Any reason not to get the new rMB?

[ghanwani]

IMO, weight matters a heck of a lot more than thickness.

I'm OK with giving some functionality up for weight, but would not give up anything for making a machine thinner than the average machine out there.

 

[617aircav]

I don't need another thing to carry around -- much less something that sticks out horribly.

Magsafe, sh*tty keyboard, only one port... I'd happily have another 2mm of thickness to get these things back. The nanosecond they offer something lightweight with a retina display and a half-usable keyboard, I'll have my card out.

That said, they'll probably leave Magsafe out in the future, which is really a shame. I took for granted how nice it is to just lightly snap on the charger with one hand (which had an indicator light, by the way, which is now also gone along with the cord management) vs. dealing with yet another cord you need two hands to attach.

I played with one at bestbuy and holy the keyboard is terrible. It was tempting though.

 

[kis]

Keyboard is god awful IMHO. And it's too slow to be your only computer in my opinion. My advice: either get a current-gen MacBook Pro, wait for the next gen (although I'm not sure that'll be as revolutionary as others seem to think - Apple hasn't been able to wow the way they used to under Jobs) or go Windows 10. If you do the latter: do yourself a favor and get a Surface Pro 4 rather than an XPS 13. I had the latter and it was terrible - lousy touchpad, lousy quality, appalling customer service. I now have the SP 4 alongside my 15" rMBP and it's absolutely fantastic

 

[617aircav]

Keyboard is god awful IMHO. And it's too slow to be your only computer in my opinion. My advice: either get a current-gen MacBook Pro, wait for the next gen (although I'm not sure that'll be as revolutionary as others seem to think - Apple hasn't been able to wow the way they used to under Jobs) or go Windows 10. If you do the latter: do yourself a favor and get a Surface Pro 4 rather than an XPS 13. I had the latter and it was terrible - lousy touchpad, lousy quality, appalling customer service. I now have the SP 4 alongside my 15" rMBP and it's absolutely fantastic

I have a surface 3 and they type cover is so good. I could not type any kind of long term work on the MacBook. Just does not feel right at all. I'm waiting for the next MacBook Pro.

 

[izzyfanto]

Keyboard is god awful IMHO. And it's too slow to be your only computer in my opinion. My advice: either get a current-gen MacBook Pro, wait for the next gen (although I'm not sure that'll be as revolutionary as others seem to think - Apple hasn't been able to wow the way they used to under Jobs) or go Windows 10. If you do the latter: do yourself a favor and get a Surface Pro 4 rather than an XPS 13. I had the latter and it was terrible - lousy touchpad, lousy quality, appalling customer service. I now have the SP 4 alongside my 15" rMBP and it's absolutely fantastic

I have a surface 3 and they type cover is so good. I could not type any kind of long term work on the MacBook. Just does not feel right at all. I'm waiting for the next MacBook Pro.

Keyboard is fantastic, way better than my mushy MBA........IMHO...............
[doublepost=1461979107][/doublepost]Betcha the next MBP will have the keyboard too...

 

[thadoggfather]

I like it too but the pro will almost certainly have more key travel

 

[ignatius345]

I like it too but the pro will almost certainly have more key travel

That alone would fix it for me. The new keyboard does feel very nicely made, and I appreciate the smoothness of the new switches -- but I find it exhausting to type on a keyboard with that little key travel. It's harder to use a light touch because you're never really as sure on a tactile level that the key presses are registering. You end up kind of banging on the thing really firmly and that becomes tiring after a while.

I do run a thing called KeyUp that gives some light auditory feedback and that helps to some extent. I am getting used to the new keyboard, but I still think it's bad.

 

[Davidkoh]

I think the rMB have the best keyboard of all the Macs to be honest, I would actually say I prefer this to my mechanical keyboard I use for my desktop. It was one of the reasons I chose the rMB over the rMBP 13", I was comparing them in store and whenever I test typed on the rMBP I remembered how awful I always thought the mushy keyboard was when I had my old rMBP.

 

[fantasticman]

I'm in the same boat as you. Currently got a 2010 13" MBP. I've decided to buy the m5/512 rMB and it's a huge huge improvement.

I've done a few handbrake tests and played around with it all day and it's only stuttered once (and that was within the first hour of turning it on, so likely just settling itself in). I told myself I'd try it for 10 days and then return it if I wasn't sure and wait for the WWDC announcement, but I can't see myself wanting to give it back!

If you can wait then there's no harm in seeing if they do a nice update to the MPB form factor, but I couldn't fault this machine so far.

I use ScreenFlick to capture live video and the raw files some times hits 20Gb Max then i export them to mov....and the last step convert using handbrake to convert to mp4.

Will this new 2016 macbook that without a problem? or it's just about being more patient while waiting for the files to export to one format and then using handbrake to convert to mp4

 

[geachy92]

I use ScreenFlick to capture live video and the raw files some times hits 20Gb Max then i export them to mov....and the last step convert using handbrake to convert to mp4.

Will this new 2016 macbook that without a problem? or it's just about being more patient while waiting for the files to export to one format and then using handbrake to convert to mp4

It will be able to complete the task but be prepared for throttling. I don't know what machine you're used to running on, my old 2010 Pro is so slow that even with the throttling the 2016 MB is much quicker. If you have a newer Pro or Air then I don't know what sort of performance you would be used to/deem acceptable.

 

[fantasticman]

It will be able to complete the task but be prepared for throttling. I don't know what machine you're used to running on, my old 2010 Pro is so slow that even with the throttling the 2016 MB is much quicker. If you have a newer Pro or Air then I don't know what sort of performance you would be used to/deem acceptable.

I Use a mid 2012 MBA I7 RAM 8GB... guess i'll just have to watch the new macs they are announcing in June. I seriously hope they come up with something new and fresh design wise. The current batch is really aging.

 

[pmau]

Apple is so behind in specs regarding the Mac, I could imagine they announce the wonderful Watch 2 at WWDC to sell even more gadgets. They could have upgraded the Pro line long ago. They also could upgrade the iMac with USB-C and TB3.
But if you look at the earnings, they do no longer care.
Maybe there will be no MacBooks and the 12" is the only thing you need according to Apple.

 

[fantasticman]

Yeah I'm been using Apple products all my life. But lately it seems all they care about are the watches, the iPads and of coz the holy grail......the all magnificent IPHONE...... I mean sure... it's a business.. but i'm sure the laptop and the iMac supplement to that huge profit they seem to be earning every year.....and yet with us LOYAL fans... they give us a 480p cam for a 2016 Macbook......16 gb Base iPhones ( WHO the **** does 16gb anymore especially a phone maker of that level in their flagship phones and not to mention... the puny 2 GB of RAM they gave us ONLY RECENTLY when all other companies have done and now having 4gb in their flagships)

I not a person would chase for all the latest specs but I mean come on apple. Give a little back to your customers. Don't keep holding back and tell us you are trying to perfect the tech or some ********... we all know you can do it .... just holding back Specs that you could have given us... but instead choosing to release bit by bit so there is more money to earn....

I love apple and all it's products i like the company for years.... but it just seems recently they got real greedy. And now that its iPhone project's not to do as well as before..... come on APPLE Blow us aways with your products again and give back to all your fans and customers .

 

[costica1234]

I totally agree. Baffles me some of the vehement hate (not this thread, just in general) directed towards the keyboard. My speed has only improved, and going back to the MBA feels like "typing on mashed potatoes"(someone on a MR thread referred to it like that). Love the new keyboard

Let me add to this as well! I just purchased a rMB 3 days ago since my 15 inch rMBP needed to have its keyboard repaired (some loose keys which were horribly popping out). The reason I went for this is because I was curious about how well this little thing performs in real life and I have to say that I am absolutely astonished by how much this machine can do given it's specs and thinness (btw, I went for the m5 configuration I could buy from the store). Surely, running many apps at the same time won't result in a very smooth experience, but this machine has already exceeded my expectations anyways.

And really, after just 15 minutes of using this new baby, I just got to love the keyboard (which I otherwise hated, having tried it once last year in store and thinking it was no good at all). I thought at first that I would have to re-learn how to type on a computer, but after getting used to it quickly I can definitely say that I am so much faster and precise when typing. It really helps to have the keys a tad bigger, as I am no longer pressing in between "islands" and hence typing precision is tremendously improved for me. I am actually seriously thinking of keeping this rMB and sell my 15 inch beast, which I rarely used at its full capacity. And also, having a flat keyboard like this eliminates the problem I had with my 15 inch model, so it's definitely a lot better built from an engineering perspective.

 

[izzyfanto]

I find it exhausting to type on a keyboard with that little key travel. It's harder to use a light touch because you're never really as sure on a tactile level that the key presses are registering. You end up kind of banging on the thing really firmly and that becomes tiring after a while.

Exhausting? Banging on [the keys]? Obviously, we have completely different typing styles. I type faster and more accurately with it than my MBA. I find it's easier to use a light touch because it's more precise and there is less travel. This is my favorite keyboard in all of the laptops I've ever owned.

 

[ghanwani]

Let me add to this as well! I just purchased a rMB 3 days ago since my 15 inch rMBP needed to have its keyboard repaired (some loose keys which were horribly popping out). The reason I went for this is because I was curious about how well this little thing performs in real life and I have to say that I am absolutely astonished by how much this machine can do given it's specs and thinness (btw, I went for the m5 configuration I could buy from the store). Surely, running many apps at the same time won't result in a very smooth experience, but this machine has already exceeded my expectations anyways.

And really, after just 15 minutes of using this new baby, I just got to love the keyboard (which I otherwise hated, having tried it once last year in store and thinking it was no good at all). I thought at first that I would have to re-learn how to type on a computer, but after getting used to it quickly I can definitely say that I am so much faster and precise when typing. It really helps to have the keys a tad bigger, as I am no longer pressing in between "islands" and hence typing precision is tremendously improved for me. I am actually seriously thinking of keeping this rMB and sell my 15 inch beast, which I rarely used at its full capacity. And also, having a flat keyboard like this eliminates the problem I had with my 15 inch model, so it's definitely a lot better built from an engineering perspective.

Surprised to hear that you don't miss the real-estate of a 15" monitor. 15->12 is a big step down. While the 12" looks OK in the store, I often wonder if I'll find it too small longer term. At work, I had the choice between 12 and 15 for a Windows machine and chose the 15.

 

[costica1234]

Surprised to hear that you don't miss the real-estate of a 15" monitor. 15->12 is a big step down. While the 12" looks OK in the store, I often wonder if I'll find it too small longer term. At work, I had the choice between 12 and 15 for a Windows machine and chose the 15.

Well, I miss that a little, obviously, but since I was running the 15 inch in 1440x900 mode I am losing only a bit of that with the default resolution setup on the 12 inch (although I can make the rMB look like 1440x900, but then everything looks pretty small).

Perhaps the only downside of this laptop has to do with the underpowered CPU. I noticed a really funny situation last evening: while I was watching snooker on Chrome on the BBC player (Safari requires flash which I don't install and that's why I use Chrome in some situations) I decided to make a FaceTime call. And I can say that even after closing some other apps running in the background, Chrome and FaceTime were hogging the m5 CPU so much, that literally each app was freezing every other second in turns Moving on a different workspace to open Finder and do some simple stuff was ok, but I think the graphics side was severely impacted when the video from BBC and the one from FaceTime were sitting on the same workspace side by side.

And speaking of browsers, Safari does a pretty good job with 15-20 tabs open, although I noticed that sometimes CMD+T takes like a second to open a new tab, which is annoying.

 

[throAU]

Battery life is a reason imho.

The 13" machines get a real world 10+ hours, more if you're just watching video.

 

[ghanwani]

Well, I miss that a little, obviously, but since I was running the 15 inch in 1440x900 mode I am losing only a bit of that with the default resolution setup on the 12 inch (although I can make the rMB look like 1440x900, but then everything looks pretty small).

Perhaps the only downside of this laptop has to do with the underpowered CPU. I noticed a really funny situation last evening: while I was watching snooker on Chrome on the BBC player (Safari requires flash which I don't install and that's why I use Chrome in some situations) I decided to make a FaceTime call. And I can say that even after closing some other apps running in the background, Chrome and FaceTime were hogging the m5 CPU so much, that literally each app was freezing every other second in turns Moving on a different workspace to open Finder and do some simple stuff was ok, but I think the graphics side was severely impacted when the video from BBC and the one from FaceTime were sitting on the same workspace side by side.

And speaking of browsers, Safari does a pretty good job with 15-20 tabs open, although I noticed that sometimes CMD+T takes like a second to open a new tab, which is annoying.

Thanks for the feedback.

I have noticed graphics performance to be on the low side as well. Ordinarily this would not be a problem for me, but too many websites are now peppered with flash/video ads which takes a lot of graphics power to scroll without jerkiness.

The MBA doesn't have this jerkiness.

 

[where is it]

There is no reason not to get the MB.

Got one. Used to use the 15MBP.

Thought the main issue for me would be the screen size reduction. Not a problem. I totally get lost in it. Hypnotic almost.

The keyboard is great. I had tried it before in the store.

Speed is awesome. No worries with speed so far.

Brilliant little contraption.

 

[ignatius345]

Exhausting? Banging on [the keys]? Obviously, we have completely different typing styles. I type faster and more accurately with it than my MBA. I find it's easier to use a light touch because it's more precise and there is less travel. This is my favorite keyboard in all of the laptops I've ever owned.

Yes, exhausting, and yes, banging on the keys. If you love this thing, that's great for you but let's not pretend it's good ergonomics to have a keyboard with <1mm of travel and a really hard bottom-out to the switch. Since you apparently don't know a lot about keyboards: hitting the switch until it comes to its stop is called "bottoming out", and it imparts stress to the fingers because you're literally hitting up against something solid -- and in this case it's quite solid, as Apple says. There's no way to avoid bottoming out with every keystroke on this keyboard. On a key switch with some reasonable amount of travel, you can use a lighter touch because there's some difference between the actuation point of the switch and the point where you bottom out. And let's not even get into the totally insufficient level of tactile feedback in this thing.

 

[Buerkletucson]

Yes, exhausing, and yes, banging on the keys. If you love this thing, that's great for you but let's not pretend it's good ergonomics to have a keyboard with <1mm of travel and a really hard bottom-out to the switch. Since you apparently don't know a lot about keyboards: hitting the switch until it comes to its stop is called "bottoming out", and it imparts stress to the fingers because you're literally hitting up against something solid -- and in this case it's quite solid, as Apple says. There's no way to avoid bottoming out with every keystroke on this keyboard. On a key switch with some reasonable amount of travel, you can use a lighter touch because there's some difference between the actuation point of the switch and the point where you bottom out. And let's not even get into the totally insufficient level of tactile feedback in this thing.

Oh my...

I wonder how much is actually a real issue and how much is just in your head due to the fact it is a "different" feel.
Exhausting?
Banging on keys?
Stress on fingers?

Either a major exaggeration or your typing style needs some modification IMHO.

 

[where is it]

Yes, exhausting, and yes, banging on the keys. If you love this thing, that's great for you but let's not pretend it's good ergonomics to have a keyboard with <1mm of travel and a really hard bottom-out to the switch. Since you apparently don't know a lot about keyboards: hitting the switch until it comes to its stop is called "bottoming out", and it imparts stress to the fingers because you're literally hitting up against something solid -- and in this case it's quite solid, as Apple says. There's no way to avoid bottoming out with every keystroke on this keyboard. On a key switch with some reasonable amount of travel, you can use a lighter touch because there's some difference between the actuation point of the switch and the point where you bottom out. And let's not even get into the totally insufficient level of tactile feedback in this thing.

Have you ever tried typing on an iPad onscreen keyboard?

The travel on those things is terrible too.

 

[Buerkletucson]

Have you ever tried typing on an iPad onscreen keyboard?

The travel on those things is terrible too.

Now that there is just plain hilarious......

 

[Queen6]

Have you ever tried typing on an iPad onscreen keyboard?

The travel on those things is terrible too.

Like this one as it made me laugh while dealing with some heavyweight paperwork. I done find the rMB bad for my use, and I like it`s clicky nature. Just kind of adjusted to typing a little lighter. That all said there is starting to be better options in the super light notebook category with far more performance than the rMB offers 13.3" Core i5/i7. Just 1.85lbs with apparently a KB with reasonable travel...

Samsung Notebook 9 1.3"

Q-6