My Review of the MacBook

[Samuelsan2001]

I really feel like a 2nd usb c port will alleviate many people's concerns. Nobody can convince me they couldn't fit one more on the other side.

They could but then you'd have lost the audio port and for a tiny travelling laptop they probably felt earphone connection was a must.

 

[kfscoll]

A 2nd usb port would require that they could be used interchangeably - for power, for data, for driving a display. Doing this would have required significant additional wiring, and probably additional silicon to support it, before you even worry about finding space for the physical port. Same with a better webcam. The screen half of this laptop is incredibly thin - that's less than half the thickness of the iPhone 6. Apple put the camera that fit without compromising the device's overall design.

By the time you make just those two changes, you have a laptop that is significantly different than the one they built. I'll take it as-is thanks.

I hadn't thought of that and that's a very good point. However, evidently the new Skylake-Y package is considerably smaller than Broadwell-Y which might open up space for more ports...from Ars Technica:

"the Skylake version of the Core M CPU package is drastically smaller than the Broadwell version. This move will save motherboard space in laptops—things like the already-tiny MacBook logic board can now get even smaller, leaving more room for battery or other components—and let Core M fit into smaller enclosures."

 

[tbirdparis]

A 2nd usb port would require that they could be used interchangeably - for power, for data, for driving a display. Doing this would have required significant additional wiring, and probably additional silicon to support it, before you even worry about finding space for the physical port. Same with a better webcam. The screen half of this laptop is incredibly thin - that's less than half the thickness of the iPhone 6. Apple put the camera that fit without compromising the device's overall design.

By the time you make just those two changes, you have a laptop that is significantly different than the one they built. I'll take it as-is thanks.

I think the low res webcam was pretty obviously an unfortunate reality choice they had to make in order to stick to the design goals they had. There's no doubt they won't try to improve the quality of the camera as soon as suitable parts allow for it.

The choice of one USB C port though, this one strikes me as much more of a conscious decision than anything else.

 

[boltjames]

The utmost in portability and sleekness? Ok. Again a 2nd USB port wouldn't change any of this. Neither would a better webcam. Not asking for a bunch of ports. Just one more. One that will most likely be added in near future rmb which would again illustrate the point that this iteration would be better served with that 2nd usb c port. And an actual hd webcam to go with that high resolution display. None of this would negatively affect the portability or sleekness.

I really don't even know what your argument is.

I believe that you're saying that Apple withheld step-up features in the 2015 RMB so they could pitch them as improvements in the 2016 RMB. And the response to that is, well, so what? Apple does this all the time. So does BMW. So does Nike. Pick a luxury brand, when they create a brand new breakthru device they hold a few things back so the next gen model is perceived to blow the doors off the prior model. This happened with the old Macbook Air as well. This isn't a surprise, isn't a turn off. It's how the tech hardware model works.

If next year Apple releases a RMB with a bigger screen, extra USB-C port, and an HD camera whilst retaining the same weight/height/depth metrics, we'll sell our 2015's and buy the 2016's, would only cost us $300 to $500, no big deal.

BJ

 

[boltjames]

A 2nd usb port would require that they could be used interchangeably - for power, for data, for driving a display. Doing this would have required significant additional wiring, and probably additional silicon to support it, before you even worry about finding space for the physical port. Same with a better webcam. The screen half of this laptop is incredibly thin - that's less than half the thickness of the iPhone 6. Apple put the camera that fit without compromising the device's overall design.

By the time you make just those two changes, you have a laptop that is significantly different than the one they built. I'll take it as-is thanks.

+1

Preach on, Brother Zhenya.

People are looking at the USB-C port as a "port" and that's their mistake. We know what it really is: It's a docking station connector. There are no USB-C peripherals, right? So what the hell is it the connection for? It's not for peripherals. It's for the crap you leave in the office and never take on the road.

The $75 HDMI adapter is the RMB's "docking station". It's what you leave behind in the office connected to an external drive, a keyboard, and a monitor. No one ever asked Lenovo to put two sets of docking station pins on their notebooks, makes zero sense to think that Apple would do the same to theirs. It's a charging port that can be used to connect to the world's smallest docking station. It's brilliant.

BJ

 

[kfscoll]

+1

Preach on, Brother Zhenya.

People are looking at the USB-C port as a "port" and that's their mistake. We know what it really is: It's a docking station connector. There are no USB-C peripherals, right? So what the hell is it the connection for? It's not for peripherals. It's for the crap you leave in the office and never take on the road.

The $75 HDMI adapter is the RMB's "docking station". It's what you leave behind in the office connected to an external drive, a keyboard, and a monitor. No one ever asked Lenovo to put two sets of docking station pins on their notebooks, makes zero sense to think that Apple would do the same to theirs. It's a charging port that can be used to connect to the world's smallest docking station. It's brilliant.

BJ

Another good point that's borne out by the forthcoming USB-C docking stations from OWC, HydraDock, Anker, and others. These stations will be even more useful if/when the rMB's USB-C port gets upgraded to the full USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) spec.

 

[kfscoll]

**double post**