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The rmb reality

Hook85 said:
But how often do you do those things on the move? I do those things back at my desk, and so I have the multi-port adapter and a USB hub for that. I like having only one port, it's clean, tidy and helps the rMB achieve the form factor it does.
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But you would really want ethernet to do that with a large dataset and you couldn't project and use ethernet at the same time on a MBA. The MBA is pointless it doesn't have enough ports ;)

rMB is fine, the ports issue is not an issue, just an excuse punted by MBA owners to bash a better, more modern product thats mad their device obsolete.
 
throAU said:
A fairly common thing I sometimes need to do is plug a serial cable into a router and read or write config from a USB stick.

1 USB port = fail.

Look, the rMB is a nice device, but some people do have real world needs that it does not cater to.

And that's fine, its why the Pro exists.
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Yes, thank you. I completely agree with your comments in that the rMB doesn't cater to the needs of all, but that's okay because Apple is not trying to position it that way. However, the way some people go on about how "compromised" the rMB is makes you think that Apple discontinued the MBA and rMBP and is selling the rMB as their only portable option AND trying to shove it down your throat.:rolleyes:
 
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iAppl3Fan said:
Nice find. Busted!
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You are an idiot with your busted remark. Why busted? I always thought it was a cool machine, but iverpriced. When it came down to what i felt was a reasonable price on sale i bought it and like it. What are you, 9 years old? Busted. Grow up.
 
Hook85 said:
But how often do you do those things on the move? I do those things back at my desk, and so I have the multi-port adapter and a USB hub for that. I like having only one port, it's clean, tidy and helps the rMB achieve the form factor it does.
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I do it all the time. I have a laptop for the purpose of being able to do those things on the go.
 
zhenya said:
As mentioned though, if you are doing that away from your desk, you are already carrying a bunch of extra accessories around. One more small one is going to break the camels back though?

I love the digital AV adapter - although it should be even better than it is. At my desk it's a single cable to plug in and I'm 'docked.' On the road, it comes with me, and at the airport, on the plane, and during the day when I'm moving around to various job sites, the Macbook is as small and light as possible. When I get back to the hotel room, I re-create my mini-docking station on the desk in the room and I'm done. It's perfect for highly mobile use.
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My SD card is already in my camera, projecting to a screen doesn't involve carrying things around. Just having to hunt down cable every time I want to do something would drive me up the wall. Its simply easier and less of a hassle (and less expensive) to have the things built in. Not to mention the chances of loosing or breaking an expensive external adaptor (I've had a number of Apple cables and adaptors fail over the years).

I know some people will prefer this approach, but at the same time there are plenty of people who prefer the points, and I guess that is why it is good that Apple gives a choice of laptops, and I hope they continue to.
 
AFEPPL said:
But you would really want ethernet to do that with a large dataset and you couldn't project and use ethernet at the same time on a MBA. The MBA is pointless it doesn't have enough ports ;)

rMB is fine, the ports issue is not an issue, just an excuse punted by MBA owners to bash a better, more modern product thats mad their device obsolete.
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The Port issue is an issue for many. Maybe you feel the need to bash the MBA as you need to justify your own purchase?

Will people please realise that the MBA and MBP serve different purposes and that the rMB doesn't make either obsolete.

It doesn't effect me at all. I use a cMBP and it is the perfect machine for me. It will start effecting me if Apple has a brain dead moment and removes the ports and performance out the rMBP in pursuit of a thinner case.

Better is a very subjective thing.

For some the lightness, thinness and retina display would make the rMB a better laptop. For some longer battery life, lower price, better performance, ports and the keyboard of the Air make it a better laptop.
 
oldmacs said:
Never said it was. I was merely objecting to the idea that nobody needs ports anymore. As long as Apple remembers to keep the pro a pro machine then it will be fine.
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At no point have I (or anybody else for that matter) said that ports don't matter. What they have said, and I said VERY clearly in my post, is that if you need more ports than the rMB provides it isn't the machine for you.

It's purpose is to be ultra portable and having only one port is a big part of that.
 
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Hook85 said:
At no point have I (or anybody else for that matter) said that ports don't matter. What they have said, and I said VERY clearly in my post, is that if you need more ports than the rMB provides it isn't the machine for you.

It's purpose is to be ultra portable and having only one port is a big part of that.
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The point made was you don't need ports for basic usage, and I disagree with that. I also agree that its purpose is to be an ultra portable and being an ultra portable means lack of ports.
 
oldmacs said:
The Port issue is an issue for many. Maybe you feel the need to bash the MBA as you need to justify your own purchase?

Will people please realise that the MBA and MBP serve different purposes and that the rMB doesn't make either obsolete.

It doesn't effect me at all. I use a cMBP and it is the perfect machine for me. It will start effecting me if Apple has a brain dead moment and removes the ports and performance out the rMBP in pursuit of a thinner case.

Better is a very subjective thing.

For some the lightness, thinness and retina display would make the rMB a better laptop. For some longer battery life, lower price, better performance, ports and the keyboard of the Air make it a better laptop.
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I own rMBPs - all listed in my signature.
I'm not justifying anything at all, I'm simply bored to **** of the "ports" being listed as an issue, its simply not, i have to carry adapters for the rMBP, it's no big deal at all.
 
AFEPPL said:
I own rMBPs - all listed in my signature.
I'm not justifying anything at all, I'm simply bored to **** of the "ports" being listed as an issue, its simply not, i have to carry adapters for the rMBP, it's no big deal at all.
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I'm bored to death of being told ports are not an issue. It is a big deal to some. Thus why I choose to have a cMBP.

Your experience is not = to the rest of the worlds experiences, just as mine is not either.
 
oldmacs said:
Massive generalisation. The Majority of my clients who are basic users do quite a few of those things.
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And is the quoted 95% not a generalisation? But even then, I quite surely believe that those 'few things' can be accomplished by plugging in a single cable.
 
oldmacs said:
I'm bored to death of being told ports are not an issue. It is a big deal to some. Thus why I choose to have a cMBP.

Your experience is not = to the rest of the worlds experiences, just as mine is not either.
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Remind me how good the retina screen is ;0)
 
RUGGLES99 said:
Now that I bit the bullet and bought a base rmb, i'm not sure why there was so much negativity. For whaI I do, its fast, screen and keyboard are great. I'm just not sure what all the excitement is about the trackpad. All a bit overblown.
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The negativity comes from Air owners. No one likes to own obsolete equipment, so they make stuff up to shoot down the new best-in-class product.

BJ
 
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Aluminum213 said:
95% people who use MacBooks will just browse safari, use a word processor, load simples apps like iTunes or spotify. With that said, the MacBook more then handles that

the one port is a glaring flaw though, especially with USB-C being nowhere near to common input in 2015, maybe in 3-4 years
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It's not a flaw. It's a philosophy and design choice. If you need ports, this isn't the right computer for you. There are others.
 
throAU said:
A fairly common thing I sometimes need to do is plug a serial cable into a router and read or write config from a USB stick.

1 USB port = fail.

Look, the rMB is a nice device, but some people do have real world needs that it does not cater to.

And that's fine, its why the Pro exists.



Exactly.

Just that some people can't seem to see that even some basic workloads (such as the above, that's nothing particularly taxing) can require more than 1 port.
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I also have to console into Cisco gear. You might want to invest in AirConsole. No need to use USB. Connect wirelessly or vie Bluetooth to them.

http://www.get-console.com/shop/en/27-airconsole
 
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smallcoffee said:
It's not a flaw. It's a philosophy and design choice. If you need ports, this isn't the right computer for you. There are others.
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It is a typical Apple flaw. Releasing hardware tech way before its time followed by minimal acceptance of the tech industry wide. You might argue that Apple is blazing the way, but I say they are more blazing a trail of your dollars into their pockets. Dongles are a selling philosophy, and not a technical innovation.

When has Apple found industry acceptance doing this? Was Firewire accepted...no, was thunderbolt accepted...no, perhaps USB-c will be accepted but not in its present incarnation. By acceptance, I mean as prevalent as say USB 2.x or USB 3.x.

I get Macs and PCs are different, but ports are meant to be universal and not proprietary.

In terms of the rMB, I agree with most here that more ports are not needed however a second USB-C port would not have compromised the design nor cost much of anything for Apple to do. This I consider a design flaw. You'll see it next year on the new rMB.

I doubt you will see the rMB design be much different with respect to ports. Perhaps it will simply be merged into the AIR line where a slightly thicker body design is available.
 
I completely disagree with you that the negative comes from mba fans who are worried their machines will be outdated. Besides the new MB, I also own a 2014 11" base mba and it is a GREAT machine. I find it just as good as the rmb, except for the screen. And the screen is why I bought it, plus the fact that I got it at a greatly reduced [price because I always thought the rmb was too fkg expensive at list price. My mba cost me $720 at Best Buy (with a sale price and a coupon.) I got the rmb from a trusted major ebay seller for $1149, no tax and no shipping. I felt that was more reasonable. I'm typing on it as we speak.
 
ZipZap said:
It is a typical Apple flaw. Releasing hardware tech way before its time followed by minimal acceptance of the tech industry wide. You might argue that Apple is blazing the way, but I say they are more blazing a trail of your dollars into their pockets. Dongles are a selling philosophy, and not a technical innovation.

When has Apple found industry acceptance doing this? Was Firewire accepted...no, was thunderbolt accepted...no, perhaps USB-c will be accepted but not in its present incarnation. By acceptance, I mean as prevalent as say USB 2.x or USB 3.x.

I get Macs and PCs are different, but ports are meant to be universal and not proprietary.

In terms of the rMB, I agree with most here that more ports are not needed however a second USB-C port would not have compromised the design nor cost much of anything for Apple to do. This I consider a design flaw. You'll see it next year on the new rMB.

I doubt you will see the rMB design be much different with respect to ports. Perhaps it will simply be merged into the AIR line where a slightly thicker body design is available.
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I don't disagree about selling peripherals to make money, but I think you're being too cynical with regard to the actual design of the device. You really think that Jony Ivy or whoever was sitting around and when they were designing the new Macbook their first thoughts were, hmm, if we go down to one port we'll be able to make more money?

It really is a design philosophy and it's minimalism. It's kind of forced, as you see with people complaining about the lack of ports, but it's a philosophy nonetheless. Attaching a whole bunch of crap to the Macbook is the opposite of portability. Just get a desktop or a Macbook Pro.

Personally, even since owning a Macbook Air, I haven't plugged anything into a computer. It's just not necessary anymore for most users. I'd be willing to put big money that Apple won't add any ports to the next incarnation of the Macbook.
 
smallcoffee said:
Nope. If you remember (or if I do) come back and requote this when they do the refresh. They absolutely will not add a port to the Macbook.
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Apple has been wrong about design before.... Many times actually, and adjusted accordingly
 
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