That Might upset a few investors Apple dabbling their OS in another competitors hardware.
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That Might upset a few investors Apple dabbling their OS in another competitors hardware.
I've run into the lack of an ESC key before this. While I was healing from a hand injury, the only keyboard that I could type comfortably on was an Ergodox, which doesn't have room for the typical layout of keys so I had to remap the ESC to the ` key. I've had to travel through all sorts of unconventional keyboards before I healed enough to use a normal keyboard again and I've had to do all sorts of remappings.
For me, every change in keyboard layout made for a frustrating few days, but within a week, I'd usually have gotten used to whatever layout I had adopted.
I'm indeed irked by the lack of an ESC key, but it's not a total dealbreaker. I can key the ESC key without looking. I just don't know how many times I hit it and sometimes double tap it by accident. If I can't get used to it, I'm mapping the ' key to ESC and vice versa. I've done that plenty of times before on other keyboards.
Nonetheless, I really hate the stupid touchbar, but not enough to make the pain of a Windows migration worth it. When it's time to upgrade again, I'll seriously consider Windows if they haven't found something stunning to do with the touchbar and/or I don't have the option to get a standard keyboard.
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it's not surprising since apple doesn't have a CEO since Steve passed away
Tim hates apple and his users, he is only there for money and power
Tim hates apple and his users, he is only there for money and power
Maybe you need to look at the spec's too, Surface Book's Clipboard can be charged independently of the Keyboard base, therefore there is no risk of data loss. Hinge may potentially suffer failure, equally not a common issue, exactly the same as a percentage of MBP's will also suffer hardware failure. Performance is as good as a 13" MBP I know as I own both, with neither throttling under 100% CPU load. Primary difference being TDP. For a significant difference in performance you need to step up the the 15" MBP with Quad Core i7.
Q-6
It'll be cheaper in the long run. There is a reason why most enterprise organizations don't use Apple as the default computer - competition. You can buy any variant, any quality spec, any target use from cleanroom to building site, and still have internal consistency with all your clients. Apple would have to fundamentally change its approach to its clients to make inroads to those markets. They know it, which is why products like Filemaker Server are available for Windows (and arguably run faster and more reliably on it).
touch typing.
Many of us in IT and tech who are bound to VI and CLI rely heavily on using the ESC key. While the virtual ESC key does the same job in practice, in reality it's more difficult because of muscle memory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_memory). Having used a physical ESC key for 30+ years, and use it daily when i'm working, I never have to look at the keyboard to know where it is, and if I've pressed it.
moving from Physical to Virtual removes the tactile feedback of a keypress, in addition changes the location/height of it compared to standard keyboards.
I'm on of those people: no ESC key, no buy. I spend way too much time in terminals and VIM to be able to be comfortable without having the physical button there
You can always try remapping the ESC key to the ' key. I have the 15" tbMBP and I'm really annoyed about the ESC key situation. I might resort to this key swap to give me a real ESC key back. That key is close enough to the proper position of the ESC key that it won't take too much time to tweak your muscle memory. I've had to remap these two keys before with keyboards that had alternative layouts. I had to get used to these keyboards because of a hand injury so I had no choice. It wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be.
So far, I hate the touchbar, but I am so lovin it with my LG 5K Ultrafine. I wanted a 5K monitor so badly that I was willing to buy a laptop I had reservations about. This also means that most of the time I have a physical keyboard so the lack of an ESC key isn't as much of an issue. I also tend to carry an Apple Bluetooth keyboard around because I like the feel of them. That further distances me from the virtual ESC key.
Peoples, I share your feelings.
I am a die hard mac user since 86, I spent about 10 years as an Apple technician during the late 80's to 90's. I've seen a lot of great triumphs and failures from Apple. Right now is the first time EVER I have considered buying a MS product and I am torn, why? Here is why... I currently have a 2011 MPB 15" specs:
i7 2Ghz quad core
16 GB RAM
960SSD and
more ports than a Portuguese wine cellar...
SD slot
firewire 800
thunderbolt...
Ethernet etc etc..
Thanks to Apple, it had a mother board replaced under an Apple extended warranty only a year ago and that was an awesome thing for Apple to do. However... the Mac is playing up again (random crashing and re-starting) and I suspect the replacement logic board is not 100% right.
Despite the logic board replacement less than a year ago, replacement parts only carry a 90 day warranty
plus... and this is the worst part:
there are NO MORE REPLACEMENT PARTS from Apple, product is "obsolete".
Wow. There is no option, new laptop.
To replace this with the equivalent Mac, about $4000 AUD - plus a DVD drive (if I add it), plus the SD card reader (if I add it) plus the numerous dongles to connect to my existing gear and this is only a dual core, not quad (admittedly it's faster).
Total cost with all the bits and pieces - almost $5000 THIS IS INSANE!! The one I'm using at the moment cost me $2000 back in 2012 and $500 for the SSD. I just can't replace it with the same unless I pay twice as much.
Now I know the MS Surface with the same specs cost the same, but it does have useful ports and it is more flexible it terms of usage. I have, for the first time EVER, more confidence in the MS product, not sure why? Perhaps because I feel that touch screens have been proven in the real world and yet the touch bar on Apple, I just don't trust as yet.
I will wait until the end of the year, hopefully this laptop will last the distance...
Tim Cook has mentioned some great desktops this year, but laptops are where the money is.
I am a die hard mac user since 86, I spent about 10 years as an Apple technician during the late 80's to 90's. I've seen a lot of great triumphs and failures from Apple. Right now is the first time EVER I have considered buying a MS product and I am torn, why? Here is why... I currently have a 2011 MPB 15" specs:
i7 2Ghz quad core
16 GB RAM
960SSD and
more ports than a Portuguese wine cellar...
SD slot
firewire 800
thunderbolt...
Ethernet etc etc..
Thanks to Apple, it had a mother board replaced under an Apple extended warranty only a year ago and that was an awesome thing for Apple to do. However... the Mac is playing up again (random crashing and re-starting) and I suspect the replacement logic board is not 100% right.
Despite the logic board replacement less than a year ago, replacement parts only carry a 90 day warranty
plus... and this is the worst part:
there are NO MORE REPLACEMENT PARTS from Apple, product is "obsolete".
Wow. There is no option, new laptop.
To replace this with the equivalent Mac, about $4000 AUD - plus a DVD drive (if I add it), plus the SD card reader (if I add it) plus the numerous dongles to connect to my existing gear and this is only a dual core, not quad (admittedly it's faster).
Total cost with all the bits and pieces - almost $5000 THIS IS INSANE!! The one I'm using at the moment cost me $2000 back in 2012 and $500 for the SSD. I just can't replace it with the same unless I pay twice as much.
Now I know the MS Surface with the same specs cost the same, but it does have useful ports and it is more flexible it terms of usage. I have, for the first time EVER, more confidence in the MS product, not sure why? Perhaps because I feel that touch screens have been proven in the real world and yet the touch bar on Apple, I just don't trust as yet.
I will wait until the end of the year, hopefully this laptop will last the distance...
Tim Cook has mentioned some great desktops this year, but laptops are where the money is.
but what are you going to do when you actually need to use the ' key? I use it quite frequently as both have use cases. Single quote for some programming and ~ for navigating in linux.
it's a silly thing. it wouldn't have killed them to keep the hpysical ESC key. it's just one more of the tiny little things that makes me go "why?"
Are there any situations where hitting the esc key twice results in a different behaviour than hitting it once?
What do you hate about it? That you cannot touch type the function keys anymore? That (see above) 'touch typing' the esc key doesn't give you any tactile feedback doesn't seem like a big enough reason to hate the Touch Bar.
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But it apparently kills you that there is no tactile feedback when you hit the esc area of the Touch Bar. If you are bewildered by Apple's decision, I think it is fair to say that most people would be bewildered by your reaction to it.
The ESC key becomes your new ` key. I meant to type the backtick not the single quote, but I think you knew what I meant.
The designer in me can understand how they might have gotten to that point. I think it would have just been too awkward to keep an ESC key and the touchbar for your average user. For people like you and me, I don't think it'd be awkward at all, but they're obviously aiming at a broader cross-section than programmers and sysadmins.
I think the logic is sound, but I just wish they would have made a model available without the touchbar. I actually quite like the new keyboard otherwise. I'm able to type on it without hand pain, which is not the case with any other laptop keyboard. Hand pain is the reason why I carry around a separate external keyboard when I'm away from my desk. Maybe I won't have to anymore.
Now as for the magsafe, I really don't think it would have been that big of a deal to retain the magsafe plug. That really didn't need to be an either or kind of decision. Allowing both would have sacrificed nothing.
But since to my knowledge there is no situation where hitting the esc key twice would engender a different action than hitting it once, the lack of tactile feedback is largely irrelevant. The feedback you are getting is of the visual kind (ie, you notice that whatever hitting the esc key does is happening on your screen).
Are you really sure that would not become essentially a non-issue in very short time? Or are you throwing out the food before you have even tasted it?
You effectively give up a USB C port (which is set aside for MagSafe) and the ability to plug in the power cable on either the right and left sides of your laptop. So it's not quite accurate to claim that you sacrifice nothing.
Apple will always suffer from having only a handful of different Mac products (for a long time, four laptops and four desktops). It is what keeps its appeal limited because not everybody will be happy with the offered choices. But it is also what keeps most of its users happy (avoiding the paralysis too much choice engenders, keeping support and resale simpler) and thus ensures that Apple can charge higher prices (as well as reducing Apple's costs as well).
It seems your needs and Apple's offerings have drifted apart. This could be completely coincidental but it could also be because (a) Apple has become worse at picking what is the optimal product mix (within the parameters of having a very limited product mix) or (b) for reasons unclear, a very similar policy as before no longer generates the same goodwill.
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I think what smirking had in mind was to have both a MagSafe port and the ability to charge via USB-C. Though even putting the question of space (and thus whether a MagSafe port would replace one USB-C port) aside, the MBP would have needed to come with two chargers (or at least two charging cables) to give the user complete freedom in regard to charging decisions.
And then there is the question whether a MagSafe charging port would be as good as a USB-C port when it comes to dealing with multiple chargers being plugged in (eg, assume your MBP is being charged via MagSafe and you plug in a monitor via USB-C that also can charge the MBP). The MagSafe protocol is fixed, it cannot be changed without making previous MagSafe devices incompatible.
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You are aware that there are cheap USB-C to DisplayPort cables and cheap USB-C to USB-B/mini/micro/Lightning cables (cables, not adaptors or dongles)?
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But the 'pros' you are describing are only a small minority among MBP owners.
I can't think of one off the top of my head, but it happened to me yesterday. That's why I brought it up. Most of the time, you're correct. It makes no difference, but there are indeed situations where you don't want to hit it twice by accident. It wasn't catastrophic. I didn't lose an hour of work or anything like that, but it was very annoying and I'm not used to my computer getting in my way when I'm getting work done.
Believe it or not, it's enough of a reason for me. I want my ESC key back. I don't use the function keys often enough for it to be a big deal that they're not tactile. The ESC key is another story. It's obviously not a big enough deal for me to keep me from buying a MBP as it has for some other people, but it's a major annoyance. It may seem trivial, but a small bit of friction repeated many times an hour adds up.
Actually, if I'm dealing with a server emergency and every second counts before panicked emails begin flooding in and my voice mail starts filling up, it's not at all trivial. When speed is critical, I don't want to be faced with having commands I entered get lost or worse, trigger the wrong commands because I didn't hit the ESC key. By the time I realize I missed the ESC key, it's sometimes several keystrokes later.
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Didn't know that. Hardware's not my thing. I'd be ok with losing a USB C port in exchange for a more user friendly power port, but that's just me. I can understand why they chose to go with another port.
The lesson Apple keeps teaching and others keep ignoring is; to create true meaningful change in a market you need to force change. By taking bold unapologetic stances. Here’s a touchscreen smart phone without the familiarity of a physical Qwerty keyboard. Here’s a large screen tablet without a desktop OS and desktop apps and file system. Here’s a smart phone without a heahphone jack. Here's a laptop with only USB C ports.
You can't boast about how versatile USB C is and devote a dedicated port for magsafe charging. If USB C is indeed as good as Apple says it is, then Apple has to walk the talk and go all-in with it, even if it means temporary inconvenience in the form of dongles and giving up old-time favourites such as magsafe.
It is obvious that the new MBP is a letdown,the worst MBP to date for sure.
there is nothing Pro about it.so limiting and compromised.
and the 12 Inch mire portable MB has major compromises that have been mentioned millions of times.these are not acceptable on any laotop.
yet Apple doesn't seen to care.
no wonder Mac users are switching to Windows more than ever before.
This should be stopped!
All those issues are preventable,with a couple of small design changes to corrent current mistakes.
there is nothing Pro about it.so limiting and compromised.
and the 12 Inch mire portable MB has major compromises that have been mentioned millions of times.these are not acceptable on any laotop.
yet Apple doesn't seen to care.
no wonder Mac users are switching to Windows more than ever before.
This should be stopped!
All those issues are preventable,with a couple of small design changes to corrent current mistakes.
I am one of those customers. I've owned some form of Macintosh for the past 20 years & never has there been such a time where the current product line-up, release, support & software quality been so poor.
Made the switch to a Surface Book last month after my 12" rMB was just becoming slower & slower with basic tasks (Thanks 10.12) & I couldn't be happier.
I've owned a Windows PC (custom building being a hobby) since around 2005 so I am well accustomed to the OS - it feels like I have stepped back to the professional approach of OS X 10.6 with regards to interface control & customisation yet retaining many of the modern-era qualities - Windows 10 is just brilliant.
Unless Apple revaluates the Mac line-up, decides a direction for that program and stick with a yearly hardware upgrade then I see the Mac dying within the next 2-3 years.
Bottom line: Ditch Tim Cook & Eddy Cue.
Made the switch to a Surface Book last month after my 12" rMB was just becoming slower & slower with basic tasks (Thanks 10.12) & I couldn't be happier.
I've owned a Windows PC (custom building being a hobby) since around 2005 so I am well accustomed to the OS - it feels like I have stepped back to the professional approach of OS X 10.6 with regards to interface control & customisation yet retaining many of the modern-era qualities - Windows 10 is just brilliant.
Unless Apple revaluates the Mac line-up, decides a direction for that program and stick with a yearly hardware upgrade then I see the Mac dying within the next 2-3 years.
Bottom line: Ditch Tim Cook & Eddy Cue.
And your remark is trolling. Look into the iPad forums to see how many people work with iPads. Calling it a toy also shows you haven't even used the pencil and iPad Pro. Lastly, a full version of Windows, regardless of the version, is really a no brainer. No brain would want that crap.
I'm onboard with going USB-C only even though I know that adding two additional USB-A ports (if PCI lane bandwidth would have allowed for that) would have spared Apple a lot of of grief (I think though, keeping the SD card slot would not have interfered with the USB-C vision, it's a different category of 'port', like the headphone jack which is still there).
But there are three things one might called unforced errors, all involving LEDs: 1) no external battery charge indicator, 2) no sleep indicator light, 3) no charging status indicator light on the charging cable. For the last one, I don't know if USB-C would allow for that, however, a tiny LED just next to the port on the MBP could certainly have been implemented.
One could argue for a MagSafe-like special USB-C charging cable that works like the MagSafe replacements from third-parties. But that breaks the universality of USB-C as one a) shouldn't use such a cable with a breakaway connection to connect to mounted file systems (though the supplied cable already is crippled USB-C cable, only allow USB 2 speeds) and b) anybody using another USB-C cable (eg, from a dock, a monitor, a third-party charger) would not have the MagSafe safety.
I agree with all your points.
Maybe we will see more specialised USB C cables in the future, but I doubt it. The whole point is to be able to do everything with a single USB C cable of any type, I guess.