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I went with my gf to take a look at these last night at the Apple store. Her command key has completely stopped working on her 2018 MacBook that otherwise works
by tolmasky 7y ago
I went with my gf to take a look at these last night at the Apple store. Her command key has completely stopped working on her 2018 MacBook that otherwise works perfectly fine.
It feels clumsily large, especially since we’re coming from MacBook 13s. She kept asking me if I’d heard any rumors about when new 13s would come out. She went in pretty determined to get a new machine but decided to wait.
The struggle continues for us 13ers I’m afraid. Not really excited to drop $3K+ on an even larger form factor I haven’t been excited about for upwards of 5 years (and being forced to upgrade to Catalina) just to fix what is now universally understood to be a defective keyboard design.
I’m fairly convinced that this whole speaker business was to have something, anything, to differentiate it from the current models other than fixing the keyboard, and probably delayed this release. Someone said “we can’t seriously just ship a new laptop, with the same CPU as the current models, and just fix the keyboards!” It wouldn’t surprise me if the 13s haven’t come out yet for a similar reason.
- friedman23 7y agoI'm a power user and I'm really surprised you looked at this release as "just" fixing the keyboard. I'm more excited about this release than any other macbook release in the past 3 years. Increased base hd size, new graphics card with performance that stomps the previous model, more available RAM, the largest battery legally possible on a laptop, and a larger screen in the same form factor as the previous 15 inch model. There are actually no downsides to this laptop except the touch bar.
- dylan604 7y agoThere are actually no downsides to this laptop except the touch bar <that have been realized at this time>. FTFY. No Gen 1 Apple product has been without it's flaws. Some just take time to make themselves known.
- tolmasky 7y agoThe keyboard is the “only” thing that matters for someone that bought a computer about a year ago, so yeah. 64GB of RAM and 8TB of SSD are great, that’s why I have a desktop computer with those specs for half the price. I love big screens too, which is why I have an actual big monitor on my desktop, not “big considering the form factor it’s in”. Getting those specs on the MacBook Pro puts you into the $6K territory, so I don’t think for most people that’s actually a difference. The absolute upper bound has increased, but what I get for the price I just paid about a year ago isn’t that much different. Meanwhile, my laptop is for mobility and not where I boil the ocean. Sure, I’ve wanted 32GB on my 13 inch for years, still waiting though. Look, I get that there exists a market for super high end laptops, but there is arguably a much larger market for, like, mobile laptops that can type correctly. It’s annoying that I have to get pushed into the ultra niche high end laptop market, with specs that I specifically don’t even care that much about (I have no use for a better graphics card, especially an AMD graphics card that ensures I can’t use it for ML), just to get a keyboard that puts one e on the screen when I hit the e key once.
- saagarjha 7y agoNot everyone uses a desktop–I do all of my work out of a laptop, for example. It's not strange to want a powerful one, and comparing it to something completely different is not useful.
- tolmasky 7y agoI agree! That's why my point was that if you compare the new 16 inch to the previous 15 inch, at the same starting price points -- they aren't all that different. The difference does indeed grow quite large as you reach exorbitant price points. The old 15.4 inch at $2699.00 (vs. 16 inch at $2399) was also 512GB, 16GB RAM, and 2.6GHz. This is absolutely a modest perf bump -- however it really sucks if you feel like you have to pay this price again for nearly identical specs to really just get the new keyboard. Yes, if you were really hoping for amazing... laptop speakers, then paying full price again may make a lot of sense. But the reality is that for most people (those not spending $6K), this computer is not that much different from the one that already exists, except for the keyboard actually working. My response was for the comment stating surprise that I "just" saw this as a keyboard fix. I stand by my position that this is absolutely the case at most of the reasonable (common?) price points.
- saagarjha 7y agoThere are probably a lot of people who can and do pay for upgraded machines, and for them 64 GB of RAM or an 8 TB SSD might be reasonable. (OK, I'm not so sure about the 8 TB storage tier…but there are probably a number of people who'd like the higher capacities.)
- johncalvinyoung 7y agoMy company is talking configurations for all next summer's upgrades... top i9 8-core, top 5500/8G GPU, 64GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. Someone may up their storage, but I'm mostly insanely happy about the GPU and RAM.
- tekknik 7y ago
- numlock86 7y ago> largest battery legally possible on a laptop What do you mean by "legally possible on a laptop"? My current machine (some rugged mobile power house) got 120Wh and I really don't wanna get arrested. Please enlighten me.
- ycombinete 7y agoIn the last discussion this was mentioned relative to air flight
- JanSt 7y agoIt's not allowed to take more than 100wh in carry-on flight luggage (in some countries).
- erik_seaberg 7y agoUS airlines might choose to approve 160 Wh batteries: https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/resources/media/Airline_passengers_and_batteries.pdf https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/resources/media/Airline_...
- numlock86 7y agoNever had any problems traveling with it, even to the (supposedly super restrictive) US.
- asdff 7y agono way tsa checks
- rolltiide 7y agois saline solution exempt from tsa fluid limitations or is it bottles that say saline solution Ask a high school dropout!
- jrockway 7y agoThe one time they do, you will either be abandoning your $3000 laptop or missing your $3000 flight. Better to follow the rules. Not because the rules are intrinsically good, but because not following them can be a big waste of time.
- turk73 7y agoHow the hell does she justify buying another multi-thousand dollar Apple laptop when she already has a broken 2018? Is this a business write off of some sort? If not, are you at least rich?
- nikanj 7y agoA few blasts of compressed air very likely will fix the keyboard. We have cans of it spread throughout the office, because it took Apple three laptop generations to admit to their faults
- saagarjha 7y ago> We have cans of it spread throughout the office So does Apple, funnily enough.
- dasKrokodil 7y agoMaybe they should include one with every butterfly keyboard purchase.
- Symbiote 7y agoPlease avoid calling the "gas duster" type cans "compressed air". It's misleading. They usually contain compressed fluorocarbons like difluoroethane. These are toxic chemicals, which are also potent greenhouse gases. Their casual use for cleaning should be discouraged.
- grecy 7y agoI recently bought a used 2015 13inch MPB. Extremely happy.
- krisgenre 7y agoI bought the same in 2016. Last year the speakers got fried and since few months back it has started to shut down abruptly. The max time I can use it now is only around 30 mins :(
- lathiat 7y agoif thats on battery just get the battery replaced and you'll be good to go again
- stefanfisk 7y agoMine was like that even when on the charger until I replaced the battery, after that it was like new again. Well worth the money! Another thing to do is opening the bottom an removing as much of the dust buildup as possible, that shit alone explains a lot of the “my computer gets slower with age”.
- cameldrv 7y agoGood news! The battery was likely recalled for your laptop. Check the Apple site. If it's in the serial number range, you get a free new battery.
- holler 7y agoI have a 15inch ~mid 2014 model that works very well still! The only problems I've had were the battery losing juice, and the screen went out suddenly. The original screen also had peeled a bunch which turned out to be a manufacturers defect from the 2014 models. I took it in to apple and ended up spending ~$500 to repair the battery and the screen, and I'm almost certain that they gave me back a brand new 2015 model a few days later. It's like a brand new laptop. I really like this model and plan to keep using it as long as I can.
- 7y ago
- usaphp 7y agoHuh?? 64gb of ram, bigger screen, much more powerful GpU, bigger storage options, better thermals, better microphone, better speakers, bigger battery...it’s definitely not just “the same CPU” and a fixed keyboard”...not sure what else did you expect?
- bilbo0s 7y agoThe 64GB of ram alone makes the new 16" a completely different machine. It really can't even be compared to the previous generations. 64 opens up a lot of possibilities in the media creation space that, realistically, were just not there with 32, and were pretty much impossible with 16 gig. Given a choice, I would much rather have had the 64 gig rather than a new keyboard. A keyboard you can put a cover on. There's no mitigating 16 gig. With this release however, Apple chose to give us both, as well as a GPU with 8. So yeah, the machine is a significant upgrade. Anyone saying otherwise is probably in a demographic where they really don't need the GPU or the extra ram. So they don't see the value in them.
- hvidgaard 7y agoIf 64GiB of ram makes that difference, doesn't that work belong on a workstation with the power to handle it?
- bilbo0s 7y agoSure. But how you gonna get that workstation to the location where the client is shooting?
- matthewmacleod 7y agoRight, and this machine moves further towards a portable workstation by embedding more power, allowing people to do some tasks on-site that would have previously required a fixed workstation. The “but why would you want a powerful portable machine” argument has always seemed really strange to me. It’s the same reason I’d want any portable machine.
- rajacombinator 7y agoComing from a 15” 2013, the 16” still feels clumsily large and not portable. I want to hold out for a 14” but it will like have a gimped processor. Why can no one get this right ...
- Sangeppato 7y agoAre you sure you own a 15"? This 16" has literally the same dimensions as the previous-gen 15"
- ksec 7y agoBlame it on Intel. I doubt Apple will make a new 13" just for the Keyboard. It will require some other improvements, like for the 16", they got larger display, better CPU and GPU. The problem with the 13" is they dont come with Discreet GPU, which means Apple will have to wait for new Intel Icelake, with Better CPU and iGPU before releasing an update. Intel Icelake platform will also come with WiFi6. I am not sure if Apple want to release a 13"MBP with better Wireless Spec than its bigger 16" brother. So the likelihood of 13" releases is when they update their 16" again with Icelake as well. But the problem with Intel Icelake is 10nm. And judging from the current retail Icelake solutions, the chances of Intel lying again with 10nm yield is extremely high. And that is why all of a sudden you see Intel PR and Marketing team on fire in the past few months, keep sharing their roadmap and their forth coming tech. From GPU to OneAPI etc. May be in Intel will finally fix their 10nm problem in time for another update in WWDC or earlier, if not I hope Apple will switch to AMD. Edit: And I would also like to point out, the so called Better Thermals, Bigger Battery, only when comparing to 2016+ MBP, they are roughly the same in 2015 MBP.
- Sangeppato 7y agoWell, on the 16" they improved the thermals as well (2nd biggest complaint for the previos 15"), put a much more powerful GPU (3rd major complaint) and more storage for the same price and finally put a bigger battery which I'm sure everybody likes. Apple will certainly upgrade the 13" model as well next year, maybe moving to a 14" format. They really wanted to release this 16" sooner because the 15" was by far the most criticized one and they wanted to show to the "Pro" market that they're still there.
- endorphone 7y agoThis seems cynical. The list of changes on the new laptop are enormous... And this is Apple -- they don't have to, or feel the need to, justify anything. If they released the 2018 15" with just a new keyboard the world would be over the moon because otherwise it's a close to perfect laptop. They took quite a few steps further surprising a lot of people. As an aside, I've had my MBP for about a year now. I've typed barely a paragraph on it. I've always used a magic keyboard and mouse with -- yup, even when mobile -- because I cannot stand "laptop warmth" under my hands. So I've inadvertently gotten around the shite keyboard because of another weird hangup. ...yet I've seriously considered getting the new one. Keyboard doesn't bother me at all given my weird usage, but the other changes, particularly the much better speakers, seriously interests me.
- wil421 7y agoI was at the Apple Store this weekend. Some guy brought in his older 15” to compare to the new 16”. It was not too much larger but it was slightly noticeable. It didn’t feel like I would break the top lid like I do on my 2017 15”. I would not use clumsily large to describe it, my work laptop is a clumsily large hp zBook. Not one will ever mug me for it because I could throw it at them. They’d probably get a concussion. Apple listened to customers and built the 16”. The CPUs are intel’s problem not apple. The 16” is Apple saying they were wrong and fixing issues.