After the dust settled, what is the consensus about 2016 MBPs?

[Ayemerica]

The big issue many are facing is that the base model isn't a "real" pro machine, you can argue for both sides but the real thing keeping it from being a pro machine is two more usb-c ports at 40gbs. The low base clock is hurting it, from personal experience using intel power management gadget, it struggles with heat to ever achieve the 3.1GHZ turbo boost.

So basically what I am saying is this, people have to pay 1799 for what really should be the base model. I still think the NTB is going to be perfect for 95% of everyone out there and if you can find a good deal, pick it up.

 

[Sanpete]

there are a few who can't stop denigrating those people who are unhappy with it

There are some people who can't stop making stuff up, and who confuse correction with denigration. For example:

I think the 2016 design was a mistake, trying to solve problems that didn't exist to camouflage the fact that Macs, and power users, are no longer important to Apple.

The facts don't support that. Objectively the new MBPs are the most powerful and flexible ever, with easily a dozen improvements over the previous model.

 

[Garage Battle]

Ill weigh in. 13" non-touch bar.

What they got right: screen, battery life, key size, weight, USB-C charging, speakers.

Where they got it wrong:

• keyboard build quality: I've already had to lift a key and dust under it. its literally been used for about 40 hours of light usage and always transported in a case. couldn't even imagine using it outside for a few hours.
  
• USB-C / TB3 - it is absolutely, completely ******** for Apple to release a tech that it has very few accessories for. I have this stupid AV adapter hanging off the side with a 3 inch cable. where are the Apple docks on day 1? where is a myriad of cables and connectors? I get the concept that these items will exist soon - but they aren't here now. Apple shouldn't have put it as the only connector without having most major accessories already available on day one.
• making all models have USB-C only ports - I'm sorry, i work with my PC for all kinds of things, I don't want to have to carry around a ton of ****ing dongles. its just embarrassing. the 15" tier could have easily had a USB-A and maybe a slim ethernet port - at least as a ****ing option for a 'Pro-Pro' model.
• Apples insanity for providing functionality to anything non-apple. I have to run two additional programs to get my scrolling working correct on my BT mouse, along with my back button.
  
• Apples continued unwillingness to give us pen support on MacOS devices. I work with a pen 8-10 hours a day instructing - what happens when I need to travel and have that same functionality in a portable device?

 

[Sanpete]

Ill weigh in. 13" non-touch bar.

What they got right: screen, battery life, key size, weight, USB-C charging, speakers.

Where they got it wrong:

• keyboard build quality: I've already had to lift a key and dust under it. its literally been used for about 40 hours of light usage and always transported in a case. couldn't even imagine using it outside for a few hours.
  
• USB-C / TB3 - it is absolutely, completely ******** for Apple to release a tech that it has very few accessories for. I have this stupid AV adapter hanging off the side with a 3 inch cable. where are the Apple docks on day 1? where is a myriad of cables and connectors? I get the concept that these items will exist soon - but they aren't here now. Apple shouldn't have put it as the only connector without having most major accessories already available on day one.
• making all models have USB-C only ports - I'm sorry, i work with my PC for all kinds of things, I don't want to have to carry around a ton of ****ing dongles. its just embarrassing. the 15" tier could have easily had a USB-A and maybe a slim ethernet port - at least as a ****ing option for a 'Pro-Pro' model.
• Apples insanity for providing functionality to anything non-apple. I have to run two additional programs to get my scrolling working correct on my BT mouse, along with my back button.
  
• Apples continued unwillingness to give us pen support on MacOS devices. I work with a pen 8-10 hours a day instructing - what happens when I need to travel and have that same functionality in a portable device?

I'm not sure I follow your complaints. Are you saying you can't find a way to connect equipment to your MBP? Everything that could be connected to the previous MBPs can still be connected to the new ones. It's been that way since day one. If you find dongles so aggravating, get new cables instead.

Are you saying you need two drivers for your mouse? Why is that Apple's fault? Manufacturers make the drivers.

Are you saying you want a touch screen? All things considered, it looks like you should get a Surface Book. Can you still return your MBP?

 

[OneMike]

It's damned awesome. Best MBP Apple have ever released. Incredibly well designed cooling system (Razer could learn a thing or two about that), great battery life, preposterous SSD speeds, and atrociously thin.

USB-C won't be an issue in the future and the supported bandwidth of each port, coupled with the fact it can be transformed into any peripheral you need it to, arguably means it's got the best longevity of any Mac to date.

It's so desirable in every way.

I liked your post until I got to the part about USB-C not being an issue in the future. We live in the present.

When good deals come along I think about getting a new MacBook Pro. Then I think if I want to connect it to anything I'll need some sort of adapter.

 

[smallcoffee]

I liked your post until I got to the part about USB-C not being an issue in the future. We live in the present.

When good deals come along I think about getting a new MacBook Pro. Then I think if I want to connect it to anything I'll need some sort of adapter.

That doesn't make any sense. Yes we live in the present... but we have to prepare for the future. Having to buy all these dongles and walk into meetings hoping I have the right port on my laptop for whatever crazy setup some university has sucks. Over time, when we all move to USB-C, you'll always have the right port.

Foresight.

 

[OneMike]

That doesn't make any sense. Yes we live in the present... but we have to prepare for the future. Having to buy all these dongles and walk into meetings hoping I have the right port on my laptop for whatever crazy setup some university has sucks. Over time, when we all move to USB-C, you'll always have the right port.

Foresight.

By your logic, all car manufacturers should only make fully electric models in 2017-2018 since that's likely where we'll head in the future.

They are smart though and most electric models have some sort of gasoline fallback capability. I could name countless examples, but pretty much just take any computer manufacturer other than apple and they include usb-c, yet still other ports.

Preparation and elimination are not one in the same.

 

[smallcoffee]

By your logic, all car manufacturers should only make fully electric models in 2017-2018 since that's likely where we'll head in the future.

They are smart though and most electric models have some sort of gasoline fallback capability. I could name countless examples, but pretty much just take any computer manufacturer other than apple and they include usb-c, yet still other ports.

Preparation and elimination are not one in the same.

No, that's not even close to the same thing. Sorry.

 

[Sanpete]

By your logic, all car manufacturers should only make fully electric models in 2017-2018 since that's likely where we'll head in the future.

They are smart though and most electric models have some sort of gasoline fallback capability. I could name countless examples, but pretty much just take any computer manufacturer other than apple and they include usb-c, yet still other ports.

Preparation and elimination are not one in the same.

It's just like that, if you could get a $5 adapter for your electric car that would allow it to run on gas.

 

[OneMike]

No, that's not even close to the same thing. Sorry.

It's exactly the same. At any rate, no need to debate. If you like it, buy it. If I don't, I won't. Everyone happy.

 

[Boneheadxan]

I feel the whole USB-C ports issue is blown out of proportion. Since the first day, all I have purchased is 4 $5 USB C to A adapters and a 7-port USB C to A hub. The hub hooks up all my studio gear to the Mac using 1 port and the rest of the time, I use the adapters for hard disks, card reader etc. It really isn't that inconvenient, in my experience.

 

[StlCards80]

Opinions?

It's a an awesome machine. I was terrified of the battery posts I saw before I bought mine but mine has been exceptional. It's the fastest, cleanest thing I've ever worked on.

 

[Exile714]

I have two USB-C to A adapters, which perfectly replicates the two USB-A's on the 2015 MBP. I seriously don't get the issues there. If I had a thunderbolt device, or if I needed ethernet in 2017 (really no need for me), then there could be an issue.

I followed the "Waiting for Skylake" thread for a long, long time. I wasn't surprised at all with the specs, form factor, and ports of the 2016 MBP. But there were a few people who wanted things they didn't get, and they were angry from the second the keynote ended. Those people are still posting negative stuff about the 2016 here today.

Things they wanted but did not get: Polaris GPU, 32 (and one guy insisted we would see 64)GB memory, a return of the 17'' model, Kaby Lake CPUs.

For what it's worth (and that's not much), my 2016 MBP works great. I've written about 75% of my next novel on it, rendered a bunch of drone/DSLR videos in Final Cut, used Photoshop with no issues, even played some games (Tomb Raider, Minecraft, Homeworld Remastered, etc). The touch bar is... kind of useless to me, but I'm not missing the F-keys. That said, this is my first Mac and I'm having to re-learn a lot of habits anyway so dropping the f-keys is less of an adjustment than, say, figuring out how Finder works, or avoiding the stupid Photos app.

 

[getbretweir]

I bought the nTB with 16GB RAM in February and love it. I prefer USB-C and I've been using it for about 18 months with my Nexus 6p. My only gripe is I expecting more compatible peripherals to launch by now, specifically TB3 docks.

I hate the TB version and don't see the value for me personally. It's perfect for it's portability (I don't connect anything except a charger on the road so I haven't been inconvenienced by the ports) and I connect to my display at home via Plugable USB-C to display port (works much better than HDMI).

I connect with my keyboard/mouse via Bluetooth. Glad I purchased it, and expect to get a solid 5 years minimum. Once a dock worthy of its pricetag finally comes out, I'll add speakers to my home setup, but for now I'm productive.

 

[Exile714]

I bought the nTB with 16GB RAM in February and love it. I prefer USB-C and I've been using it for about 18 months with my Nexus 6p. My only gripe is I expecting more compatible peripherals to launch by now, specifically TB3 docks.

I hate the TB version and don't see the value for me personally. It's perfect for it's portability (I don't connect anything except a charger on the road so I haven't been inconvenienced by the ports) and I connect to my display at home via Plugable USB-C to display port (works much better than HDMI).

I connect with my keyboard/mouse via Bluetooth. Glad I purchased it, and expect to get a solid 5 years minimum. Once a dock worthy of its pricetag finally comes out, I'll add speakers to my home setup, but for now I'm productive.

I'm not sold on the need for a dock, but to each their own. In the meantime, can you hook up a 3.5mm jack to your monitor? That's what I do. I use a USB-C to DP cable for my monitor, which carries audio to the monitor along with video, and then a 3.5mm cable from the monitor to my speakers. Just a thought...

 

[ZapNZs]

I feel the whole USB-C ports issue is blown out of proportion. Since the first day, all I have purchased is 4 $5 USB C to A adapters and a 7-port USB C to A hub. The hub hooks up all my studio gear to the Mac using 1 port and the rest of the time, I use the adapters for hard disks, card reader etc. It really isn't that inconvenient, in my experience.

I agree with you that it is blown out of proportion, and it certainly will become more of an asset over time.

However, I can also understand some situations where the lack of a built-in USB-A port could currently be an inconvenience because it has frustrated me personally on occasion. That's not to say that it is the end of the world, and certainly not to say that it undermines the entire design.

 

[getbretweir]

I'm not sold on the need for a dock, but to each their own. In the meantime, can you hook up a 3.5mm jack to your monitor? That's what I do. I use a USB-C to DP cable for my monitor, which carries audio to the monitor along with video, and then a 3.5mm cable from the monitor to my speakers. Just a thought...

Yup. Can hook speakers via jack, but I haven't bought them yet and I'm not a big audio guy so I'm in no hurry. I'll grab an external SSD in the near future, plus I use SD cards, so that combined with only having two ports is why I prefer the docking station. Granted, it's not a necessity, but I prefer only having to connect at home with a single cable, especially since I'm on the go often.

 

[darkmaxdevil]

• making all models have USB-C only ports - I'm sorry, i work with my PC for all kinds of things, I don't want to have to carry around a ton of ****ing dongles. its just embarrassing. the 15" tier could have easily had a USB-A and maybe a slim ethernet port - at least as a ****ing option for a 'Pro-Pro' model.

If you want to make complain about ethernet port, you are five years too late. Believe it or not, it has been gone from MacBook Pro for five years when the rMBP was introduced.

• Apples continued unwillingness to give us pen support on MacOS devices. I work with a pen 8-10 hours a day instructing - what happens when I need to travel and have that same functionality in a portable device?

That's called iPad Pro my friend.

 

[MrX8503]

I have the nTB MBP 13" pairs with an LG 5K display. This is the best showcase of thunderbolt 3. The experience is similar to seeing a retina iPhone 4 for the first time.

The laptop is the best I've ever owned. Beautiful display, light, excellent build quality, fast, and quiet. Some may not like the thunderbolt 3 ports, but I love them for the versatility and bandwidth. Rather than buy dongles, I just replace my cables with USB-C.

By your logic, all car manufacturers should only make fully electric models in 2017-2018 since that's likely where we'll head in the future.

They are smart though and most electric models have some sort of gasoline fallback capability. I could name countless examples, but pretty much just take any computer manufacturer other than apple and they include usb-c, yet still other ports.

Preparation and elimination are not one in the same.

Have you heard of Tesla?

 

[CaptRB]

I have both the 13 & 15" touch bar machines and I recently sold the very good 2015 15" rMBP.

As I had these machines side by side I don't have to watch youtube videos to know which is best. Any thread like this will attract those who don't own it and want to knock it.

The new machines are the best Apple makes or has ever made. USB-C connects to everything. I have a few cheap adapters and it all works. Battery life isn't just good, it's clearly better than last years. Better screen, speakers, build, trackpad and so on.

I think a few folks are honest about issues with the ports, but they're in a minority. It's not hard to connect this machine and I'm done with the cable dance. All I ever carry is a USB-C adapter

If you plan to fly with it, the 13" is best. The 15" is blazing, but significantly larger. I still like the form factor of my MacBook Air best of all, but the keyboard doesn't feel as nice now that I've gotten use to the new one.

Looking forward to next years models...I may trade the 13" in for another 15".


R.

 

[leman]

The big issue many are facing is that the base model isn't a "real" pro machine, you can argue for both sides but the real thing keeping it from being a pro machine is two more usb-c ports at 40gbs.

The low base clock is hurting it, from personal experience using intel power management gadget, it struggles with heat to ever achieve the 3.1GHZ turbo boost.

Yes, its positioned as MacBook Air successor. And the problem is not that much the low base clock, but the fact that the CPU is a 15W part.

So basically what I am saying is this, people have to pay 1799 for what really should be the base model.

This is not any different from before. The comparable earlier 13" MBP with 256GB RAM and 2.9Ghz CPU also costed $1799

I think the 2016 design was a mistake, trying to solve problems that didn't exist to camouflage the fact that Macs, and power users, are no longer important to Apple.

Now this is one of the funnier "conspiracy" things I've read on these forums. So they go though all that trouble, redesign the entire chassis, spend insane amounts of cash on R&D for new display/speaker/keyboard, undergo massive risks by migrating to USB-C and Touch Bar, work with suppliers to create custom GPUs — and that is all just to "camouflage the fact that power users are no longer important to Apple"? Wow.

Just a hint: if they really didn't care, they would have just taken the old chassis and slapped the Skylake onto it. Like everybody else is doing (*cought* Dell *cought*)

 

[Cookie18]

I love mine. I got it last week after doing some research due to all of the negative things I had been hearing. I honestly have no idea why there was anything negative to be said though.

I love the size and weight of it, I switched from a 11 inch MacBook Air so obviously lightness and thinness are some of the most important things for me. I had a MacBook Pro before my Air and went off them because of the size. This is the MacBook Pro that I have been waiting a very very long time for.

I have had zero battery issues, I work off the battery during the day in order to keep the juices flowing and it easily lasts me the whole work day.

The keyboard I, surprisingly, love. I was expecting to have a learning curve but I took to it right away. I can type faster and make less errors with this keyboard. It feels excellent to type on.

Everything else about it is amazing for me coming from the Air but a lot of that is admittedly due to me never having a Retina display before and other features the last Pros had.

As for the USB C and dongle situation. I don't mind adopting new technologies in general and I bought the USB C to AV adapter with the laptop. I went back yesterday and got the USB C to USB adapter too. Surprisingly however I find it to be much better than my Air. Obviously I'm not coming from the last Pro so I don't need a lot of those ports. I do however run a second display, external hard drive, usb hub and charger while my laptop is in 'desktop' mode, which is almost all day.

With this set up I have found the Pro to be much more convenient. With my Air I had to have the charger plugged in, the thunderbolt port plugged in and both usb slots plugged in. It made it very inconvenient to pick up the laptop again and take it with me. If I wanted to browse I would just sit at my desk. Now because of the USB C dongles that I have I usually only need one thing plugged into the laptop. The USB C to Av adapter. It runs my second screen, external hard drive and extra usb. So now I only have to unplug one thing instead of four in order to take the MacBook Pro to another room. This has been a huge plus for me. Much more so than I thought it could have been.

Overall I am extremely happy that this will be my machine for the next 3-4 years. For me and my usage it is completely perfect.

Edit: Also the speakers! I am in love with them! The MacBook Air speaker is completely awful and it feels like a home theatre in comparison.

 

[Ries]

Still waiting for the next version as long as my 2011 15" survives. Hoping for OLED/"Ultra HDR Premium"/Vega and a optional gimmick bar ("normal" keyboard with touch id).

 

[SarcasticJoe]

True, there were people not pleased with just about every new revision, but this is different where the hue and cry is coming from Apple's most steadfast followers, and unlike prior times they seem to be looking to change platforms.

I remember when the first rMBPs came out and people massively derided it for essentially dropping the CD drive by only offering it with the low-res models that still had the same base resolution as the first MBP from 6 years earlier (not to mention the complaining about dropping the FireWire port). Before that I remember how some people freaked out over the miniDisplayPort in the original unibody MBP and would much rather have kept the full size DVI port from the original Powerbook design MBP. Hell, people even freak out over new models like people did with the introduction of the original Macbook Air and the new Macbook.

Point is: Whenever Apple introduces a new product with sweeping changes people will always complain and say that Apple has gone too far regardless if it's an update to an existing product or a brand new one. This time is really no different and on the grand scheme of things this is very similar to a lot of the previous changes people have complained about.

The battery is physically smaller then prior models, and people have complained that its not lasting as long, so my words are not misleading.

Yes, people complained when a number of bugs were causing worse battery life, but those bugs have been fixed and people are now seeing better battery life than at launch. Talking about issues after they're fixed without mentioning that they've been fixed is misleading.

No argument that USB-C/TB3 is more powerful, but the fact remains for people who rely on HDMI, or SD ports, the MBP has less built in functionality and that' was my point. It has less ports which require that the user find different solutions to address that short coming.

If you want to go down this rabbit hole I'm going to have to point out that if Apple went with every request/complaint their machines would still have floppy drives.

All in all this is a minor inconvenience for most of the people affected and hardly the doomsday scenario drama queens like a certain card loving macrumors poster is painting this as.

 

[Cookie18]

I remember when the first rMBPs came out and people massively derided it for essentially dropping the CD drive by only offering it with the low-res models that still had the same base resolution as the first MBP from 6 years earlier (not to mention the complaining about dropping the FireWire port). Before that I remember how some people freaked out over the miniDisplayPort in the original unibody MBP and would much rather have kept the full size DVI port from the original Powerbook design MBP. Hell, people even freak out over new models like people did with the introduction of the original Macbook Air and the new Macbook.

Point is: Whenever Apple introduces a new product with sweeping changes people will always complain and say that Apple has gone too far regardless if it's an update to an existing product or a brand new one. This time is really no different and on the grand scheme of things this is very similar to a lot of the previous changes people have complained about.


Yes, people complained when a number of bugs were causing worse battery life, but those bugs have been fixed and people are now seeing better battery life than at launch. Talking about issues after they're fixed without mentioning that they've been fixed is misleading.


If you want to go down this rabbit hole I'm going to have to point out that if Apple went with every request/complaint their machines would still have floppy drives.

All in all this is a minor inconvenience for most of the people affected and hardly the doomsday scenario drama queens like a certain card loving macrumors poster is painting this as.

This post hits the nail on the head. USB C is the future and we need to switch over at some point. Whether you upgrade this year or in 4 years you will have to go through the same adjustment. I'd much rather have the latest technology and a couple of dongles for the first year while manufacturers catch up than have archaic and out of date ports being supported past their time.