I just made the switch from a top spec 2015 rMB to a brand new 2016 rMBP 13" non-touchbar base model and wanted to share my first impressions.
My rather preliminary switch was somehow a forced one. I was mostly a happy camper with this laptop, for all the good reasons; beautiful craft and design, nice retina screen, sufficiently fast, abundant storage in a tiny form factor. I travel a lot and a couple fewer pounds matters a lot.
I've read many threads on this forum where early adopters (but also a lot of people who probably never used it, let touched it) had bad words about the lack of ports or the crappy keyboard. Obviously mileage does vary but personally I never had to much problems with the lack of ports - or - the butterfly keyboard. In contrary, I think the keyboard is actually one of the best features about the newer generation Macbooks.
But sadly the rMB had to go. I had very bad mileage on my battery. People blamed my working environment, that I used the wrong applications, or that I couldn't/shouldn't expect serious battery life out of a paper thin device. While I had significant hands on time with virtually every single Mac and Macbook model since the last 10 years, my work was mostly done on a couple cMBP 13's, a couple MBA 13's and the rMB. My working environment hasn't changed too much over the years: Little Snitch, MAMP Pro, Sublime Text and Firefox. While the MBA battery easily got me through a whole day of working, the rMB was bound to the power supply since day one.
My impressions of the switch
While I went for a top notch fully spec'ed out rMB model, I came back to my old habits and bought a entry level base stock model. No SSD expansion, no better CPU. 256GB is IMHO a sweet spot, I never used more than half of the 512GB SSD on the rMB anyway. I also didn't go for the touchbar version. This might give me second feelings in the near future, but as of today it doesn't.
- It's significantly heavier. It's like comparing a feather with a brick.
- The screen looked a bit strange in the beginning, a bit cramped with the larger default font. After changing the resolution to the maximum and making the fontsize smaller I feel home again. I do love the extra screen estate that extra inch comes with.
- The trackpad is huge for the eye, but doesn't intrude at any point. Compared with the rMB trackpad it does sound like clicking a tin can. The rMB trackpad feels (or sounds) of a much higher quality. I never got the feeling the rMB trackpad was too small but I'm not complaining it being bigger now.
- The keyboard claims to be improved, 2nd generation of butterfly design. I had to adapt for an hour or so. The keys also don't sound as qualitative as the rMB. It does makes a lot more noise and it feels a bit 'clickier'. I have the feeling it gives me a couple extra characters a second typing speed.
- The bottom casing being significantly thicker than the rMB does require a little repositioning of your wrists. It didn't bothered me for more than a couple minutes.
- Battery life is a significant improvement. I feel again I can leave my power adaptor home.
Overall I couldn't be happier with the transition. I still feel bad for the early retirement of the rMB. It doesn't deserve sitting in the back of the drawer at his young age. But he let me down.
Without wanting to be a prick, what does bother me a tiny little bit is the design of the power cable. While Apple is renowed for their eye for the smallest detail, the edge of the cable comes out half a millimeter above the edge. While I openly admit this really is a non-issue, it is hard to unsee / unfeel this little insignificant overseen detail.
At the end I am very happy with my new toy, it came available just at the right time for me. While I don't have hard feelings against the old banger the new rMBP grew amazingly fast on me. I wouldn't want to go back to the rMB even if it offered me good battery life.
My rather preliminary switch was somehow a forced one. I was mostly a happy camper with this laptop, for all the good reasons; beautiful craft and design, nice retina screen, sufficiently fast, abundant storage in a tiny form factor. I travel a lot and a couple fewer pounds matters a lot.
I've read many threads on this forum where early adopters (but also a lot of people who probably never used it, let touched it) had bad words about the lack of ports or the crappy keyboard. Obviously mileage does vary but personally I never had to much problems with the lack of ports - or - the butterfly keyboard. In contrary, I think the keyboard is actually one of the best features about the newer generation Macbooks.
But sadly the rMB had to go. I had very bad mileage on my battery. People blamed my working environment, that I used the wrong applications, or that I couldn't/shouldn't expect serious battery life out of a paper thin device. While I had significant hands on time with virtually every single Mac and Macbook model since the last 10 years, my work was mostly done on a couple cMBP 13's, a couple MBA 13's and the rMB. My working environment hasn't changed too much over the years: Little Snitch, MAMP Pro, Sublime Text and Firefox. While the MBA battery easily got me through a whole day of working, the rMB was bound to the power supply since day one.
My impressions of the switch
While I went for a top notch fully spec'ed out rMB model, I came back to my old habits and bought a entry level base stock model. No SSD expansion, no better CPU. 256GB is IMHO a sweet spot, I never used more than half of the 512GB SSD on the rMB anyway. I also didn't go for the touchbar version. This might give me second feelings in the near future, but as of today it doesn't.
- It's significantly heavier. It's like comparing a feather with a brick.
- The screen looked a bit strange in the beginning, a bit cramped with the larger default font. After changing the resolution to the maximum and making the fontsize smaller I feel home again. I do love the extra screen estate that extra inch comes with.
- The trackpad is huge for the eye, but doesn't intrude at any point. Compared with the rMB trackpad it does sound like clicking a tin can. The rMB trackpad feels (or sounds) of a much higher quality. I never got the feeling the rMB trackpad was too small but I'm not complaining it being bigger now.
- The keyboard claims to be improved, 2nd generation of butterfly design. I had to adapt for an hour or so. The keys also don't sound as qualitative as the rMB. It does makes a lot more noise and it feels a bit 'clickier'. I have the feeling it gives me a couple extra characters a second typing speed.
- The bottom casing being significantly thicker than the rMB does require a little repositioning of your wrists. It didn't bothered me for more than a couple minutes.
- Battery life is a significant improvement. I feel again I can leave my power adaptor home.
Overall I couldn't be happier with the transition. I still feel bad for the early retirement of the rMB. It doesn't deserve sitting in the back of the drawer at his young age. But he let me down.
Without wanting to be a prick, what does bother me a tiny little bit is the design of the power cable. While Apple is renowed for their eye for the smallest detail, the edge of the cable comes out half a millimeter above the edge. While I openly admit this really is a non-issue, it is hard to unsee / unfeel this little insignificant overseen detail.
At the end I am very happy with my new toy, it came available just at the right time for me. While I don't have hard feelings against the old banger the new rMBP grew amazingly fast on me. I wouldn't want to go back to the rMB even if it offered me good battery life.
