My experiences so far.... not great... 15 inch fully loaded.

[jjjoseph]

EDITED WITH SOME UPDATES

Ok so I am not sure if I will keep this thing. Here are just a few things I noticed so far, good and bad.

1. NO LONGER AN ISSUE. Studio one works after latest restart. ----- I loaded up studio one to stress test a music session (its why I bought this thing). And even with no plugins or anything loaded I get CPU spikes. This could be. Presonus issue. I don't know. Cant play music -

2. NO LONGER AN ISSUE. Restarted and now its fine. It struggles with 4k 60fps though. It craps out to around 30fps and jittery. Its not a 4k screen so maybe it will work better on a real 4k screen. ----- I loaded up a 1440 youtube video at 60fps and noticed that the computer can't actually stream it without minor hiccups. They are small but at this price they should not be there.

3. Im coming from a 2009 MacBook. Yes its old but I can't help but feel that this thing is noticeably flimsier. Its still very well built but...Cant help but miss the heftiness of that old one. This one will not survive much of a dent I think.

4. Donglegate is not great but fine.

5. touch bar is not that useful but I still think its a decent addition.

6. The buried volume bar is not an issue because if you press down on the volume button and slide it still changes the volume. So really its not buried at all.

EDIT

7. I am also finding the monitor to bright. and then when I dim it....to dark. Maybe its the high contrast but it feels harder on the eyes. again, I am coming from a non retina old MacBook so I probably just have to get used to it.

EDIT 2

8. Touch ID is awesome but not always integrated. I LOVE not having to put in passwords constantly.

This is similar to what our company found when looking to put some MacBook Pro's back in the field, the fully loaded 15" with the 460 was only 33% to 40% faster for GPU intensive tasks, over the 2015, which is not saying much since the m370x was under powered as well, and we considered the m370x kinda a bad choice by Apple in 2015, and found them to be a DUD in the field. Also we are screwed by OpenCL and Apple not making ProRes cross platform.

These laptops are very confusing to people in my community, Professional video, film, tv and commercial production. They are too Underpowered to be called PRO and too Over Priced to be called just a MacBook/Ultrabook.

Anyway, it seems their are a lot of people with cash to burn on these things, they are BEAUTIFUL to look at and very Light, the SSD is also fast. We found the Touchbar to be a whole lot of nothing, as well. If I had money to burn I'de get one..

 

[Baldrake]

My brain said "troll" the moment you said the new MBP felt flimsy. How could anyone take you seriously after that?

I wouldn't go so far as "flimsy" myself, but I do see where he's coming from. This is my first experience with the new trackpad design. The fact that it depresses about a millimetre or so and is so large can make it feel that there is some give to the main body.

 

[jjjoseph]

I wouldn't go so far as "flimsy" myself, but I do see where he's coming from. This is my first experience with the new trackpad design. The fact that it depresses about a millimetre or so and is so large can make it feel that there is some give to the main body.

They are super light, and for me when I tested it, it got some getting used too, a few times when it was on my lap it was so light, I kinda had to hold on to it, because it felt like it could easily slide off my leg... but when hanging out on a couch or a chair, once you get used to it, it was pretty awesome.

 

[BenTrovato]

I can play 4k videos extremely smooth even on battery power.

My battery burn rate is roughly 20% an hour - getting 5 hours of use. I find I have to turn the brightness up higher than previous MBP's which might be contributing to the faster burn rate.

 

[SBruv]

I can play 4k videos extremely smooth even on battery power.

My battery burn rate is roughly 20% an hour - getting 5 hours of use. I find I have to turn the brightness up higher than previous MBP's which might be contributing to the faster burn rate.

Doesn't really mean a great deal unless you tell us what you we're doing for those five hours...

 

[thedommer2000]

I can play 4k videos extremely smooth even on battery power.

My battery burn rate is roughly 20% an hour - getting 5 hours of use. I find I have to turn the brightness up higher than previous MBP's which might be contributing to the faster burn rate.

4k not in youtube correct? Mine was only a youtube thing. I haven't tried 4k outside of it.

I am getting around the same burn rate for battery. I also found the display needs too kept brighter and you need more light in the room you are working. Then it is fine. But I do wish there was a "less contrast" setting for low light work. Its just way to bright in a dim room.

 

[dwsolberg]

I've read one theory that it's the 'light guide' behind the display panel, but I don't buy it. Not sure what it is, but it's bizarre how universal the issue is. Shake your MB or MBP horizontally and you'll hear it. It varies from day to day, implying that heat has some effect, but sometimes whatever it is gets loose enough to be heard sliding around by just tilting the 'Book let and right.

Annoying when you know it's there, but it doesn't have any ill effect beyond that.

Huh, I always noticed it on my 2011 MBP, but never thought about it until now. I thought a crumb or pebble got in there. Interesting.

 

[maerz001]

I've read one theory that it's the 'light guide' behind the display panel, but I don't buy it. Not sure what it is, but it's bizarre how universal the issue is. Shake your MB or MBP horizontally and you'll hear it. It varies from day to day, implying that heat has some effect, but sometimes whatever it is gets loose enough to be heard sliding around by just tilting the 'Book let and right.

Annoying when you know it's there, but it doesn't have any ill effect beyond that.

Do u mean light sensor maybe?

I heard that it's the magnets or metal counterpart for keeping the mb closed in the housing getting loose. Can't find the post. But nothing to worry about

 

[BenTrovato]

4k not in youtube correct? Mine was only a youtube thing. I haven't tried 4k outside of it.

I am getting around the same burn rate for battery. I also found the display needs too kept brighter and you need more light in the room you are working. Then it is fine. But I do wish there was a "less contrast" setting for low light work. Its just way to bright in a dim room.

I tried youtube and a vimeo:

.
Files on my computer seem fine.

I'm noticing the same. In dim light, the screen is too bright or too dim, very difficult to find a good setting. And yes, in general, the screen seems to require higher brightness than previous models. I'm at 8 hours and have 10% left but I've had to turn down the brightness to uncomfortable levels to squeeze out more battery.

 

[thedommer2000]

4k 60fps not regular fps

 

[inhalexhale1]

3. Im coming from a 2009 MacBook. Yes its old but I can't help but feel that this thing is noticeably flimsier. Its still very well built but...Cant help but miss the heftiness of that old one. This one will not survive much of a dent I think.

I have not purchased one, but I did test one at the store. Overall, I felt it had a much less premium feel.

 

[thedommer2000]

I just want to add that I have continued to get used to this computer and most of the small issue I have had do not apply anymore. The battery overall fluctuates pretty drastically but is not that bad. Other than that the computer is fantastic. I have gotten used to the high contrast of the screen. I'd still prefer a little less occasionally but its a great screen. And the machine is blazing fast. Fantastic computer. Works great for audio and day to day. I push it to its limit with audio production and it holds its own perfectly. Very happy with my purchase.