Macbook Pro- What is your review?

[Eason85]

This makes sense technically, except we recently had two top tier Dell machines on a shoot. They out-spec'd my MacBook 15" yet both failed. One was not stable when tethered and the other kept crashing under Lightroom. We ended up using my 13" touchbar, which I had in my car. It worked perfectly.

On a totally different note, and a rather obscure one...we were working with a Celestron SCT telescope (among others) and setting them up with the GPS apps, sky portal and so on. Again, PC meltdowns, failure to connect, crashes while the Macs went on working without a glitch. It's REALLY hard to go back to PC when these things happen.

This is what makes a MBP "top tier" for many users and the PC is simply unacceptable. In a few days I'm shooting for a Tiffany designer. No way would I risk using a PC for that. The vast majority of the ginormous media industry is looking for the most seamless integration of specification and this is why Mac sits at the top still. This is also why, when visiting a big movie set, I primarily see Mac. Stability is everything for a professional.

I don't bash PC's. But they continue to get dumped on by the high end market because of 1) Windows. 2) Ongoing poor quality control for even the major brands. But just like the iPhone, I expect this will change. The iPhone is not even CLOSE to being the best phone anymore. Android is better and so are some of the phones. And I say that owning both. I think PC will catch Mac eventually, but where not there yet.


R.
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You also say that "you see no difference" when running Photoshop, but have you run it tethered with a Canon 5Ds and Nikon D5 while switching between them? Have you done this while trying to output to a 4K monitor on a location shoot? As I said, the XPS 15 from Dell failed us big time. They cost over 3K each! And I know for a fact that issues like this are very common. It's not Dell's fault. It's windows. But even my MacBook Air can do this stuff without a hitch.

R

I am an ex-ex mac user who is returning to a mac (MBP 15 3.1ghz/1tb/560) after 17 years for the exact reasons you outlined. Dell's quality control and incompetence with my two XPS 15s over a 2-3 month period made me swear my next computer would be a Mac. I'm a man of my word and that's what I done did. I will be writing a column about this experience on notebookcheck, and I will give my thoughts on the transition and hardware. If my Mac has quality control issues, though, you also be assured I won't give Apple a second second chance. Not on a US$3400 computer.

 

[raqball]

I am an ex-ex mac user who is returning to a mac (MBP 15 3.1ghz/1tb/560) after 17 years for the exact reasons you outlined. Dell's quality control and incompetence with my two XPS 15s over a 2-3 month period made me swear my next computer would be a Mac. I'm a man of my word and that's what I done did. I will be writing a column about this experience on notebookcheck, and I will give my thoughts on the transition and hardware. If my Mac has quality control issues, though, you also be assured I won't give Apple a second second chance. Not on a US$3400 computer.

For every comment about PC issues there is one for someone with mac issues. This forum alone is littered with Mac related problems... My 2016 nTB had battery issues and sticky keys on the KB.

Of course it's the luck of the draw. A certain # of machines from every manufacturer will have issues. Plus it's a Mac forum so take the Windows horror stories with a grain of salt.. Some are true and some are probably 110% bogus...

 

[Eason85]

For every comment about PC issues there is one for someone with mac issues. This forum alone is littered with Mac related problems... My 2016 nTB had battery issues and sticky keys on the KB.

Of course it's the luck of the draw. A certain # of machines from every manufacturer will have issues. Plus it's a Mac forum so take the Windows horror stories with a grain of salt.. Some are true and some are probably 110% bogus...

On my XPS 15 I dealt with no less than SIX replacement LCD panels due to: (1) terrible backlight bleed, (2) uneven backlighting/colors, or (3) a non-centered panel. I had next-day pro-support and they just continued to not even ****ing check that the panel they were making me wait a week to get was defective.

 

[CaptRB]

On my XPS 15 I dealt with no less than SIX replacement LCD panels due to: (1) terrible backlight bleed, (2) uneven backlighting/colors, or (3) a non-centered panel. I had next-day pro-support and they just continued to not even ****ing check that the panel they were making me wait a week to get was defective.

PC issues outweigh and outdistance Mac 100 to 1. Though not even Mac can be issue free, it's well known that they remain the best built machines around.

I can't even imagine that people lie and say that PC's are equal. I wish they were.


R.

 

[IllIllIll]

This makes sense technically, except we recently had two top tier Dell machines on a shoot. They out-spec'd my MacBook 15" yet both failed. One was not stable when tethered and the other kept crashing under Lightroom. We ended up using my 13" touchbar, which I had in my car. It worked perfectly.

On a totally different note, and a rather obscure one...we were working with a Celestron SCT telescope (among others) and setting them up with the GPS apps, sky portal and so on. Again, PC meltdowns, failure to connect, crashes while the Macs went on working without a glitch. It's REALLY hard to go back to PC when these things happen.

This is what makes a MBP "top tier" for many users and the PC is simply unacceptable. In a few days I'm shooting for a Tiffany designer. No way would I risk using a PC for that. The vast majority of the ginormous media industry is looking for the most seamless integration of specification and this is why Mac sits at the top still. This is also why, when visiting a big movie set, I primarily see Mac. Stability is everything for a professional.

I don't bash PC's. But they continue to get dumped on by the high end market because of 1) Windows. 2) Ongoing poor quality control for even the major brands. But just like the iPhone, I expect this will change. The iPhone is not even CLOSE to being the best phone anymore. Android is better and so are some of the phones. And I say that owning both. I think PC will catch Mac eventually, but where not there yet.

You also say that "you see no difference" when running Photoshop, but have you run it tethered with a Canon 5Ds and Nikon D5 while switching between them? Have you done this while trying to output to a 4K monitor on a location shoot? As I said, the XPS 15 from Dell failed us big time. They cost over 3K each! And I know for a fact that issues like this are very common. It's not Dell's fault. It's windows. But even my MacBook Air can do this stuff without a hitch.

I think you just validated what I said - it's the operating system, not the hardware.

 

[CaptRB]

I think you just validated what I said - it's the operating system, not the hardware.

Yup...not arguing that at all. The Dell laptops were powerful. They just couldn't do the work.

Back to the comparison using cars, many of these new laptops have "great" engines but lousy suspensions. ;-)

I'd rather have a "very good" engine mounted on a great suspension, which is very much the intent for Apple products; a superior all around machine. And then there's the fact that the Apple hardware is pretty darn good anyway, easily meeting a majority of demands. I'm amazed at how my 13" touchbar handles multiple RAW file processing as the SSD is so fast. My 15" touchbar is a total desktop replacement connected to 4K monitors, backlit keyboard and mouse.

That all said, when PC/Windows matches Mac stability and build, Apple won't find me the least bit loyal. I dumped my iPhones like rotten milk once I had my hands on a Galaxy note 2 & 4. Now using the Galaxy s8 and S8+ and they're wonderful. So I'm no Apple junkie. I just want to use what works best.


R.
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I am an ex-ex mac user who is returning to a mac (MBP 15 3.1ghz/1tb/560) after 17 years for the exact reasons you outlined. Dell's quality control and incompetence with my two XPS 15s over a 2-3 month period made me swear my next computer would be a Mac. I'm a man of my word and that's what I done did. I will be writing a column about this experience on notebookcheck, and I will give my thoughts on the transition and hardware. If my Mac has quality control issues, though, you also be assured I won't give Apple a second second chance. Not on a US$3400 computer.

Please let us know how it works out. Hope you don't buck the odds and end up with more troubles. Most of us are pretty happy with these machines and already experienced PC troubles. I was surprised that Windows remained so unstable after all this time.

Good luck,


R.

 

[raqball]

On my XPS 15 I dealt with no less than SIX replacement LCD panels due to: (1) terrible backlight bleed, (2) uneven backlighting/colors, or (3) a non-centered panel. I had next-day pro-support and they just continued to not even ****ing check that the panel they were making me wait a week to get was defective.

Well I had a 2013 rMBP that went back to Apple 3 times for wifi problems and once for hard drive failure... Total time for the 4 repairs = no computer for me for about 4 months combines. Sure I've had issues with Windows machines as well but those who pretend Windows machines are more troublesome as just talking with blinders on..

I will say that Windows based machines do tend to have more backlight bleed than Mac's do though..

 

[CaptRB]

You don't need to read between the lines, folks.

Just have a look at the owner satisfaction reports all over the web. Look at the ACS index. This is the gold standard. Mac and Apple have been beating PC's for TEN YEARS STRAIGHT!

But that's not the most significant part. Apple manages to do this with a VERY small group of products. They basically sell a small group of machines against literally dozens of other companies and HUNDREDS of machines. The weight off all that PC tech has yet to beat Apple in customer satisfaction for TEN YEARS. Here ya go!

"Apple took the top spot in the personal computers category for the 10th year running, with its score of 87 a full eight points higher than the industry average. Apple, which scored one point higher than last year, has topped the ranking since 2004. The ACSI includes tablets in its ‘PC’ category, so the scores reflect both Mac and iPad. Factors feeding into the scores include customer expectations pre-sale, perceived quality, perceived value, customer complaint incidents and customer loyalty."

Apple has lost (IMHO) with the iPhone though (though still ahead in customer satisfaction) and they better watch out because PC/Windows is getting better.

So the Apple haters are whistling into the wind here, folks. You don't lead for 10 years and by a whopping 8 points because you're the same as windows machines. Total nonsense.

R.

 

[dyn]

Sure I've had issues with Windows machines as well but those who pretend Windows machines are more troublesome as just talking with blinders on..

It's more ignorance than having blinders on. Apple computers come only in 1 size: the high quality one with the premium price tag that comes with it. Windows computers do not. You can buy those in various sizes where you get what you pay for. The cheaper machines will be more troublesome, the higher end ones will not as they are using the same kind of hardware with the same kind of quality control as Apple.

Whatever they are saying applies to those cheaper machines so they are actually correct on them. However, they do not see that there are other higher end machines that do not have that much issues (any product can have issues at some sort).

 

[AppleFanatic10]

It does indeed mean nothing because there are many other industries that prefer or even require a different operating system. Finance is one of those where Windows is what you'd use. Mac and Linux are not systems that can be used because of the software that they use. The same can be said about science. There are actually people who use Linux because that's what they need in order to do what they need to do. A true professional picks the right tool for the job and doesn't force his tools upon others. Like I said, people who say that one OS is better than the others do not know their stuff. That kind of talk does indeed help nobody, not even you.

The only one being wrong and ignoring all the facts would be you. There simply are way too many examples and industries out there (finance, aviation, IT, chemical, science, etc.) that obliterate your anecdote (because that's all it is really). As a system engineer/administrator I simply cannot support your story at all and I have to stress that there is no such thing as 1 system that can rule them all. Look at the job and pick the tool that is suited for that job. That's how you should be handling IT. If not then failure is imminent.

You're totally right. In the military all branches use Windows regardless of what job they have. I hate it because it never works correctly, but it's something that they have to use. They're not going to switch to Macs.

 

[mif]

Pleasantly surprised over improvements in single threaded performance. My previous machine was, and is, Nehalem Mac Pro.