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Ask HN: Are mac laptops good buy these days?

3 points by cryptozeus 7y ago

I have never owned a Mac laptop and in market to buy one. I am seeing lots of complaints about the new keyboard however some are saying apple has fixed the issues. Are they good to buy now ?

nkkollaw 7y ago
They're not. If you want a Mac, buy a 2015 MacBook Pro. That's what I use: it has a working keyboard, ports you'll need like USB 2, SD card, HDMI etc., and it works great. Last good laptop they made. If they make a good one again I'll get it but one of my worst decisions ever was to buy a Mid-2016 MacBook Pro: keyboard would break consistently every 1-2 months, battery was faulty, eventually the logic board died with all data on it. I had Apple fix it and sold it in a hurry for half the price I paid for it.
auslegung 7y ago
I’ve been considering a new laptop myself. My family has been Apple-based for 7 years, MacBook Air, iPhone, iPad. I haven’t purchased one yet but when I do it’ll be another MacBook, even after days of research. nkkollaw recommends a 2015 MBP and I think that’s a good suggestion, but I don’t have an issue buying a newer model either. The deal breakers for me are 1. Apple trackpads are the best in the industry 2. I don’t want Windows and too many things don’t work well on Linux and require lots of configuring 3. Apple products are high quality, despite various issues throughout the years like the recent keyboard 4. The sooner everyone adopts a new tech (USB-C in this case) the sooner it won’t be a big deal
- ToFab123 7y ago
  Most newer non-apple laptop ships with a precision touchpad that, IMHO, are just as good as the one from Apple, but true, they used to be crap only a few years ago.
cerberusss 7y ago
So I've got a MacBook 2016 that's slightly affected. It's my impression that the keyboard is simply the weak spot of the current MacBooks. Meaning, if something goes wrong, chances are it's the keyboard. In my case, the fix is fairly easy. Put canned air in the office and at home. Apple has a support document about it. I need to do that every month or two. It wouldn't stop me from getting a MacBook, I need it for my work. But I've got two tips; budget for a nice Thunderbolt dock at work and at home, so you can use external input devices. Don't eat at the keyboard. If you can hold out, perhaps you can wait for the 16" model that's supposedly coming, it's rumored to have a different keyboard. But these are just rumors and you could wait for a looooong time.

3 points by cryptozeus 7y ago

I have never owned a Mac laptop and in market to buy one. I am seeing lots of complaints about the new keyboard however some are saying apple has fixed the issues. Are they good to buy now ?

nkkollaw 7y ago

They're not. If you want a Mac, buy a 2015 MacBook Pro. That's what I use: it has a working keyboard, ports you'll need like USB 2, SD card, HDMI etc., and it works great. Last good laptop they made. If they make a good one again I'll get it but one of my worst decisions ever was to buy a Mid-2016 MacBook Pro: keyboard would break consistently every 1-2 months, battery was faulty, eventually the logic board died with all data on it. I had Apple fix it and sold it in a hurry for half the price I paid for it.

auslegung 7y ago

I’ve been considering a new laptop myself. My family has been Apple-based for 7 years, MacBook Air, iPhone, iPad. I haven’t purchased one yet but when I do it’ll be another MacBook, even after days of research. nkkollaw recommends a 2015 MBP and I think that’s a good suggestion, but I don’t have an issue buying a newer model either. The deal breakers for me are 1. Apple trackpads are the best in the industry 2. I don’t want Windows and too many things don’t work well on Linux and require lots of configuring 3. Apple products are high quality, despite various issues throughout the years like the recent keyboard 4. The sooner everyone adopts a new tech (USB-C in this case) the sooner it won’t be a big deal

ToFab123 7y ago
Most newer non-apple laptop ships with a precision touchpad that, IMHO, are just as good as the one from Apple, but true, they used to be crap only a few years ago.

cerberusss 7y ago

So I've got a MacBook 2016 that's slightly affected. It's my impression that the keyboard is simply the weak spot of the current MacBooks. Meaning, if something goes wrong, chances are it's the keyboard. In my case, the fix is fairly easy. Put canned air in the office and at home. Apple has a support document about it. I need to do that every month or two. It wouldn't stop me from getting a MacBook, I need it for my work. But I've got two tips; budget for a nice Thunderbolt dock at work and at home, so you can use external input devices. Don't eat at the keyboard. If you can hold out, perhaps you can wait for the 16" model that's supposedly coming, it's rumored to have a different keyboard. But these are just rumors and you could wait for a looooong time.