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12-Inch Retina MacBook Receives Mixed Reviews From Early Adopters
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Regarding the keyboard: I typed on one in the Apple Store, and I do have to say it was quite a big change. I thought folks who tried it out and were saying "it takes time to get used to" were being a little over-the-top, but after trying it, they weren't. It feels drastically different than any other Apple keyboard. I'm not sure if I like it or not, but I'm sure if I bought one, I'd get used to it like anything else.
The screen and form factor are obviously the main draws. Screen is fantastic.
I think it's pretty nice for a first gen product. The port thing isn't the biggest deal in the world to me, but I can see where it would be for some folks. Thankfully there are other options for them.
I'd consider buying one at $999. $1200 is really pushing it.
The screen and form factor are obviously the main draws. Screen is fantastic.
I think it's pretty nice for a first gen product. The port thing isn't the biggest deal in the world to me, but I can see where it would be for some folks. Thankfully there are other options for them.
I'd consider buying one at $999. $1200 is really pushing it.
The current MacBook runs circles around your 2008 MacBook because of the CPU and the SSD, so Skylake should be even better. Cannonlake is just the die shrink of Skylake, so the biggest benefit will be in power management.
Apple should bundle a USB-c adapter with the Macbook seeing as how everyone pretty much needs one at this point in time. Asus and other PC makers bundle adapters all the time, but with Apple they always want to squeeze all the money they can out of u.
Wow
Its amazing how people can still gush over this product while at the same time saying it is completely useless for them, must like the Apple Watch reviews.
Apple has clearly mastered the perception filter where they can fail to deliver a compelling, or even usable, product, and yet everyone blows their wad trying to write good things about it while even after real life usage they are just not able to find it overly functional or beneficial over another, even previous generation, product.
Call it out for what it is, form over function. Apple is clearly jumping the shark on making things thinner and lighter to the point where products are bending, flexing, and making design compromises on functionality just to support Jony Ive's quest to make everything flat enough to shed an entire dimension and be considered 2D.
If the early adopters are not happy about a product what do you think the housewife that gets one for Christmas this year is going to think when they can't plug into 21 TB of baby and cat photos stored in an external drive and post them on Facebook using this thing?
Its amazing how people can still gush over this product while at the same time saying it is completely useless for them, must like the Apple Watch reviews.
Apple has clearly mastered the perception filter where they can fail to deliver a compelling, or even usable, product, and yet everyone blows their wad trying to write good things about it while even after real life usage they are just not able to find it overly functional or beneficial over another, even previous generation, product.
Call it out for what it is, form over function. Apple is clearly jumping the shark on making things thinner and lighter to the point where products are bending, flexing, and making design compromises on functionality just to support Jony Ive's quest to make everything flat enough to shed an entire dimension and be considered 2D.
If the early adopters are not happy about a product what do you think the housewife that gets one for Christmas this year is going to think when they can't plug into 21 TB of baby and cat photos stored in an external drive and post them on Facebook using this thing?
Oh yeah, I've got the patience. Apple is definitely on to something here. What I can't wait for is when this design will inevitably make it to all the other Mac notebooks. Not necessarily the thin, portless body, but the keyboard, trackpad, new IPS display, tiered battery, etc.Of course someone needs to be the test user / first adopters. Not everyone is going to jump on the same bandwagon all at once. Someone has to start it all and the lucky few with deep pockets don't mind starting this trend for the rest of the people. They get to play and own a shiny "newtoy" first. That is a perfectly acceptable tradeoff. But if you have patience, just wait until Apple updates it 2-3 years from now.
??? Nothing really more to say than that. You are grossly misinformed if that is your stance on the issue.
I feel like this product is simply too far ahead of its time. People don't like change, change has to be gradual. The rMB is a big leap forward and it will take some time to get used to.
Tried one in the store and absolutely loved it. If it wasn't for the 1500 price tag, it certainly would be a good replacement for my aging MBP.
Tried one in the store and absolutely loved it. If it wasn't for the 1500 price tag, it certainly would be a good replacement for my aging MBP.
What happens when your phone dies and you need to use your rMB as a life raft but the presentation you need for the conference call is on a thumb drive?
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Again, super weird that you've convinced yourself that
- The MB isn't a significant upgrade in performance over your 2008 MB
- Skylake won't have an upgraded Y-series processor (i.e. Core M)
- There is any hope at all for the future of the MBA as a product line
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+1 to this. Bringing all this stuff to the rest of the laptops can't happen soon enough!
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Plug your phone directly into the MB's power brick? (since you can and already have the adapter with you) Or the iPhone's that you have with you in your bag?
Or what Bobob said ☺️
If thats the best you got you need to bring some more friends, son. The guy I was talking to is still using wired headphones... how is that anything but 1970?
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Oh yeah, since I'll already have a bag full of expensive dongles just to get any use beyond a glorified iPad.. Forgot about that
I'm certain the power brick, dongles, and bag to carry all that in weigh a little more than just a properly equipped laptop with 1 or 2 extra ports... Where is your weight savings now?
If people can't see how much a terrible compromise one port is, then you deserve this laptop. That way I can pick out the idiots in a crowd. Done.
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I never have presentations on thumb drives. I don't even own any thumb drives. They are all on dropbox or iCloud Drive. My conference calls are all either Go To Meeting or Google Hangouts. They aren't done on my phone.
I do always have an extra external battery pack for iPad and other devices and that can power my rMB.
I DON'T need extra ports on a daily basis. I don't use them on the MBA. I sometimes will use the SD card reader and a simple USB cable will do that just fine.
Most probably will never use HDMI cable. We have Apple TV's in my office and I can simply Airplay anything I need to display.
If you look at the Apple keynote these are the use cases they highlighted. If they don't fit someone's laptop usage don't buy it and get what works. But for those of us where TODAY's functionality is just fine it is a leap forward in portability with a great screen (form factor of 11" MBA was great. Got rid of it because the screen drove me nuts).
Trouble is, because Apple have gone for a single-port design, a USB-C-through port is a must-have feature for any adapter. If other laptop makers go for multiple ports then third-party adapters will likely skip this feature to save costs.
AFAIK the only other laptop with USB-C currently announced is the Chromebook Pixel - which has two USB-C ports and USB 3 ports and SD-card. So its really not the end of the world if your VGA adapter doesn't have USB-C-thru...
...but there is still nothing you can do to guarantee that, when you turn up to give your presentation, the data projector provided has anything better than a VGA input (I'd give it about 50/50 these days). Giving presentations at meetings is slap bang in the middle of the rMB target market and you need VGA capability, if only as a Plan B.
(Yes, Apple are advertising a VGA adapter, including USB-C thru and an extra USB port, but its not available just yet and its twice the price of the old one - plus you'll probably want to get a HDMI one as well).
Well, yes - I eagerly await V2 of the rMB with a second USB-C port... just like the MB Air didn't make sense until a revision or two down the line).
Meanwhile, it would have been better if Apple had produced a nice (premium price) USB-C 'dock' to accompany the launch of the rMB, with VGA, HDMI and/or MiniDP, a couple of USB 3's and USB-C through. It would have showcased what was possible, rather than leave early adopters high and dry with no adapters (apart from the straight USB-A one they offer, which is as much use as a chocolate teapot as it doesn't include a USB-C through).
If thats the best you got you need to bring some more friends, son. The guy I was talking to is still using wired headphones... how is that anything but 1970?
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Oh yeah, since I'll already have a bag full of expensive dongles just to get any use beyond a glorified iPad.. Forgot about that
I'm certain the power brick, dongles, and bag to carry all that in weigh a little more than just a properly equipped laptop with 1 or 2 extra ports... Where is your weight savings now?
If people can't see how much a terrible compromise one port is, then you deserve this laptop. That way I can pick out the idiots in a crowd.
Well, obviously I cannot speak for your use case, but I currently carry a very small Incase laptop bag for my 11" MBA that is my entire mobile office. Holds my 11" MBA, iPad Air 2, MBA power brick, plus an iPhone power brick, two Lightning/USB cables, 6 different bank login dongles (yes my clients use a few different banks), both my Swedish and US passports, TB/Ethernet adapter, TB/HDMI adapter, a USB/USB cable, two USB "nub" drives, and a pack of chewing gum.
Seems like I could drop the charger bricks all together and go with only my iPad brick to charge all 3 devices in emergency situations like the one you describe, decrease the number of adapters I need by having the one multi adapter from Apple, and save even more bulk and weight from the MB itself...seems pretty good to me!
I must be an idiot!
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You didn't understand the subtlety. Most people don't care with having a high-res , IPS display. Having only the IPS part would be fine. That's why a silent update on MBAs to IPS technology would make the Air a solid option when crispness is not an issue, that is, when the user only cares with color stability and better viewing angles.
can't wait for them to show up on the refurbed site
Thats where I buy all my macs
[/LIST]
I still love my Cube
Thats where I buy all my macs
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I still love my Cube
...and you've never turned up to a meeting to find an ancient VGA-only data projector driven by a Windows XP PC, a wireless network apparently operated by carrier pigeons or a locked-down corporate network that blocks Google and Dropbox?
You've been lucky.
...but what a lot of people here are really saying is that "what works" would be an Air with a retina display, which Apple has chosen not to offer.
which I completely don't understand !!!!!
Look at the size of MBA and MBP. MBP is smaller has retina display all the ports you ever would need and good battery life. Only downside is 1/2 pound.
Tried it at Best Buy. The horrible keyboard and force touch touchpad killed any interest I had in the product such as the light weight compared to MBP brick. Lack of touch screen and precision pen inputs also make it kind of archaic. Looking forward to seeing what Microsoft has in store with the Surface Pro 4.
I was joking, but seriously: if you are the type of person who likes to work with thumb drives, then the new MacBook is simply not for you. There's no shame in that and fortunately there are still plenty of current hardware options to support your preference.
But time is marching on. It's the same as when CD-ROM drives were phased out of the iMac. There are going to be people upset because they're comfortable with the previous generation of technology, and then there are going to be others looking forward to taking advantage of the next generation.
Anyone who buys the new retina MacBook and then immediately is looking to buy a full gamut of adapters and dongles is just not choosing the right machine to meets their needs. However, there is going to be a small group of customers who are comfortable with cloud storage and local wireless data transfer who will eagerly welcome the size and weight of this new mighty mite.
We're at yet another crossroads of technology.
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The MBP is the MBA with an extra half pound of battery to drive the retina screen.
