A word of caution for those waiting for the MacBook Pro refresh

[theluggage]

I feel like this is in the eye of the beholder. Feels pretty revolutionary to me.

Have you ever compared an Apple II, or any other late-1970s personal computer, with what was available 10 years later? They’re barely recognisable as the same type of device. We’re talking about radical changes in the way personal computers were used opening up completely new possibilities.

Being able to do non-linear editing on 4k video vs. 1080p video is evolutionary.

Being able to do non-linear editing on a 128x128 postage stamp vs. non-linear video editing simply not being within the grasp of personal computing is revolutionary.

Time traveller from 2011 in 2021: “Wow, I can have three times as many tracks and effects in Logic Pro!”. Evolutionary.

Time traveller from 1976 in 1986: “What, I can record sound on my computer!?” Revolutionary.

 

[rawweb]

Have you ever compared an Apple II, or any other late-1970s personal computer, with what was available 10 years later? They’re barely recognisable as the same type of device. We’re talking about radical changes in the way personal computers were used opening up completely new possibilities.

Being able to do non-linear editing on 4k video vs. 1080p video is evolutionary.

Being able to do non-linear editing on a 128x128 postage stamp vs. non-linear video editing simply not being within the grasp of personal computing is revolutionary.

Time traveller from 2011 in 2021: “Wow, I can have three times as many tracks and effects in Logic Pro!”. Evolutionary.

Time traveller from 1976 in 1986: “What, I can record sound on my computer!?” Revolutionary.

Agree to disagree. By the looks of your steep standards a car from 1970 is no different than a car from 2010. Simply because they both look like cars and can sit 4 people.

 

[Vlad Soare]

otherwise I definitely would've waited until 2017's version, or ideally until Apple ditched butterfly altogether.

The trouble is, the 2017 version wasn't much better. Nor were the 2018 and 2019 for that matter. Mine is from 2019 and it's still crap. After one year of light use it started typing each letter twice.
You can wait for years for a fix that may never come, simply because the design itself is so fundamentally flawed that it cannot be fixed.

As for ditching it altogether, sadly there are no guarantees for that. Quite the contrary, Apple is known for obstinately refusing to acknowledge any mistake on their part and to go back even one inch once they've chosen a path. That they ditched the butterfly keyboard was an extraordinary event, someting extremely rare and surprising. It was completely unlike them. Back in 2016 I would have bet all my money that it would never happen.

 

[jlocker]

I would buy the MacBook Pro 16 now while you have the chance. Gone will be bootcamp and windows 10, gone will be EGPU support, gone will be Apps than can only run under windows. Gone will be AAA gaming. Gone will be discrete video card/ memory and only shared memory. A lot of gone. You might as well get a chromebook with Linux under the hood and a Xbox series X.

 

[scoobysnax]

If they don't redesign it, how will everyone know I bought the newest one? I have a M1 Air and it looks just like the i5 Air I had. Now, I have to tell everyone that I bought the newest one so that they know.

I can’t tell if this is sarcasm, or a genuine concern (yikes).

 

[Jack Neill]

Have you ever compared an Apple II, or any other late-1970s personal computer, with what was available 10 years later? They’re barely recognisable as the same type of device. We’re talking about radical changes in the way personal computers were used opening up completely new possibilities.

Being able to do non-linear editing on 4k video vs. 1080p video is evolutionary.

Being able to do non-linear editing on a 128x128 postage stamp vs. non-linear video editing simply not being within the grasp of personal computing is revolutionary.

Time traveller from 2011 in 2021: “Wow, I can have three times as many tracks and effects in Logic Pro!”. Evolutionary.

Time traveller from 1976 in 1986: “What, I can record sound on my computer!?” Revolutionary.

Time traveler from 2021 in 2031: Wow, you can have 2 monitors attached to your Macbook? You can organize your apps how you want them on the home screen without the slide to left default? I love the future.

 

[theluggage]

Time traveler from 2021 in 2031: Wow, you can have 2 monitors attached to your Macbook? You can organize your apps how you want them on the home screen without the slide to left default? I love the future.

...and there's this amazing new thing called an HDMI port that lets you connect to a monitor without needing a dongle...

 

[theluggage]

Agree to disagree. By the looks of your steep standards a car from 1970 is no different than a car from 2010. Simply because they both look like cars and can sit 4 people.

I didn't say "no different" - the point is that there are evolutionary changes and revolutionary changes.

Compared to a 1970s car, your 2010 car would have been significantly more fuel efficient, more reliable and less prone to corrosion - but it would still be a ~4-person vehicle, powered by a diesel or gasoline internal combustion engine, your choice of manual or automatic mechanical gearbox and pneumatic rubber tyres. It won't be twice as fast, it won't drive 500 miles on a gallon of fuel and it certainly won't fly. More importantly, your visitor from 1970 will be able to hop in and drive it immediately with no more difficulty than switching between two different makes of car in 1970.

You might need one of these, though:

Arsvita Car Audio Bluetooth Wireless Cassette Receiver, Tape Player Bluetooth 5.0 Cassette Aux Adapter, Black

Arsvita Car Audio Bluetooth Wireless Cassette Receiver, Tape Player Bluetooth 5.0 Cassette Aux Adapter, Black

www.amazon.co.uk

(and maybe a bottle of additive to let you run on unleaded fuel)

That's evolutionary change. A 2010 car does exactly what a 1970 car did, just somewhat more reliably and efficiently. There are are still people driving around in 1970s or earlier cars and they don't say "sorry, I can't drive to the Apple Store because my car is from 1970".

Now, compared to 2010, in 2021 there's a fair chance that your new car might be electric or hybrid and/or have some rudimentary self-driving ability - then we may be talking about a revolutionary change... although it is still only doing the same job as a car did in 1970, still can't fly or, frankly, safely drive itself.

If you want to compare a late-70s personal computer to a car, it is more like a 1908 Model T Ford - especially in that, if a 1970, 2010 or 2021 driver got in to one, they wouldn't have a clue how to work it. Still changed the world though...

By about 2000, your typical personal computer was doing things that would have been implausible science fiction in the late 70s. 20 years later - it's still doing the same things, just a bit better.

 

[rawweb]

I didn't say "no different" - the point is that there are evolutionary changes and revolutionary changes.

Compared to a 1970s car, your 2010 car would have been significantly more fuel efficient, more reliable and less prone to corrosion - but it would still be a ~4-person vehicle, powered by a diesel or gasoline internal combustion engine, your choice of manual or automatic mechanical gearbox and pneumatic rubber tyres. It won't be twice as fast, it won't drive 500 miles on a gallon of fuel and it certainly won't fly. More importantly, your visitor from 1970 will be able to hop in and drive it immediately with no more difficulty than switching between two different makes of car in 1970.

You might need one of these, though:

Arsvita Car Audio Bluetooth Wireless Cassette Receiver, Tape Player Bluetooth 5.0 Cassette Aux Adapter, Black

Arsvita Car Audio Bluetooth Wireless Cassette Receiver, Tape Player Bluetooth 5.0 Cassette Aux Adapter, Black

www.amazon.co.uk

(and maybe a bottle of additive to let you run on unleaded fuel)

That's evolutionary change. A 2010 car does exactly what a 1970 car did, just somewhat more reliably and efficiently. There are are still people driving around in 1970s or earlier cars and they don't say "sorry, I can't drive to the Apple Store because my car is from 1970".

Now, compared to 2010, in 2021 there's a fair chance that your new car might be electric or hybrid and/or have some rudimentary self-driving ability - then we may be talking about a revolutionary change... although it is still only doing the same job as a car did in 1970, still can't fly or, frankly, safely drive itself.

If you want to compare a late-70s personal computer to a car, it is more like a 1908 Model T Ford - especially in that, if a 1970, 2010 or 2021 driver got in to one, they wouldn't have a clue how to work it. Still changed the world though...

By about 2000, your typical personal computer was doing things that would have been implausible science fiction in the late 70s. 20 years later - it's still doing the same things, just a bit better.

I hear you, and your comparison makes sense. Much like your note about self driving cars I also say, from my perspective, the high end compositing, editing and 3D work I accomplish today on a notebook with an 8 core processor, 64gb of ram and a 5600m with 8GB of dedicated graphics rivaling desktop power was as futuristic as hovering cars to me in 2010. This stuff needed high end expensive desktops 11 years ago that as a power user, I can now accomplish on a notebook. The MacBooks of yesterday just couldn’t do all of it. Yes, a 2010 MacBook can edit some footage if proxies were created for it. Today, I can edit 4k raw video in real time. The compositing and animation stuff I simply couldn’t accomplish on a notebook back then. To me at least, it’s worth noting, and maybe isn’t as black and white as you’re suggesting.

 

[pshufd]

We are quite happy with our M1 MacBook Air and M1 Mac mini. But you could argue that a lot of the models were from the same design.

I've been holding out on a new MacBook Pro since 2014. So I feel that I'm ready. One other aspect given the supply chain issues that we learned about this week: it may be a very long time to get to the refresh of the MacBook Pro after M1X. The M1 MacBook Air came out in November 2020. It has been rumored to get updated Spring 2022. Now it's rumored to come out in Fall 2022. It may be that there just isn't enough production and/or parts capacity to update at a yearly cadence.

 

[pshufd]

...and there's this amazing new thing called an HDMI port that lets you connect to a monitor without needing a dongle...

My daughter asked me if I had seen her USB-C to USB-A dongle and I said that I hadn't. I had left it on a table. It turns out that it was attached to a mouse. Those tiny little dongles can get lost easily.

 

[Argon_]

While I agree with you, I believe that there has never been a more fragile MacBook Pro design than the current lineup. I think that now Jony Ive has left we’ll see a more practical MacBook Pro that’s made to be used.

Fragile against catastrophic damage or regular use? For regular use, the current MBP design packing the M1 is the most resilient yet. With the butterfly keyboard relegated to the dumpster, we no longer have keyboards repeating letters from a single food crumb. The unitized hinge doesn't wear out from regular use, or crack at the stress concentrating concave points. The ports are modular and the charging input redundant. The M1 lowers thermal load, triples real battery lifespan, and lightens the load on peripheral chips like power delivery.

Remember that past unibody MBPs had problems with GPUs desoldering themselves. The touch bar 15s were pretty much portable stoves, particularly once Intel started increasing core counts and cranking up the juice.

Obviously for catastrophic damage, features like edge to edge glass and bezel reduction worsen drop damage. The Apple drop king was the second gen MBA chassis. Those massive aluminum bezels could eat up an impact with concrete.

 

[Marty80]

Maybe you should re phrase your thread to say “if you are prepared to wait for the new MacBook Pro”. Given the ongoing chip shortage & the high demand for the most desired MacBook Pro since 2016.

 

[pshufd]

Fragile against catastrophic damage or regular use? For regular use, the current MBP design packing the M1 is the most resilient yet. With the butterfly keyboard relegated to the dumpster, we no longer have keyboards repeating letters from a single food crumb. The unitized hinge doesn't wear out from regular use, or crack at the stress concentrating concave points. The ports are modular and the charging input redundant. The M1 lowers thermal load, triples real battery lifespan, and lightens the load on peripheral chips like power delivery.

Remember that past unibody MBPs had problems with GPUs desoldering themselves. The touch bar 15s were pretty much portable stoves, particularly once Intel started increasing core counts and cranking up the juice.

Obviously for catastrophic damage, features like edge to edge glass and bezel reduction worsen drop damage. The Apple drop king was the second gen MBA chassis. Those massive aluminum bezels could eat up an impact with concrete.

I've been using laptops since 1999 and computers since the 1970s. I've never damaged a laptop. I still have two functional laptops from 1999 and 2000 in my basement. It may be that some are less careful with their laptops than others. I was at a conference a long time ago and a guy went through three MacBook Pros at the conference. He was a VP so I guess it was okay but I saw lots of other people using them in ways which seemed fairly risky to me. The most common was balancing it on one hand and typing with the other or balancing it on the knee and typing with a hand.

A good padded bag and care for electronics goes a long ways. Same thing with my watches, phones, iPods, iPads, etc.

 

[lambertjohn]

I'll buy one the day they're available. A 14" M1 Pro. Zero concern here.

 

[Spanther]

I'll buy one the day they're available. A 14" M1 Pro. Zero concern here.

This is the way.

 

[HarryPot]

I really hope that with Apple having a greater control with their own chips, quality goes up.
To be honest, I've never had an iPhone or iPad gone bad.

They eventually turn slow, but they work perfectly all the time. And we are talking here about very heavy use for phones and tablets.

In comparison, the only Mac I can say this about is my Black Macbook, from almost 16 years ago. Amazingly, it is still working.

So I really hope that if Apple can take the heat from laptops, and be able to make fanless computers, quality can go up.


EDIT: I'm seriously considering my next laptop to be a MacBook Air. Currently I have a MBP 16". I love the size. But it is by no means a "monster" in performance. And the fans constantly go on when in Online Meeting or using external monitors.

 

[Argon_]

I really hope that with Apple having a greater control with their own chips, quality goes up.
To be honest, I've never had an iPhone or iPad gone bad.

They eventually turn slow, but they work perfectly all the time. And we are talking here about very heavy use for phones and tablets.

In comparison, the only Mac I can say this about is my Black Macbook, from almost 16 years ago. Amazingly, it is still working.

So I really hope that if Apple can take the heat from laptops, and be able to make fanless computers, quality can go up.


EDIT: I'm seriously considering my next laptop to be a MacBook Air. Currently I have a MBP 16". I love the size. But it is by no means a "monster" in performance. And the fans constantly go on when in Online Meeting or using external monitors.

I owned one macbook that was notoriously problemed, and Intel was definitely to blame.

You'd be amazed how cool the MBA runs with a passive system.

 

[pshufd]

I owned one macbook that was notoriously problemed, and Intel was definitely to blame.

You'd be amazed how cool the MBA runs with a passive system.

Once you experience it, after experiencing Intel or AMD, you are amazed. Why can't all laptops be like this. Same with battery life.

 

[Argon_]

Once you experience it, after experiencing Intel or AMD, you are amazed. Why can't all laptops be like this. Same with battery life.

Meanwhile, my old 15MBP. Hotter than a black car in Florida and more unstable than a one legged horse.

 

[jms-uk]

With the exception of the first design generation of MacBook Pro, usually the most reliable release of MacBook Pros from within a given generation are the last one or more, rather than the first one or two.

A bit difficult to know which one will that be when only the new (first) one is about to come out.

 

[Ray2]

Too much of a gamble for me. I'm looking at the M1 Air after seeing how reliable and rugged my late wife's Air's were vs my Pro's. Just keep getting tempted by IO and M1X. At the cost of fan noise and “Pro” problems. For stills photography with Lightroom Classic, I'm probably fine with a 16GB M1 Air.