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Negative points about the new Macbooks Pro 2021

M

Micka88

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 25, 2019
351
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I start (got MBP 16'' M1 Max) today:

1) the trackpad is annoyingly loud (comparing to the previous MPBs or Macbook Air M1) - I wonder why they made it like this

2) speakers are so unnaturally boosted (artificially extended bass etc.) so that many types of music and acoustic musical instruments sound not very good and sometimes also distorted
 
Micka88 said:
I start (got MBP 16'' M1 Max) today:

1) the trackpad is annoyingly loud (comparing to the previous MPBs or Macbook Air M1) - I wonder why they made it like this
Click to expand...
That seems like the kind of thing that could be user-adjustable (if Apple wanted it to be).
 
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On the first haptic Mac touchpads you had the option of turning off the trackpad sound, that option hasn't been around for a very long time unfortunately.
 
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Micka88 said:
I start (got MBP 16'' M1 Max) today:

1) the trackpad is annoyingly loud (comparing to the previous MPBs or Macbook Air M1) - I wonder why they made it like this

2) speakers are so unnaturally boosted (artificially extended bass etc.) so that many types of music and acoustic musical instruments sound not very good and sometimes also distorted
Click to expand...

EQ. This shouldn't be a bad thing, as at least the added bass is possible. Passive radiators can be a problem though. We shall see.

But passive radiators often present a trade-off. It also depends on personal preference, musical tastes and other things subjective.

It might be possible to set EQ to things like cinematic sound, acoustic sound, and various genres. at least this was an option in the past. Not sure.
 
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Is "Silent clicking" no longer an option? I'm seeing it on my 2020 M1 Air.

Screen Shot 2021-10-26 at 2.48.52 PM.png
 
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ignatius345 said:
As I said, it's an option on my M1 Air from 2020. Is it really not an option on MacBook Pros?
Click to expand...
Nope. Like I said, it's not available on the newer trackpads. The M1 Air still uses the original trackpad design.

Basically, the first force touch trackpads were on the 2015 MBPs and the 12" MacBook. Their clicking mechanism does not make a sound well on its own, so they added a little piezoelectric speaker (like the ones they used for the iPod click wheels) to simulate a click sound. That "silent" setting turns that speaker off.

The larger trackpads, which debuted with the 2016 MacBook Pro redesign, make the click with the mechanism itself. Since there is no speaker to turn off, there's no silent option. There's still different forces of pressure you can select, but "Silent Clicking" doesn't exist on 2016+ MBPs.
 
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Right ... it is actually not the volume but the pressure ... "silent clicking" is for example on Macbook Air M1.
 
mikethebigo said:
Nope. Like I said, it's not available on the newer trackpads. The M1 Air still uses the original trackpad design.

Basically, the first force touch trackpads were on the 2015 MBPs and the 12" MacBook. Their clicking mechanism does not make a sound well on its own, so they added a little piezoelectric speaker (like the ones they used for the iPod click wheels) to simulate a click sound. That "silent" setting turns that speaker off.

The larger trackpads, which debuted with the 2016 MacBook Pro redesign, make the click with the mechanism itself. Since there is no speaker to turn off, there's no silent option. There's still different forces of pressure you can select, but "Silent Clicking" doesn't exist on 2016+ MBPs.
Click to expand...
Didn't know this, thank you!

I will be upgrading from a rMBP 2015 and I'm very use to the silent clicking, also have the clicking force in "light". Wondering now how loud the new trackpads are...
 
mikethebigo said:
Nope. Like I said, it's not available on the newer trackpads. The M1 Air still uses the original trackpad design.

Basically, the first force touch trackpads were on the 2015 MBPs and the 12" MacBook. Their clicking mechanism does not make a sound well on its own, so they added a little piezoelectric speaker (like the ones they used for the iPod click wheels) to simulate a click sound. That "silent" setting turns that speaker off.

The larger trackpads, which debuted with the 2016 MacBook Pro redesign, make the click with the mechanism itself. Since there is no speaker to turn off, there's no silent option. There's still different forces of pressure you can select, but "Silent Clicking" doesn't exist on 2016+ MBPs.
Click to expand...
Interesting, did not realize! I'd assumed all MacBooks were using the same basic trackpad at this point.

I would add for the OP that the option to use a "tap" instead of a full click is of course nearly silent. There are also some very good "drag lock" options that used to be under Trackpad but now live in Accessibility.

Drag lock lets you quickly tap twice to grab and hold whatever's under the cursor (same thing as fully clicking and holding down the trackpad while you drag). A single tap thereafter releases it. It's subtle and takes a moment to get used to, but I find it a lot easier and more precise than maintaining pressure on the trackpad as I drag -- and as a side benefit it's basically silent.
 
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The first thing that disappointed me about the 2019 MBP 16” was its thickness, but the new one is even thicker. I‘d probably look past it if I absolutely needed the power and awesome screen though.
 
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