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Anyone else miss the old MacBook Pro design?

cinnabun814

cinnabun814

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Apr 2, 2018
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I was updating an old 2012 retina MBP to Mojave today and I forgot how awesome the magsafe connector was, the glowing apple logo on the back, the heft, the ports, the keyboard, the physical buttons instead of the IMO gimmicky touchbar. Imagine the components and cooling capabilities that macbook pros could have if they kept the old enclosure, got rid of the touchbar, redesigned the keyboard, made the trackpad bigger. You'd have a perfect MacBook in my opinion. You could also battery the heck out of it.
 
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Definitely miss much of it. Still using my 2010 MBP with original battery. Love having all the ports.
The glowing Apple logo looks nice but I can take it or leave it. Power drain from that isn’t even worth mentioning it’s so minimal.
 
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it's funny. I just purchased an refurbished 2012 i5 non retina 13 MacBook Pro from Woot. This is my first older macbook and I love it! Magsafe is amazing! The slot Superdrive, WOW!. I just finished maxing out the RAM to 16GB upgraded the 5400 spinner to a 1TB SSD and I am in the process of calibrating the new battery I dropped in.

I have a 2015 MacBook and the lack of ports and that butterfly keyboard UCK and everything soldered in UCK....
 
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Lol, you know people were saying the same thing about the unibody chassis when the Retina came out. People loathed the 2012 rMBP. The MacBook Pro is thin enough already! Put better components in the same chassis! And the PORTS! Where’s my FireWire 800? Where’s my Line In Audio? Apple are destroying their Pro product.

But who can forget when the 2009 unibody first came out? Boy, did people hate that. They much preferred the look of the 2006 models: the keyboard was much nicer to type on, and the slot-loaded drive on the front was much better than on the side. And THE PORTS! Where’s my DVI? Expresscard slot? Apple are killing their Pro product.

In a few years’ time, people will look back fondly at the (now perfected) 2019 MacBook Pro design; just as they did with the then perfected 2015 MacBook Pro, and before that, the 2012 cMBP, and before that, the 2008 MBP.

It’s always the same here and the goalposts always change after people have adjusted with time, so no, you’re not alone.
 
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lambertjohn said:
Why is the glowing Apple logo awesome? Never understood why people miss that. It does nothing but consume energy and glow. Personally, I'm glad they got rid of it.
Click to expand...

Apple's advertising agency just love to show the glowing logo even years after it was dropped precisely because it's awesome and instantly recognisable.
[doublepost=1560465452][/doublepost]
cinnabun814 said:
I was updating an old 2012 retina MBP to Mojave today and I forgot how awesome the magsafe connector was, the glowing apple logo on the back, the heft, the ports, the keyboard, the physical buttons instead of the IMO gimmicky touchbar. Imagine the components and cooling capabilities that macbook pros could have if they kept the old enclosure, got rid of the touchbar, redesigned the keyboard, made the trackpad bigger. You'd have a perfect MacBook in my opinion. You could also battery the heck out of it.
Click to expand...

You speak the simple truth.
 
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lambertjohn said:
Why is the glowing Apple logo awesome? Never understood why people miss that. It does nothing but consume energy and glow. Personally, I'm glad they got rid of it.
Click to expand...
My understanding is that it was illumination from the backlight of the display...not consuming any extra energy, but repurposing some. Obviously, that doesn't enter into you not liking it aesthetically.
 
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keysofanxiety said:
In a few years’ time, people will look back fondly at the (now perfected) 2019 MacBook Pro design; just as they did with the then perfected 2015 MacBook Pro, and before that, the 2012 cMBP, and before that, the 2008 MBP.
Click to expand...
I totally get it. In couple of years, judging by how Apple run out of things to remove from MacBooks, we will fondly remember the 2019 MBP as the last one with physical keyboard, screen on a hinge and desktop OS.
 
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Thysanoptera said:
I totally get it. In couple of years, judging by how Apple run out of things to remove from MacBooks, we will fondly remember the 2019 MBP as the last one with physical keyboard, screen on a hinge and desktop OS.
Click to expand...

Good one! You’re the first person on this site who’s thought of that joke.
 
Not really. I was playing with a 2011 13" MBP the other day. I was shocked how bulky and heavy it was. Then I turned it on and thought my eyes were failing. Colors were washed out and resolution was so low. And then the magsafe is nothing I ever liked because the cable frayed and Apple max the correction to the charger fixed. So when the connect failed you had to buy a new charger. Grrr. I guess they made a lot more money selling those $70 replacement charger, than they would have with a replaceable $10 cable between the charger and computer.

I put back in the closet, and it will likely stay there for a few more years.
 
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cinnabun814 said:
I was updating an old 2012 retina MBP to Mojave today and I forgot how awesome the magsafe connector was, the glowing apple logo on the back, the heft, the ports, the keyboard, the physical buttons instead of the IMO gimmicky touchbar. Imagine the components and cooling capabilities that macbook pros could have if they kept the old enclosure, got rid of the touchbar, redesigned the keyboard, made the trackpad bigger. You'd have a perfect MacBook in my opinion. You could also battery the heck out of it.
Click to expand...
I like the new design better. Just not thrilled with keyboard reliability. Actually, I like the feel of the earlier butterflies more than the current gen.
 
Queen6 said:
You mean performance, ports, usability and reliability absolutely up to the point that I'm responding on a PC. We need to get work done not impress the shallow...

Q-6
Click to expand...
Reliability, yes. As far as performance, I’d agree with more of "performance per dollar/value." I think the performance is there if you want to pay for it—values just not great.
 
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Glockworkorange said:
Actually, I like the feel of the earlier butterflies more than the current gen.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same camp. They're clickier... though a lot louder too.

Anyway, about MagSafe. I liked that feature though my use case minimizes the risk of my laptop getting destroyed by a cord accident so I'm more than happy to trade off needing a power brick for power in exchange for power delivery over TB3. Now I don't have to drag a power brick around with me when I want to move around the house and work somewhere else. In my office, I plug into my monitor to draw power and I leave the power brick in the living room when I want to get out of the office.
 
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keysofanxiety said:
Lol, you know people were saying the same thing about the unibody chassis when the Retina came out. People loathed the 2012 rMBP. The MacBook Pro is thin enough already! Put better components in the same chassis! And the PORTS! Where’s my FireWire 800? Where’s my Line In Audio? Apple are destroying their Pro product.

But who can forget when the 2009 unibody first came out? Boy, did people hate that. They much preferred the look of the 2006 models: the keyboard was much nicer to type on, and the slot-loaded drive on the front was much better than on the side. And THE PORTS! Where’s my DVI? Expresscard slot? Apple are killing their Pro product.

In a few years’ time, people will look back fondly at the (now perfected) 2019 MacBook Pro design; just as they did with the then perfected 2015 MacBook Pro, and before that, the 2012 cMBP, and before that, the 2008 MBP.

It’s always the same here and the goalposts always change after people have adjusted with time, so no, you’re not alone.
Click to expand...
Nobody complained about that trackpad in 09 that I recall. They nailed it.
 
jerryk said:
Not really. I was playing with a 2011 13" MBP the other day. I was shocked how bulky and heavy it was. Then I turned it on and thought my eyes were failing. Colors were washed out and resolution was so low. And then the magsafe is nothing I ever liked because the cable frayed and Apple max the correction to the charger fixed. So when the connect failed you had to buy a new charger. Grrr. I guess they made a lot more money selling those $70 replacement charger, than they would have with a replaceable $10 cable between the charger and computer.

I put back in the closet, and it will likely stay there for a few more years.
Click to expand...

Well to be fair, the 2011 was non retina and still had a SuperDrive which added a lot more bulk than the later models.
[doublepost=1560472024][/doublepost]
lambertjohn said:
Why is the glowing Apple logo awesome? Never understood why people miss that. It does nothing but consume energy and glow. Personally, I'm glad they got rid of it.
Click to expand...

It consumed no energy, at all. The display lit the logo and no extra power was used.
 
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The only thing I miss is the glowing Apple Logo. That was pretty cool. I kind of hope they will replace it with a small OLED display with customizable graphics some day.

But other than that, I much prefer my 2016 MBP to the older models. Best computer I have ever had.
 
Honestly, I don't miss old design at all. Also I don't miss those function keys either but gotta admit that I do miss esc key. As a software developer, I really like what the MacBook Pro 15" has to offer. And I also appreciate the lightness as I work while traveling the world. You might be okay with huge laptop (I did too, hold on to my dear 2011 17" for as long as I could). But after my chiropractor told me to stop carrying heavy backpack, the 17 has to stay home and I bought a just released 2016 15" at that time. Well, almost 3 years later and I still enjoy it with zero issue. Want the i9 8 core now, but will be holding for the 16" if it ever release. If not, I'll buy whatever they have to offer next year.

Note about mag-safe, I prefer the current solution because I can charge either side of laptop, super convenient when you travel a lot.
 
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I can't stand the new MacBooks. I refuse to get a MBP newer than 2015 until they acknowledge that their Butterfly Keyboard is flawed. I love my 2012 non-retina MBP with actual ports and a disc drive.

lambertjohn said:
It does nothing but consume energy and glow
Click to expand...
From my understanding, it's just from the display backlight. It dims as you dim the display and fades out with the display. I don't think it's a separate light.
 
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