from spinning disk to a much larger SSD. Again an upgrade I couldn't have done otherwise. It allowed me to keep using the machine until 2017.
- mcgrath_sh 7y agoI’m still using my 2011 due to the ability to update the RAM and SSD. I’m moving to a Windows 10/iPad/server setup, but I still use my laptop on occasion.
- wwweston 7y agoWe're in the same boat. I'm using the last 2012 pre-retina unibody 15". With maxed out RAM and SSD it's adequate for nearly everything I've thrown at it. It's also had an admirable run, so I'd be happy to buy again at some point... but a matte screen matters to me. As does a good keyboard. And being able to swap out the drive. All more than any spec or form factor improvements that have happened subsequently. So while I'd be happy to have replaced this laptop by now, maybe even more than once... Apple simply does not sell replacements for this laptop. They sell laptops which have a mix of regressions and somewhat improved performance (and they're thinner!). And past a point of meeting certain demands, the regressions matter more than performance gains or ounces lost. Maybe when it finally dies, I'll see if I can find a serviceable 2015 model. Or maybe by then WSL will be an acceptable alternative and this will be the last of half a dozen Apple machines I bought. And they'll be as happy about it as I will, because as many pundits, product managers, and fans like to say: maybe people like me just aren't part of their target market anymore.
- pier25 7y agoWhile I agree with you I have to say there is real improvement Apple has made: eGPU.
- jefft255 7y agoWonderful concept, I really hope that apple starts supporting nvidia gpus, I can’t work without cuda...
- jonplackett 7y agoThis. What’s the point in an external GPU you can’t even use for deep learning. Why do apple get nVidia so much anyway?
- asimilator 7y ago... everything else people use GPUs for? There are other use cases :).
- jefft255 7y agoMost scientific use cases need CUDA, not just DL ;) Also it is arguable that nvidia high-end GPUs is the best in terms of gaming performance.
- asimilator 7y agoThere are other reasons to pick AMD. Better Linux drivers. Business practices that I'm more comfortable supporting (they tend to be more open, e.g. non-proprietary, free to use FreeSync vs proprietary G-Sync). Stuff like that. I'll take a small performance hit for that.
- pier25 7y agoMost users don't buy high-end GPUs, and it's not like the high-end AMD GPUs are potatoes either. Plus don't forget about price.
- turk73 7y agoMitsubishi had one of the most popular cars around, the Evo, and they pissed it all away. Apple is doing the same thing with their market dominance. Makes you wonder. I don't care about "thinner." I care about speed and reliability.
- Eiriksmal 7y ago>So what are we to make of the four-year-old MacBook’s demise? ... The laptop got mixed reactions from the get-go. Its high portability and lovely Retina screen were welcomed compared to the bulky, non-Retina MacBook Air of the time. Pure insanity. We're now referring to the original MacBook Air as bulky!?
- babyslothzoo 7y agoIt's not even that thin, there are thinner PC laptops with better specs, and ports, and great (and reliable) keyboards.