Bought The 2016 MBP Day One—Still Have It

[capelesshero]

In all seriousness, I understand people think the tb is a gimmick and some people need more than just USB-C. However, that does not make the 2016 MBP a bad laptop. The only reason I decided to write this thread is because I am seeing too many people that are giving it a bad rep and it does not account for the majority of people are that are content with their Macbooks to include myself. I, as a veteran, understand people are perfectly within their rights to say whatever their hearts desire. And that is exactly what I am doing; to assure people that may be skeptic about getting a new MBP. This is hands down the best laptop I have owned and plan on running it into the ground. I have embraced the "gimmicky" touch bar and use it heavily, type faster with the shorter key travel, bought a USB-A adapter, and enjoy 10+ hours of battery life when not running Windows 10 and am loving every minute of it.

I am by no means a fanboy and consider myself to be very rational and pragmatic which is why I felt obligated to speak out against the stigma—which quite frankly will never go away. But that's okay. I hope this post will help any potential buyers feel confident when making their purchase.

 

[SuprUsrStan]

I too have one of the new gen macbook pro's and while I "still have it" I really don't like it. If I didn't already promise my 2012 retina macbook pro to someone else, I'd probably just go back to it.

TL;DR: The new macbook pro is a great laptop but it sacrifices so much compared to the old system that if you like your current 15" retina macbook pro, there's no immediate need to switch just yet.

I consider myself an early adopter and I'm completely okay with the direction apple wants to take with USB-C. I'm even completely okay with just 4 USB-C connections. However, my allowances for apple's design decisions end there.

The touch bar is an absolute gimmick and I'm not saying that just to put it down. Ask yourself, is it faster to open a new tab on the touch bar or is it faster to just hit command t? Is it faster to hit the the spotlight/siri button or is it faster to just to hit command space? Almost all of the functions the touch bar gives me, I could already do with keyboard shortcuts even quicker shifting my hand and reaching up to the touchbar. Yes it's a small travel distance but I can hit my shortcuts without looking at the keyboard yet I have to look down at the touch bar and hunt for the correct button before hitting it. What's worse is turning up the volume or brightness now takes a fraction of a second longer than before because you have to fiddle with the UI to get to the correct display by either holding the button down or taping twice. So yeah, the touchbar is a gimmick because it doesn't add anything additional and can be largely ignored.

Want to talk about something actually useful? Imagine that large touchpad rather than gray and glass, it was a full OLED display larger than a iPhone 7 plus. Give me back my physical F buttons and turn the huge trackpad into a OLED display. Now that wouldn't be a gimmick. Imagine the possibilities of having basically an iphone like experience all in the touchpad.

The keyboard was better on the older macbook pro's period, full stop. Can the new keyboard be learned? Sure. However, after using that old style of keyboard for literally over a decade on various macbooks and macbook pros, I find myself struggling with spelling errors and second guessing shortcuts and just don't feel as confident as before. I'm sure I'll eventually adjust but why change something that was already pretty good?

Now, the trackpad. I also dislike the large trackpad. I know this is very subjective thing and this is very specific to me but I like to rest my thumb on the edge of the touchpad on the older macs. There was a much larger space between the end of the laptop and the touchpad so only a small portion of my thumb ends up touching the touchpad. I find with the much larger touchpad, a much bigger portion of my thumb ends up touching the touchpad and sometimes the system thinks I'm performing a gesture rather than just fast scroll clicking. I never had an issue with the older trackpads. Again, it's something to adjust to, but the old one was perfectly good. Oh and the first click on the force touch pad can be a lot stronger. If you adjust it to stiff, the first click gets good but the second click gets too stiff.

Oh and magsafe. May you rest in peace. At least the USB-C charging cable could have came with a green/white charge LED

 

[BenTrovato]

I love everything about the 2016.. day one purchaser. Keyboard is awesome, screen is incredible, and the touchpad seemed big at first but is actually great.

With that said, it's definitely not worth what I paid for it. Next time around, if prices are this insane, I will be gone from the Apple platform.

 

[JMacHack]

I too have one of the new gen macbook pro's and while I "still have it" I really don't like it. If I didn't already promise my 2012 retina macbook pro to someone else, I'd probably just go back to it.

TL;DR: The new macbook pro is a great laptop but it sacrifices so much compared to the old system that if you like your current 15" retina macbook pro, there's no immediate need to switch just yet.

I consider myself an early adopter and I'm completely okay with the direction apple wants to take with USB-C. I'm even completely okay with just 4 USB-C connections. However, my allowances for apple's design decisions end there.

The touch bar is an absolute gimmick and I'm not saying that just to put it down. Ask yourself, is it faster to open a new tab on the touch bar or is it faster to just hit command t? Is it faster to hit the the spotlight/siri button or is it faster to just to hit command space? Almost all of the functions the touch bar gives me, I could already do with keyboard shortcuts even quicker shifting my hand and reaching up to the touchbar. Yes it's a small travel distance but I can hit my shortcuts without looking at the keyboard yet I have to look down at the touch bar and hunt for the correct button before hitting it. What's worse is turning up the volume or brightness now takes a fraction of a second longer than before because you have to fiddle with the UI to get to the correct display by either holding the button down or taping twice. So yeah, the touchbar is a gimmick because it doesn't add anything additional and can be largely ignored.

Want to talk about something actually useful? Imagine that large touchpad rather than gray and glass, it was a full OLED display larger than a iPhone 7 plus. Give me back my physical F buttons and turn the huge trackpad into a OLED display. Now that wouldn't be a gimmick. Imagine the possibilities of having basically an iphone like experience all in the touchpad.

The keyboard was better on the older macbook pro's period, full stop. Can the new keyboard be learned? Sure. However, after using that old style of keyboard for literally over a decade on various macbooks and macbook pros, I find myself struggling with spelling errors and second guessing shortcuts and just don't feel as confident as before. I'm sure I'll eventually adjust but why change something that was already pretty good?

Now, the trackpad. I also dislike the large trackpad. I know this is very subjective thing and this is very specific to me but I like to rest my thumb on the edge of the touchpad on the older macs. There was a much larger space between the end of the laptop and the touchpad so only a small portion of my thumb ends up touching the touchpad. I find with the much larger touchpad, a much bigger portion of my thumb ends up touching the touchpad and sometimes the system thinks I'm performing a gesture rather than just fast scroll clicking. I never had an issue with the older trackpads. Again, it's something to adjust to, but the old one was perfectly good. Oh and the first click on the force touch pad can be a lot stronger. If you adjust it to stiff, the first click gets good but the second click gets too stiff.

Oh and magsafe. May you rest in peace. At least the USB-C charging cable could have came with a green/white charge LED

Had mine since January 2015, thought I'd throw in my 2c

Addressing some of this:
The Touch Bar, stock it pales in comparison to keyboard shortcuts and f-keys, but I feel like it really shines with BetterTouchTool and AppleScript. I've been using it to run scripts in Photoshop and Illustrator and I can say without a doubt that it has vastly improved my workflow.
I do believe however that these options should've come with the touchbar, instead of having to install BetterTouchTool.

They keyboard suits my style of typing perfectly, but I can understand the criticism. I prefer it to the old keyboard, it feels more "solid".

I adore the new trackpad honestly. It's perfect for work in adobe Suite.

Magsafe should've made a return I agree, but from what I've heard Apple chose to use a standard USB-C cable because it charges faster. Take that as you will, but there are rumors that Magsafe will make a return.

As far as I can tell, the new MacBook Pro is overspecialized. It seems Apple focused mainly on Pros who work in Adobe Suits, FCPX, and Logic Pro rather than making a laptop that's good for everybody.

Ports? I think Apple should've at least included a USB-C to A cable with the computer, like they do with the iPhone and the 3.5mm jack. Personally, I don't miss USB-A and I see the USB-C peripherals as something I would have had to buy anyway down the road.

The computer isn't without faults and is well-deserving of criticism of course, but I do feel the anger directed toward the MBP is overblown.

Maybe if they would've included a version that was intended to be a mobile workstation, with 6-8 USB-C ports, a bigger battery, DDR4 RAM, and 2 slots for m.2 SSD's people would complain less. But I'm sure that people would've found something to nitpick about anyway.

 

[turbineseaplane]

but I feel like it really shines with BetterTouchTool and AppleScript

That really shows the problems with the TouchBar out of the box unfortunately.

BTT & AppleScript users (of which I'm among) is a niche within a niche.
It needs to be way better, right from Apple, IMO.

 

[JMacHack]

That really shows the problems with the TouchBar out of the box unfortunately.

BTT & AppleScript users (of which I'm among) is a niche within a niche.
It needs to be way better, right from Apple, IMO.

I absolutely agree, I think Apple shifted responsibility to "developers" rather than making the touchbar great themselves.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I absolutely agree, I think Apple shifted responsibility to "developers" rather than making the touchbar great themselves.

If they're going to keep it going, they need to get it to desktop, across the laptop lines, give it haptics and make much better 1st party software and ideas for it.

There's certainly a place for something like it - But "more" and "better" needed..

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

Had mine since January 2015, thought I'd throw in my 2c

Addressing some of this:
The Touch Bar, stock it pales in comparison to keyboard shortcuts and f-keys, but I feel like it really shines with BetterTouchTool and AppleScript. I've been using it to run scripts in Photoshop and Illustrator and I can say without a doubt that it has vastly improved my workflow.
I do believe however that these options should've come with the touchbar, instead of having to install BetterTouchTool.

They keyboard suits my style of typing perfectly, but I can understand the criticism. I prefer it to the old keyboard, it feels more "solid".

I adore the new trackpad honestly. It's perfect for work in adobe Suite.

Magsafe should've made a return I agree, but from what I've heard Apple chose to use a standard USB-C cable because it charges faster. Take that as you will, but there are rumors that Magsafe will make a return.

As far as I can tell, the new MacBook Pro is overspecialized. It seems Apple focused mainly on Pros who work in Adobe Suits, FCPX, and Logic Pro rather than making a laptop that's good for everybody.

Ports? I think Apple should've at least included a USB-C to A cable with the computer, like they do with the iPhone and the 3.5mm jack. Personally, I don't miss USB-A and I see the USB-C peripherals as something I would have had to buy anyway down the road.

The computer isn't without faults and is well-deserving of criticism of course, but I do feel the anger directed toward the MBP is overblown.

Maybe if they would've included a version that was intended to be a mobile workstation, with 6-8 USB-C ports, a bigger battery, DDR4 RAM, and 2 slots for m.2 SSD's people would complain less. But I'm sure that people would've found something to nitpick about anyway.

People will ALWAYS find something to nitpick about. I personally think Apple must have done a great job when the list of criticisms includes things such as "Should have had glowing Apple logo", or "Should have had charging LED", or "Shouldn't have put 'MacBook Pro' text on the front"...

Love it or hate it, it's not going to change. USB-C is great because it means you can have any port you want rather than whatever the computer happens to come with. TouchBar is just what it is. Keyboard is a keyboard. I can definitely see things I'd like to have on it, but practicality normally wins me over than anything.

Also that's the first time I've heard anyone say it's 'overspecialised', if anything people constantly complain about it being geared towards prosumers. So goes to show really!

 

[leman]

In complete agreement with the original poster, best laptop ive ever used, serious power without compromising battery or mobility, keyboard/trackpad/display is a dream. It's easy to carry around, the battery lasts a full work day, this thing makes prototyping code and statistical simulations very easy and it also runs any contemporary game with more then adequate performance. Couldn't be happier

 

[capelesshero]

I too have one of the new gen macbook pro's and while I "still have it" I really don't like it. If I didn't already promise my 2012 retina macbook pro to someone else, I'd probably just go back to it.

TL;DR: The new macbook pro is a great laptop but it sacrifices so much compared to the old system that if you like your current 15" retina macbook pro, there's no immediate need to switch just yet.

I consider myself an early adopter and I'm completely okay with the direction apple wants to take with USB-C. I'm even completely okay with just 4 USB-C connections. However, my allowances for apple's design decisions end there.

The touch bar is an absolute gimmick and I'm not saying that just to put it down. Ask yourself, is it faster to open a new tab on the touch bar or is it faster to just hit command t? Is it faster to hit the the spotlight/siri button or is it faster to just to hit command space? Almost all of the functions the touch bar gives me, I could already do with keyboard shortcuts even quicker shifting my hand and reaching up to the touchbar. Yes it's a small travel distance but I can hit my shortcuts without looking at the keyboard yet I have to look down at the touch bar and hunt for the correct button before hitting it. What's worse is turning up the volume or brightness now takes a fraction of a second longer than before because you have to fiddle with the UI to get to the correct display by either holding the button down or taping twice. So yeah, the touchbar is a gimmick because it doesn't add anything additional and can be largely ignored.

Want to talk about something actually useful? Imagine that large touchpad rather than gray and glass, it was a full OLED display larger than a iPhone 7 plus. Give me back my physical F buttons and turn the huge trackpad into a OLED display. Now that wouldn't be a gimmick. Imagine the possibilities of having basically an iphone like experience all in the touchpad.

The keyboard was better on the older macbook pro's period, full stop. Can the new keyboard be learned? Sure. However, after using that old style of keyboard for literally over a decade on various macbooks and macbook pros, I find myself struggling with spelling errors and second guessing shortcuts and just don't feel as confident as before. I'm sure I'll eventually adjust but why change something that was already pretty good?

Now, the trackpad. I also dislike the large trackpad. I know this is very subjective thing and this is very specific to me but I like to rest my thumb on the edge of the touchpad on the older macs. There was a much larger space between the end of the laptop and the touchpad so only a small portion of my thumb ends up touching the touchpad. I find with the much larger touchpad, a much bigger portion of my thumb ends up touching the touchpad and sometimes the system thinks I'm performing a gesture rather than just fast scroll clicking. I never had an issue with the older trackpads. Again, it's something to adjust to, but the old one was perfectly good. Oh and the first click on the force touch pad can be a lot stronger. If you adjust it to stiff, the first click gets good but the second click gets too stiff.

Oh and magsafe. May you rest in peace. At least the USB-C charging cable could have came with a green/white charge LED

I have no problem with all of what you mentioned nor does it change my opinion. I am by no means saying that the latest macbook pro is perfect, but a lot of what you said is relative—to you. And Apple will never make a macbook that will suit everybody's needs and wants. The real problem is that some people struggle more than others with change and assume everyone else is on the same page. If keyboards were to never change for the sake of advancement we would all still be typing on good ole' fashion typewriters, there was nothing wrong with those!

 

[ryannel2003]

I just recently sold a nTB 13" Pro that I bought the day after launch and I loved that little laptop. Never had any issues with it and I only sold it to upgrade to a 15" Pro which is also a 2016 model. I've had the 15" for a few weeks and it's perfection to me. I like the new keyboards though I think the older ones were easier to type on over long periods of time. I personally find the touch bar fantastic though I do agree with the posters about the keyboard shortcuts being faster but I think Apple is going to find ways to improve its usefulness in the future. I do think the entire line is overpriced though.

 

[SuprUsrStan]

I guess my biggest gripe with the touchbar is the fact that it's not easy to customize its behavior and even with bettertouchtool, I still haven't been able to make it do what I want. The implementation is half baked.

Case and point: When I play a song on itunes it shows a seek bar with previous/next and play buttons. However, when I click over to safari, the song bar goes away to show the safari tabs. I don't care to see a mini version of the tab that I have in focus on the main laptop screen. What I want is to see and skip the song that I am currently playing in the background. So I have to click the little button on the touch bar to pull up itunes again to skip the song. Now, that I've skipped the song, I navigate to youtube and start playing a video and again, the itunes bar gets replaced by the youtube video seek bar. Well shoot. I need to pause my itunes song to watch the youtube video so I have to flip back to itunes on the touch bar then hit pause.

Apple really should give us simple options like "keep on top while playing" or itunes > safari in touchbar priorities. As it is right now, it's just not usable in a consistent way. Before, I could just hit the physical play/pause F button and it'd respond the way I want.

Alternatively, I find myself actually just hitting alt tab tab tab to itunes, then mashing space bar to pause, and then alt tabbing back to safari. The touch bar has not made my experience any easier than before...

 

[GtrDude]

I too have one of the new gen macbook pro's and while I "still have it" I really don't like it. If I didn't already promise my 2012 retina macbook pro to someone else, I'd probably just go back to it.

TL;DR: The new macbook pro is a great laptop but it sacrifices so much compared to the old system that if you like your current 15" retina macbook pro, there's no immediate need to switch just yet.

I consider myself an early adopter and I'm completely okay with the direction apple wants to take with USB-C. I'm even completely okay with just 4 USB-C connections. However, my allowances for apple's design decisions end there.

The touch bar is an absolute gimmick and I'm not saying that just to put it down. Ask yourself, is it faster to open a new tab on the touch bar or is it faster to just hit command t? Is it faster to hit the the spotlight/siri button or is it faster to just to hit command space? Almost all of the functions the touch bar gives me, I could already do with keyboard shortcuts even quicker shifting my hand and reaching up to the touchbar. Yes it's a small travel distance but I can hit my shortcuts without looking at the keyboard yet I have to look down at the touch bar and hunt for the correct button before hitting it. What's worse is turning up the volume or brightness now takes a fraction of a second longer than before because you have to fiddle with the UI to get to the correct display by either holding the button down or taping twice. So yeah, the touchbar is a gimmick because it doesn't add anything additional and can be largely ignored.

Want to talk about something actually useful? Imagine that large touchpad rather than gray and glass, it was a full OLED display larger than a iPhone 7 plus. Give me back my physical F buttons and turn the huge trackpad into a OLED display. Now that wouldn't be a gimmick. Imagine the possibilities of having basically an iphone like experience all in the touchpad.

The keyboard was better on the older macbook pro's period, full stop. Can the new keyboard be learned? Sure. However, after using that old style of keyboard for literally over a decade on various macbooks and macbook pros, I find myself struggling with spelling errors and second guessing shortcuts and just don't feel as confident as before. I'm sure I'll eventually adjust but why change something that was already pretty good?

Now, the trackpad. I also dislike the large trackpad. I know this is very subjective thing and this is very specific to me but I like to rest my thumb on the edge of the touchpad on the older macs. There was a much larger space between the end of the laptop and the touchpad so only a small portion of my thumb ends up touching the touchpad. I find with the much larger touchpad, a much bigger portion of my thumb ends up touching the touchpad and sometimes the system thinks I'm performing a gesture rather than just fast scroll clicking. I never had an issue with the older trackpads. Again, it's something to adjust to, but the old one was perfectly good. Oh and the first click on the force touch pad can be a lot stronger. If you adjust it to stiff, the first click gets good but the second click gets too stiff.

Oh and magsafe. May you rest in peace. At least the USB-C charging cable could have came with a green/white charge LED

For me the new MBP was a complete disaster
I hate the touch bar.
Only way I can ever learn to live with this thing is by locking it to be the same keys as they were before.
They keyboard, for me, is a total junk. I get wrist pain by typing on it after the first 20 minutes of typing.

I might rethink the whole thing and try again if Apple released a non-touch bar version in 15 inches.

Until then I'm not buying this machine.