“A million hot takes have been posted about how the late-2016 MacBook Pro with USB-C is the undeniable proof that Apple doesn’t care about developers anymore,” Adam Geitgey writes for Medium. “They took away all the ports! No Esc key! It’s just a more expensive MacBook Air!”
“But in some ways, the new MacBook Pro is the most techy and expandable laptop Apple has ever made,” Geitgey writes. “They are trusting their pro users to wade into murky USB-C waters in search of the holy grail of a universal, open standard for moving data and power between devices.”
“everyone posting complaints without actually using a MBP for a few weeks is missing out on all the clever things you can do because it is built on USB-C” Geitgey writes. “Over the past week or two with a new MacBook Pro (15in, 2.9ghz, TouchBar), I’ve been constantly surprised with how USB-C makes new things possible. It’s a kind of a hacker’s dream.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yes, exactly!
The keyboard makes the most annoying click/tap sounds I’ve ever heard. It’s the same annoyance level of someone eating across from you smacking food. Can’t stand it.
Yes, I agree- I just tested it and it’s LOUD. WHY did they do this?? My 2012 rMBP is virtually silent (as it should be). What a mistake! Sad…
I absolutely love the feel and the feedback this new keyboard has. But it is really noisy, maybe a bit more noisy than the 12″ Macbook keyboard. You can hit the keys with less pressure, and it will alleviate the issue, but even then it is still noisy and annoying on a library os class. Except that, it is a great keyboard, fast and precise.
It has a louder sound, but with my MacBook I make less errors and can fly with my typing. After a week, going back to the old MacBook keyboard feels like I’m typing on fat, small, stone tablets… It’s a great keyboard. Give it a few days. People are far too resistant to change.
You may have made less errors but you didn’t make fewer errors!
This will be terrible in conferences, with people taking notes. The clicking of some on soft keys is already annoying… this will be even worse.
None the less, mine is on order. 😉
Saw my first touch bar version at the weekend in an Apple Store.
Seemed unresponsive and frankly a gimmick.
Unresponsive?? What were you trying to do?
People bitching about USB-C (read, new MBP) don’t CARE about USB-C, they care about backwards compatibility, not forward compatibility. Why is this so hard to understand?
The issue is not really USB Type-C connectors. Yes, if I were to purchase one of the newest, maxed out MBPs available today I would have to carry with me a plethora of dongles, but how is this much different than the other two major shifts in connections Apple did (RS-422 and unique interconnects to ADB and ADB, etc. to USB)? By late 2019 I suspect the only dongles I’ll have to carry are USB Type-C to HDMI and a power adapter.
The real questions come down to, “If Apple keeps coming out with MBPs that are appliances, i.e., everything soldered on or glued on so it is what it is allowing zero further upgrades or customization, and if Apple keeps limiting things like RAM, and if Apple ships four month to one year old hardware at the time of the announcement of the “new MBP”, will I be buying one in the 2019 time frame?” The answer is, “Unlikely.” (And, this is from a guy that has had in his travel gear nearly every generation of Mac laptop except that first lead-acid battery variant.)
I had a go of one in Apple Liverpool and was very impressed. For a 1.0 release it’s pretty capable and I can only see it getting better and better as developers take advantage of it. Never noticed in the press releases it had Touch ID, that’s a massive plus in my book.
ESC key is available by pressing the FN key
Which shows that Apple continues to make the Mac interface less efficient. Hiding menus and burying commands and copying the ever changing Microsoft ribbon only adds more clicks to the user workflow. Apple needs to stop with the extreme minimalist fashion bullshit and make the Mac faster to use.
Late to this, but…
Huh?
“Now I only need to bring one power cable to the café instead of two and I can charge my computer or my phone interchangeably.”
Unless you have an Apple phone.
“you can take that same USB-C Ethernet adapter you have for your MBP and plug it right into your cell phone:”
Unless you have an Apple phone.
“You can even do silly stuff like plug your USB-C keyboard and mouse right into your cell phone:”
Unless you have an Apple phone.
Apple getting out of the vertical integration business is a decision that will lead to a very uneven consumer experience based on race-to-the-bottom cheap cables, dongles, adapters, etc.
This article like many others MDN has linked to about this hardware generation smells of paid advertisement.