Poll: Apple Macbook Pros should be even thinner?

[kazmac]

No. Put back a few millimeters and give us a real keyboard again.

The quest for "thinner" tech from Cupertino is not "innovative" these days -- it's disruptive.

Agreed. If they must have a wafer thin laptop, there's the MacBook. Give the Pro models keyboards with some travel. If you're going to spend hours working on a machine it should be pleasant, not disruptive. To say nothing of the woes with the butterfly mechanisms and keys getting stuck etc. To be fair, my experience comes from 20 minutes of use in the stores on various models during several visits.

I certainly hope the negative feedback and the woes with butterfly mechanisms (and competing OEMs) have lit a fire under Apple's rear ends insofar as redesign. I would consider a Mac laptop if I knew I could type on it for hours comfortably and without keys getting stuck (while boasting the internals and ports I need.)

You can engineer a gorgeous laptop and still give people what they want in specs, keyboard and ports.

 

[hajime]

Apple Macbook Pros should be even thinner?

• Keyboard travel smaller?
• Tensile and torsion strength on the body higher?
• Keys touching the screen leaving finger grease?
• Heat from CPU/GPU melting the display in clamshell mode?

I think lighter is more important than thinner. Of course with the suggestions you listed above.

 

[WolfMB2008]

Apple: Get over the obsession with anorexia. It is not healthy.

this is why i haven't moved on from my 2011 13" macbook pro, all i had to do was place ssd and more ram memory

 

[ssmed]

Put some ports back in, dongles with inflexible leads makes the footprint of a 15 inch more like 20 inches - absolutely ridiculous.

I am happy to be lighter, but not at the expense of functionality

 

[hajime]

this is why i haven't moved on from my 2011 13" macbook pro, all i had to do was place ssd and more ram memory

Unfortunately I can't add 16GB RAM to my 2010 17". It also can't drive a 4K display.

 

[WolfMB2008]

Unfortunately I can't add 16GB RAM to my 2010 17". It also can't drive a 4K display.

I'm sorry,
WOW 17" i haven't seen thsoe in a long time. i wanted those when i picked up my 2011 model but too expensive lol!

 

[jeyf]

they should revert back to the 2015 MBP mechanical design, than update the keyboard, and processor and gpu.

they should recall the 2016 15" MBP

 

[lambertjohn]

Apple Macbook Pros should be even thinner?

• Keyboard travel smaller?
• Tensile and torsion strength on the body higher?
• Keys touching the screen leaving finger grease?
• Heat from CPU/GPU melting the display in clamshell mode?

I check the box labeled, "Who Cares?"

 

[dudeslife]

anyone who thinks this is even a question shouldn't be allowed to use a notebook... technologically weak people should use iPads..

 

[EyeTack]

Apple Macbook Pros should be even thinner?

• Keyboard travel smaller?
• Tensile and torsion strength on the body higher?
• Keys touching the screen leaving finger grease?
• Heat from CPU/GPU melting the display in clamshell mode?

No. Not at all.

If they want to keep calling this a pro machine, there needs to be AT LEAST a return to serviceable / replaceable storage. The innovation in SSD spaces continue and while I don’t need a 1tb drive now, I’d like one when they’re more affordable.

I would have never gotten started with a Mac in 2009 had I needed to buy 8g of RAM and something greater than what would eventually be a 512mb SSD right out of the gate.

 

[groove-agent]

This is a good thread that outlines something Apple needs to address. With all due respect, for those who are complaining about it, just move on to the next one. A company can't improve without criticism, even if it is negative.

Answering the poll took a moment. If going back to the 2015 meant double the SSD space, double the battery life, and a powerful GPU, I'd be all for it. However, now that people have seen the 2016/2017, I don't think we could go back.

Many would agree that lately Apple has been form over function. The obsession of thinness I understand from an aesthetic point of view, but when it affects the function? It doesn't make sense. Let's look at the problems with the keyboard as a result of this. Add in the reported problems with them coming into contact with the screen while the lid is closed? Add in soldered in drives, memory, and the lack of ports? IMO, it's a bit of a deal breaker.

I think Apple might be starting to get it. The Apple Watch 3 has not shrunk at all although ironically I think it's the one product that should be reduced in thickness.

Let's leave the thinness to the MacBook Air and add extra battery life, less problematic keyboards, and more power to the MacBook Pro.
[doublepost=1508698551][/doublepost]I was thinking the same thing. A tapered design would be a good compromise. Give the user the illusion of thin, but still have enough room for some horsepower and storage. However, I wonder how it would be to type on a keyboard that was at an angle? On a related note, albeit a bit of a tangent, I loved the iPhone 3 design - tapered ends and a thicker middle which fit comfortably in the palm. My iPhone 6s without a case is so light it feels it's going to fall out of my hand. Make it thicker and give me two days of battery life. However I'm digressing.

I want the MacBooks Pros to get a tapered design....it's so much easier to type on..this is the only thing I really miss about the MacBook Air....also....if it is as thin as the current model at the bottom and little thicker at the top it can accommodate a return to the SD card slot and Magsafe...but I don't expect this to occur.

 

[jkun]

I think the current model is a good compromise. Yes it is unfortunate about the ports, but the weight and size is more optimal for a 13" laptop than the previous model (pre-2015). I think it is appropriate to remember that the MacBook Pro 13" was never really a MacBook Pro. It was just named that once apple moved the 13" line to the sleek aluminum design. Nothing about it is particularly pro, and I don't think that the hardware in it is meant for "pro" use, whatever that really means. I think that Apple's focus on being thin, light, and consumer friendly is good for the 13" MacBook Pro. However, I think they should focus on more power for the 15" models. However, thin and light you make a 15" computer, they are still unwieldy.

 

[0989383]

They're going to keep getting thinner whether or not you guys agree.

All you're doing is boosting the profits of Kleenex with these tears!

 

[boppin]

why do you need a thin notebook?

don't forget thermal design.

 

[PieTunes]

If they could make the MacBook Pro as powerful as it is and as thin as the MacBook, and preserve the wedge shape (I really missed having that when I had the Air), I'd be all over it. The only way I think that can be even remotely accomplished would be to greatly improve current battery technology. But as it stands now, at least for me, future MBPs don't *need* to be thinner, I'm perfectly happy with how it is currently.

 

[Hieveryone]

Apple Macbook Pros should be even thinner?

• Keyboard travel smaller?
• Tensile and torsion strength on the body higher?
• Keys touching the screen leaving finger grease?
• Heat from CPU/GPU melting the display in clamshell mode?

I want thinner but only if the function is there, meaning there is USB A port, the same key travel as my late 2013 rMBP, and so on.

I think maybe instead of thinner narrower is better? Like no bezel screen would be nice.

They can also make lighter if possible. Maybe switch from metal to something else, idk.

 

[GtrDude]

Shave the body down.
Why?
Make it thinner and lighter.

Remove ports and connections.
Why?
Make it thinner and lighter.

Make the keyboard so thin that the keys hardly move.
Why?
Make it thinner and lighter.

Oh but then you have to carry a bunch of dongles anyway......yeah, that makes a lot of sense......only to a non-pro it does.

I say keep the same width and weight and put a monster battery in there, a super powerful processor, loads of ram and you will own the market.

Not this boutique stuff that's hardly usable except for people who are just doing social media or making notes.

Make it a real pro machine.

 

[0989383]

LOL, USB A is never coming back. Not to the MacBook or MacBook Pro.

If you don't like it.. plenty of Windows laptops out there that can satisfy your needs

 

[boppin]

If you don't like it.. plenty of Windows laptops out there that can satisfy your needs

Apple junkie?

 

[groove-agent]

Touche! Speaking of satisfying your needs, how is that pile of adapters working for ya? ;D

View attachment 726743 LOL, USB A is never coming back. Not to the MacBook or MacBook Pro.

If you don't like it.. plenty of Windows laptops out there that can satisfy your needs.. there's even a special part of the forum for those chaps to play together!

Check it out... ;-)

 

[0989383]

Touche! Speaking of satisfying your needs, how is that pile of adapters working for ya? ;D

90% of people don’t actually need anything but their power adapter on the go whilst using their laptop... Hence why the single choice of port is no big deal.

 

[maflynn]

Given all the issues with the keyboard, lets stop with the obsession of making the MBP paper thin and put a decent keyboard back into the laptop.

 

[Fishrrman]

maflynn wrote:
"Given all the issues with the keyboard, lets stop with the obsession of making the MBP paper thin and put a decent keyboard back into the laptop."

Yes.
The 2015 MBPro form factor was "thin enough", and it still had room for a fairly-decent keyboard and a full complement of ports.

On a future model, perhaps 2 USB-c ports on the left side, headphone port, maybe an SD slot as well. Perhaps a new port that combines a USB-c charger with a redesigned MagSafe connector.

On the right side, 1 or 2 USB ports, a legacy USB-a port, along with an HDMI 2.0 port.

And... leave a little "extra room" between the display surface and the keyboard when closed, to prevent contact between the two when the MacBook is packed into a backpack...

 

[Queen6]

Touche! Speaking of satisfying your needs, how is that pile of adapters working for ya? ;D

Aside this is the fact that the dongle are not guaranteed to be 100% which is really poor. From my own experience you generally have less issue if the ports are directly integrated into the chassis. Apple has been moving the focus of the Mac for some time as they see 85% of the users are purely casual, and unlikely to answer the needs of a shrinking minority. It is what is and Apple's path is clear, looking good and serving base consumer, who likely will never push their Mac's...

Q-6

 

[tkermit]

Touche! Speaking of satisfying your needs, how is that pile of adapters working for ya? ;D

I get the point but I would find that picture more convincing if it didn't also include Lightning, Displayport, TB2 and even 30-pin adapters that have nothing to do whatsoever with the new MBP. They may have gone overboard with the lack of port variety on the new MBP but some transitions are also necessary and not every device, such as an iPhone, needs every port under the sun.

I really wouldn't mind a "MacBook SE" though. Basically with the case, port variety, upgradeability and room for battery of the high-res 15" MBP of old but using modern internals (including a matte Retina display).