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My Review of the Late-2016 15" MBP vs. Mid-2015 MBP in 37 seconds. ;)

Denumerable

Denumerable

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 25, 2016
70
46
Worldwide
37 second Comparison/Review:

Machines:
Mid-2015; 2.8Ghz, 16GB, 512GB, m370x
Late-2016; 2.9Ghz, 16GB, 1TB, 460

Pros:
#1 - Beautiful. Just look at the pictures.
#2 - Quiet. Even when it is working hard.
#3 - Cool. Literally. And it's cool. ;)
#4 - 460 > m370x. AMD’s engineering crew deserves kudos.

Cons:
#1 - Touch Bar. It's already a dead dream.
#2 - Trackpad. “Click” sounds cheap and is too loud. Mid-2015 "click" was spot-on.

Final thoughts on comments I've read here and other places:
#1 - I would pay Apple EXTRA money to get my ESC key back.
#2 - You can get nearly any cable as USB-C to X. Don’t listen to this #donglelife garbage.
#3 - Keyboard is good. You’ll get used to it quickly; I do like it more than the Mid-2015 after only one day.

TLDR; If I return this in January, it will be because I couldn't adjust to the Touch Bar and living without physical Esc/Fn keys. It's a great machine. I wish it had a Touch Screen, à la the iPad.
 
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How did you measure the 37 seconds? ;)

Anyway, great summary. I only disagree with the touch screen part - thanks but no thanks! And I really like the TouchBar.
 
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I you don't use Caps Lock too often, I would bind that to be your Esc. I did that even before I got my MBP just to get used to it and it works well. You can adjust your modifier keys in System Preferences under the keyboard section.
 
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NickPhamUK said:
Your review was spot on until I read the last line.

No thanks, the last thing I want is having fingerprint smudges on my screen.
Click to expand...

What if it had a nice matte finish like the Touch Bar?

I would enjoy web surfing in bed much more with a perfect "Apple" engineered screen.
[doublepost=1480412523][/doublepost]
ManuCH said:
How did you measure the 37 seconds? ;)

Anyway, great summary. I only disagree with the touch screen part - thanks but no thanks! And I really like the TouchBar.
Click to expand...

I took Medium's estimate that the average reading speed of adults is ~275WPM and composed my review in Word where I could see the number of words in the review.

What is your favorite thing about the Touch Bar? And the thing you like least?
 
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Denumerable said:
What is your favorite thing about the Touch Bar? And the thing you like least?
Click to expand...

I like the fact that every app can customize it and provide quick controls (for example for photo editing).

I dislike that I need to press Fn (or go through an additional tap) to access the volume and brightness controls. But I'm sure that will change with software updates at some point.
 
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ManuCH said:
I like the fact that every app can customize it and provide quick controls (for example for photo editing).

I dislike that I need to press Fn (or go through an additional tap) to access the volume and brightness controls. But I'm sure that will change with software updates at some point.
Click to expand...
Aren't the volume and brightness controls always at the right side of the Touch Bar?
 
ManuCH said:
I like the fact that every app can customize it and provide quick controls (for example for photo editing).

I dislike that I need to press Fn (or go through an additional tap) to access the volume and brightness controls. But I'm sure that will change with software updates at some point.
Click to expand...

Ah, maybe I'll like it more for photo/video editing (but I don't do a lot of that). I mostly code and do research on my machine. :)

I learned that if you press and hold the brightness/volume control and start to slide right/left on the Touch Bar you can instantly adjust volume/brightness. Hopefully that makes things a little easier for you.

marpala said:
Yes, and if you hold down your finger you don't need a second tap
Click to expand...

Beat me to it. ;)
 
The new macbook is a joke the trackpad sound is disgusting and cant make it silent wish i never sold my 2015 one and the touch bar is funky but dull and already bored of it and the trackpad is way to big doewnt work well and laggy as hell wish these specs should be a speed freak but nope as usall new apple products lag
 
I don't think the trackpad is any louder than my late 2011. I don't think there is anything cheap sounding about the new model. it is just a different sound. The response of the trackpad is firm. Saying the trackpad sounds cheap because the sound is different and one you don't like, doesn't make sense, in my opinion.
 
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dan9700 said:
The new macbook is a joke the trackpad sound is disgusting and cant make it silent wish i never sold my 2015 one and the touch bar is funky but dull and already bored of it and the trackpad is way to big doewnt work well and laggy as hell wish these specs should be a speed freak but nope as usall new apple products lag
Click to expand...

I'm not saying that the MacBook Pros 2016 are perfect (they are far from it), but the only joke here is your grammar.
 
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dan9700 said:
The new macbook is a joke the trackpad sound is disgusting and cant make it silent wish i never sold my 2015 one and the touch bar is funky but dull and already bored of it and the trackpad is way to big doewnt work well and laggy as hell wish these specs should be a speed freak but nope as usall new apple products lag
Click to expand...

My friend, you should definitely return your machine and pickup a used one via Apple refurb or eBay. I'm holding onto my Mid-2015 until I'm 100% sure which way I'll go. ;)

BasicGreatGuy said:
I don't think the trackpad is any louder than my late 2011. I don't think there is anything cheap sounding about the new model. it is just a different sound. The response of the trackpad is firm. Saying the trackpad sounds cheap because the sound is different and one you don't like, doesn't make sense, in my opinion.
Click to expand...

It is different. And, by "cheap," I mean that it sounds tinny. A Google search of that definition shows this -- the synonyms are really good as well:

tinny
ˈtɪni/
adjective

1. having a displeasingly thin, metallic sound.
"tinny music played in the background"
synonyms: jangling, jangly, jingling, jingly, plinky, thin, metallic​

Hopefully that helps explain what I mean. How do you feel it sounds?

Also, I think the new keyboard sounds pleasing and has a nice, solid feel. I think that is part of the reason the trackpad feels so "cheap." :)

[doublepost=1480418844][/doublepost]
NickPhamUK said:
I'm not that saying the MacBook Pros 2016 are perfect (they are far from it), but the only joke here is your grammar.
Click to expand...

Hah. It's clear that it is the fault of the new keyboard on the MBP. ;)
 
dan9700 said:
The new macbook is a joke the trackpad sound is disgusting and cant make it silent wish i never sold my 2015 one and the touch bar is funky but dull and already bored of it and the trackpad is way to big doewnt work well and laggy as hell wish these specs should be a speed freak but nope as usall new apple products lag
Click to expand...
Sorry not experienced any of the above but then again I'm not sure if this a valid post tbh with generic generalisations no doubt picked up from other posts!
 
viljamip said:
I you don't use Caps Lock too often, I would bind that to be your Esc. I did that even before I got my MBP just to get used to it and it works well. You can adjust your modifier keys in System Preferences under the keyboard section.
Click to expand...

Sticky!

Really, a lot of people will just suffer through this
 
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monkeydax said:
Aren't the volume and brightness controls always at the right side of the Touch Bar?
Click to expand...

marpala said:
Yes, and if you hold down your finger you don't need a second tap
Click to expand...

It depends on which touch bar layout you are using. If you are in "application" mode then yes. If you have it in "old school MBP keyboard layout mode" (tap the arrow to the left of the brightness key) then it's on the left and works as it did with previous MBPs by tapping or holding until the desired brightest is acheived.

Ergonomically, Apple should have left the old keyboard layout and hard keys alone and put the magic touch keyboard above it, if not on-screen. It's not like you can touch type well with the magic touch anyway that it needs to be where it is now located. Users would be able to see it better with a glance in that position based on my use so far and you would throw users for a loop having to choose between F keys and OS and extra application functionality.
 
Hey, it took me 42 seconds to read this review! :)

In all seriousness, your succinct review was very good; thank you.
 
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Keleko said:
Does this count?

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MLA22LL/A/magic-keyboard-us-english?fnode=56
Click to expand...
Cvo8ZDfWEAAEyrf.jpg
 
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