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Are you happy with your 2017 ntb/tb Macbook Pro?
- Thread starter SoApple
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I don't think that the "consensus is to probably wait", but rather that people who do not like something are much more likely to rant about it on the Internet than those who do (I can go on and on about how I hate my Apple Watch). See how "everyone" hated all iPhones since the iPhone 3GS, and the lack of a headphone jack, and etc. etc.
Plus the 2016 MBPs were the first major redesign of the MacBook since 2008 - of course some people wouldn't like a switch in something they had been using for 7+ years.
I've had a 2017 nTB, coming from a 2014 MBA, that's had exactly zero issues. But the port situation and lack of MagSafe are annoying for the lack of a better word.
I think the only reason to not buy a MacBook Pro right now is that I think there will be a spec bump in September (as there should, it is unacceptable that a "pro" laptop does not have the latest and greatest hardware at least as an option). I don't think there should/will be a redesign (except maaaaaaybe a reliability update to the keyboard? That indeed seems to be an issue, but so was Staingate and no one stopped buying Macs because of that).
Plus the 2016 MBPs were the first major redesign of the MacBook since 2008 - of course some people wouldn't like a switch in something they had been using for 7+ years.
I've had a 2017 nTB, coming from a 2014 MBA, that's had exactly zero issues. But the port situation and lack of MagSafe are annoying for the lack of a better word.
I think the only reason to not buy a MacBook Pro right now is that I think there will be a spec bump in September (as there should, it is unacceptable that a "pro" laptop does not have the latest and greatest hardware at least as an option). I don't think there should/will be a redesign (except maaaaaaybe a reliability update to the keyboard? That indeed seems to be an issue, but so was Staingate and no one stopped buying Macs because of that).
It’s not. There are professionals that exist that get their work done just as well with a MacBook Air or MacBook. The “Pro” moniker used in the product’s name is done so in order to differentiate it from its slower, cheaper siblings. It’s just marketing, plain and simple.
Personally, I’m staying the hell away from anything that has a butterfly keyboard in it, until I’m convinced that the issues with its design have been permanently fixed.
I’ve also always known that the TouchBar was a gimmick. I suspected when I watched the keynote (/facepalmed that announcement.) “Courage,” they said, with the same smugness they had when they said, “Can’t innovate, my ass” during the trash can Mac Pro announcement. Then I knew it when I tried it first hand at the store. There is a lack of detail even in how they designed the software around it, such as when you launch safari. Safari is open, and you have duplicate UI elements both in the Safari window and the TouchBar. You want people to start using the TouchBar? Move those UI elements to it, don’t duplicate them. Also, I’m no touch typist. I’m constantly hunting and pecking my way through the day, so it wouldn’t bother me, but for somebody that types without looking down, and have been doing that for years, I can only imagine what an annoyance this thing would be for some (or a lot) of them. IMO, something like that would be a deal-breaker.
I’d be surprised if Apple got rid of the ToucBar completely, though. If they do anything (and that’s a big “if”,) they most likely will just reduce the level of dynamism at first, or change/clean up how it behaves in some other way.
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I just got a MacBook Pro NTB 2017 today. Upon powering it on, the battery was at 15%. Plugged it in and man....this thing got pretty hot. Is that normal? Fan never kicked on but it got hot.
My wife and I are very happy with our 2017 MBP 13' TB. TB model has good fans and intakes, better CPU, and 4 USB C ports. My wife uses hers every day. We both like the keyboards a lot and I can type on it really fast. We've had no problems with the keyboards but we got the laptops in May. I can type on it really fast and accurately, as long as I don't worry about the keyboard. I've done some gaming on the thing and it stays fairly cool even under heavy loads. Using a laptop cooler doesn't seem to help much. Running in clamshell mode seems to warm things up a bit more than usual. Even in idle mode, laptop loves 90 - 93F. Battery life is about 6-8 hours with normal usage (I've seen 13 hours with light reading and note taking).
I use the Touch Bar all the time to modify sound, brightness, and use ESC as well as mute/sound volumes. I turned off the word correction/guessing and much prefer the ability to have editing options while in certain programs. Do I use it a lot? No. But I didn't get the TB model for the TB. We got it for the better battery, 4 ports, fans, better CPU, etc...
We got AppleCare+ and we plan on using these laptops for at least 6 years. My wife got this for her PhD and I got one too cuz... well, cuz I wanted to. lol. SSD is so frigging fast, love it.
We came from 2 2015' MacBook Air 11 laptops that served us very well for 3 years. I sold mine back to Apple and my wife's laptop is being used by the mother in law.
We're happy with our purchases. I'll admit spending time here on Macrumors makes it more difficult to enjoy our apple devices because of all the negativity here but, hey, the lawsuits added 1 more year of keyboard coverage. For a $2.5-$3k laptop, I do expect these things to last.
As Duervo said above - pros will get their work done regardless of the tool. But going from a 128GB MacBook Air to a 1TB MBP with a bigger screen, cpu, ram, etc... is really... really... nice...
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My wife and I highly recommend the MBA. They are solid solid machines. If you can live with the screen resolution and SSD size - highly recommend them. We got 2 MBA 11' for like $700 from Best Buy during a sale. Sold mine back to Apple for $350. Can't really go wrong with that price vs the price of a MBP.
I use the Touch Bar all the time to modify sound, brightness, and use ESC as well as mute/sound volumes. I turned off the word correction/guessing and much prefer the ability to have editing options while in certain programs. Do I use it a lot? No. But I didn't get the TB model for the TB. We got it for the better battery, 4 ports, fans, better CPU, etc...
We got AppleCare+ and we plan on using these laptops for at least 6 years. My wife got this for her PhD and I got one too cuz... well, cuz I wanted to. lol. SSD is so frigging fast, love it.
We came from 2 2015' MacBook Air 11 laptops that served us very well for 3 years. I sold mine back to Apple and my wife's laptop is being used by the mother in law.
We're happy with our purchases. I'll admit spending time here on Macrumors makes it more difficult to enjoy our apple devices because of all the negativity here but, hey, the lawsuits added 1 more year of keyboard coverage. For a $2.5-$3k laptop, I do expect these things to last.
As Duervo said above - pros will get their work done regardless of the tool. But going from a 128GB MacBook Air to a 1TB MBP with a bigger screen, cpu, ram, etc... is really... really... nice...
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My wife and I highly recommend the MBA. They are solid solid machines. If you can live with the screen resolution and SSD size - highly recommend them. We got 2 MBA 11' for like $700 from Best Buy during a sale. Sold mine back to Apple for $350. Can't really go wrong with that price vs the price of a MBP.
Need something a little more powerful for school and I haven’t seen the air on sale in a while (Here in Canada).
I just bough the 13” tb model and I have a hard time justifying the price. It was close to 3k. I’m going to make a final decision after i use it for few more days... but i’m more than likely going to return it.
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I do enjoy the new keyboard. Granted, I’ve only used it for a few days and i’m coming from a 2011 air. The touchbar is indeed pretty useless and I probably should have bought the ntb version. As I said above, i’m probably going to return it and buy the refresh ntb one when it comes out.
Adding $1300 worth of upgrades to a $1799 laptop is hardly going to be worth it, be it now or with the next version
I am actually very happy with the MBP without TB.... Since I own a MBP non retina 2012 I really needed an upgrade but was worried about having no upgrade options regarding storage and ram. Storage was the main point, since I upgraded my 2012 model to have an SSD and a HDD. But now 2 months in with the new MBP...I love it. Storage: MountainDuck
Made me more aware on just how much crap I cling to with no apparent reason. The new keyboard? I actually love it. I write 10x faster on in since my fingers just fly over it...
Made me more aware on just how much crap I cling to with no apparent reason. The new keyboard? I actually love it. I write 10x faster on in since my fingers just fly over it...
What customizations did you chose to make it come out to around $3k? You can do a few customizations on the nTB model and come away with a decent spec Mac without paying $3k. I'm very happy with my 2016 nTB and the upgrades I added: 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD. That was about $400 worth of upgrades and my nTB came out to just under $2k with tax ($1,946.86 to be exact). I don't need a lot of power (I dock with an eGPU at home) or the touch bar so it works perfect for me.
I have a 2016 15" TB that I pre-ordered way back in Oct 2016. I use the machine everyday and love it. No problems.
The keyboard took a little getting used to, but once I learned to not hit the keys as hard as I used to, I actually find typing to be faster. I have had no failure problems with the keyboard.
I am one who actually finds the Touchbar useful. Out of the box it doesn't add much value, but when you pair it with a utility like BetterTouchTool, you can create a wealth of useful buttons. I have custom macros in almost every application and miss it when I'm on other computers.
I prefer the four USB-C ports to specialized ones. Rarely do I travel without the laptop in the bag, where I keep my cables and dongles anyway, so I don't see that as a problem. And being able to use the ports in any configurations is actually quite useful. I keep a USB-C to USB-A adapter on my keychain in case I am ever in a position where I don't have my bag, but that is rare.
Best machine I have ever had. I use it for typical stuff as well as software development under both Mac and Windows with Parallels (even have Touchbar macros under Visual Studio in Windows!). I highly recommend it. Pricey, but it has been a good value for me.
The keyboard took a little getting used to, but once I learned to not hit the keys as hard as I used to, I actually find typing to be faster. I have had no failure problems with the keyboard.
I am one who actually finds the Touchbar useful. Out of the box it doesn't add much value, but when you pair it with a utility like BetterTouchTool, you can create a wealth of useful buttons. I have custom macros in almost every application and miss it when I'm on other computers.
I prefer the four USB-C ports to specialized ones. Rarely do I travel without the laptop in the bag, where I keep my cables and dongles anyway, so I don't see that as a problem. And being able to use the ports in any configurations is actually quite useful. I keep a USB-C to USB-A adapter on my keychain in case I am ever in a position where I don't have my bag, but that is rare.
Best machine I have ever had. I use it for typical stuff as well as software development under both Mac and Windows with Parallels (even have Touchbar macros under Visual Studio in Windows!). I highly recommend it. Pricey, but it has been a good value for me.