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If MagSafe is indeed back, I just hope they make the cable detachable from the brick so you don't have to throw out the whole charger when the cable fails. Maybe it could be USB-C on one end and MagSafe on the other and they can continue to use the current bricks?

If this thing is real, I may already be looking at trading in my 2020 MacBook Air.
Amen. If a company like Apple “gets” the value of things like tech in an attractive wrapper, unboxing an item with nearly a full (or >50%) charge, etc., how can they have taken so long at undoing being so awful at designing durable cables/chargers? I’m on my 3rd power block/cable for my 2014 MBA.
 
Am I really the only person in the world who actually likes the Touch Bar?

Much like the idea of the iPhone replacing physical buttons depending on app context - it's actually useful when compared to a row of utterly useless buttons marked "F". I don't understand the hatred, or why Apple are caving
They're marked with their primary functions (brightness, volume, etc) too. And if you're familiar enough with the keyboard, it doesn't matter how they're marked because you don't actually need to look at them at all—that's the beauty of physical keys.
 
A redesign sounds great, there's lots to be tweaked to make these machines looks awesome.
I am looking forward for the mini LED but to be honest, as it comes to brightness - maybe I got older - I think the 16inch is bright enough to hurt my eyes.

I tend to stay like "Dracula" in darker environments and it hurts my soul to take the laptop outside in bright sunlight and expose it to dust and dirt on the streets.
 
I am not a fan of this trend to hard edges, first the iPad Pro, then iPhone 12, now this? Difficult to hold.
 
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This is cool! Definitely needed something new to (positively) differentiate the Pro from the Air after the M1 update.

This seems like a reasonable consumer vs “pro” tradeoff. Thin, light, universal ports/chargers vs. screen upgrades and specialized ports.
 
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Am I really the only person in the world who actually likes the Touch Bar?

Much like the idea of the iPhone replacing physical buttons depending on app context - it's actually useful when compared to a row of utterly useless buttons marked "F". I don't understand the hatred, or why Apple are caving
The touchbar function could be great! But many of us appreciate & use daily (hourly) the discrete function keys that are 1) findable without having to look often and 2) immediately ready and do not require a few taps to access a particular function. Apple’s awfully good at introducing “A” by eliminating “B” while assuming nobody will miss “B.”
 
They're marked with their primary functions (brightness, volume, etc) too. And if you're familiar enough with the keyboard, it doesn't matter how they're marked because you don't actually need to look at them at all—that's the beauty of physical keys.
Sure, but the downside to keys with dedicated functions is that I have no use for the M1 Air's F3-F6 being dedicated to Mission Control, Search, Dictation, or Do Not Disturb when I access the first two via the trackpad or keyboard and the last two rarely. Hopefully Apple will make the Touchbar as a BTO option on the new M1BPs.
 
If MagSafe is indeed back, I just hope they make the cable detachable from the brick so you don't have to throw out the whole charger when the cable fails. Maybe it could be USB-C on one end and MagSafe on the other and they can continue to use the current bricks?

If this thing is real, I may already be looking at trading in my 2020 MacBook Air.
I really hope they do exactly this. Having to replace the whole charger when the cord inevitably wore out was the only real weakness in MagSafe charging before.
 
I can’t help but notice that Apple has finally started to make some sense with their design choices once Jony Ive left. He was a minimalist and push for the removal of all the ports if I remember correctly. Now that he is gone we are back to functional design that can still look good and not be ultra minimalist.
 
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Sure, but the downside to keys with dedicated functions is that I have no use for the M1 Air's F3-F6 being dedicated to Mission Control, Search, Dictation, or Do Not Disturb when I access the first two via the trackpad or keyboard and the last two rarely.
Gross. I only just now realized they took away keyboard brightness controls for these things. I guess I could remap that search button to Alfred or something.

BTW, Karabiner Elements is pretty great for reclaiming keys for things you actually want to use.
 
I can’t help but notice that Apple has finally started to make some sense with their design choices once Jony Ive left. He was a minimalist and push for the removal of all the ports if I remember correctly. Now that he is gone we are back to functional design that can still look good and not be ultra minimalist.
No, he had nothing to do with the decision as to what ports were included.
 
Launch in the second half of this year presumably means we will have to wait until November for release then another month or two for delivery. Sad.
 
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Am I really the only person in the world who actually likes the Touch Bar?

Much like the idea of the iPhone replacing physical buttons depending on app context - it's actually useful when compared to a row of utterly useless buttons marked "F". I don't understand the hatred, or why Apple are caving
I don't mind it. I like the volume slider and Do Not Disturb button and it's nice for Autofill on web forms in Safari. But I'm also a touch typist and rarely use it for anything else so I probably wouldn't pay a premium for it.
 
Gross. I only just now realized they took away keyboard brightness controls for these things. I guess I could remap that search button to Alfred or something.
I know right. They should have kept the keyboard brightness as a single on/off toggle key with the level of brightness in ControlCenter.
 
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Sounds good. Wonder what if the SOC M1X based, M2, or? Also, GPU cores, memory amd drive configs, port types and numbers. Will probably get a 14" to go with my Air M1 if it is a big leap otherwise ???.
 
Sure, but the downside to keys with dedicated functions is that I have no use for the M1 Air's F3-F6 being dedicated to Mission Control, Search, Dictation, or Do Not Disturb when I access the first two via the trackpad or keyboard and the last two rarely. Hopefully Apple will make the Touchbar as a BTO option on the new M1BPs.
Fair enough. I only use F1-2 and F7-12. I suppose I could always remap 3-6 if I had a use for them, but it's more about the physical key press than the actual functions for me. I shouldn't have to look at my keyboard to know what tapping in a specific area is going to do.
 
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I was hoping for an Intel version... you know... something to keep me warm next winter 🤣
Most likely there will be an Intel version because the M1 systems can not do everything an Intel processing system can do at the moment. I can see this model being the last of the dual processor selection configuration. You could order it with a Intel or a M1 depending what you are doing with it. Apple still has some issues they need to work out on the M1 and this would give them one more year to work out the engineering designs.
 
Because Touch Bar is terrible. Anyone who knows how to type is looking at the screen, not the keyboard. But it is impossible to use the Touch Bar without looking at it. And since no pressure is required to press the “keys” on the Touch Bar, high speed typists are constantly accidentally triggering touchbar functions by merely brushing it with stray fingers. So it actually makes the computer *worse* for a lot of people - we can’t even pretend the touchbar doesn’t exist.
There are many functional advantages to the Touch Bar; you are focusing on the one disadvantage, and it mainly only applies to programmers, which is a small percentage of the population.
 
I really hope they do exactly this. Having to replace the whole charger when the cord inevitably wore out was the only real weakness in MagSafe charging before.
I want to keep the ability to charge from both sides, personally.

And yes, obviously make the cable detachable from the charger.
 
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I don’t mind if Apple wants to wait until the fall to release these, but I sure hope that they show us the chip they’ll be using (through an iMac release etc) before then. That’s what my decision will ultimately come down to: can the 14” and 16” finally compete with the graphics power of comparable laptops with Nvidia’s chips?

I’m withholding all judgment until I see them, but the M1 MacBooks’ GPU performance was its weakest link, by far.
 
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