If magsafe was a good idea in 2006, as I suggest it was, and if it was a good idea in all the years since then, as it still was, then it was sticking with. Or so I believe, but sadly Apple don't consult me about such things.
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Jason Snell for Macworld: Three MacBook mistakes: Will Apple correct course?
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If magsafe was a good idea in 2006, as I suggest it was, and if it was a good idea in all the years since then, as it still was, then it was sticking with. Or so I believe, but sadly Apple don't consult me about such things.
I reckon third party USB-C chargers will work fine on the Macbook Pros. I wouldn't buy one at the local market though, but there are already lots of good brands like Belkin etc that will do the job just fine I reckon. My wife's HP would do the job too I reckon. Going open with the charging is actually a good move. The downside IMO is if the USB-C/T3 ports fail. But if that happens with the HP notebook, you'd have to buy an HP charger for its HP charge port ... and they cost a heap of money, plus they are big. Apple having four ports means your odds are improved if one fails. I really like that. And if the charger fails, its cheap to buy another one via 3rd party IMO. And with my wife's HP, its cable has been knocked out lots of times. The port seems quite able to handle it.
With the weight - my wife's machine is not tapered, and I think that makes a difference as does the centre of gravity. My wife's screen feels thick - perhaps due to the aerial for its cellular connection being in the lid? But with the new macbook pro, I'll find out. I played with both 2015 v 2017 and the 2017 felt a heck of a lot lighter. Its an advantage for me. Probably for most people. Not for desktop users though. But then ... I've never though a notebook should try to be a desktop machine. Hence why I guess I've used the Air for so long. I've got a good setup with a MacPro and lots of capacity there.
Interestingly, HP have announced a new version of my wife's machine - and its made of ceramics, with a white colour and gold trim (maybe the gold is for the Chinese market?). But it weighs just on 1kg. So from 1.31 down to 1 kg, that's a huge drop in weight. I've liked alloy notebooks because they conduct heat away from processing, and heat kills computers. I don't know how well ceramics will handle heat. Interesting though as it seems there are now choices between cheap injected plastic bodies, costly but not explicitly explained composite bodies featuring carbon fibre, and machined alloy bodies. Apple looks now very conservative with its bodies, but they are fairly light, and the 15" macbook pro is pretty light for its performance IMO. I guess how light it feels is the real question though ...
With the weight - my wife's machine is not tapered, and I think that makes a difference as does the centre of gravity. My wife's screen feels thick - perhaps due to the aerial for its cellular connection being in the lid? But with the new macbook pro, I'll find out. I played with both 2015 v 2017 and the 2017 felt a heck of a lot lighter. Its an advantage for me. Probably for most people. Not for desktop users though. But then ... I've never though a notebook should try to be a desktop machine. Hence why I guess I've used the Air for so long. I've got a good setup with a MacPro and lots of capacity there.
Interestingly, HP have announced a new version of my wife's machine - and its made of ceramics, with a white colour and gold trim (maybe the gold is for the Chinese market?). But it weighs just on 1kg. So from 1.31 down to 1 kg, that's a huge drop in weight. I've liked alloy notebooks because they conduct heat away from processing, and heat kills computers. I don't know how well ceramics will handle heat. Interesting though as it seems there are now choices between cheap injected plastic bodies, costly but not explicitly explained composite bodies featuring carbon fibre, and machined alloy bodies. Apple looks now very conservative with its bodies, but they are fairly light, and the 15" macbook pro is pretty light for its performance IMO. I guess how light it feels is the real question though ...
I'll be 70 in January, and I'd like to argue with your last paragraph. But who would I be fooling?
My guess would be Apple will try to ride out this design cycle just fixing what needs to be fixed, and may then silently make some concessions to usability at the next redesign. Honestly I’m now considering skipping this design cycle altogether if I can as it’s been so problematic for so many people, especially on the myriad of quality control issues that seem to keep springing up, from keyboard irregularities (of the non design intentional version) to screen uniformity problems to battery life issues. The fact you see threads repeatedly appearing about the same issues tells you these issues are there, even if not common, and for the price they’re charging I’m not sure I want to take my chances.
I skipped Apple altogether as the new design of MBP is impractical for my needs, nor do I appreciate Apple's tactics of enforcing purchase of accessories just regain basic functionality it's little more than a cheap & greedy move. Nor does the price of the MBP's concern as my notebooks are employed professionally, however the principal very much does...
Add in the increasing QC issue's, Apple get's the only thing it understands these days, no sale, no $$$$, and certainly no endorsement's...
Q-6
Strangely or not
Alloy cases is a double edge sword when it comes laptops heat dissipationAny area likely to come in contact with skin (eg legs or palms) means internal components that run particularly hot have to be moved away or shielded. The Ali case thermal conductivity is often a problem as much as an advantage and is really only a secondary or minor consideration for controlling the internal temperature
My wifes rMB runs particularly hot on the underside for her bare legs and if she uses say a pillow as a separator on her lap when on a long skype call with her rMB will actually shut down, she now uses a table for her calls as it's happened so often
It maybe the more expensive Magnesium case used in the MS Surface range and some HP laptops went that route for good reason over the more aesthetic options with Apple Ali cases
Good internal cooling design is the primary consideration
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Well I have caved in and am getting the a 2017 15". I almost bought a 2015 16/512/2.8Hz with the extra GPU; but the site sought of hung (it being a refurb) and so I rang Apple Australia, and he could not see it anymore, and neither could I. Then it popped up again. Also, there were 2.5 Hz models there, both the same price, one with a GPU and one without. I wanted the 2.8 (of course ....) so I selected it again, and bought it ... but it was not identified as having the GPU. but the Apple guy could see more paperwork than me, and he said it did not have the GPU!
So he cancelled the order. Apple got the money for a few days. I went and bought a discounted 2017 new 16/512/2.9 with the 4GB 560 GPU. It cost a few hundred more than the 2015 refurb would have. The Apple guy said that the GPU machines were older ... he seemed to thing they could be much older ... but who knows, they might be brand new?
There are some "wins" with the new machine for me though. Firstly, my wife and I now have two USB-C chargers. Also, the Mag-2 charger has had reliability problems, so imo its a win for the charger issue. There are 3rd party chargers too with magnetic couplings, if I needed those a lot.
The machine is lighter.
While the keyboard makes noise, so does the HP's keyboard. My wife reckons she likes the noise too. I typed on the keyboard and found it pretty good, and I am not used to it. Who knows, maybe my machine being well after they were announced, it will have bugs removed from it? If the keyboard becomes an issue, then I assume Apple will recognise that and have a fix for its clients.
The lightness appeals a lot to me too.
I checked on the port issue and in fact there are many adapters. A USB-C type will be nice alloy with some USB ports a and a couple of photo card slots; these are around $US50. For double or a bit more, you get a twin thunderbolt connection which also includes 4k HDMI output, but I really don't need that. I have not got T drives so maybe the cheap ones will do the job. Its really no big deal I now realise. I guess I will find out soon enough ...
I am also looking for replacement and slowly realized this design cycle will not work for me. What machine did you got?
Absolutely, alas that pressure from Wall Street to keep increasing their already more than healthy revenues and profits likely means this sort of thing won't be going away any time soon. I'm all for companies making healthy profits and passing a portion of those back to their shareholders, but Apple are already in a position that they can easily do that. Trying to squeeze ever more out of their customers by pulling tricks like making the extension cable for the chargers an optional extra is going to hurt their brand and ultimately their profitability in the long term as people get jaded with the nickel and diming. When they introduced retina, they refreshed the unibody MacBook pro one last time alongside it, when they introduced the Touch Bar models they couldn't even be bothered to update the remaining retina model (which is still hanging around with us a year and another iteration on) with newer broadwell chips which were available at the time if they so wished.
I rang Apple today and their computer answering knew my phone, and they said "hello Douglas". Which is my first name ... and the options for Apple care ended up with macs, so they said, we presume its about your 2012 Air? They didn't mention my Mac Pro (which I did have a minor issue with once). Anyhow I said I wanted to know about Applecare plus; that since I had dropped my Air a few times onto the current marble floors in my place (I'm about to replace them with an Austrian (not Australian) timber floor) I have dinged the edges of the Air and I said I was worried about personal negligence or accidents damaging the machine, and that I understood that Apple Care + in the USA allowed people to have a mistake without full costs on repair. I pointed out the coming MacBook Pro machine had not been delivered yet.
She said in Australia, that policy was not available. That "+" applied to phones and such, not to desktop or notebooks.
I think the "+" applecare doesn't work for Macbook Pros or desktop macs in Australia.
You Americans have a better deal than us Aussies.
Although out consumer law would protect us from keyboard failures for many years. Because Macs are a premium product, and they have traditionally lasted for years, the expectation for consumers in Australia is that the computer and its keyboard would last for over 5 years. Like my Air has. Which is I guess just 5 years ...
I've still got a very old keyboard though and it still goes ! I need it because if I run Windows on my Mac Pro, sometimes I can't stop Windows booting. I need to press a key to get my Mac to switch to a choice of boot drives. Only the old keyboards can do that key command on my Mac Pro (a 5.1 version with twin multi threaded CPUs).
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@Melbourne Park
Very interesting. On one hand having the longer protection sounds wonderful, but on the other hand, I would wonder how the process would work to get any fixes done to the keyboard. It would seem like only having in-house AppleCare protection would provide an expedient repair when needed?
How does the consumer protection situation work down there when there's a claim/repair needed?
Very interesting. On one hand having the longer protection sounds wonderful, but on the other hand, I would wonder how the process would work to get any fixes done to the keyboard. It would seem like only having in-house AppleCare protection would provide an expedient repair when needed?
How does the consumer protection situation work down there when there's a claim/repair needed?
I have owned a long list of Apple computers. Some better than others, but most if not all above what the market was offering at the time, at least for me. the 2017 MBP 15 is the first Mac I have purchased that doesn't feel that way. It's not a BAD laptop by any means, but the principal driver behind this iteration is profit margin and gimmicks, and not pursuit of perfection, as it used to feel. It is quite clear that Macs are not as important to Apple as they used to be, and while I can't blame Apple from a business perspective, it sucks for me personally, and a lot of other consumers.
You take it to the retailer and ask them to fix it or replace it.
If its broken due to negligence i.e. a phone screen is cracked, then its your fault and you have to pay. If its stopped or not working and the goods are designed for a longer life, then it should be repaired. If that's refused, you escalate the claim to the consumer affairs, which is a government legal body. There is some sort of maximum value you can use consumer affairs for. If a corporation consistently behaves badly, they get fined. Sometimes considerably. This is an example of a retail computer organisation that consumer affairs took to court - their website has to have this notice on it: http://www.msy.com.au/home.php They seem to have some good deals there.
So, if Apple's keyboards fail, ultimately if Apple did not fix it, you make a claim to consumer affairs and typically, a company like Apple would be contacted and then they'd respond. When one advises someone like Apple that you're going to go to consumer affairs, typically they go higher up and then fix the issue.
However some things that in the USA Apple has recognised as failures - for instance one macbook had the screen getting touched by the keyboard and there was a recall - in Australia, we never got the recall or official apple support to replace the screens. I think apple ignored many consumers here over that and just said it was wear and tear. But perhaps some were repaired by Apple - I don't know. But basically if you scream and its not your fault, and the machine is out of warranty, the company would fix it. If Apple says its just an out of warranty failure due to bad luck and wear and tear, you are stuck in a grey area. Things do fail and don't last forever. But a keyboard is so basic and if you type normally, it would be tough for Apple to claim that its normal for one to wear out in three years. IMO of course. The fact that Apple has changed the design also puts the onus on them too - its much easier to claim a design failure if previous keyboards were fine but with a new design they failed - that is clearly not the consumer's fault. Apple would loose if a claim went through IMO.
With some brands of computers - in fact most - the support sucks. With Apple, they have shops here and people who will assist you and look at the machine. So if three years from now the keyboard fails, I am sure they fix it. IF it was another brand, it would be far more difficult, because typically, other brands do not have their own service centres available. HP for instance have no service in Australia for micro computers. They simply outsource it all. So the machine is taken away, and someone somewhere fixes it for you. If there's an issue, you'd speak to someone in India, who has language issues and it takes a huge amount of time to resolve something simple. HP on many of their better warranties, will send someone out to see you. This is OK for business but not for people. The person will come out, check the bias and upgrade low level software problems, and check if a hardware issue has occurred. Then they'll take the machine away if its hardware and its gone for even weeks.
The beauty of Apple is that you can go into the store and at least get it fixed, and darn quickly.
12" rMB was replaced by a Huawei MateBook X, 13" rMBP replaced by Microsoft's Surface Book. 15" remains a quandary, likely the long term a 15" Surface Book, currently using a 15" from MSI as it ticked a lot of the boxes although rather a fish out of water in it's current role.
13" Surface Book will likely be deprecated this month as intention is to pick up a 15" Surface Book early - mid 2018, although the MSI is growing on me being an excellent desktop replacement without too much heft or bulk, and going back to portable that offers user upgradable storage & RAM is also a factor. Major negative with such hardware is the battery life is abysmal, equally it's proving to be a bit of fun in the interim, possibly longer, as most importantly the notebook is not presenting any issue...
Q-6
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[1] Advantages of MagSafe: Stops laptop from falling off table
[4] Disadvantages of MagSafe: Expensive, one piece chargers. Proprietary. Prone to breaking. Laptop dependent on single MS port.
[6] Advantages of USB-C Connector: 100W+, Much Cheaper to Replace Charger / Cable separately, Aftermarket Chargers an option, Charge from mobile battery packs. If one port fails, other 3 on MBP to use. Share chargers with Windows friends chargers.
[1] Disadvantages of UBC-C: Tripping on cable can make laptop fall.
That's how a lot of us see it.
You can get the best of both worlds with including USB-C magsafe alternative in the box, like the ones 3rd parties are selling.
I remember like a 2010 Back to the Mac event where Jobs explicitly said that touch in a laptop form factor "gives great demo," but is just ergonomically awful. Then Apple goes out and makes the iPad Pro and their own keyboard, which contradicts Jobs' original (and I think correct) idea.
AR is the next gimmicky thing. How long has iOS 11 been out and where are all the killer AR apps we were promised? You know what AR does? It gives great demo, which is a lot of what Apple seems to be about today (hello, **** emoji!)
They should just go back to solving problems instead of creating them (I need a splitter to charge my phone and listen to head phones?)
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I'm certain they have a 17 inch MBP in the lap with the current form factor. Would love to see that thing.
And if you allow charging through either MagSafe or usb c (like the surface books now offer) you can have the benefits of both as you see fit.
I made the same decision a couple of weeks ago. The 2015-era 15". Happy as a happy clam.
You've never heard of Jason Snell?
He's exceptionally well known in the world of covering Apple and the Mac going way way back.