#7 No Centronics. I actually need to use an adapter to connect my old printer to it. Snif.
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Five Things You Still Can't Do With a MacBook Pro
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But do they, really? Mine connects maybe 1/3 of the time automatically. Usually I can of course choose the connection from the list quite easily, but it's not automatic. It gets a bit more annoying when I'm in the car. The CarPlay hijacks the connection and my computer wants to connect to the car's wifi (and I'm not too fond of paying for yet another data package to be able to use it) so I always have to manually go to the Personal Hotspot window before my computer even realizes the phone is there, too.
There's also the sad fact that my iPhone (11 Pro max) runs out of juice during the day as it is. I wouldn't mind not having to rely on the phone's battery for my connectivity. Also, many times while I work I also need to be on the phone and that causes it's own issues with the internet connectivity. Sometimes you don't even notice it, sometimes you definitely do.
Having said all that, given the price of my Apple Watch data package I wouldn't really want to pay so much extra for yet another data package for my computer. I'm seriously considering canceling the data on my watch as it is WAY too expensive compared to what I get with it. I thought it'd be more useful, but in reality it's not worth more than maybe 5e/mo max. If I could get LTE connectivity for my computer for max 5e/mo I'd go for it. Any more than that and it'd just be wasted space for me.
What comes to the rest of the issues: I get the HDMI problem and it seems silly they add the port in such a half-assed way - I don't need it myself, but that doesn't matter as many others would. And even if you're able to replace it with a dongle, that just makes the internal port so much more useless. The ethernet port would've been lovely although I doubt I'd drag the power brick around (or buy any more at Apple prices), but I'd still have a solid connection at home or work. I see no reason NOT to have it. I've got plenty of devices that use SD cards but I can live with the older version as none of my devices support the newer cards - but again, if you do it, do it right or don't do it at all. And last but definitely not the least, the WIFI 6E support: Apple has during the years been one of the first ones to adopt new technologies. Pretty much every new WiFi standard was always found in the Macbooks even if there really weren't any access points that supported them yet. I'm sad to see Apple has stagnated to this. The picture just looks so much bleaker when you consider the entirety - the HDMI port, the SD card, the WiFi - they are cutting corners everywhere, offering old technology where they could show they're still the cutting edge and that the prices they ask for their devices are justified. I'm just glad I can skip this generation and hope the next one will be more of today's stuff.
Maybe not exactly 4k, but at least 4K so you can see full 4K movies. If you have some extra pixels on top/bottom.
As for 120Hz+ refresh rates, I probably won't be able to tell the difference, but others might. Besides, how many people have a competitive streak and just want the highest number for bragging rights?
You make some good arguments for the SD. However, I wasn't saying there should be a CFExpress slot in the MBP, but rather that another Thunderbolt port would be useful to more users than the SD.
Ethernet on the iMac power brick is transmitted to the iMac via the its version of MagSafe. Maybe for some reason, the smaller MagSafe on the MBP cannot easily also transmit Ethernet data.
Of course, Apple could also just offer Ethernet on the power brick if the latter is connected via USB-C to the MBP.
Network protocols are able to withstand sudden disconnects, WiFi can drop out at any time as well.
So let's see...
120hz 4k display, that'd be nice if I owned one
SD Card? Nope, waste of a port to begin with
Ethernet? use a dongle.
5G? why would I want that built in, use a hotspot
6e? Nice if it was there, but unless you're in a congested area, doesn't have much impact
I wish Tim Cook would hire you!
We should ignore universally accepted interfaces in the case one single person does not use that port. Anything less, would be a poor user experience for that user and we can't have that. We should instead, just have dongles as you say because that is a much more convenient and desired universal experience. Keyboards? A relic of the times when typewriters were invented. Need one? Use a dongle. Screens? Remove them, some people just hook up to ultrawide monitors.
I'm with you, everyone loved when Apple took away the SD card slot and other ports, and the new MacBooks have been universally panned for bringing the slot back.
That is probably true for the entire user base. There is a good argument for having a multi-function port that can be used by nearly 100% of users vs a dedicated port (SD) that is maybe used by 25-50%.
That said, if you are a frequent user of the dedicated port, then there is considerable convenience in not requiring a dongle which is more prone to loss or failure.
There may also have been a hardware limitation of course. Perhaps adding the 4th TB controller wasn't possible or practical on the SoC/motherboard?
You forgot the /s so that people would know you were being sarcastic.
Oh, you were serious? WiFi reliability isn't that that great? It's only like 99.999% reliable. Do you ride a horse to work because cars are so unreliable? We've all seen people come in late to work, probably because they were driving and their car broke down. Yeah, that logic falls apart so fast you can't even finish building it. There are many places along the internet where a Zoom call can break down, and the network connection between the user and ISP (wired or wireless) is just one of them - and the LEAST likely one.
Just a few posts up you were complaining about having to using a USBC to A dongle and how you had to use tape to hold it together (did you have tension on the cable?), so I know you have seen trouble with cables failing. Have you ever successfully re-booted a cable? No. Cables fail all the time, but maybe you do not remember using them before wifi was a thing. Someone trips over one or vacuums it, or forgets to unplug it when they move their laptop (remember, we are talking about portable computers here - the desktops do have wired connection options). Sometimes, just sitting back there with no one touching anything, it ups and quits on you. Then you have to have the cable on hand to replace it.
WiFi reliability is fine. Cable is faster, no doubt about it. If you need speed, that is the way to go. I can get 600Mb reliably over my home Network anywhere in the house and up to the internet. I need a cable to go faster than that.
This new PowerBook M1 is a total piece of junk! -
What is Apple thinking releasing a computer in 2021 with no Floppy Drive, SCSI, VGA or ABD support?!
What is Apple thinking releasing a computer in 2021 with no Floppy Drive, SCSI, VGA or ABD support?!
Opinion on touchscreens is divided...I don't favour them in laptops, partially because of the sub-optimal ergonomics (compared to a tablet or touchpad), but I think mostly because I don't like to have a dirty screen on a work computer. I don't know why, but this doesn't bother me as much on a tablet.
not via hdmi. only can if your monitor uses DisplayPort which you can then use an adapter usb c/ thunderbolt 4 to DisplayPort to achieve that a lot of people like to use lg c1 48 inch oled as a monitor which supports 120hz via cdmi 2.1 but they can't because the MacBook doesn't support it
Ding Ding Ding
BTW never by Apple's first iteration, the 2nd version usually fixes these issues and then some.
The new MacBook Pro probably was the most significant update ever from one generation to the other – huge improvement in almost everything with its M-Chips, 120Hz Mini LED, webcam upgrade etc. Very happy first iteration buyer in this case.
I think you actually missed one of the really large (serious) problem with the entire ARM/M1 architecture. It lacks supports for extended floats in HW as well as (for obvious reason) the Intel Math Kernel Library So why is this an issue?
Well, basically all scientific and electronic simulator programs (Spice, Matlab, Maple etc.) makes heavy use of these features and library.
For example some Electronic simulators I use will never support native running on M1. The reason is that due to the lack of extended floats the numerical results will be (ever so) slightly different running on Intel or M1. This is of course not an option (if you don't consider "dumbing" down the Intel precision)
Matlab still isn't even close to have a full release (and probably never will due to to the heavy relying on MKL). These type of program might theoretically run on Rosetta (I don't know) but it would most likely be a order of magnitude slower since the missing HW features would have to be emulated in SW. Even things like how to handle NaN have subtle differences between Intel and M1 which will cause issues.
As for numerical stability replacing MKL and porting numerically libraries and to achieve the same amount of stability and robustness is likely to take years (if ever). The research groups I know wont have the bandwidth to put many man years of work porting something that already works (on Intel).
The research community might not be the target for Apple but there are many of us who have enjoyed MBP for the general stability and "Unix:ness" but this seems to have come to a hard end now unless the ARM architecture get on pair with Intel for numerical precision.
Well, basically all scientific and electronic simulator programs (Spice, Matlab, Maple etc.) makes heavy use of these features and library.
For example some Electronic simulators I use will never support native running on M1. The reason is that due to the lack of extended floats the numerical results will be (ever so) slightly different running on Intel or M1. This is of course not an option (if you don't consider "dumbing" down the Intel precision)
Matlab still isn't even close to have a full release (and probably never will due to to the heavy relying on MKL). These type of program might theoretically run on Rosetta (I don't know) but it would most likely be a order of magnitude slower since the missing HW features would have to be emulated in SW. Even things like how to handle NaN have subtle differences between Intel and M1 which will cause issues.
As for numerical stability replacing MKL and porting numerically libraries and to achieve the same amount of stability and robustness is likely to take years (if ever). The research groups I know wont have the bandwidth to put many man years of work porting something that already works (on Intel).
The research community might not be the target for Apple but there are many of us who have enjoyed MBP for the general stability and "Unix:ness" but this seems to have come to a hard end now unless the ARM architecture get on pair with Intel for numerical precision.
And let us not forget the ease and convenience of being able to charge on BOTH sides of the laptop.....