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leman wrote above:
"Which is exactly why function keys are obsolete ;) They ere almost never used in their intended semantics (to be, w ell, function keys) on the Mac, but rather, the keys were delegated to various laptop control actions. And in regards to these control actions the Touch Bar is simply strictly superior."

No, the touchbar is NOT "superior".

If I want "volume up" or "volume down" on the OLD (2015 design) keyboard, I just touch those buttons -directly-, and the volume goes up, or it goes down.

If I want "volume up" or "volume down" on the NEW (2016-17 design) touchbar, I must first press the icon for "volume", and then try to move the "slider" to where I think it will be appropriate -- often MISSING my "target" the first time around.

The new design is neither more intuitive, nor more functional for me.

Same with screen display brightness, keyboard brightness, etc.

About the only function that works as well on the touchbar as it does on the old keyboard is "escape"...

You know you can press the volume/brightness buttons and slide them up/down without releasing your finger right? Or just press it then press the up/down to get a more precise volume, or if you set it to display the full function row it'll behave exactly the same as physical keys. Or use the volume slider on the MacOS menu bar at the top right.

Just means you can quickly slide the volume up to max or lower it without having to press and hold a key or tap it several times. I appreciate people with precision volume disorder could be irritated by it being 73% and not 74% but it's actually quite useful.
 
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USB C is currently problematic and will take a good few years to settle if ever. Unless you fully control the computing environment USC C plus dongles can and does result in "hit or miss" situations, that may well be fine at home, however in the professional environment far from being acceptable.

I don't think it's really that dire. It was early on, most definitely you had community heros out there reporting faulty or downright dangerous USB-C cables. Even Apple procured a bootleg batch early on (later recalled). Some adapters are incompatible, or they claim to do one thing but don't. But things have improved significantly. OEMs know that MBP users will demand USB-C solutions, so now (atleast on Many amazon listings), they state whether or not they're compatible with 2016+ MBP, and if its not, there is usually a 2.0 version to fix that, or face ridicule by way of 1 star ratings.

Apple shocked everyone with the all TB3 solution. When I heard about it mid 2016 I thought they were smoking crack. "Nah man, it's gotta have some USB-A SOMEWHERE, Apple isn't crazy..." but look at the MacBook. One USB-C port. That isn't even Thunderbolt 3. That machine is worthless to me. I wouldn't buy one in a million years. But for people who don't know the difference between TB3 and Tuberculosis, it's a great machine. Just like you guys (not you specifically but, those who don't like the current direction) wouldn't buy the 2016+ MBP. But for me, it's great. Apple knows this because I said so in one of those post purchase surveys (specifically about the Mac). Don't worry fellas, I mentioned that the headphone jack is still useful, enjoy it on your 2018 MBPs). Once you get the right tooling and know what you need, it works great. Yeah, yeah, I laugh sometimes when I pull out the vintage 2010 17" and stare at the extensive array of I/O. Three USB ports (2.0 though, ugh), ExpressCard, ETHERNET!, and it's all built in for free! lol. just like the good ole days! (and every other machine on the market) But what do these tiny ports on the side of this skinny, hard to hold 2016+ MBP get me? Extreme flexibility, power wherever I want it, and 80 Gbit/s worth of I/O. The future showed up quick, but I ain't goin back.

My primary dongle related beef is that Apple failed to provide any of them. Dongles aren't new, we all know this. How many people had mini-dvi, MINI-DVI, compatible cables (faceplate to input) in their conference room? I don't even think that was a thing, so what did people with the 12" Powerbook (the greatest Mac Portable ever imo) do? Dongle. We've been dealing with this for years. Micro DVI on the MacBook Air, Mini DisplayPort, the list goes on. But the Apple provided solutions were the best. Today we have no OEM solution USB-C to miniDisplayport (leaving alot of angry people with useless TB3 to TB2 adapters), no USB-C to ethernet (belkin's solution was fine, but the Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter was an actual PCIe device).
 
People who think Apple is not in decline in pro products are just in huge denial. Remember the feeling you got when the rMBP came out? Did you got the same feeling with the 2016 one?
The only reason most of us are upgrading is because we are too committed to macOS. I can clearly speak only for myself, but that's really the only reason I am considering buying the new MBP. I am in need to buy a new one since 2016 and the only reason I am considering to buy it is because I will loose too much time in moving all my work process to Linux.
Dongles on portable laptop is nonsense, you add more weight than you save. You will probably have a new laptop at the time it's all USB-C. Users clearly have issues with miss-clicking on the huge trackpad. Every single reviewer is experiencing it least 1 time per day. Just a small percentage of the users find the touch bar useful. In my case I will use it as price tracker. Seriously, I don't need 300$ price tracker
 
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My opinion only, but the 2015 MacBook Pro's represent the epitome of good laptop design.
Light enough, functional, attractive, reliable.

That's why I bought a 2015 instead of a just-introduced 2016 last December.
Not a bit of trouble from it. No keyboard problems, no battery problems, and I can connect my older peripherals easily without a trip to dongle city.

I'm stickin' with it for a while!

Yes indeed. rMBP 2015 users must be outstanding individuals; knowledgeable, discriminating, technologically sophisticated, and of course extremely attractive to the opposite sex. Pity the unfortunate klutzes with later models, I expect they're sad and lonely characters, probably smelling of cheap wine and urine....
 
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My opinion only, but the 2015 MacBook Pro's represent the epitome of good laptop design.
Light enough, functional, attractive, reliable.

That's why I bought a 2015 instead of a just-introduced 2016 last December.
Not a bit of trouble from it. No keyboard problems, no battery problems, and I can connect my older peripherals easily without a trip to dongle city.

I'm stickin' with it for a while!
I've also been using the 2015 for a while now.. and mostly love it. Certainly felt luxurious coming from an older model. But, to be fair, even the 2015 and earlier Retina MBPs were a downgrade in certain ways compared to older models. People were loudly complaining about it at the time, too. For example, the RAM isn't upgradeable anymore, storage isn't realistically/easily expandable, there's no built-in way to use it with a remote anymore, Ethernet requires a dongle, it has no (digital) audio input anymore, you can't tell its state of operation while the display is turned off because it lacks an indicator light (i.e. no way to tell whether it's off or just sleeping or running with the brightness turned down) and it feels somewhat more fragile than its predecessor. Lots of Retina MBP users have also now had to have their display coating replaced by taking advantage of Apple's inofficial Anti-Reflective Coating Repair Program.
 
People were loudly complaining about it at the time, too.

Yep yep, anyone remember these?
sl-jpg.192257

(Image courtesy @glossywhite)

We heard the same thing then to.

"True Professionals L O V E optical media. How could you do this Apple. What about my side business pressing CDs? People love my CDs! I'm done with Apple!"
 
Yep yep, anyone remember these?
sl-jpg.192257

(Image courtesy @glossywhite)

We heard the same thing then to.

"True Professionals L O V E optical media. How could you do this Apple. What about my side business pressing CDs? People love my CDs! I'm done with Apple!"

The difference being, there was a viable replacement for optical media in the form of cheap and widely available USB thumb drives. I work in a corp with thousands of employees, I've yet to see one single person with a USB-C thumbdrive, and we are not about to add usb-c ports to the thousands of pcs we manage.
 
Yep yep, anyone remember these?
(Image courtesy @glossywhite)

We heard the same thing then to.

"True Professionals L O V E optical media. How could you do this Apple. What about my side business pressing CDs? People love my CDs! I'm done with Apple!"

At the time rMBP was released I used CD/DVD only once per few months. Can you tell the same with USB-A and SD cards now?
 
Remember the feeling you got when the rMBP came out?
Yeah, I actually do. ;)

It was months of whining about non-upgradeable RAM/SSD, the removal of the DVD drive, and even lots of complaints about the Retina screen adding too much to the cost and why-oh-why didn't Apple have a SD screen option that would be cheaper with lots of "retina" is just marketing and pointless on a laptop chatter. Then "stain-gate", throttling, quality-control, etc. Yeah, the good old days are new again.
[doublepost=1509311741][/doublepost]
The difference being, there was a viable replacement for optical media in the form of cheap and widely available USB thumb drives. I work in a corp with thousands of employees, I've yet to see one single person with a USB-C thumbdrive, and we are not about to add usb-c ports to the thousands of pcs we manage.
I see this suggested as a common "issue" around here. What's the deal with all this thumbdrive usage? In 2017, we're designing computers around thumbdrives technology? o_O
 
The difference being, there was a viable replacement for optical media in the form of cheap and widely available USB thumb drives. I work in a corp with thousands of employees, I've yet to see one single person with a USB-C thumbdrive, and we are not about to add usb-c ports to the thousands of pcs we manage.

At the time rMBP was released I used CD/DVD only once per few months. Can you tell the same with USB-A and SD cards now?

Relax friends, I've still got skin in the game. I'll keep it real, I burned a CD not even three days ago, hooked up to my 2016 MBP of course. And yes, SD cards, you got me, my favorite speedy card reader connects over USB-A. I guess thats my point. Yeah it's not as convenient as having it onboard but it's not something I'm going to leave the ecosystem over. I've learned to adapt over 10+ years of Apple notebooks. Since I don't work there ( ;) ), not much else I can do.
 
Yeah, I actually do. ;)

It was months of whining about non-upgradeable RAM/SSD, the removal of the DVD drive, and even lots of complaints about the Retina screen adding too much to the cost and why-oh-why didn't Apple have a SD screen option that would be cheaper with lots of "retina" is just marketing and pointless on a laptop chatter. Then "stain-gate", throttling, quality-control, etc. Yeah, the good old days are new again.
[doublepost=1509311741][/doublepost]
I see this suggested as a common "issue" around here. What's the deal with all this thumbdrive usage? In 2017, we're designing computers around thumbdrives technology? o_O

I must be from the third world then. I don't know a single company around me that don't use encrypted thumbdrives for sensitive data.
 
I must be from the third world then. I don't know a single company around me that don't use encrypted thumbdrives for sensitive data.
Ironically, the companies dealing with sensitive data often disable USB ports so employees can't cart it off on USB thumbdrives. ;)

I think the deal here is that the usage you're suggesting as so prevalent is actually pretty small niche, and Apple doesn't have a wide enough product range to cover every niche usage.

-----

And as usual, this sums up almost everything wrong with the mindset of the majority of users posting on these forums these days... they want Apple to be something it is not and has never been, and they confuse the previous overlap of a product Apple offered that fit their usage as some sort of "Apple always made products for me, and now they don't".

Apple never made products for you... they make products as they see fit for a market as they see fit (a market that largely does not care about what the majority of posters here care about). When you buy Apple, you're buying into how they do things, how they see technology and how it should be used. The majority of the people who go on and on about this stuff are simply looking at the wrong company to purchase their products from. You do not want really want Apple. You really want Apple to be like Dell/HP/Levenvo/etc.
 
The difference being, there was a viable replacement for optical media in the form of cheap and widely available USB thumb drives. I work in a corp with thousands of employees, I've yet to see one single person with a USB-C thumbdrive, and we are not about to add usb-c ports to the thousands of pcs we manage.

Gee me too. 165k employees
Everything is on a share.
Corporate Cloud and my Local NAS alone is 14TB.
CD's DVD's Thumb drives, are you kidding me ? Sneaker net is DEAD. Or at least it should be.
 
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Apple never made products for you... they make products as they see fit for a market as they see fit (a market that largely does not care about what the majority of posters here care about). When you buy Apple, you're buying into how they do things, how they see technology and how it should be used. The majority of the people who go on and on about this stuff are simply looking at the wrong company to purchase their products from. You do not want really want Apple. You really want Apple to be like Dell/HP/Levenvo/etc.

I don't think so, with respect.

I think most macbook pro users, will attach something to the computer.
- For instance, backing it up.
- A phone (to charge the phone and also to back the phone up).
- A printer cable.
- Some will want to attach a camera SD card for downloading and editing

What cable for drive backups will depend on the drive used.
In Australia, Apple sell a camera SD reader for $Au85.
I think for the Lightning phone connection, that's $15. And at home, we have about 6 lightning to USB cables. Although a couple are in cars.
Not sure whose cable I will need to print something either.

There's not only cost there, but time in getting the cables, and finding the cables when they are moved around places, which costs time but also adds irritation.

I might still buy a 15" macbook pro 2017 though ... logic tells me to compromise on some things and buy the 2015 version. The only thing I will loose with that machine is some speed, and I'll have to carry some extra bulk and weight. But I won't have to worry about any cables etc. Apple used to be about fun via easy to use and intuitive. Chasing cables is not fun IMO, and if the cable or dongle has moved somewhere well then I'm stuffed.
[doublepost=1509327845][/doublepost]
Yep yep, anyone remember these?
sl-jpg.192257

(Image courtesy @glossywhite)

We heard the same thing then to.

"True Professionals L O V E optical media. How could you do this Apple. What about my side business pressing CDs? People love my CDs! I'm done with Apple!"

I've got one of those, it came with my Power Mac 5.1. Mine disk was not an upgrade though ... but I remember too, that disk with the Snow Leopard, cost money ... the OS upgrades are free now!
 
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Lenovo took my money this time around with the Classic ThinkPad.

Maybe it's time Apple looked back to the PowerBooks?

Maybe I'm only another minority...

Classic Thinkpad good.....the OS it runs bad.
 
I must be from the third world then. I don't know a single company around me that don't use encrypted thumbdrives for sensitive data.

It's not always about data sensitivity many corporates simply disable many features to avoid IT issues caused by users fiddling around with settings or adding software etc. Most of our PC's even have the soundcard disabled let alone drives :) of course you have also increased your security by having strict IT polices

I'm glad you mentioned 3rd world as many seem to not realise how popular CD/DVD still are with massive populations in Asia and the Far East for local media distribution and of course USB-A is still everywhere

Apple target audience by their own metrics etc is a 85% premium normal consumer device the fact that a few professions or companies it also suits is more incidental than deliberate design. It would not make sense to chase the 15% of Pro users at the risk of the other 85%

Apple do as they wish as they always have, their target audience by price and range/specs ignores many users and companies and professions around the world and their is nothing wrong with this. The trouble and anger stems from those that felt they were included and are now not and those that still are (This generation :D)

What is strange for many is the corruption of brand loyalty into some personal perception of the inner workings of Apple that muddles many a discussion
 
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Apple target audience by their own metrics etc is a 85% premium normal consumer device the fact that a few professions or companies it also suits is more incidental than deliberate design. It would not make sense to chase the 15% of Pro users at the risk of the other 85%

Apple do as they wish as they always have, their target audience by price and range/specs ignores many users and companies and professions around the world and their is nothing wrong with this. The trouble and anger stems from those that felt they were included and are now not and those that still are (This generation :D)

What is strange for many is the corruption of brand loyalty into some personal perception of the inner workings of Apple that muddles many a discussion

Interesting post Steve.

I'm not sure its logical to say chasing the wishes - i.e. features - of 15% at the risk of the other (85%). I'll give an example with the keyboard - evidently the 2017 upgrade improved the keyboard. What that means is that the keyboard had not been properly developed - it was not due to sacrificing anything for the majority. it was just poor development. And I wonder whether a 3 port would have made the machine bigger? Same too with magsafe.

My view is that Apple 15" Thunderbolt 3 powermac is driven by a focus on the product's purity of form and function. The problem for me is that the functionality will not arrive for most customers until devices that take advantage of Thunderbolt 3 become common. So, the timing is out. And that would affect the whole 85%. While the form is great, I reckon a couple of extra connectivity tools would not have effected the function at all, including the weight.
 
killawat wrote:
"True Professionals L O V E optical media. How could you do this Apple. What about my side business pressing CDs? People love my CDs! I'm done with Apple!"

Heh.
I just burned an audio CD for use in the car yesterday...
 
killawat wrote:
"True Professionals L O V E optical media. How could you do this Apple. What about my side business pressing CDs? People love my CDs! I'm done with Apple!"

Heh.
I just burned an audio CD for use in the car yesterday...
You'll be much happier when you get a vehicle with USB or BT. I didn't realize how nice it was until mine came with it and I could play any song I wanted to at any time.

As far as CD/DVD burning, I'm looking at my stack of blanks like a 70 year old guy probably looks at a box of condoms; not going to finish using these, LOL.
 
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Interesting post Steve.

I'm not sure its logical to say chasing the wishes - i.e. features - of 15% at the risk of the other (85%). I'll give an example with the keyboard - evidently the 2017 upgrade improved the keyboard. What that means is that the keyboard had not been properly developed - it was not due to sacrificing anything for the majority. it was just poor development. And I wonder whether a 3 port would have made the machine bigger? Same too with magsafe.

My view is that Apple 15" Thunderbolt 3 powermac is driven by a focus on the product's purity of form and function. The problem for me is that the functionality will not arrive for most customers until devices that take advantage of Thunderbolt 3 become common. So, the timing is out. And that would affect the whole 85%. While the form is great, I reckon a couple of extra connectivity tools would not have effected the function at all, including the weight.
I don't disagree :)

What Apple may think the 85%'s want in some areas may well be a trade off in others, we can only guess at best :D

Maybe the primary driver was not the KB but to achieve another goal eg size/weight it may of forced the KB design and they could not wait and/or knew the risks involved in further delays vs sales and repairs etc would be my guess in this example

Although I have had quite a few issues with USB-C since 2015 and support the standard the implementation is rather confusing and made worse by piggy backing TB3 IMO . Given the target audience is largely normal users to offer 2/4 TB3 ports is odd given the availability and cost of TB3 devices. Sure there is an argument that it has to start somewhere but even 5 years from now I do not see the average user simultaneously connecting multiple TB3 devices.

I think the multiple TB3 ports are there just because of a differentiator and bragging rights to justify price of a premium laptop than actual intended daily use for the average user, it probably was a minimal addition to the cost once 2/4 USB-C had been chosen. Still handy for the few that actually connect 4x4k and expensive TB3 devices :D to the detriment of the many who still wanted EG SD cards port not just for cameras but those that stretched their budgets to get a MBP but with lesser storage than they truly needed a SD was another easy route to upgrade of sorts for storage

Similarly USB-C has effectively capped charge capacity so those dreaming of some super pro MBP I don't see it happening unless you want another Apple anomaly with a separate charge port or some simultaneous USB-C charging Yuk
 
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I think the multiple TB3 ports are there just because of a differentiator and bragging rights to justify price of a premium laptop than actual intended daily use for the average user, it probably was a minimal addition to the cost once 2/4 USB-C had been chosen. Still handy for the few that actually connect 4x4k and expensive TB3 devices :D to the detriment of the many who still wanted EG SD cards port not just for cameras but those that stretched their budgets to get a MBP but with lesser storage than they truly needed a SD was another easy route to upgrade of sorts for storage

Similarly USB-C has effectively capped charge capacity so those dreaming of some super pro MBP I don't see it happening unless you want another Apple anomaly with a separate charge port or some simultaneous USB-C charging Yuk

I bought my wife an HP Elitebook X360 1030 G2. Its got lots of ports, a touch screen, face view log on, touch log on, and a nice keyboard that's spill proof. It cost about the same as a 13" Apple. Its got a Cellular sim in it too.

It also has an HP power charge input but to get the large HP charger for its unique HP charge port - that costs a lot more. So HP ship the notebook with a USB-C charge point. In Australia, it ships with the USB-C charger, because HP's other charger as said its pretty costly here.

If HP is using USB-C to charge their notebooks, then maybe Apple have made the right decision... could Apple Macbook Pro uses be able to charge their notebooks with PC charges in the future? Will Apple users be able to buy cheap 3rd party USB-C charges instead of expensive Apple chargers? My wife's charger will do that now ... its a pretty ugly black charger by the way ...

The HP machine though feels quite a bit heavier than my 2012 Air, but in fact its a touch lighter. Strange that the HP 13" feels so much heavier ... At a bit over 1.310 kg, the Air weighs 1.335kg, but it feels like 1.0 kg in comparison. I've weighed both together. Hmmm ...

Now ... interestingly, the HP only has one USB-C port, and that is really its only charge port. So if that fails? You'd have to buy an expensive HP unique charger. Apple have got three spare ports of course ... because Apple say you can charge from any of its USB-C T3 ports. So ... the four ports do give flexibility, and reliability, and convenience if you forget your charger.

Another point with the design, is that I cannot see why you could not run parallel USB-C ports, which would allow a higher charge rate in future high consumption machines that you mentioned. Further, with two ports on each side, 3rd party makers can use both ports for docks, which would aid dock stability. And with charging future models with high charge demands, you could have a charge device that attached to two ports, and with the twin port on both sides, they can go on either side ... you could run a dock and a huge charger with later high charge models.

So perhaps, the four port design has some logic and flexibility.

No camera card port sucks though, but IMO, not as far as a second drive goes. With the speed of the port and the low cost of drives, I don't see card drive as a valid option. And they stick out too.

The new model macbook pro does feel light ... I have wondered whether the principle of the Air, where it feels lighter than it weighs - is a reason behind the Powerbook Pro's obvious compromises.
 
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2016-2017 MBPs can use any USB-C charger. Some people claim they can trickle charge their MBPs using an iPhone/iPad charger and USB-A to USB-C cable but that sounds painfully slow to me.

I’ve charged from all 4 ports so any port in a storm is true here LOL. With USB-C accepting up to 100W of power (2015 MBP only has 85W charger), there isn’t a need to charge from two ports at once. Just use a charger that is USB-PD compatible for fastest recharge. Battery packs can also do this now. You aren’t limited to just MagSafe power supplies anymore.
 
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2016-2017 MBPs can use any USB-C charger. Some people claim they can trickle charge their MBPs using an iPhone/iPad charger and USB-A to USB-C cable but that sounds painfully slow to me.

I've charged an OnePlus phone with the MBP charger and the MBP with the OnePlus charger. It works indeed :)
 
I originally disliked the abandoning of Magsafe, but to be fair the lower cost and open market of replacement chargers is a big big plus. And in a few years, lots of people will be carrying USB-C chargers from their phone everywhere so we won't be stuck to hoping someone else has the same Mac generation to borrow their charger!

Plus when my MBP from 2012's Magsafe broke in January it was £80 to buy a new one as the cable was about to separate... wouldn't mind paying less if this happened again
 
I bought my wife an HP Elitebook X360 1030 G2. Its got lots of ports, a touch screen, face view log on, touch log on, and a nice keyboard that's spill proof. It cost about the same as a 13" Apple. Its got a Cellular sim in it too.

It also has an HP power charge input but to get the large HP charger for its unique HP charge port - that costs a lot more. So HP ship the notebook with a USB-C charge point. In Australia, it ships with the USB-C charger, because HP's other charger as said its pretty costly here.

If HP is using USB-C to charge their notebooks, then maybe Apple have made the right decision... could Apple Macbook Pro uses be able to charge their notebooks with PC charges in the future? Will Apple users be able to buy cheap 3rd party USB-C charges instead of expensive Apple chargers? My wife's charger will do that now ... its a pretty ugly black charger by the way ...

The HP machine though feels quite a bit heavier than my 2012 Air, but in fact its a touch lighter. Strange that the HP 13" feels so much heavier ... At a bit over 1.310 kg, the Air weighs 1.335kg, but it feels like 1.0 kg in comparison. I've weighed both together. Hmmm ...

Now ... interestingly, the HP only has one USB-C port, and that is really its only charge port. So if that fails? You'd have to buy an expensive HP unique charger. Apple have got three spare ports of course ... because Apple say you can charge from any of its USB-C T3 ports. So ... the four ports do give flexibility, and reliability, and convenience if you forget your charger.

Another point with the design, is that I cannot see why you could not run parallel USB-C ports, which would allow a higher charge rate in future high consumption machines that you mentioned. Further, with two ports on each side, 3rd party makers can use both ports for docks, which would aid dock stability. And with charging future models with high charge demands, you could have a charge device that attached to two ports, and with the twin port on both sides, they can go on either side ... you could run a dock and a huge charger with later high charge models.

So perhaps, the four port design has some logic and flexibility.

No camera card port sucks though, but IMO, not as far as a second drive goes. With the speed of the port and the low cost of drives, I don't see card drive as a valid option. And they stick out too.

The new model macbook pro does feel light ... I have wondered whether the principle of the Air, where it feels lighter than it weighs - is a reason behind the Powerbook Pro's obvious compromises.

Sorry maybe I was not clear I was not dissing having 4 USB-C ports that can in some scenarios give flexibility given the target audience. USB-C does not equal TB3 or even I/O 2.0/3.0/3.1 eg my B&O speaker it's only a charge port

If you forget your charger it does not matter if you have multiple port options for charging LOL, but I don't think you meant it that way :).

For what it's worth my Samsung USB-C charger is not recognised by my wife's rMB, never tried on a MBP and the last time I checked about a year back there was only one USB-C Power Bank capable of giving actual extended run time on a rMB let alone a MBP but this may of improved now

I certainly do not promote the use of unbranded cheap 3rd part USB-C chargers/cables/dongles etc it's asking for trouble IMO given the confusion USB-C cables alone it's not worth the risk to protection circuitry etc. This is the reason you can use any port to charge a MBP with certified charges and cables as the power draw is negotiated even if you plug in 2 or more charges only one will be used up to 100w, throw in some cheap 3rd party and you can easily endanger your MBP

Your wife's HP may just seem heavier if you are holding it a certain way and depending on the Centre of Gravity may give a larger reaction back to your fingers than another less logical handling point compared to your MBA

I agree SD is a poor substitute for a bigger SSD but I'm sure many on a budget find it a reasonable compromise especially for some documents storage given the cost of Apples options. Why Apple never changed the MBA SD slot to a fully recessed one like other good OEM's is beyond me

I think its good that your HP has the option of both dedicated port or not option for charging as it's a user choice and quite funny after all the virtues bragged about for many years of magsafe it was abandoned on the new models
 
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