Why I will buy one

[blueridgedog]

Ok, like many I was not happy with the tech specs of the new MBP. I have no interest in the touchbar (use the function keys regularly and have them configured as such in my 2013 MBP) and love magsafe (it saves my but once a week).

But I will buy the new mac. Here is how I came to the conclusion:
1. I can't go back to windows and most other hardware that I could buy would not run OSX well enough to satisfy (I have a MBP, iMac, Mini and a beast of a hackintosh for my main rig). I spent a great deal of time looking at the potential go get OSX working perfectly on the new surface book or Dell's XPS. No dice. Prior to OSX I ran Linux and would go back to that before windows. Cost is not an issue but my laptop must run OSX as I just can't be without a great window manager with a Bash shell and the tools I am accustomed to.
2. I have always wanted Apple to take the lead and abandon the screwed up USB format to one that is uni-directional. I will have to put my money where my mouth is. In time all my peripherals will be USB C, so I might as well get on board.

How do I use my mac? I do some coding (HTML, Python, Java, Perl, Coco), run a lot of VirtualBox images for testing and development, manage a large and growing photo collection, work with some video (amateur), rip CDs and DVDs for watching/listening on my home system (Airplay is essential), do normal office stuff (email, memos, letters, scheduling), do Android development for fun, do some network support when staff can't figure stuff out things and play a few games. I am a former IT person now in management.

So for me, with no cost limits, it comes down to can I get OSX to run perfectly on a given hardware platform and am I getting the best configuration for the future.

This was not an easy choice and I had decided on the Surface Book early on but fired up a Windows 10 VirtualBox and really realized that OSX was what I could not give up. A BSD kernel with a great window manager and a Bash shell for the win.

 

[jx7]

Disliking Windows is a central issue for me as well. Ever since I started hearing about Windows 10, I started hoping. If Windows becomes awesome, it will open up an enormous world of options. Unfortunately, as of when I tried it last (2 months ago), I still don't like it. I really want to, but I just don't.

 

[Branflaakes]

Disliking Windows is a central issue for me as well. Ever since I started hearing about Windows 10, I started hoping. If Windows becomes awesome, it will open up an enormous world of options. Unfortunately, as of when I tried it last (2 months ago), I still don't like it. I really want to, but I just don't.

How did you try it last? Windows 10 has been amazing for me, personally. Snappy, quick, and simplistic (compared to Windows 8). I've as of now never had a single crash from Windows 10.

Personally build quality was what was holding me back, but it seems like they're catching up, rather quickly, with computers like the Surface Book, etc.

 

[Ries]

Ok, like many I was not happy with the tech specs of the new MBP. I have no interest in the touchbar (use the function keys regularly and have them configured as such in my 2013 MBP) and love magsafe (it saves my but once a week).

But I will buy the new mac. Here is how I came to the conclusion:
1. I can't go back to windows and most other hardware that I could buy would not run OSX well enough to satisfy (I have a MBP, iMac, Mini and a beast of a hackintosh for my main rig). I spent a great deal of time looking at the potential go get OSX working perfectly on the new surface book or Dell's XPS. No dice. Prior to OSX I ran Linux and would go back to that before windows. Cost is not an issue but my laptop must run OSX as I just can't be without a great window manager with a Bash shell and the tools I am accustomed to.
2. I have always wanted Apple to take the lead and abandon the screwed up USB format to one that is uni-directional. I will have to put my money where my mouth is. In time all my peripherals will be USB C, so I might as well get on board.

How do I use my mac? I do some coding (HTML, Python, Java, Perl, Coco), run a lot of VirtualBox images for testing and development, manage a large and growing photo collection, work with some video (amateur), rip CDs and DVDs for watching/listening on my home system (Airplay is essential), do normal office stuff (email, memos, letters, scheduling), do Android development for fun, do some network support when staff can't figure stuff out things and play a few games. I am a former IT person now in management.

So for me, with no cost limits, it comes down to can I get OSX to run perfectly on a given hardware platform and am I getting the best configuration for the future.

This was not an easy choice and I had decided on the Surface Book early on but fired up a Windows 10 VirtualBox and really realized that OSX was what I could not give up. A BSD kernel with a great window manager and a Bash shell for the win.

2. Buy a USB-A adapter, cheaper than buying a new Macbook Pro. You'll end up with a bunch of adapters anyway.

 

[Barna Biro]

I'm also a programmer and I do use the function keys quite heavily ( not just for work but also in my free time when playing different games... Dota 2 anyone? F1 is heavily used... )... While I understand that for certain users, using certain tools, having some fancy shortcuts or multi-touch controls in the touch bar could come in handy, but for programming, I feel it is more of a step back. Why? Because most of the function keys are never mapped only to 1 actions !!! SHIFT + F1, CTR + F1, CTRL + SHIFT + F1, COMMAND + F1, etc. do completely different and USEFUL things in many of the IDEs and tools I ( and many others like me ) use on a daily basis. How could the touch bar cope with that? Having a separate fancy icon for each action is gonna lead to a looooong list of things you'll need to scroll through every time... which sounds like a bunch of wasted time and especially not a nice experience.

What if the touch bar would simply display the function keys and you could continue using tools as before? Well, yeah, it should be fine in theory... I'm just afraid that the lack of tactile feedback will result in a weird experience ( and why not, a bunch of mistakes ). Of course, one could also remap most of those shortcuts, but that just feels like a super-crappy workaround.

Whyyyyyyy didn't they just introduce the touch bar IN ADDITION to what was already there ?!?!?! The trackpad is anyway unreasonably large... no one needs it to be that big!

I've been looking to change my 1st gen 13" rMBP for quite a while now and while I'm quite happy with OSX, I honestly don't know if I'll keep on using macs after this update. I don't mind going back to Windows or even Linux ( most likely Arch Linux if it comes down to that ), but...

... I'll need to play around with one in the shop to know for sure, but the more I think about it, the more reasons / possible scenarios I come up with that make me not want to get one. It's sad that things got to this...

 

[Abaganov]

Whyyyyyyy didn't they just introduce the touch bar IN ADDITION to what was already there ?!?!?! The trackpad is anyway unreasonably large... no one needs it to be that big!
.

Because apple new fetish is removing things.

 

[blueridgedog]

....and I rarely use the trackpad

 

[ryannel2003]

I bought one because I think it's sexy.

I don't care about the price... I can afford it.
I don't care about the lack of ports... I don't plug anything into my laptop.
I love the new keyboard. I love the new screen.

I'm the kind of person that doesn't need to justify why I want something. If I want something and I can afford it, I buy it. People use these forums to complain about every little thing instead of just getting out and actually using one. Half of the people complaining about the computers have never even used one.

 

[Barna Biro]

....and I rarely use the trackpad

I'm the complete opposite. The only time I don't use it is when I play games. Even at the office, I use a Magic Trackpad when the notebook is hooked up to a screen and a keyboard. Whatever works, I guess... that being said, I still feel that the new trackpad is unnecessarily large. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's bad thing ( at least not until I can try it out for myself and see how well the palm-rejection works ), it just really doesn't add any value.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how IntelliJ IDEA and other software I use on a daily basis will handle the lack of the function keys. Will they "embrace" the touch bar somehow or just display the function keys ( and if so, how will the overall experience be affected? ). Questions and more questions...

 

[jjiangweilan]

At least you got high transfer speed

 

[Barna Biro]

One thing that I find somewhat visually unappealing is the plastic stripe that has MacBook Pro written on it ( bottom part of the screen ). Why did they feel the need to add that garbage? I'd much rather have it full glass and no text like the 1st gen retinas... or Ok, add the useless text, but at least keep everything glass.

 

[GtrDude]

I bought one because I think it's sexy.

I don't care about the price... I can afford it.
I don't care about the lack of ports... I don't plug anything into my laptop.
I love the new keyboard. I love the new screen.

I'm the kind of person that doesn't need to justify why I want something. If I want something and I can afford it, I buy it. People use these forums to complain about every little thing instead of just getting out and actually using one. Half of the people complaining about the computers have never even used one.

I returned mine because of the keyboard.
Impossible for someone who uses the keyboard 6 to 8 hours a day to use that junk.
At least it was for me.
I would really like it if Apple came out with a 15 inch with no touch bar.
Same for a nice 17 incher. But I know that's out forever.
However I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for a 15" no touch bar.
Oh and a keyboard with 1.5 mm key travel.
Don't care if it's adds and ounce or two to the total weight, I spend far more time typing and using my laptop than I do carrying it.

 

[Mr. Dee]

The 2016 generation will probably become the cheapest refurbs on ebay in years to come.

 

[GtrDude]

The 2016 generation will probably become the cheapest refurbs on ebay in years to come.

The MBP's up to early 2016 will grow in price and will maintain their value.
Who wants a keyboard that's faking the whole thing and no one knows if they will last for years to come.

I still have an old 1995 (I think) macbook and the keyboard is amazing.

This 2016 thing will all it's artificial feedback and sounds plus it's already giving some people a high pitched squeak sounds and others have sounds that don't even match, key to key......nah....I'm passing on this.

 

[Mr. Dee]

The MBP's up to early 2016 will grow in price and will maintain their value.
Who wants a keyboard that's faking the whole thing and no one knows if they will last for years to come.

I still have an old 1995 (I think) macbook and the keyboard is amazing.

This 2016 thing will all it's artificial feedback and sounds plus it's already giving some people a high pitched squeak sounds and others have sounds that don't even match, key to key......nah....I'm passing on this.

Why would it appreciate when its an older model?

 

[raqball]

The 2016 generation will probably become the cheapest refurbs on ebay in years to come.

Heck they already are.... Within a month of release the nTB model was going for $1100'ish on swappa... It's pretty bad when used 2015's were selling for more than used 2016..

 

[ryannel2003]

I returned mine because of the keyboard.
Impossible for someone who uses the keyboard 6 to 8 hours a day to use that junk.
At least it was for me.
I would really like it if Apple came out with a 15 inch with no touch bar.
Same for a nice 17 incher. But I know that's out forever.
However I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for a 15" no touch bar.
Oh and a keyboard with 1.5 mm key travel.
Don't care if it's adds and ounce or two to the total weight, I spend far more time typing and using my laptop than I do carrying it.

I've had my MacBook Pro since the day after they were introduced and I have been very pleased with mine. If Apple drops the price of the touch bar model a bit I will pick one of those up in the future though.

 

[kirqe]

keep us updated :/

 

[Plett]

Ok, like many I was not happy with the tech specs of the new MBP. I have no interest in the touchbar (use the function keys regularly and have them configured as such in my 2013 MBP) and love magsafe (it saves my but once a week).



So for me, with no cost limits,

I think line is absolutely germane to this subject. Without those limitations, that unfortunately drive most of us, either from a cost/value or simple economic reality of our checkbooks, cost is a huge factor. Like most on these forums I love the OS X experience and pay extra for that experience, but at what $$ is the experience diminished? For me it would be about $3 every 3-4 years to be honest. That is what I am willing to spend on my computer. (unfortunately I have 3 people that need computers in the house so that means almost every year I am buying a new computer for someone. Luckily we don't need the fastest wiz bang machines, but we want sufficient power to run PS and FCP.

 

[GtrDude]

Why would it appreciate when its an older model?

It's better.
Has all the connections.
Keyboard works.
Has the same OS.
Has a trackpad that's a good NORMAL size.
For me there is literally no benefit to getting the new MBP.