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New MacBook Pro models to feature magsafe, no touch bar and more ports: analyst
- kzrdude 6y agoThe rumours sound too good to be true, so we'll see.
- egwor 6y agoI agree. It feels like 'What I want to hear'.
- thecopy 6y ago1. The two new models are equipped with about 14-inch and 16-inch displays, respectively. 2. In terms of casing design, the new models cancel the curvy design of existing models’ top and bottom parts and adopt a flat-edged form factor design similar to the iPhone 12 . 3. The MagSafe charging connector design is restored. 4. The OLED touch bar is removed, and the physical function buttons are restored. 5. There is no Intel CPU option for the new models. 6. They are equipped with more types of I/O, and most users may not need to purchase additional dongles.
- tinus_hn 6y agoRight. Welcome in 2021 where the forward looking devices no longer use USB-C which can connect just about anything, but vga plugs? Not believing that for a second.
- oehtXRwMkIs 6y agoIt'll be interesting to see how this will work with USB-C unless they're being very courageous.
- Hamuko 6y agoWell, there are those magnetic breakaway USB-C cables. Maybe they'll just bundle one of those with the computer.
- Heliosmaster 6y agoYes, essentially a cable whose terminal endpoint is like https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/MagC-USB-C-Adapter-Enables-MagSafe.jpg https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Mag...
- cr3ative 6y agoThe only problem with that is that it won't be able to reliably carry Thunderbolt 4 speeds. Most of those connectors are "USB-C" which is achievable, but I haven't seen any (verified) Thunderbolt 3 magnetic connectors, even. That's important for Pro Display XDR users, or Thunderbolt dock users, who only use one cable to plug their Macbook in (power+thunderbolt). Or, screw it, we end up with a charging only breakway USB-C port.
- netsharc 6y agoCheap joke incoming: yet another dongle. For maximum trolling they should charge $29.99 for this feature..
- Hamuko 6y agoI mean, if they change the current USB-C to USB-C charging cable to a magnetic breakaway one, I imagine they'll increase the price of the cable if bought separately. And if they move to the iPhone MagSafe charging puck design, I imagine they'll sell those separately.
- nightfly 6y agoI imagine they could support charging via USB-C, _and_ either their old mag-safe connector or a new more variant with no problems.
- kvakva 6y agoI really hope they keep USB-C charging. It's my favourite thing because allows me use to use one cable with external monitors and be able to charge my laptop from both sides.
- simonmales 6y agoReading this, it feels like the MacBook Pro of 2015 is finally getting an upgrade. Took them 5 years to go back and restore the old school. Great to hear a couple iterations ago they restored the keyboard. Now with dropping the touch bar and bringing back mag safe. My 2015 daily driver might see retirement.
- BossingAround 6y ago> Took them 5 years to go back and restore the old school. I'd view it differently. It took them 5 years for customers to be happy to see nothing more than the most regular and boring update while paying even higher premium on it than before. In other words, because it took them so long to deliver a regular spec update, customers are now happy to pay higher margin prices.
- data_ders 6y agonot to mention the butterfly keyboard has also been retired!
- sparkling 6y agoWhile i do like the typing feel very much, the mechanism is unreliable. Every few weeks i get some random key stuck where i will need to press it really hard to engage. So far all stuck keys loosen up after 1-2 days, but it is very annoying.
- m4tthumphrey 6y agoExactly what I was thinking. I have been seriously dreading the day my 2015 Pro finally gives up on me. This news couldn't have come at a better time, I just hope it's true!
- simonmales 6y agoIn the last couple of weeks I have that worry too. Did a little research regarding replacing the disk. A more performant drive costs around $120 USD. And the steps too replace it do not seem to tricky.
- dochtman 6y agoI wonder about the amount of memory they will support. Based on this article and reviews of the M1 so far, this looks a lot like a “take my money ASAP” situation.
- p1necone 6y agoApple listening to consumer feedback? What's going on? I never thought they'd add more ports again either - I could actually see myself getting one of these.
- slowmotiony 6y agoJony Ive is gone is my guess
- justinko 6y agoWhat a taint to his legacy. Not a good way to go out.
- nikau 6y agoPerhaps his legacy isn't so great My macbook has terrible sharp edges that dig into your wrist, the usb-c ports are so close together I cant put 2 plugs in as they hit each other, one of the keys is faulty because its a butterfly model, it has wizz bang touch bar but no physical mic mute button, a few key caps have worn off as they are laser etched rather than double shot, the giant touchpad sometimes zooms while typing at random if my palms hit it in some combination it assumes is a zoom gesture. Overall his designs are great for the showroom but suck for usability.
- BitwiseFool 6y agoJony Ive always needed someone as a critic to keep his designs in check. That person used to be Steve Jobs. It's pretty well known that Tim Cook is hands off when it comes to product design. And Jony Ive used to have heated arguments with Scott Forestall - until he was fired because of the whole Apple Maps thing. So for a good chunk of time Jony Ive had no one to rein him in and the result was minimalism run amok. Not that minimalism is bad but I think you all know what I'm getting at.
- LarvaFX 6y agoMy take as well.
- tsjq 6y agoDoes this have the Apple Silicon chip ?
- Hamuko 6y ago>All of the new MacBook Pro models will feature Apple silicon chips, and there will be no Intel chip options included.
- Ndymium 6y agoThe article states: "5. There is no Intel CPU option for the new models.", so it would have to be Apple Silicon. But of course this is just rumors, it sounds maybe too good to be true.
- robin_reala 6y agoG5 Powerbook finally happening?
- hugi 6y agoI hear they found a team in the basement. It's a G5 running Copland. CyberDog is replacing Safari and the new AppleWorks 7 transparently imports documents from iWork.
- Misteur-Z 6y agoWhy no one realizes developing software on MacOS/ARM and target Linux/x86 is a bad idea?
- Jonnax 6y agoBecause it works for them.
- lmilcin 6y agoI would buy one. But it feels like I am being trolled to keep my money for longer to replace my aging (7yo) Thinkpad T440s. Touch bar, ports and shallow keyboard is what kept me from buyng Mac for years.
- Keloran 6y agoI quite like the Touch Bar, with things like pock it means I can have full screen, hide the dock entire and still have notifications And the ability to set custom apps inside it with iterm, and not have to loose a key on the board itself I spend most of my time in vi when in terminal, and never had a “I’m missing an escape” ever
- reeestandard 6y agoAnyone who spends significant time in vim has already remapped ESC to something else anyway, be it caps-lock or a key combo.
- k3liutZu 6y agoThe 2019 MPB does have an 'esc' key. https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-16/ https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-16/
- Hamuko 6y agoI changed Caps Lock to work as ESC and I'll never go back.
- cyberpunk 6y agoI did this too, one downside though is that it's become such muscle memory for me at this point that using someone else's computer always results in my hitting caps lock instead of escape the first few times.
- Hamuko 6y agoYeah, that's the unfortunate downside. But it hasn't really happened to me since last March for some reason.
- allenu 6y agoI’ve mapped it to ctrl for a while now and I’ll never go back either. In vim I use ctrl—[ for Esc, which I only started to do when the MBP added the Touch Bar.
- doersino 6y agoIf even half what this report claims is true, a lot of 2012-2015 holdouts are going to upgrade, including myself.
- seanieb 6y agoThey need to upgrade the camera too. The current cameras on the Air and Pro aren’t good enough for the COVID era video calls.
- fredsted 6y agoI just wish they would make an Apple Silicon version of the 12" MacBook.
- kgwgk 6y agoOr the 11" MacBook Air.
- LarvaFX 6y agoMee too.
- rorykoehler 6y agoThat is the best industrial design they have released yet. Exactly what the mbp should aspire to be.
- wetpaws 6y agoSo, basically an old macbook?
- lolive 6y agoWith a longer battery life and a bigger screen.
- mcintyre1994 6y agoThis is the laptop I want to buy, but I find it really hard to believe. They just released a new ARM Macbook Pro with a touch bar at the bottom end of the Pro lineup, which didn't used to come with a touch bar (I have ~2017 pro without). If they wanted to drop the touch bar they could have done it without much fanfare on that model and I'm not sure why they wouldn't do so.
- oneeyedpigeon 6y agoMaybe they've concluded the touch bar is more of a consumer feature than a pro one.
- yoz-y 6y agoIt was probably easier for them to keep the touch bar there as the enclosure is pretty much identical to the previous model. Maybe they had a stock of them to finish while retooling?
- yedpodtrzitko 6y agoFeels like they're doing only one change at a time - they keep the same chassis which is already proven, and they change the internals only. The next iteration can update the design of chassis while the internals remains the same.
- Jonnax 6y agoMore types of IO as well? So Magsafe and HDMI making a return?
- egwor 6y agoHDMI is simply too thick. I can't see this happening.
- theodric 6y agoThere's mini and micro HDMI, but then you've gained nothing over USB-C.
- dfcowell 6y agoMini/micro-HDMI are plenty slim enough.
- egwor 6y agoGood point. Most people are going to be using this for presentations or for connecting to a TV. If you're going to need an adapter since most cables are full sized hdmi, then why not just use an adapter from usb-c?
- m463 6y agoHave you seen the thin HDMI cables? I use them almost exclusively now. Also thin ethernet cables.
- saagarjha 6y agoHDMI is thinner than USB-A, though…
- disiplus 6y agoMini Displayport ?
- square_usual 6y agoI know it's from Kuo, but these leaks don't pass the smell test for me. It makes no sense for them to add the touchbar to the base model 13" MBPs only to remove them from the higher end versions. It makes even less sense to add more ports which aren't USB-C, as the bits about MagSafe and no dongles imply. Further, I don't understand what is meant by "iPhone 12 like" non-curvy design - I have a 2018 MBP 15", and the sides of this thing are pretty flat and not curved. I mean, these features sound like a dream come true, but I'm having a hard time believing them.
- ssijak 6y agoWho is this guy Kuo anyhow. He always make predictions one year before they almost always become real. Where does he work?
- simonh 6y agoHe's an analyst at a financial services company, I think TF International Securities currently.
- dzhiurgis 6y agoYes, but did you ever seen his analysis as first party?
- k3liutZu 6y agoKuo usually uses sources from the asian supply chain. https://www.macrumors.com/guide/ming-chi-kuo/ https://www.macrumors.com/guide/ming-chi-kuo/ He has a pretty good track record.
- adrr 6y agoIt will probably be physical keys with screens in them. As seen in this patent. https://www.macrumors.com/2020/12/29/apple-researching-keyboards-with-displays-on-keys/ https://www.macrumors.com/2020/12/29/apple-researching-keybo... Mag safe is going to be on the charging cable and not the computer. Like on old game consoles with wired controllers.
- edhelas 6y agoCan't wait to read some Apple fan justifying this change the same way they justified the "less is more" change of removing everything but USB-C.
- azure10 6y agoyes yes and yes. What took them so long? I am curious what resolution would the 14" have (closer to 15 or 13?) 2016 still going "strong" after the keyboard replacement in 2019 but I am not going to expect it to last pass 2021...
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- sjaak 6y agoIf they do this I won't be able to resist buying one. I want to resist though and be one of those people who uses a laptop with libreboot and OpenBSD. ... We are Apple. Lower your principles and surrender your dollars. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.
- toyg 6y agoI will happily resist - between price and performance, the combo MBP 2016/iphone XS was one of the worst investments of my life. Next laptop will be be a Thinkpad or some other Linux-friendly device, I might have to mess with it a bit more but at least I won't feel like a cow being milked.
- hyko 6y agoWhy is it that software engineers can understand the idea of software ports and adapters, but collectively seem to lose their minds when the idea of physically manifest? USB-C is the one port to rule them all, and is here to stay.
- dfcowell 6y agoEvery single dongle I’ve used, without fail, runs stupidly hot and inevitably has random failures within ~6 months (display channels drop out, network adapter disappears, USB devices chug) and concentrating all peripheral load into one port almost always leads to thermal throttling issues (https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/363337/how-to-find-cause-of-high-kernel-task-cpu-usage https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/363337/how-to-find...). USB-C isn’t there yet.
- m463 6y agoMy take is that with few exceptions, USB-C is basically for connecting to non-apple stuff. And non-apple stuff is not at the bleeding edge. Apple stuff is basically wireless. A decent apple system that would be helpful instead of courageous would have: a USB-A port, an HDMI port and a headphone jack. Then go crazy with USB-C, fine.
- HHalvi 6y agoAdd bringing back SD Card Reader, HDMI and changing the Webcam it seems like the best MBP wishlist ever.
- oblio 6y agoThey're never going to add those ports back in. USB-C is as the name says, universal, and they're trying to get rid of even that.
- sparkling 6y agoActually listening to what their customers want? Well, thats new.
- switz 6y agoIf anyone from Apple is reading, let me just say – this is exactly what I want. Magsafe charging. Function keys instead of the touchbar. 15-16" screen. M1 CPU. 32GB Memory. I also prefer the 2015 keyboard, but it's not a dealbreaker. I'll pay for the kickstarter now if it means it'll come out in the next 18 months. Please make it happen.
- llaolleh 6y ago^. Apple please listen to your customers. Beauty and thinness above functionality ain't worth it.
- odshoifsdhfs 6y agoApple, please don't. Keep the touchbar and if it affects design(shouldn't but ok) 16Gb is enough. Devs running docker with 69 machines are not Apple's customers. Can we just finally understand and move on?
- nicoburns 6y agoDevs are the people who make apps for Apple's customers. They'd be foolish to neglect them, even if they make up a small proportion of sales.
- tannhaeuser 6y agoNow also say goodbye to the high-gloss screen (don't tie the design aesthetic to a glossy top, and offer matte display options), make a strong statement about the ability to switch off notarization for good, and you're golden for developers like me once again, Apple.
- lordnacho 6y agoI finally cracked about a year ago and replaced my 2015 MBP 15 with a 2020 MBP 16. Now I'm gonna swap it once this thing comes out. Experiences thus far with the MBP16: - MBP16 has 64GM RAM and can run several IDEs at once, I can compile a project and do other stuff without feeling any lag. It does make the fans come on, which is expected. - Still stutters on certain games, but it wasn't purchased for that. Kinda surprising though, I maxed out all the options minus the disk size when I bought it. - The key travel is just right, I think slightly less than the 2015 version but more than my wife's 2018. Goldilocks. - The Touch Bar is ok, not something I'll miss. I've set it up with BetterTouchTool to have a combination of the open apps and a thing to pull up iTerm2. A minor nuisance is I'll be typing something and I slightly touch the bar, and it pulls up another app. - It eats battery. With my old set of MacBooks, you could never tell which power adapter it was connected to, because it didn't matter whether it was a slightly lower power. With the 16 it's noticeable. If there wasn't a virus lockdown I'd probably struggle to take it out to a café for a day's work. - Screen is beautiful as always. They seem to have found a way to reduce the bezel size, because the 2015 and 2020 models look to be pretty much the same size externally. They actually fit nicely one on top of the other when closed. - Larger trackpad is ok, not killer. Maybe it helps some people's wrists to not have to move all the way to the middle. Reasons for upgrade: - Less energy use could make the thing properly mobile - Should be a noticeable speed increase - MagSafe makes it feel safer. I have kids, the USB ports seem like they could easily get broken if someone steps on a cable. For now I've got adapters anyway, in order to make use of all my old MagSafe chargers, but it would be nice to have it all the way up to the port.
- dont__panic 6y agoIf you're having issues with battery when you're not plugged in, I can highly recommend Turbo Boost Switcher (http://tbswitcher.rugarciap.com/ http://tbswitcher.rugarciap.com/) to disable Intel turbo boost. I've noticed no slowdown or performance decrease, but my fans spin up MUCH less often and my battery lasts a couple hours more. I suppose it goes to show just how badly Intel has screwed up in recent years -- so much development went into this "Turbo Boost" feature that heats up processors hugely under any sustained workload in a way that no laptop can properly keep up with. In certain cases it could make sense ("my project takes 20 seconds to compile, and then the processor basically shuts off") but I routinely end up pegging the CPU at max for 10s of minutes at a time for huge compilations, and the minute the fans spin up I know that Turbo Boost is about to thermal throttle my CPU into oblivion.
- timdaub 6y agoI still own and use a MBP 15 from 2015. And I love it. The options would make me very likely to upgrade...
- katbyte 6y agoDitto, even just repaired the screen. This would finally get me to upgrade
- bozzcl 6y agoAs somebody who struggles with the touch bar every work day, I hope this is real.
- red2awn 6y agoInteresting that there is no mention of a mini-LED display. Other than that the 14 inch model seems to be everything I would ever want.
- matthewmacleod 6y agoYeah, doesn't pass the sniff test, does it? "All the things you ever wanted with no details on what or why". Also to be blunt – none of this sounds compelling to me. I know people have different requirements and use-cases, but I find the touchbar is fine, USB-C is great, and I'm not missing any ports. YMMV but I'm extremely skeptical.
- smartbit 6y agoMaybe the Why is Commercial Interest? Now business types choose Windows laptops for ease of use as it connects directly to the monitor & TV set with the ubiquous HDMI. Same for USB, a majority of the external USB device sold have USB-A whether Apple likes it or not. IOW having only USB-C is a PITA for most non-HN users.
- mokash 6y agoI was hoping they'd include 16GB memory as the base
- numair 6y agoIf the assertions regarding the fully-flat design are true, there is hope that this new model will resemble the greatest portable Mac of the 21st century: the PowerBook G4. For the uninitiated, watch the video of Steve Jobs announcing it at MacWorld San Francisco 2001.
- HugoDaniel 6y ago:( I love the Touch Bar, I love to configure it per application to have the most common shortcut on the top left part of it (in Terminal that's the alt as mod for me). Properly configured it really speeded my workflows.
- flurdy 6y agoI don't see the point of the F-keys returning. If no touchbar then just use layers on top of the numerals, like other laptops and programmable keyboards.
- hardlianotion 6y agoOne more thing while we're fantasising. It would be nice if the sharp edge round the edge of the working surface was removed.
- mpalczewski 6y agoyeah, would be really nice. In the past I've taken a metal file to these, rounded and smoothen them out. Lately I found this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073W1RYGJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073W1RYGJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b... to be quite an effective work around.
- blackrock 6y agoIt’s not that the Touch Bar was bad. It’s that they removed the Function Keys! They should’ve just placed the Touch Bar, above the Function Keys.
- villgax 6y agoOne USB type A & one HDMI port will make 80% of the folks extremely happy & power brick free for work
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- stunt 6y agoI have a bunch of USB-C adapters hanging around for different usage and they all have their own caveats with different combinations and different monitors. You get all sort of issues with frame rate, data transfer bandwidth, not enough power to charge the laptop, overheating etc. All because Apple couldn't be bothered to either keep more ports in their "PRO" lineup, or at least design and sell a quality dock station for "pro" users that works without those caveats, performance and quality issues, overheating, etc. Apple only makes low-end single or max three ports adapters that aren't capable of doing anything serious. It's just lame that they aren't making a high-end loaded dock station for pro users. I hope they just do it, and they do it without crazy price tag.
- gumby 6y agoI don't understand the port fetish. I admit my mac use case doesn't involve plugging much of anything into my machine, but Type C is pretty ubiquitous by now.
- ravenstine 6y agoIt is? To this day I'm buying new peripherals that only offer micro-USB and come with a cable with regular USB on the other end. I'm talking devices made within the last couple of years. In fact I'd say that's been my experience with every purchase I've made besides my refurbed Pixel 3 XL. USB-C definitely doesn't seem ubiquitous to me.
- gumby 6y agoAs I replied to another post: I've gone Type C only since about a year ago. I guess I should have been clearer to point out that's it's still quite possible to(common?) to buy non-type C devices (you can still buy DE-9 serial devices too), but it's certainly possibly to buy a Type C version of almost anything (external drive/card reader/a lamp...). Everybody's mileage can vary of course.
- mad182 6y ago> Type C is pretty ubiquitous by now. Not really. From top of my head I could easily gather > 30 things at my house with the plain old USB A connector (several flash drives, keyboards, mouses, Bluetooth and WiFi adapters, smart card reader, external hdd enclosures, a stack of old laptops, r-pi, headphones, routers, playstation, tv, car diagnostics cables and probably several other things I can't remember). There are USB A connectors in all 3 cars in my family. And probably a dozen more devices with mini/micro USB - dslr camera, couple of tablets and older phones, dashcams, thermal imaging camera, powerbank... Meanwhile there are exactly 3 devices with usb-c ports - 2 phones and one of several laptops (which also has several usb a ports). The only regular use of USB C for me is charging my phone. Everything else is on USB A or micro USB.
- gumby 6y agoAbout a year ago I stopped buying anything USBable that didn't use Type C. Even an electric toothbrush charged via PD. It hasn't been that hard. You might have some old legacy devices but that's not what I meant. This reminds me of the USB transition with the first iMac. There was some angst but it settled down.
- t0mbstone 6y agoI was literally just commenting to a co-worker about how I haven't used my touch bar even once in the past year. Give us TACTILE interfaces! I don't want to accidentally push a virtual button just by brushing my hand across a smooth surface. Honestly, what would actually be pretty cool would be tactile keyboard buttons with screens built into their surfaces. That way you could actually assign visual hints to your function keys, and they could still require tactile presses to use. That will unfortunately probably never happen though, due to manufacturing costs and complexity.
- dont__panic 6y agoConsidering that Apple recently patented a design that does exactly that (https://liliputing.com/2020/12/apple-patents-a-configurable-keyboard-with-tiny-screens-beneath-the-keys.html https://liliputing.com/2020/12/apple-patents-a-configurable-...) you could be in luck!
- Zelphyr 6y agoMaybe I'm in the minority here but; I'd buy an iPhone with a tactile keyboard in a heartbeat if they offer it. I get where they were going with a virtual keyboard, and I agree with what Jobs said when they announced the first iPhone. The accuracy of a virtual keyboard, however, is just painfully bad.
- aaomidi 6y agoThe touchbar is such a cool piece of technology. I'm sad to see users didn't embrace it as much as they could've. It created a dynamically adapting interface that just opened up so many more possibilities.
- neither_color 6y agoI've tried Better Touch Tool and Pock and I just can't get into the habit of using it. It just doesn't solve enough problems that I'm compelled to use it.
- aaomidi 6y agoIt's not necessarily to solve problems, but open a new method of interacting with your computer. I've loved the usefulness of it when watching media, quickly opening man pages for the command I'm running. Having a touchbar pet running around when I'm having a bad time
- colmvp 6y agoTo be honest, the TouchBar was one the reasons why I still haven't upgraded my MacBook (first Retina). I bought a PC laptop to tie me over until they reverted this change.
- r00fus 6y agoThe touchbar was their excuse to get a non-Intel chip into the 2016+ Intel models. It failed at pretty much all it's use cases - it is not available when the laptop is closed, and it's too far when you're at a desk with external keyboard attached even if you don't go clamshell. It was the ROKR of the Intel->ARM transition - a stalking horse that showed Apple had to go all-in.
- stblack 6y agoThe problem with the Touch Bar is, merely grazing it ever so slightly with a fingertip causes countless freaky side effects. I've reverted to a straight, function-key-icons-only Touch Bar and it's still a problem for me. I estimate since 2018 — the year I bought this MBP — I've had tens of thousands of irritating inadvertent errors interrupt my flow. So frustrating. If this ships as described, I'm ordering one on Day 1 and then I'm NEVER going to use this Touch Bar MBP again. Touch Bar was a stupid idea. It should have been optional, not default. Had it been optional from the start, there's no way it would still be an option, it would be discontinued years ago. Because few people would be ordering a Touch Bar MBP after they tried it for an ownership cycle.
- davio 6y agoThere will never be more ports
- ravenstine 6y agoI'll believe it when I see it. I could believe them getting rid of the touchbar, but bringing back magsafe? I'm sticking with my 2015 MacBook until it's irreparable, and I do like the magsafe port, but is there really any point in going back after moving to USB-C? I think I just like magsafe because it's cool more than that it actually has some sort of superiority over USB-C. I've tripped over the USB-C cable to my work laptop(2018 model) a handful of times and somehow the cable always manages to unplug without flinging the laptop across the room or damaging the USB components themselves. It doesn't seem like going back to magsafe would achieve anything.
- Klathmon 6y agoI wonder if the "MagSafe" they are talking about is the new magsafe wireless charging on the iphone 12? It would be nice to be able to have a charging pad for my laptop rather than needing to mess with wires at all. Speculation time! I wonder if they will be able to put a magsafe wireless charging spot both under the laptop, and on top next to the trackpad! They could let you charge your iphone from your laptop, and charge the laptop via some fancy new magsafe pad. In fact I wonder if this could include some of the "air power" tech that was reportedly cut a while back?
- jsheard 6y ago> Speculation time! I wonder if they will be able to put a magsafe wireless charging spot [...] on "top" next to the trackpad! Apple patented that idea just recently: https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/5/22215413/apple-patent-device-wireless-charging-iphone-macbook https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/5/22215413/apple-patent-devi...
- duluca 6y agoThis would be amazing, when traveling becomes a thing again. It sucks to maintain so many charging devices in a hotel room
- nrp 6y agoApple patents are an evergreen topic for tech journalists, but Apple never announces features or products through patent filings. If you're seeing a public filing for a patent from Apple on a thing that they aren't currently shipping, that means it's something they have no plans to ship.
- pdimitar 6y agoAnd THAT will make me finally replace my MacBook Pro 2015. No touch bar, MagSafe, good amount of ports. The iPhone 12-esque design is a good bonus too (I like it more than all others before it). Only took 5-6 years but I am again excited about MacBooks.
- shaolinspirit 6y agolol, I was thinking I'm the only one sitting with my 2015 macpro ^_^ love this laptop, however it got super slow and the battery life is almost zero, which is fine after almost 4 years of serving.
- marvin 6y ago2014 version here. It looks like someone ran over it with a forklift after I sent it as checked luggage once (they probably did just that), but I won't upgrade to a Mac unless they're able to make them compelling again.
- pdimitar 6y agoOh, there's plenty of us out there holding on to the last sensible MacBook that Apple has made. I really want this rumor to be true. It would mean that Apple finally got through its phase of trying to appeal to non-professionals -- or professionals with looser ergonomic requirements.
- minimaxir 6y agoIf you haven't, a wipe + reinstall of macOS does help the slowness/battery life issues a bit. (had to do that on a 2016 MBP which was acting up and it made a difference. Although make sure not to format as APFS when wiping it!)
- shaolinspirit 6y agorecently my battery died and I need to sit with the magsafe all the time... the performance dropped even more, processor throttling is on max :)
- 6y ago
- cwp 6y agoThis sounds more like a wishlist of features that elite Apple developers want, than what Apple is likely to do.
- ChrisMarshallNY 6y agoLooking forward to it. I won't miss the the TouchBar. It will be interesting to see what the new "Mag-Safe" looks like. I doubt that it will be USB C-based, but if it is, I hope it isn't like these stupid "USB C MagSafe" charging cords that are out now.
- rubyist5eva 6y agoI absolutely love the touchbar, especially with the new physical escape key. Shame to see it go. Hopefully we can still get an option that has it.
- zackbloom 6y agoHonest question: what do you use it for?
- rubyist5eva 6y agoVolume and brightness control sliders are nicer than the keyboard keys IMO. For plenty of applications I use the contextual shortcuts from the touchbar instead of memorizing keyboard shortcuts which is very convenient. I don't even really think about what I use it for now...I just use it, as if it was a regular extension of the muscle memory from my keyboard. It took a bit to acclimate but I've been using it for over a year now and I don't even think about it now.
- yayr 6y agoWhat about a touch screen? Anything that might have been good about the old touch bar could then be just an app blending in at the bottom / top / side. Aside from obviously needing it once running most iOS apps on the device. Plus: there is no 16" touch display in the lineup yet, this would be something adding value also to touch apps.
- platty 6y agoI've been holding out upgrading for the last 2-3 years because I really don't want the Touch Bar. I have one with my work laptop and I only ever accidentally hit it. Having the physical music and volume control buttons on my current laptop is a significant usability improvement for me.
- codecamper 6y agoLove that function keys are a feature in 2020.
- diogenescynic 6y agoPlease add back the SD/micro-SD port. I loved that feature on older Macs. It's annoying to have to use a USB converter to import pictures to your laptop.
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- jron 6y agoI feel for badly for users that adopted the touch bar into their workflow... It never should have been a thing. For those that do use it, an alternative solution could easily be implemented by using a touch display. e.g. touch the bottom left or right of the screen and the OS displays something similar to the touch bar. This might be the first valid use case for having touch functionality on a laptop. If I had to pick between USB-C charging and MagSafe, I'd pick MagSafe for accident prevention. The option to use USB-C or MagSafe charging would be a win for everyone.
- llaolleh 6y agoThis is the part that I really don't get. Apple takes away all those features, but then brings them back? What is the reasoning behind this?
- dhbanes 6y agoJony Ive is gone. That’s why they brought back a functional keyboard anyway.
- dkdbejwi383 6y agoI guess they've realised that "10% thinner" isn't the killer feature consumers are after, and people prefer their devices are functional.
- chx 6y agoIt's not fully impossible to build an up-to-specs magnetic USB C connector, it just hasn't happened yet. I am 100% if anyone ever pulls it off, it'll be Apple. https://twitter.com/USBCGuy/status/1186718432932159488 https://twitter.com/USBCGuy/status/1186718432932159488 > No, because per the spec, and current technological limitations, there is no way to do a proper connector and logic board. > It might be possible some day with active electronics, and special electrooptical couplers. But I haven't seen any yet. Written by Nathan Kolluru. He and Benson Leung were the two guys who did early through technical reviews of USB C cables, later he joined Google as well as a Hardware Engineer, Technical Program Manager. They gave this presentation recently https://www.usb.org/sites/default/files/D1T2-3b%20-%20USB%20Type-C%20Linux%20Connector%20Class.pdf https://www.usb.org/sites/default/files/D1T2-3b%20-%20USB%20... In other words, he actually knows what he is talking about USB C wise, unlike little me :D Interesting writings on USB C hw at https://medium.com/@kolluru.nathan https://medium.com/@kolluru.nathan Edit: please, ffs, stop recommending non specs compliant garbage magnetic connectors. One, you might have very serious ESD issues because now your USB C pins are much more exposed than the normal connector. Two, you might have very serious data integrity issues because those pogo pins do not and can not adhere to the very rigorous specs. I find it absolutely astonishing that people would trust a thousand dollar electronic device on a piece of uncertified cable transmitting 100W and tens of gigabits...
- jws 6y agoThey could put all the USB C logic required for power negotiation in the molded connector of a USB C cable and expose 5 contacts on the magnetic side of the connector. [gnd-pwr-data-pwr-gnd] that lets you plug it in either way. You would then have a cable that was USB C PD on one end and MagSafe on the other. You could carry your USB-MagSafe cable and still use any USB C power source, or bring one with if you like. It isn't a full USB C with it's score of hair thin wires, but it lets you have some beefy power and ground contacts and enough I/O to chat about voltages, currents, and what color an LED might want to be.
- imhoguy 6y agoI see some 24 pin "magnetic usb-c" adapters with 100W PD and TB3 compatibility on Amazon/Aliexpress. They need an existing cable so likely they just pass-thru cable capability discovery to an existing chip. Apart of some wear issues, reviews are rather positive. Anyone tried such?
- bestinterest 6y agoI hope they also allow at least two displays to be connected instead of the one display limitation on the latest MacBooks
- a_wild_dandan 6y agoHow is the thermal performance with external monitors on the M1? Any time I connect my 2019 MBP to one it sounds like a jet engine.
- hcurtiss 6y agoI presently have my 2020 MBA connected to two QHD displays. I couldn't get it to work with a single dock cable, but I connect the dock (which has lots of other peripherals) and one display direct to the second USB-C.
- xixixao 6y agoThe only dream feature missing is a smaller trackpad. Doesn’t have to be as small as the 2015 one, but it should have more bezel so I don’t bump it accidentally like now. Unless you have huge hands, the current size is unwarrented.
- nickthemagicman 6y agoThis is everything I dream about. Don't tease me.
- fumar 6y agoI am typing this on the M1 Air. I had the Pro with a Touch Bar before. I don't miss the Touch Bar per se, but I did like the ability to customize it for my liking. I also liked scrubbing on video or music software. The escape key is back on all MacBooks now including Touch Bar. I guess I am still on the fence about the Touch Bar and its usability. I think apple envisioned more developer adoption and novelty.
- biztos 6y agoI really wanted to like the Touch Bar for scrubbing, but then I hooked up the external monitor and the Bluetooth magic keyboard and... To this day I can not figure out why Apple doesn’t sell an external Touch Bar of some kind, for use by the actual professional video editors out there.
- thebigspacefuck 6y agoHave you tried a trackball?
- biztos 6y agoNot recently. Is that commonly used for video? To be clear, I’m an amateur at video and I do know there are lots of dedicated tools from scrubber dials to keyboards. The part I can’t figure out is why Apple has this “pro” tech for which the most obvious and most hyped use-case is video editing, but they don’t sell any version of it a professional video editor could actually use.
- thebigspacefuck 6y agoSupposedly they are. I don't do any video editing, but it's something that came up a lot when I was looking at trackballs. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/video/hands-review/how-kensington-trackballs-enhance-video-editing-workflows https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/video/hands-review/how-...
- volta87 6y agoIf this happens I might replace my macbook air mid 2012. Magsafe, no touchbar, hopefully 14'' with 32GB of RAM and M1X. Also, I hope a decent webcam, and ability to support at least 2 external displays..
- rconti 6y agoThe new machines are great. I used a 2011 Air forever, having a high-DPI air was on my list, so when the new ones dropped, I ordered an i7 in March... which I recently sold on Swappa since I had to upgrade to an M1 :) But of course, no magsafe, and only 16GB of RAM, so if it's your daily workhorse I can see waiting for the 14" MBP with more RAM and beefier chips.
- volta87 6y agoThe main killer feature for me in the M1 is that it only supports 1 external display, and that the webcam isn't great. I hope they fix those.
- sroussey 6y agoI like the touchbar! Especially now that the esc key is physical. I never use f keys, and I like knowing what the “key” is going to do before I touch/press it. And 100x so for family members that were afraid of those keys.
- trimbo 6y agoThe touchbar wouldn't be so bad if it was further away from the number keys. The touchbar is ridiculously sensitive, so typing numbers means risking hitting it, then suddenly my computer unmutes.
- rootusrootus 6y agoI agree. Function keys are abstract, useful for particular niche cases. Done right, the touchbar seems like a better solution. I'm glad they brought back a physical ESC, for sure, but I don't think going back to function keys is actually a step forward. It also seems like an un-apple thing to do. I'd like more ports. But I'm not sold on the idea of going back to an HDMI port, displayport, etc. I'd rather see the world switch everything to USB-C than see Apple go back to one of each port. I'd like to be able to hook up a half dozen monitors, or a half dozen network connections, or a half dozen hard drives, or ... you get the idea.
- a_band 6y agoDon't tease me.
- offtop5 6y agoWill it allow me to hook up two monitors ? I sent back my pro and replaced it with an M1 mini the moment I realized only one monitor worked. I will say Logic X makes a Mac worthwhile, but it's like I'm recording on the road.
- arvinsim 6y agoSigh I am still waiting for Logic Pro X in iOS
- oh_hello 6y agoIf I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have said "a faster horse".
- hiimtroymclure 6y agoI will be using my 2015 MacBook Pro until the last viable OS update until they make the laptop better
- karmakaze 6y agoToo good to be true, there's got to be a catch: Apple Silicon > 5. There is no Intel CPU option for the new models. I don't think they mean AMD.
- kljsandjb 6y agoIt cannot be “no touch bar”...
- wedn3sday 6y agoThe only macbook I would buy at this point is a 2015 model, give me the old keyboard I could actually type on, magsafe, and no annoying touch bar. I've been using a 2018 macbook pro literally every day for three years and have never once used the touch bar for anything that wasnt previously mapped to a function key. 2015 macbook air is still the best laptop in the world.
- racl101 6y agoYes. No touch bar. I prefer real buttons. More ports. We regular USB is still a thing in spite of what they might think. Don't you dare touch the 3.5 mm audio jack! Leave it alone. Nobody gives a shit that the laptops are half a centimeter thick when they need all these stupid adapters / dongles to have basic functionality.
- Areading314 6y agoNow they just need to get rid of MacOS and it would be an amazing product!
- bordercases 6y agoHell yeah. Magsafe has saved my old MacBook several times already.
- brandonmenc 6y agoApril Fools' arrived early this year. I'm in the minority here on hn, but I prefer the touch bar over function keys and I don't miss MagSafe at all.
- mark_l_watson 6y agoI hope not. I like the multiple use USB-C for also charging. I never charge my two MacBooks (one is a new M1 pro) because they charge when I plug into a monitor. Plus, with about 20 hour battery life, returning to MagSafe is less important. I really like the physical escape key and Touch Bar on my new M1 laptop.
- inter_netuser 6y agoWhen are they fixing keyboard?
- stewx 6y agoYou can kind of bring MagSafe back to your laptop on your own by buying a magnetic USB-C adapter like this one: https://www.amazon.ca/Magnetic-Adapter-Connector-Transfer-Compatible/dp/B07TT6NGBC https://www.amazon.ca/Magnetic-Adapter-Connector-Transfer-Co...
- Kharvok 6y agoIf they get rid of the touchbar I'm trading my mac immediately
- oramit 6y agoI hope this comes to pass. I have a late 2011 Macbook Pro that finally died a few months back and I want to get a new machine. Because of Covid I haven't needed or been able to travel so my desktop has sufficed. Once things open up again I'll need a mobile option. The touchbar is neat but almost entirely useless for my workflow. It just takes up space and is honestly the main reason I haven't bought another machine. I love magsafe and would like to see it come back but if it just had USB-C that would be fine. No touchbar, new apple silicon, more ports (ethernet please!) - i'll be getting one.
- utxaa 6y agofuck the touch bar.
- SomeHacker44 6y agoIf true, it may be too little, too late for me - and no mention of going back to a good pre-butterfly keyboard either. I will be looking for a nice OLED Windows computer about then (3Q21), with user replaceable RAM and M.2 SSDs, Thunderbolt 4 and maybe a small GPU for a bit of light ML. I already switched from an iPhone and have stopped upgrading my MBPs above 10.14.
- hughmcc 6y agoIn my experience the new Magic Keyboard with scissor switches is just as good as, if not better than, the old pre-butterfly keyboards.
- caogecym 6y agoApple should make the edges less sharp as well. I just got the 13 inch M1 Pro, it's too sharp. The 2014-2015 Pro case is just perfect.
- therealbilly 6y agoKeep the touchbar. I like it. Just have a model for the fuddy duddy's.
- mensetmanusman 6y agoI use a USB-C to mag-charging adapter on my ipad pro, and I love it. I like the idea of using repairable components like this because if my mag-charger gets broken by a toddler, the usb-c port is fine and I just get a new one without having to pay $300 to repair the ipad.