I know there is a couple of these around but I just find it incredible, how people exaggerate in negativity towards design and usability changes. One would think that a tech forum would be filled by forward-looking people and not conservative tradicionalists, who refuse any and all change.
Coming from 2012 15 rmpb (replaced it with a smaller 13 inch due to traveling a lot) and 2013 13 rmbp. Had some issues with the 2013 battery, they did fix it, but I decided it is time for a replacement.
- portability: the only negative here is the footprint, which comes into play only when you are putting it the bag or out of it. I could handle the 13 inch with a single hand, it is more difficult with a 15 inch. Survivable. On the other hand you get a much larger and better display, which is not noticable when carrying it.
- trackpad: just wow, palm rejection works 99% of the time and with BetterTouchTool you can program individual areas (top left, top middle...) for additional commands. You could do that before, but there are more accidental presses due to the small size of the trackpad.
- keyboard: There's a learning curve. Still have the old 15 inch. It would be difficult to go back. Keys wobble, light bleeds around them. Because of lower force needed to press the keys, I can now type faster, especially around the edges of the keyboard, which I press with 4th or 5th finger.
- touchbar: Longer learning curve. Still not sure if it will be useful in the long run. It is definitely better than the old function keys. Contrary to what other say, you CAN use it without looking, if you put important stuff to the right, where the touchbar touches the fingerprint reader and you can feel where the virtual buttons start.
- usb-c: This is how Apple does it, remember? They took away the floppy, the serial ports, the DVD. It's 2017. I use Dropbox Pro, Airdrop and sync big data to my Synology NAS. I have used the USB-A dongle exactly once - I did a manual data restore via an external HD. I will buy a usb-c to lightning cable and a 29W charger. So for travelling this combo will be slightly lighter than the rmbp 13 + magsafe. Really, no regrets. USB-A, it's been a great decade, but goodbye.
- ergonomics: Nobody stresses this a lot, but for me this is the single most important quality of Apple devices. After a short learning curve everything is exactly where it should be for maximum efficiency and maximum comfort. The laptop is now so thin, that hands are basically resting on the table and there is no edge of the device to be felt. Touchscreen on a laptop, come on. It's incredible how every other company pursues that yet it makes zero sense in terms of usability. Raising the hands from the keyboard and trackpad towards the screen and doing something instead of using the thumb and moving the pointer. LOL. The extra extra large trackpad IS THE NEW TOUCHSCREEN. I imagine that the next iteration will expand touchbar to the trackpad. And after haptics evolve even more to the entire keyboard.
- build quality: Nothing new here. I just find it great that something mass produced can be done with such precision.
All-in-all this is a great machine. For those deciding to get the 2015 model, the logic is the same as 4 years ago when people still bought the old models, because they had DVD drives. For those, who use this for a living and are forward-looking this is a no-brainer. Unless...
Price is outrageous. I just bought a HP laptop for my father for €199. I could buy more than 15 HPs for the price of a single MacBook. But this is the price we apparently are willing to pay.
Coming from 2012 15 rmpb (replaced it with a smaller 13 inch due to traveling a lot) and 2013 13 rmbp. Had some issues with the 2013 battery, they did fix it, but I decided it is time for a replacement.
- portability: the only negative here is the footprint, which comes into play only when you are putting it the bag or out of it. I could handle the 13 inch with a single hand, it is more difficult with a 15 inch. Survivable. On the other hand you get a much larger and better display, which is not noticable when carrying it.
- trackpad: just wow, palm rejection works 99% of the time and with BetterTouchTool you can program individual areas (top left, top middle...) for additional commands. You could do that before, but there are more accidental presses due to the small size of the trackpad.
- keyboard: There's a learning curve. Still have the old 15 inch. It would be difficult to go back. Keys wobble, light bleeds around them. Because of lower force needed to press the keys, I can now type faster, especially around the edges of the keyboard, which I press with 4th or 5th finger.
- touchbar: Longer learning curve. Still not sure if it will be useful in the long run. It is definitely better than the old function keys. Contrary to what other say, you CAN use it without looking, if you put important stuff to the right, where the touchbar touches the fingerprint reader and you can feel where the virtual buttons start.
- usb-c: This is how Apple does it, remember? They took away the floppy, the serial ports, the DVD. It's 2017. I use Dropbox Pro, Airdrop and sync big data to my Synology NAS. I have used the USB-A dongle exactly once - I did a manual data restore via an external HD. I will buy a usb-c to lightning cable and a 29W charger. So for travelling this combo will be slightly lighter than the rmbp 13 + magsafe. Really, no regrets. USB-A, it's been a great decade, but goodbye.
- ergonomics: Nobody stresses this a lot, but for me this is the single most important quality of Apple devices. After a short learning curve everything is exactly where it should be for maximum efficiency and maximum comfort. The laptop is now so thin, that hands are basically resting on the table and there is no edge of the device to be felt. Touchscreen on a laptop, come on. It's incredible how every other company pursues that yet it makes zero sense in terms of usability. Raising the hands from the keyboard and trackpad towards the screen and doing something instead of using the thumb and moving the pointer. LOL. The extra extra large trackpad IS THE NEW TOUCHSCREEN. I imagine that the next iteration will expand touchbar to the trackpad. And after haptics evolve even more to the entire keyboard.
- build quality: Nothing new here. I just find it great that something mass produced can be done with such precision.
All-in-all this is a great machine. For those deciding to get the 2015 model, the logic is the same as 4 years ago when people still bought the old models, because they had DVD drives. For those, who use this for a living and are forward-looking this is a no-brainer. Unless...
Price is outrageous. I just bought a HP laptop for my father for €199. I could buy more than 15 HPs for the price of a single MacBook. But this is the price we apparently are willing to pay.
