I was hoping somebody might be able to offer me some advice here. I'm starting my PhD on October 1st this year. I currently have an ageing Dell XPS 13 which is three years old and out of warranty, and which has had three battery failures and one SSD failure since I bought it (not through poor care, I should add). As such, I'm really hoping to just buy a brand new Macbook in order to have the peace of mind that I'll have a solid, reliable laptop for my three years there. The 256GB i5 MacBook Pro is the one I'm most interested in.
My concern is the keyboard. I'm not too concerned about whether it'll break (I'll be living a 15 minute walk away from the nearest Apple Store and I'll also be getting AppleCare), but about whether it's going to fundamentally be a bad experience to spend extended periods typing on. While I'm at home in my flat, I'll probably hook it up to my monitor and use an external keyboard/mouse anyway, but I'll be spending lots of time using it at the library. For those who have spent time using this generation of the butterfly keyboards - what's it actually like to type on? I'm very used to fairly low-travel chiclet style keyboards (I currently use a Microsoft Surface Ergonomic keyboard), but I don't want to find that my fingertips get sore after a few hours of typing, as that's going to be the primary use for the machine. Especially anyone who's used to using chiclet keyboards like on the Dell XPS, HP Spectre or MS Surface lineup - setting aside reliability, what's the actual experience of them like?
If there are issues with it from a comfort standpoint, is it possible the Macbook Pro will be updated with non-butterfly keyboards before the end of the year? I really don't like the sharp angles of the Macbook Air (I find they cut into my wrists when I'm typing) and I do need the extra power for other tasks. But I also can't really be waiting until late next year for a new laptop as I don't know how long this one will last and I can't risk that interfering with my project. Would it be a terrible idea to get the 256GB i5 for now and either sell it or trade it in when one with a new keyboard comes out?
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you
My concern is the keyboard. I'm not too concerned about whether it'll break (I'll be living a 15 minute walk away from the nearest Apple Store and I'll also be getting AppleCare), but about whether it's going to fundamentally be a bad experience to spend extended periods typing on. While I'm at home in my flat, I'll probably hook it up to my monitor and use an external keyboard/mouse anyway, but I'll be spending lots of time using it at the library. For those who have spent time using this generation of the butterfly keyboards - what's it actually like to type on? I'm very used to fairly low-travel chiclet style keyboards (I currently use a Microsoft Surface Ergonomic keyboard), but I don't want to find that my fingertips get sore after a few hours of typing, as that's going to be the primary use for the machine. Especially anyone who's used to using chiclet keyboards like on the Dell XPS, HP Spectre or MS Surface lineup - setting aside reliability, what's the actual experience of them like?
If there are issues with it from a comfort standpoint, is it possible the Macbook Pro will be updated with non-butterfly keyboards before the end of the year? I really don't like the sharp angles of the Macbook Air (I find they cut into my wrists when I'm typing) and I do need the extra power for other tasks. But I also can't really be waiting until late next year for a new laptop as I don't know how long this one will last and I can't risk that interfering with my project. Would it be a terrible idea to get the 256GB i5 for now and either sell it or trade it in when one with a new keyboard comes out?
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you