4 ms·
I'm not sure if I'm an old fart or something (I'm 31) but this has to be the daftest MacBook I've ever seen. I have a 2012 MacBook non-retina, with DVD writer a
by 72deluxe 12y ago
I'm not sure if I'm an old fart or something (I'm 31) but this has to be the daftest MacBook I've ever seen. I have a 2012 MacBook non-retina, with DVD writer and all the ports I need (MagSafe, Gigabit ethernet, FireWire, ThunderBolt (also Mini DisplayPort so I don't need fiddly adapters to connect to TVs), 2 USB ports, an SD card slot, as well as headphone output, and line input (both switchable to digital optical S/PDIF), and a decent sized screen with plenty of space to rest my hands on the device. I truly believe I have the last decent model! The RAM is upgradable and the battery and hard disk replaceable (but it's impossible to plug in two USB dongles next to each other, silly or what).
This new MacBook is firstly tiny (nowhere to rest my hands), a screen size that is the same as a Samsung Note (the big 12" one), everything is along the edges, and THERE IS ONE PORT. Do I now need to carry along a hub in addition to all of the adapters???? It's so stupid I am struggling to comprehend who their target audience is? They mention the USB-C and that you can plug screens, power and devices into it - but the big question is: can I do all three things at the same time?? Or would I need to eject my USB stick just to power my device? Even my monochrome 386SX Amstrad laptop from 1991 had more ports (only 4MB of RAM mind you).
My first monitor that I could get was a 10" IBM CGA screen which was tiny - this is competing for the most ridiculous sized screen on a daily use machine. Perhaps they are converging with the Apple Watch?
When I saw it I thought it was a funny joke and then I realised that it was actually true and on Apple's site; I realised that Apple in their pursuit of extreme thinness have abandoned all the reasons why people bought a laptop in the first place (a portable computer, you know, with ports that you can use). I frequently use a MacBook Air at work and it makes me angry pretty quickly - tiny screen, no ports. I have to wander around with a bunch of dongles to use it with other devices (I need ethernet for AVB audio and sometime must demonstrate on a TV). This new MacBook looks like the plasticy bendy laptops you see in the budget range of PC shops - not a good look to be going for.
I was saddened to see that the ordinary applications that are part of the OS are labelled "apps" at the bottom of the screen, and truly hope this isn't a move towards the merging of OSX and iOS as has been feared for some time, starting with the merging of styles. I develop software for OSX as my day job on a Mac Pro (the ones you could drive over) and this saddens me.
This is truly the daftest thing I've seen, and I'm an Apple fan and OSX/iOS developer with a stash of Apple gear, a daily Mac OSX development job and sideline OSX job too. Disclaimer: I thought I'd best add that because there is a sad tendency here on HN to behave like "slashdot" and ridicule other people for having opinions.
And about Force Touch: I would prefer Force Invisibility or Force Persuasion, like in Jedi Knight please.
EDIT: Just noticed they're still doing the MacBook Pro and I have engaged in much confusion, but still it's a crazy device that won't be able to compete with ordinary PC laptops with ports, methinks.
- ryanSrich 12y agoWell to be fair it's a Macbook, not a Macbook Pro. If you need multiple ports and are doing "productive" things then you still have the Pro. This is meant to be a sleek, fun machine that's portable and powerful. Side note, what line of work are you in where you need so many ports? I could see if you're a photographer, where you have a camera, the charging cable, an SD card, and an external, but I can't really think of too many other use cases where you'd need multiple ports at once. Just noticed you program OSX apps. Why do you need so many ports?
- 72deluxe 12y agoI work in the audio industry where I route audio over ethernet and also use USB devices in development to flash devices (like putting firmware on USB stick and then taking said USB device to the audio hardware). I also use my FireWire for running external mic preamps; it's really useful to have a rack mounted 8 channel mic preamp on FireWire and to turn up and record a practice / gig with just your laptop, particularly as the ADCs in the external hardware will be significantly better than the ones in the MacBook. I use the ThunderBolt / Mini DisplayPort for hooking up to an external screen when I take the laptop home and want to game in Windows after rebooting; it is useful to have a device that will do all of that without external hardware, and I don't feel the extra pain of having a laptop half a centimetre thicker than a Retina model :-) And the SD? For my ancient camera! And the DVD writer is useful for giving CDs to other band members who don't like MP3s for odd reasons, or to play CDs in the car (yes my "ancient" 2008 Golf TDi supports MP3 CDs but the iPod interface for it is severely inadequate). You're right about the Pro though - it's probably the thing I'd buy again.
- dilap 12y agoDifferent strokes, different folks. I love my MB Air and this looks even better; I almost never plug anything into it, just my iPhone or a HD occasionally. It does seem a little insane to not be able to e.g., run a harddrive to backup the computer while it's plugged in...
- 72deluxe 12y agoPerhaps it's to make you buy an AirPort and TimeCapsule instead?