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It looks like a perfect laptop for programming (tinkering). Most of the time I just ssh to a remote server or keep a window with persistent mosh connection. Al

It looks like a perfect laptop for programming (tinkering). Most of the time I just ssh to a remote server or keep a window with persistent mosh connection. All my stuff on the server is only tmux attach -d away! I suppose I could compile small to mid sized programs on the Macbook itself. Benchmarks indicate it has enough power for that. Compiling something like boost or linux kernel might take a while but I don't do that very often. In the end, I don't know. I'm keen to give it a go. I switched to 13" rMBP from Air for the retina screen and I still remember how clunky it felt. Probably not enough to be my only laptop but wouldn't mind swapping my 13" rMBP for 12" Macbook + 15" rMBP (when quad core Broadwell or Skylake comes out).

nfoz 12y ago
It looks like the keyboard is terrible, which rules out programming for me.
- pdiddy 12y ago
  Why do you say the keyboard looks terrible? They have been touting the new keyboard a lot. See here: https://www.apple.com/macbook/design/ https://www.apple.com/macbook/design/
- dogecoinbase 12y ago
  From the article you're notionally commenting on: Ultimately I don’t find the MacBook’s keyboard to be any different to type on as far as key size and feel goes (even with my large fingers), but your mileage may vary.
- nsxwolf 12y ago
  I spent some time with the keyboard. It's not terrible. It's very different in feel from the Air/Pro, especially when typing fast. It takes some getting used to but I would not complain if this keyboard made its way to the MacBook Pro.
  - eropple 12y ago
    Sort-of-agreed. I like the corner stability, but I think I'd be unhappy if the key travel was this poor on the MacBook Pro.
    - nsxwolf 12y ago
      The loss of travel is the sticking point. The only reason to lose it on the Pro would be to standardize the feel across product lines and improve manufacturing efficiency. I use an HHKB2 Pro and the IBM Model M on desktop computers, which are lightyears different in travel compared to scissor switches. But I've also become pretty comfortable touch typing on a full size iPad, and the new MacBook keyboard feels somewhere in between typing on an Apple scissor switch keyboard and an iPad.
      - eropple 12y ago
        Right, but you could use taller butterfly switches to retain the right kind of travel. I wouldn't mind that.
fuj 12y ago
Interesting you say this, since pretty much everyone agrees that this laptop is nothing more than a "facebook" machine. Has a slow processor, low amount of ram, awful keyboard, etc.
- outworlder 12y ago
  Load of crap. It's plenty fast for most applications.
- freehunter 12y ago
  8GB of RAM is too low for anything other than Facebook? Wow browsers sure are getting bloated...
  - chiph 12y ago
    It's probably because of iTunes. Safari with 3 tabs open on my MBP is 222mb, iTunes is 291mb. YMMV.
  - BuildTheRobots 12y ago
    My web browsing seems to consume obscene quantities of ram (there was an interesting article a little while ago about how Adblock can eat 400mb _per iframe_) -but them I am one of those tab-hoarding types. Ironically (incidentally) Facebook seems to be one of the worst offenders. If I sign into facebook and then forget to sleep my desktop, I can get back from a weekend away to find firefox has eaten 15gb of ram and a painful amount of swap. Chromium seemed to be just as bad last I tried it.
    - Kurtz79 12y ago
      Considering that nowadays every tab is basically an independent application (in Chrome, literally), if you have 20 tabs open is equivalent of having 20 separate applications open, it's kind of pointless complaining about RAM usage of the "web browser".
    - freehunter 12y ago
      I just think it's odd to say because my development/gaming desktop was just upgraded to 8GB of RAM from 6GB a few months ago and I never close tabs or shut anything down until something crashes. So saying 8GB of RAM is only good enough for Facebook... you should see my Steam library that likes 8GB of RAM just fine. Maybe the problem isn't that Facebook takes 15GB of RAM, it's that Firefox or Chrome will take literally as much RAM as it can get. I should try surfing Facebook on the 128GB servers we have at work and report back my findings...
untog 12y ago
If all you're doing is sshing to a remote server then presumably a Chromebook would be a cheaper option.
- JustSomeNobody 12y ago
  True. But the screen.
to3m 12y ago
The CPU mark scores seem to be pretty good. (I wonder whether the turbo boost improves benchmark scores.) For something bursty like compilation, it should be perfectly usable, particularly when combined with the SSD. Not sure about the RAM though... RAM requirements are climbing slowly enough that 8GBytes is probably fine, but it's still a bit stingy.

nfoz 12y ago

It looks like the keyboard is terrible, which rules out programming for me.

pdiddy 12y ago
Why do you say the keyboard looks terrible? They have been touting the new keyboard a lot. See here: https://www.apple.com/macbook/design/ https://www.apple.com/macbook/design/
dogecoinbase 12y ago
From the article you're notionally commenting on: Ultimately I don’t find the MacBook’s keyboard to be any different to type on as far as key size and feel goes (even with my large fingers), but your mileage may vary.
nsxwolf 12y ago
I spent some time with the keyboard. It's not terrible. It's very different in feel from the Air/Pro, especially when typing fast. It takes some getting used to but I would not complain if this keyboard made its way to the MacBook Pro.
- eropple 12y ago
  Sort-of-agreed. I like the corner stability, but I think I'd be unhappy if the key travel was this poor on the MacBook Pro.
  - nsxwolf 12y ago
    The loss of travel is the sticking point. The only reason to lose it on the Pro would be to standardize the feel across product lines and improve manufacturing efficiency. I use an HHKB2 Pro and the IBM Model M on desktop computers, which are lightyears different in travel compared to scissor switches. But I've also become pretty comfortable touch typing on a full size iPad, and the new MacBook keyboard feels somewhere in between typing on an Apple scissor switch keyboard and an iPad.
    - eropple 12y ago
      Right, but you could use taller butterfly switches to retain the right kind of travel. I wouldn't mind that.

fuj 12y ago

Interesting you say this, since pretty much everyone agrees that this laptop is nothing more than a "facebook" machine. Has a slow processor, low amount of ram, awful keyboard, etc.

outworlder 12y ago
Load of crap. It's plenty fast for most applications.
freehunter 12y ago
8GB of RAM is too low for anything other than Facebook? Wow browsers sure are getting bloated...
- chiph 12y ago
  It's probably because of iTunes. Safari with 3 tabs open on my MBP is 222mb, iTunes is 291mb. YMMV.
- BuildTheRobots 12y ago
  My web browsing seems to consume obscene quantities of ram (there was an interesting article a little while ago about how Adblock can eat 400mb _per iframe_) -but them I am one of those tab-hoarding types. Ironically (incidentally) Facebook seems to be one of the worst offenders. If I sign into facebook and then forget to sleep my desktop, I can get back from a weekend away to find firefox has eaten 15gb of ram and a painful amount of swap. Chromium seemed to be just as bad last I tried it.
  - Kurtz79 12y ago
    Considering that nowadays every tab is basically an independent application (in Chrome, literally), if you have 20 tabs open is equivalent of having 20 separate applications open, it's kind of pointless complaining about RAM usage of the "web browser".
  - freehunter 12y ago
    I just think it's odd to say because my development/gaming desktop was just upgraded to 8GB of RAM from 6GB a few months ago and I never close tabs or shut anything down until something crashes. So saying 8GB of RAM is only good enough for Facebook... you should see my Steam library that likes 8GB of RAM just fine. Maybe the problem isn't that Facebook takes 15GB of RAM, it's that Firefox or Chrome will take literally as much RAM as it can get. I should try surfing Facebook on the 128GB servers we have at work and report back my findings...

untog 12y ago

If all you're doing is sshing to a remote server then presumably a Chromebook would be a cheaper option.

JustSomeNobody 12y ago
True. But the screen.

to3m 12y ago

The CPU mark scores seem to be pretty good. (I wonder whether the turbo boost improves benchmark scores.) For something bursty like compilation, it should be perfectly usable, particularly when combined with the SSD. Not sure about the RAM though... RAM requirements are climbing slowly enough that 8GBytes is probably fine, but it's still a bit stingy.