A more positive view...

[therealseebs]

So, my husband's been using a 2011 MBP, and we got him a 2016 also.

He doesn't hate the keyboard (he has no RSI issues), but he will need time to get used to the slightly different key spacing:

tw

estinfg out my new laptyio0

tghwe keyboard is weiurd

No, not drunk, just unfamiliar keyboard.

For his purposes, the biggest problem is losing the magsafe port, which definitely sucks. Losing the function keys is annoying. Keyboard feel is okay. He doesn't care much about ports, apart from magsafe. He does hate losing the optical drive, though, because we have a lot of things on DVD, and he likes watching them.

But for him, it's pretty decent. Worth noticing, though, that he'd be happier with a machine with an optical drive, and function keys. He would also prefer a native 1680x1050 display to the retina display, and thinks the retina scaling looks fuzzy. So... Basically, he dislikes the compromises too, but he's less bothered by them, and does appreciate it being lighter.

 

[arbitrage]

Magsafe will be solved soon....https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/436147229/snapnator-your-macbook-snap-feature-is-back

 

[archimon]

Magsafe will be solved soon....https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/436147229/snapnator-your-macbook-snap-feature-is-back

Do we have any idea whether this will be able to support the passthrough needed for the 15" model?

 

[arbitrage]

Do we have any idea whether this will be able to support the passthrough needed for the 15" model?

I just asked that question on Kickstarter but haven' heard back yet....
Actually they are saying in the comments it supports 100W....so looks like it will be good.

 

[therealseebs]

Magsafe will be solved soon....https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/436147229/snapnator-your-macbook-snap-feature-is-back

That's a mitigation, not a solution. A solution would have to be flush with the case or slightly indented. Because otherwise, this is still vulnerable to "something moving along edge of machine can knock machine over or break port".

And with the shiny new non-replaceable non-swappable storage, if anything happens to any port, you just lost all your files and are back to your last backups, because there's no way to preserve the data when repairing the machine.

EDIT: I do note, though, they specifically say "charges at 87W", so presumably it works.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

Magsafe will be solved soon....https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/436147229/snapnator-your-macbook-snap-feature-is-back

Thanks! Seems like the best solution to date, so i just backed the project.

 

[therealseebs]

Yeah, I've ordered two of 'em, I'll see how they do.

I still don't remotely understand why Apple would drop one of their best features. I know more than one person who got a Mac solely because of magsafe.

 

[UnluckyXIII]

Yeah, I've ordered two of 'em, I'll see how they do.

I still don't remotely understand why Apple would drop one of their best features. I know more than one person who got a Mac solely because of magsafe.

Fairly odd reason to pick a £££ laptop solely on that it's got a detachable charging cable....

The item on Kickstarter seems to be the best compromise so far, no doubt others will join the party at some point but it look far better than the breaksafe that's already on the market.

 

[therealseebs]

Fairly odd reason to pick a £££ laptop solely on that it's got a detachable charging cable....

I've soldered three or four laptop power connectors back on so far this year for non-Mac friends. I've replaced at least ten non-Mac laptop power supplies, and at least a half dozen of the pre-magsafe Mac power supplies, due to cable damage related closely to the cables being yanked in some way.

I've never, ever, had such a problem with a magsafe connector.

And even ignoring repair costs, repair time spent with no laptop sucks, a lot.

I would absolutely have paid $200+ more for a magsafe laptop otherwise identical to the MBP. It's just playing the odds.

Doesn't seem weird at all to me. If you don't have pretty specific requirements from a laptop, any reasonable laptop on the market will be fine, at which point, magsafe is one of the most significant hardware distinctions out there, simply because it was completely 100% unique to Apple, no one else had it.

 

[maratus]

Another option, but still rated only 60W
https://griffintechnology.com/us/products/cables/usb-c-cables/breaksafe-magnetic-usb-c-power-cable

 

[fokmik]

Another option, but still rated only 60W
https://griffintechnology.com/us/products/cables/usb-c-cables/breaksafe-magnetic-usb-c-power-cable

so that is preferred just for the 13" MBP