the battery issue has my attention. more and more i think i'll wait for this to all get corrected
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[POLL] Are you going to upgrade to any of the new MacBook Pros [MERGED]
- Thread starter adoniteking
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While I am still annoyed by the numerous problems (graphics, battery, speakers) and Apple's attitude, in reading a few threads about positive use I do hope these issues are fixed promptly. Not in the market, but I will keep an eye on them. I have let go of my rage as it were and will keep tabs on them and Microsoft too.
Why do such polls have to be so silly in their extremes? The first choice is "Apple is and will always be my choice, then the next step down is disgruntled.
Why is there not a choice for the answer that actually makes sense if you are a grownup.
"I appreciate their design and innovation and will continue to buy Apple products when they are the correct product for my application."
Why is there not a choice for the answer that actually makes sense if you are a grownup.
"I appreciate their design and innovation and will continue to buy Apple products when they are the correct product for my application."
The more I think about this the more it irks me.
A lot of precious iOS data is only backed up via an iTunes backup. To have to pay for a $19 adapter for the privilege of changing your phone and doing the all important backup if unfair (I try and backup iPhone and iPad monthly to iTunes as well).
Apple should have included a free adapter as they did with the iPhone 7 - 3.5mm
I think quite a few 2016 rMBP buyers with iPhones and iPads iPods may be in for a shock unfortunately.
The USB adapter is $9. There is also a USB-C to Lightning cable. Who still backs up their phone over a wire?
So much silly FUD I these threads. MR forums has become a silly waste of bandwidth.
So much silly FUD I these threads. MR forums has become a silly waste of bandwidth.
In the UK its more than $9 do you buy your apple accessories from aliexpess?
Obviously YOU dont know what you are talking about, with repect of course.
iTunes encryped backups up precious data that iCloud does not.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205220
FUD to you too.
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The USB-C to USB adapter is $9 in the US. The USC-C to Lightning cable is $19. The former is what they should include in the box, if any.
if it bugs you that much don't post the same thing over and over again without even knowing the real problem and as a nice side effect this thread would have less FUD...
I know what it is like to use dongle dependent Apple laptops — I did it for nearly a decade.
In the mid 90’s I carried a PowerBook Duo everywhere I went. I had a DuoDock for when I was in the office. And dongle attachments for when I was at home or on the road. In the late 90’s I carried the diminutive PowerBook 2400c. My soft briefcase was full of dongle attached peripherals in this era when almost all software came on CD/DVDs. And file sharing was most often done via “sneaker net” — AKA diskettes.
By the early 2000’s Apple had finally built a lightweight PowerBook with a 15” screen that didn’t need a bag full of dongles — the “Titanium” PowerBook G4 — and later the aluminum PowerBook G4 (15’). I carried both of them around the world several times. When my aluminum PowerBook G4 started having screen glitches (ribbon cable damage) I replaced it with an early 2011 MacBook Pro w/Dual GPU. Although my early 2011 MacBook Pro has been a great performer, I was looking forward to a performance boost in these latest models WITHOUT buying a whole batch of new dongles and/or peripherals.
In the 90's I was willing to trade built-in connectivity for lightweight portability. But this trade off is no longer necessary. The new MacBook Pros are not lean and mean — they are anorexic. They trade max RAM, SSD space and battery life for fractions of a mm of thinness and a little weight reduction. All of which is lost once you start stuffing your carry bag with the necessary dongles and/or peripherals.
The new anorexic MacBooks would be just fine if Apple still offered a full function MacBook Pro with 32GB RAM, larger SSD /fusion-drive and more battery life. So I’ll try to keep my aging MacBook Pro alive as long as I can, because Apple no longer makes a laptop that fits my needs.
—GetRealBro
In the mid 90’s I carried a PowerBook Duo everywhere I went. I had a DuoDock for when I was in the office. And dongle attachments for when I was at home or on the road. In the late 90’s I carried the diminutive PowerBook 2400c. My soft briefcase was full of dongle attached peripherals in this era when almost all software came on CD/DVDs. And file sharing was most often done via “sneaker net” — AKA diskettes.
By the early 2000’s Apple had finally built a lightweight PowerBook with a 15” screen that didn’t need a bag full of dongles — the “Titanium” PowerBook G4 — and later the aluminum PowerBook G4 (15’). I carried both of them around the world several times. When my aluminum PowerBook G4 started having screen glitches (ribbon cable damage) I replaced it with an early 2011 MacBook Pro w/Dual GPU. Although my early 2011 MacBook Pro has been a great performer, I was looking forward to a performance boost in these latest models WITHOUT buying a whole batch of new dongles and/or peripherals.
In the 90's I was willing to trade built-in connectivity for lightweight portability. But this trade off is no longer necessary. The new MacBook Pros are not lean and mean — they are anorexic. They trade max RAM, SSD space and battery life for fractions of a mm of thinness and a little weight reduction. All of which is lost once you start stuffing your carry bag with the necessary dongles and/or peripherals.
The new anorexic MacBooks would be just fine if Apple still offered a full function MacBook Pro with 32GB RAM, larger SSD /fusion-drive and more battery life. So I’ll try to keep my aging MacBook Pro alive as long as I can, because Apple no longer makes a laptop that fits my needs.
—GetRealBro
Thankfully, I am not currently in the market for a new computer. I love my 2012 15" cMBP and, with a SSD drive and 16GB memory, it's plenty fast for the things I do. When it comes time that I need to replace it, I really have no idea what I'm going to do. I'm getting tired of the 'sacrifice everything for thinness' approach, and IDK, but I haven't been wowed by any upgrades to the MBP for the last few years. OTOH, going back to using Windows exclusively doesn't appeal to me either. I guess, when the time comes (hopefully not for quite a while), I'll have to make up my mind.
Being able to upgrade was something that helped me justify buying expensive laptops and towers, now that everything is soldered and glued in place they are essentially disposable electronics...
A "pro" laptop with only a couple USB-C inputs is ridiculous. The swipe bar is a lame gimmick in my opinion.
Topped off with a yearly OS update that has gotten less user friendly and locked down is making me seriously consider Windows or Linux...
A "pro" laptop with only a couple USB-C inputs is ridiculous. The swipe bar is a lame gimmick in my opinion.
Topped off with a yearly OS update that has gotten less user friendly and locked down is making me seriously consider Windows or Linux...
Today.. I tried 2016 Macbook Pro with TB at apple store(in Sydney) and its awesome. i never owned apple device and it is going to be my first Mac.
I understand complaints about butterfly keys., may be its individual preference, but i liked it..keyboard is good.
but i dont understand complaints on Touch bar. i really liked it. Its amazing. You have all necessary operations available for specific app. i totally liked it. I seriously hate touch in laptops. its common ground for who dont want touch on screen but some easy way to customize workflow. Its really good. may be once developers understand it, we may see real advantage of this bar.
I understand complaints about butterfly keys., may be its individual preference, but i liked it..keyboard is good.
but i dont understand complaints on Touch bar. i really liked it. Its amazing. You have all necessary operations available for specific app. i totally liked it. I seriously hate touch in laptops. its common ground for who dont want touch on screen but some easy way to customize workflow. Its really good. may be once developers understand it, we may see real advantage of this bar.
Well, I voted no based on value. Then thought I should at least try one. Bought a base 15" at an Apple store. And it is . . . OK. A sideways step from my usual 2014 15" - better graphics, no SD slot which for me means no music, a keyboard I just don't like, and a trackpad that is too big.
So it will go back after the holidays (I bought it during the holiday return period).
So it will go back after the holidays (I bought it during the holiday return period).
I bought a 15" pretty fully loaded (2.9 GHz, Radeon Pro 460, 1 TB), so I guess the answer is yes. 
It just arrived 5 days ago, so I haven't used it that much. It replaces my 2012 15" rMBP, which I have used extensively for over 4 years. I take my laptop back and forth to work and with me when I travel. At home and work it is hooked up to 30" monitors via a TB dock. At each place I have external USB 3 backup drives connected to the dock.
I bought the previous one very loaded too (2.6 GHz, 768 GB). The difference in price between the two was very small. I do work for a University, so get higher education prices. The old one still has lots of life left in it, though I'm not sure what I will do with it yet. My original MacBook (late 2008 unibody) is still in use by one of my grad students, as is my 2011 MBP. They are expensive, but they last a long time.
I too was a little irritated by the loss of MagSafe the switch to USB C/TB 3, and the lack of a video ports and the SD memory card slot. However, even after only a few days I can see that I will adjust quickly.
The loss of of HDMI is not that big a deal since most places I go require a dongle to plug into an old SVGSA-style connector. Besides, I have started making presentations with my iPhone or iPad.
The lack of a USB A port not nearly as big a deal in practice as I thought it would be. Most of my devices are connected to the TB dock or USB Hub attached to the dock. My monitor is attached via the dock. I did have to buy a TB3 to TB adapter (see below), but that wasn't really a big deal. I bought some USB A to USB C adapters on A**n for a few dollars for use when I travel. I bought some USB C to USB 3.0 micro cables for the external hard drives and flash card readers I use when I travel, and they seem to work fine and will replace the cables I carry around anyway. For good measure when traveling I bought 3 port 3.0 hub with builtin Ethernet that has a built-in USB C wire. All of these cables and adapters cost less than $35. My camera uses CF and SD cards, so I need a flash reader anyway. Honestly, I don't think I will have to carry that much extra stuff with me when I travel.
The keyboard is different, but I think I will get used to it. I do miss the escape key, as I do a lot of editing in vim, but I use ctrl-[ a lot since I started on an old DEC keyboard that didn't have one.
The touchbar is not that great an advance, at least not so far. To use it you have to take eyes off the screen, and I don't find it that helpful. Also, a lot of my use is with the laptop hooked up to a big external monitor and an ergonomic keyboard. Being able to login via a fingerprint is nice.
The screen is absolutely gorgeous. The color, brightness, etc is fantastic. As I said, I use it a lot on external monitors, so that will go to waste a lot of the time. However, when traveling I often sort through pictures on it, and I think it will be a pleasure to use for that. I also sometimes use it on my lap while at home or at meetings, and it will be nice for that.
Performance seems, subjectively, better than my previous one. I guess this is a combination of faster SSD, faster GPU, faster processor, and faster memory. There could also be some confirmation bias involved. Apple always says they sell experience and not specifications, and from what I have experience so far I think it is enough improved that it was worth the upgrade. I haven't used it on battery enough to evaluate the battery life. However, it does seem better than my previous one (which was a real battery hog with the GPU on). However, when I need long battery life I use my iPad Pro anyway.
I can feel the difference in size and weight. This isn't a big deal, as I typically carry it in a pretty heavy backpack that is like my manpurse. However, when I do travel light I can see that size and weight reduction will be nice. As for the loss of the Magsafe connector, I have my fingers crossed that I don't trip on a cord, or that the cord comes out if (when) I do. One good thing about that is that there is chance that I won't have to buy a charger from Apple.
As mentioned above, I take my laptop back and forth between work and have it connected to a TB1 dock at both places. I bought a TB3 to TB adapter, and it works just fine with my dock. So, while the extra $100 for 2 adapters does increase the price a bit, it doesn't really affect how things work. In addition, the old-style TB ports never had a very secure connection and the USB-C/TB3 port seems to be an improvement in that regard. If I had a TB3 dock that could power the laptop then I would only have to connect one cable when I switch locations, which is a minor improvement.
In summary, I did buy one and don't regret that I did. Change is always painful, but I think the changes, especially in a year or so when there are more adapters/docks, etc, available, will be for the better. Sure I wish that it had a Kaby Lake processor in it, but my guess is that it would be a barely perceptible difference, which is the reason I kept my 15" rMBP for 4+ years.
It just arrived 5 days ago, so I haven't used it that much. It replaces my 2012 15" rMBP, which I have used extensively for over 4 years. I take my laptop back and forth to work and with me when I travel. At home and work it is hooked up to 30" monitors via a TB dock. At each place I have external USB 3 backup drives connected to the dock.
I bought the previous one very loaded too (2.6 GHz, 768 GB). The difference in price between the two was very small. I do work for a University, so get higher education prices. The old one still has lots of life left in it, though I'm not sure what I will do with it yet. My original MacBook (late 2008 unibody) is still in use by one of my grad students, as is my 2011 MBP. They are expensive, but they last a long time.
I too was a little irritated by the loss of MagSafe the switch to USB C/TB 3, and the lack of a video ports and the SD memory card slot. However, even after only a few days I can see that I will adjust quickly.
The loss of of HDMI is not that big a deal since most places I go require a dongle to plug into an old SVGSA-style connector. Besides, I have started making presentations with my iPhone or iPad.
The lack of a USB A port not nearly as big a deal in practice as I thought it would be. Most of my devices are connected to the TB dock or USB Hub attached to the dock. My monitor is attached via the dock. I did have to buy a TB3 to TB adapter (see below), but that wasn't really a big deal. I bought some USB A to USB C adapters on A**n for a few dollars for use when I travel. I bought some USB C to USB 3.0 micro cables for the external hard drives and flash card readers I use when I travel, and they seem to work fine and will replace the cables I carry around anyway. For good measure when traveling I bought 3 port 3.0 hub with builtin Ethernet that has a built-in USB C wire. All of these cables and adapters cost less than $35. My camera uses CF and SD cards, so I need a flash reader anyway. Honestly, I don't think I will have to carry that much extra stuff with me when I travel.
The keyboard is different, but I think I will get used to it. I do miss the escape key, as I do a lot of editing in vim, but I use ctrl-[ a lot since I started on an old DEC keyboard that didn't have one.
The touchbar is not that great an advance, at least not so far. To use it you have to take eyes off the screen, and I don't find it that helpful. Also, a lot of my use is with the laptop hooked up to a big external monitor and an ergonomic keyboard. Being able to login via a fingerprint is nice.
The screen is absolutely gorgeous. The color, brightness, etc is fantastic. As I said, I use it a lot on external monitors, so that will go to waste a lot of the time. However, when traveling I often sort through pictures on it, and I think it will be a pleasure to use for that. I also sometimes use it on my lap while at home or at meetings, and it will be nice for that.
Performance seems, subjectively, better than my previous one. I guess this is a combination of faster SSD, faster GPU, faster processor, and faster memory. There could also be some confirmation bias involved. Apple always says they sell experience and not specifications, and from what I have experience so far I think it is enough improved that it was worth the upgrade. I haven't used it on battery enough to evaluate the battery life. However, it does seem better than my previous one (which was a real battery hog with the GPU on). However, when I need long battery life I use my iPad Pro anyway.
I can feel the difference in size and weight. This isn't a big deal, as I typically carry it in a pretty heavy backpack that is like my manpurse. However, when I do travel light I can see that size and weight reduction will be nice. As for the loss of the Magsafe connector, I have my fingers crossed that I don't trip on a cord, or that the cord comes out if (when) I do. One good thing about that is that there is chance that I won't have to buy a charger from Apple.
As mentioned above, I take my laptop back and forth between work and have it connected to a TB1 dock at both places. I bought a TB3 to TB adapter, and it works just fine with my dock. So, while the extra $100 for 2 adapters does increase the price a bit, it doesn't really affect how things work. In addition, the old-style TB ports never had a very secure connection and the USB-C/TB3 port seems to be an improvement in that regard. If I had a TB3 dock that could power the laptop then I would only have to connect one cable when I switch locations, which is a minor improvement.
In summary, I did buy one and don't regret that I did. Change is always painful, but I think the changes, especially in a year or so when there are more adapters/docks, etc, available, will be for the better. Sure I wish that it had a Kaby Lake processor in it, but my guess is that it would be a barely perceptible difference, which is the reason I kept my 15" rMBP for 4+ years.
Well, I think I ORIGINALLY voted yes, but I'm changing that to no. I think I'll wait and see if the keyboard gets any better in the next rev, and intel will release the new KABY/KATY lake processors in January for a mid or end of 2017 upgrade to these is probably in the works. And they'll work all the kinks out by then.
In the mean time, I found a NIB 2016 (mid 2015 model) 15" rMBP with 2.8 and 1TB processor for 2200$ shipped. Couldn't pass that up, gets me a machine equally as fast as the upgraded 2016 model, with the keyboard and onboard I/O that I need and faster RAM, SSD and bus to boot. And the force touch trackpad. Now, let's just hope that screen doesn't have any dead pixels, as these are hard to find and certainly not at this price.
In the mean time, I found a NIB 2016 (mid 2015 model) 15" rMBP with 2.8 and 1TB processor for 2200$ shipped. Couldn't pass that up, gets me a machine equally as fast as the upgraded 2016 model, with the keyboard and onboard I/O that I need and faster RAM, SSD and bus to boot. And the force touch trackpad. Now, let's just hope that screen doesn't have any dead pixels, as these are hard to find and certainly not at this price.
I wasn't going to upgrade, but then I tried the 13 inch no touch bar version in the Apple Store. It was so sleek and nice, and I like the improved stereo and screen. So now I'm not so sure.
I just wanted to chime in and read some of the responses and share my experience. I got to spend a little time playing with the new MacBook pros at the apple store yesterday. Im not currently in the market for a MacBook... However, my mac mini is getting old and I currently dont own a laptop (not one for personal use). So I am kind of in the market, but its not a priority.
The new MacBook really is stunning to look at.. I played around with touch bar enabled devices and both the size varieties. I especially liked the space gray version.
Heres what I didn't like:
Keyboard: Oh god, the immediate deal breaker. Theres zero travel on the keys. The MacBook was the ONLY laptop to really do a nice job with chiclet keys for a long time. Lenovo has since joined the chiclet circle and has made a nice keyboard. But overall, laptop keyboards tend to suck. I spent a few minutes typing and I hated every second of it. Almost no travel, I felt like I was pounding on the original microsoft surface keyboard/screen cover thing. So bad, so so bad. Anyone who's doing a lot of typing will not enjoy this. Even if I loved everything about the MacBook, I dont think I could buy it based on that keyboard. Terrible feedback, terrible feel. Just so disappointing.
Touch Bar: Completely and utterly useless. Not only was it just terribly strange to look at and interact with. But I just couldn't find a use for it. I used its features within several applications. And even when typing and spelling or word recommendations showed up, it was so obstructive and interruptive to leave the keys and push on one of the options. I mean I get it, and spell check and recommendations work well on the mobile devices when your fingers are right there on the touch screen. But this just felt wrong. Definitely something Id be willing to play with more. But my first 10 minutes of trying to find cool or helpful things it did for me was ---well, a let down.
Resolution: The screen is gorgeous and Im aware that all of these things can be customized... But the continued increase in resolution is going to require some tweaks to the layout and size of things on the screen. For example, on the 13 inch MacBooks, I had trouble closing windows because at that resolution and screen size, that little red dot you're aiming for is super super tiny. Even application icons and content was so small i felt myself squinting. Im under 30 years old with near perfect eye sight in a well lit room, and ill be honest, it was too small for me. Not only apple but all software manufacturers are going to need to start scaling content for the increases in resolution we are seeing. Even if we take a 4k and 1080 display of the same dimensions-- we know the 4k can show us essentially twice the content, but that doesn't mean I can actually read it.
Connectivity: USB C has been discussed enough..
Overall. Its a gorgeous laptop that is elegant and re-fined in ever sense. But its got no place in my bag. The items i mentioned above coupled with the price and available hardware puts it in the no-way category for me
The new MacBook really is stunning to look at.. I played around with touch bar enabled devices and both the size varieties. I especially liked the space gray version.
Heres what I didn't like:
Keyboard: Oh god, the immediate deal breaker. Theres zero travel on the keys. The MacBook was the ONLY laptop to really do a nice job with chiclet keys for a long time. Lenovo has since joined the chiclet circle and has made a nice keyboard. But overall, laptop keyboards tend to suck. I spent a few minutes typing and I hated every second of it. Almost no travel, I felt like I was pounding on the original microsoft surface keyboard/screen cover thing. So bad, so so bad. Anyone who's doing a lot of typing will not enjoy this. Even if I loved everything about the MacBook, I dont think I could buy it based on that keyboard. Terrible feedback, terrible feel. Just so disappointing.
Touch Bar: Completely and utterly useless. Not only was it just terribly strange to look at and interact with. But I just couldn't find a use for it. I used its features within several applications. And even when typing and spelling or word recommendations showed up, it was so obstructive and interruptive to leave the keys and push on one of the options. I mean I get it, and spell check and recommendations work well on the mobile devices when your fingers are right there on the touch screen. But this just felt wrong. Definitely something Id be willing to play with more. But my first 10 minutes of trying to find cool or helpful things it did for me was ---well, a let down.
Resolution: The screen is gorgeous and Im aware that all of these things can be customized... But the continued increase in resolution is going to require some tweaks to the layout and size of things on the screen. For example, on the 13 inch MacBooks, I had trouble closing windows because at that resolution and screen size, that little red dot you're aiming for is super super tiny. Even application icons and content was so small i felt myself squinting. Im under 30 years old with near perfect eye sight in a well lit room, and ill be honest, it was too small for me. Not only apple but all software manufacturers are going to need to start scaling content for the increases in resolution we are seeing. Even if we take a 4k and 1080 display of the same dimensions-- we know the 4k can show us essentially twice the content, but that doesn't mean I can actually read it.
Connectivity: USB C has been discussed enough..
Overall. Its a gorgeous laptop that is elegant and re-fined in ever sense. But its got no place in my bag. The items i mentioned above coupled with the price and available hardware puts it in the no-way category for me
Briefly, about the keyboard --
I'll compare the current MBP/MB keyboards to my mid-2012 MBP's, my wife's 2014 MBA's, and my job-issued Dell Inspiron's.
I just got the Dell maybe two months ago. I don't like it. I'm quite accustomed to my Mac's flatter chiclets and shorter travel. I feel like I have to lift my fingers higher and drop them with clearer precision to hit the right keys on the Dell.
Playing with the new MBPs and MBs in-store, I like them. Quite a bit. I can move my fingers a lot less, and the usable target areas ("sweet spot" in tennis racquet terms) are a lot bigger. I don't have to "pound" the new keyboards at all; I don't see why it's so necessary anyway.
This isn't my dad's portable Smith-Corona, and it shouldn't be, either. I don't miss the loud WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK at all.
I'll compare the current MBP/MB keyboards to my mid-2012 MBP's, my wife's 2014 MBA's, and my job-issued Dell Inspiron's.
I just got the Dell maybe two months ago. I don't like it. I'm quite accustomed to my Mac's flatter chiclets and shorter travel. I feel like I have to lift my fingers higher and drop them with clearer precision to hit the right keys on the Dell.
Playing with the new MBPs and MBs in-store, I like them. Quite a bit. I can move my fingers a lot less, and the usable target areas ("sweet spot" in tennis racquet terms) are a lot bigger. I don't have to "pound" the new keyboards at all; I don't see why it's so necessary anyway.
This isn't my dad's portable Smith-Corona, and it shouldn't be, either. I don't miss the loud WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK at all.
Oh, and wwohl, the UI scaling is already possible. Go back and check System Preferences. Bitmapped, one-size-only UI elements are long gone.
The 15" mbp with 500Gig SSD is £2700! Are you kidding me...... Even 500Gig is too small for me. I'd have to constantly carry around a portable HD with my mbp.
£2700!
What planet are the Apple beancounters on right now?
When my late 2011 finally breaks (hopefully not for many years yet) I just hope Tim Crook is gone and Apple has it's common sense somewhere on the side of "non-insane".
£2700!
What planet are the Apple beancounters on right now?
When my late 2011 finally breaks (hopefully not for many years yet) I just hope Tim Crook is gone and Apple has it's common sense somewhere on the side of "non-insane".
Personally, I can't justify buying a Macbook Pro at the ridiculous prices Apple charges, when I could buy a Windows gaming laptop that is so powerful it could out-perform a Mac Pro trashcan in every way, for LESS money.
At this stage, the only Apple devices I can see myself purchasing in the future would be upgrades to my iPhone and Apple Watch (both of which I really like). Other than that, I've had it with Apple.
What I won't be replacing, unless Apple seriously get their act together are my: iMac, Macbook Pro, iPad, Apple TV, and Airport.