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REALLY worried about MBP - Magic Toolbar & ports
- Thread starter Chomp81
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Oh, no doubt about that. After all, TB3 is more oriented to professional user. I am happy as long as all USB-C ports on the new MBP also support TB3.
My fear is that they feel they need to innovate, and these things are not optimally practical
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Personally, I think Apple will frame the OLED bar as a way to improve the discoverability of the different actions that today can be performed with the function keys. I think the default actions will be adjusting the volume and screen light etc., but when you press the fn-key app-specific functions will appear. Today it is hard to know what for instance f5 does in Word, but with the OLED bar you can press fn, and a magnifying glass will appear so that new users of word will know that you can press “f5” to search the document. Only speculations, but this is my guess.
Same. I'm gonna miss certain things about my current, like the 17" screen and 3 USB ports but I need to upgrade badly.
I'll let you in on a secret, but you have to keep it quiet. The people st Apple don't just design and build computers. They USE them too. I know that may shock you, but I have it on good authority. So I'm pretty sure they've spent some serious effort thinking about things like this...use cases, and such. You spent what, less than thirty seconds? Wait another few days and you'll see how it works. As Abraham Lincoln said, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt."
Actually, his/her points are quite valid. Get a grip. The MT and USB-C ports are not the disaster some of you make them out to be. In a year or two, people will look back at these unfounded fears and chuckle at how silly they were.
It must be wonderful to be as big as Apple, and basically ignore what loyal customers are asking for and just do your own thing. The frustrating thing is that they could easily accommodate the requests of people who aren't bothered about slimming down the MacBook Pro further, and who just want a powerful system with lots of compatibility / connectivity. Instead they have to go down the route of making it a precious toy, with extra's and features that aren't geared towards Pro customers at all.
Sort of reinforces my feeling that 'Pro' has sort of become the 'Audi S-Line' of the Macintosh world - nothing more than some badging that makes customers feel better about spending more money on the hardware, for little more than some extra stick on tinsel and glitter.
Sort of reinforces my feeling that 'Pro' has sort of become the 'Audi S-Line' of the Macintosh world - nothing more than some badging that makes customers feel better about spending more money on the hardware, for little more than some extra stick on tinsel and glitter.
I agree with those that say the touchbar will have default behavior. Like the current Force Touch trackpad, unless the app is configured to reset the trackpad it will operate in its default behavior. My guess is that you will be able to do a bit of customization of the trackpad layout to fit you needs.
USB-C is long overdue. Finally, no need to have a forest of cables sticking out of the sides of my MacBook Pro.
USB-C is long overdue. Finally, no need to have a forest of cables sticking out of the sides of my MacBook Pro.
A) all magic toolbar stuff is speculation till tomorrow. But there is literally no way there is not a "legacy" mode that gives you f1-f12.
B) Not an adapter, just a cable. Your USB hard drive likely has a USB-B connection on it (If it is a desktop drive, otherwise it is probably micro-usb). You currently have a USB-B->USB-A cable. You just need to get a USB-B-USB-C cable. In the future all hard drives will likely just come with USB-C connectors on both ends. You can use a single adapter temporarily to adapt all your cables until they slowly shift to the new standard.
This isn't "Apple's wishes", it is the entire industries wish. Everyone else is just to scared to go all in so someone has to take the leap. The change is like the move from floppy to CD-ROM, or from D-sub serial ports to USB, except easier because the port is backwards compatible. So you don't need signal converters ($$), just straight form factor adapters. USB-A has been around for something like 20 years now, USB-C will have a similar longevity. The swap will be a temporary inconvenience.
C) I think charging on both sides is a pretty strong assumption at this point, I don't think the USB-C spec mandates charging...my guess is only one port will still be used. Unless they use both sides charging as a "benefit" to switching off magsafe.
This is pretty much exactly what I was about to type out.
It is almost a given that there will be the standard f1 to f12 on the bar when needed or as a default for apps not offering their own mix of better things.
USB-C only requires a new cable for external HDs and you can get really tiny adapters for thumb drives and SD reader. Probably only real "dongle" will be for HDMI or other things people already use dongles for from the current TB2 ports.
Anyways, almost all laptops will be coming out with USB-C only ports over the next year so it is time to move on....not to be scared.
Just because you and some other conservative users have specific ideas, doesn't means that you are "Apple's loyal customer base". Apple was always opinionated. They never did what the users were asking for. Users are generally conservative and afraid of change. Apple is progressive and enforces change. Thats exactly what they call 'courage'. And that is also the reason why they are so successful.
The fact is: the updated MBP will be significantly more powerful then the current one. It will also offer significantly better connectivity by including a series of insustry-standard ports that support ultra-fast data transfer, video output, ethernet, bidirectional power transfer etc. etc. etc. It will also most likely be lighter and more ergonomic, which means better experience for a professional who needs to be mobile. If you professional demands are different, then Apple is simply the wrong company to choose for you. They don't make rugged machines. They don't make super-powerful mobile workstations. Their goal is to make general-purpose, flexible laptop that offers high performance and good connectivity without sacrificing mobility. And they excel at it.
Yes they could, and we would all be leaving apple in the droves because 95% of people don't need all that crap. Some people still use CDs and DVDs, my boss still uses firewire devices, some people use serial cables. Perhaps we should have a MBP that is 17" weighs 4kg and has all the ports and drives that 1% of people want.
Every time apple has dropped a port there are people who used the one that has been dropped.
You can still buy the rMBP which has all these things and will probably get an updated processor etc tomorrow. Why should the massive majority of people have to compromise because a few people are inconvenienced by progress.
Its a strange argument that people who need legacy ports and software also need the latest bleeding edge tech that A) doesn't give you a very large performance increase over last gen and B) Isn't vital to their work.
My colleague who does very similar stuff to me uses a MBP from 2011 and he still gets work done. I will get a new MBP tomorrow and he will still manage to do the same work as me on a 5 year old mac.
Great post! I was just moving from my iPhone on my hammock in the backyard to the iMac in my home office to type out mostly the same thing. There is a wave of whiners flooding into this forum with silly, unfounded claims. Thanks for taking the time to be the voice of reason.
Hadron wrote:
"Retaining one USB-A port would solve that."
An "A port" wouldn't fit in the new, thinner form factor -- so, it's out.
I'm amused at the posts above, to whit, "we don't know what's coming".
OF COURSE we know [by now] what the new MacBook Pro is going to have on it tomorrow.
Anyone who reads the boards and is capable of sorting the wheat from the chaff "knows" by now.
Indeed, there were posts right here (in the rumors page) as far back as February that suggested the new MBPro's would be thinner with 4 USB-c ports. All one had to do was check them out, and -- again -- sort "the wheat" from the chaff...
"Retaining one USB-A port would solve that."
An "A port" wouldn't fit in the new, thinner form factor -- so, it's out.
I'm amused at the posts above, to whit, "we don't know what's coming".
OF COURSE we know [by now] what the new MacBook Pro is going to have on it tomorrow.
Anyone who reads the boards and is capable of sorting the wheat from the chaff "knows" by now.
Indeed, there were posts right here (in the rumors page) as far back as February that suggested the new MBPro's would be thinner with 4 USB-c ports. All one had to do was check them out, and -- again -- sort "the wheat" from the chaff...
But they could easily offer more varied machines for more customers. I don't understand why they have reduced to such a narrow focus in terms of what they offer. They already offer super lightweight, reduced connectivity fashion accessories if this is what people desire - such as the MacBook. Why do they need to make the Pro machine fit into this mould.
I'm honestly not a conservative user - I'm all for improvement and moving forward in technology - honestly. I love technology. I follow new product releases like a hawk. However I don't like moving forward, for the sake of it, nor when I don't think there's really a significant benefit for the customer. I can see arguments for and against some of the proposed changes.. however, and sorry to say this, it reeks of cost saving at Apple's end, and the desire to sell more accessories which sneak the prices up for the consumers.
My final point is that it just seems like a snub in so much as Apple have previously offered systems which satisfy "x" number of needs - however they're now willing to alienate the more niche / high end users simply because they don't need the business, and are able to therefore make cheaper to manufacture, more generic systems which satisfy a broader customer base. Sure, that might make good business sense - but it just saddens me, that this is the way everything seems to be going. Business decisions over-rule all others.
"Because our systems no longer fit your requirements (even though they used to) we don't want you as a customer. Thanks for investing in our ecosystem for so long, but.. for now.. goodbye."
Sure, they could. But its not how Apple operates. Other companies pump out different versions that cater to different people in order to grab that market share, while Apple simply organises their lineup in tiers. And they have done it for years. They never had a mobile workstation and they never had a laptop for niche users. They did have the 13", 15" and 17" — which again was mostly defined by screen real estate, one the hiDPI model came out, the 17" became unnecessary.
Because that is their vision of the laptop. We can of course discuss whether its a sensible vision or not (I think you know my opinion), but having and execution a particular vision is part of what made Apple Apple.
I am sure that is also part of the strategy. But mostly, its about forcing the industry to embrace the change quicker. Look for example at Windows. They were so obsessed with compatibility that they kept releasing a 32bit version and a 64bit version of their OS at the same time. Which kind of send the developers a signal not to bother with 64bit software. In the end, there are still 32bit only apps being developed for the platform! That is mind-boggling. And a great example about how the industry will stagnate if you give them too much unnecessary choice.
But quote honestly... what is that about a USB-C only model that would not satisfy your needs? Its going to be faster. Its most likely going to be lighter, which is great for those of us who use a laptop as a laptop (I constantly need to carry mine around, and every gram makes a difference, believe me). It will most likely get a great wide gamut screen. Yes, its going to have new ports, which means that you'd have to buy a few USB-C cables to replace the ones that come with your HDD and maybe a new stick or two. Sure, a video dongle (no change from any other Apple laptop, they needed those as long as I remember). It will most likely omit the card reader, which really might be a minor annoyance issue for photographers. But are these things really so terrible in comparison to getting a faster, objectively better — in all technical aspects — machine?
I could be cheeky and say that by removing a card reader Apple actually gives you the choice to pick up the one you prefer — so you are actually getting more choice
(Yes I know that its not a very good argument)How is the new Macbook Pro a step backwards in connectivity. USB-C is the new industry standard. Dell uses it, HP uses it, and Android phones have used it as their connectors since 2014. Having 4 of them on the new Macbook is great. USB-C can charge the unit, supports Thunderbolt-3 (40 Gb/sec), USB 3.1. It gets rid of the forest of cables used to interconnect a current MacBook Pro. It also means opens up a whole host of high performance peripherals like ThunderBolt-3 based monitors, eGPU units, and faster drives.
Sure, they could. But its not how Apple operates. Other companies pump out different versions that cater to different people in order to grab that market share, while Apple simply organises their lineup in tiers. And they .....
Snippity Snip
Apple actually gives you the choice to pick up the one you prefer — so you are actually getting more choice
Some good points, well made. I accept I come at everything from a very cynical / cautious perspective. I think it's mainly borne out of frustration that Apple has never made the machine that ticks all the boxes for me, and I've always had to compromise in one way or another. But anyway - let's see what tomorrow brings!
I'd be pretty surprised if developers incorporate Magic Toolbar features into their apps. Apple has released technology that just goes completely ignored before: Force Touch is a good example.
Maybe this will be different, but I expect for most apps it'll just show the default set of function keys for a long time.
The only thing I'm "worried" about (and I use that term loosely) is that they won't support 32GB RAM!
Maybe this will be different, but I expect for most apps it'll just show the default set of function keys for a long time.
The only thing I'm "worried" about (and I use that term loosely) is that they won't support 32GB RAM!
A lot of apps do use force touch, Facebook app, Twitter, Instagram, EBay, Adobe Lightroom, Amazon, lots of mobile games also make use of it. I really like the force touch it's useful.
Talk about a First World problem! Sooooo laughable!!!!
- You're talking about 3D Touch on iPhones. 4004786 was referring to Force Touch trackpads on Macs.