Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/10/25/new-macbook-pro-design-shows-u.html
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I wonder how many ports they’re sacrificing this time around, in the service of “thinner”.
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The rumor is you get two USB-C ports on each side.
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I hear they’re bringing back the headphone jack.
Well actually, it appears they’re taking the HDMI port away. Thanks Obama.
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How the hell are you supposed to Force Quit (edit: without an escape key)? I know that’s not supposed to happen and all, but it does.
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If they’re actually thunderbolt 3 that might be sufficient.
There’s no escape from Apple!
No, literally, where is the escape key?
ETA: I just RTFA, and apparently that joke was already made. Oops.
I still want one.
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How is that in any way the keyboard of a ‘Pro’ device. That’s pretty much the thoroughly ‘meh’ keyboard from the 12-inch retina MacBook. Does pro even mean anything to them any more other than ‘more expensive’?
Edit: To those missing it, the ‘escape’ key is that pathetic little ‘CANCEL’ soft-button on the strip that’s almost but not where an escape key should actually be. If you use vi or emacs because you’re a professional you’re thoroughly f@$#ed (perhaps we already are, because our job requires using vi or emacs, but now extra).
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Damn, I’m still using my Macbook Pro from 2010. I might upgrade to a SSD hard drive but otherwise, absolutely no need to change.
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It does seem like slowly removing entire rows of useful keys is something Apple would totally do.
Someday the entire computer will just have one single key, the way Steve Jobs intended.
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Why be courageous and screw around with the esc key but leave caps untouched? Why?
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I DO NOT UNDERSTAND.
I have a vendor who does it because “it takes so much time to only capitalize some of the letters”. I regularly have to tell myself they are not yelling. They are not yelling. I AM NOT YELLING.
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Again, my love/hate relationship with Apple. For my music/art/video stuff, they are hands-down the best and most cost-effective platform for what I do.
But I really don’t give a tenth of a shit how thin or lightweight the stuff is. I’m lugging 300lbs of PA gear- an extra 8oz in a laptop isn’t going to kill me. But I needs PORTS, and they have to be compatible with the other shit I already have in my rig. I’m STILL not over them abandoning Firewire before Thunderbolt interfaces dropped below $500.
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My recent switch to a Nexus phone and a Windows 7 laptop seems better with each passing month.
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Ugh! I can see what they’re doing there, like: adding useless “enhancements” like a useless “utility bar” where you can control… uh… stuff. This is where laptops how Thinkpads and such have been defining enhancements for decades now, adding more and more useless buttons and tidbits, a little red controller knob just in case anybody might like one instead of a touchpad. This is where creativity turns into progressivism, where all one feels compelled to do is add something – anything literally – that wasn’t there before and call it a revolution, and then remove it and call it another revolution.
This is why Apple died with Jobs, one of the few people who could definitely tell when something was just worthless.
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I have a first-gen Mac mini that runs my Digital Performer setup in my home studio - it is frozen in time, no updates since 2005. Works for me. One day I thought, hey! Maybe I can pick up a new Mini that can run some of these nifty plugins they’ve come out with in the past decade. $699 or so? Upgrade DP from 4.6x to…what, 11? Neat!
That’s when I found out about Firewire. Everything would need to be replaced. MOTU interface, external drive, Mini, cables, everything. $699 became about $3K. At one point I was talking w/ Glyph about potential Firewire/Thunderbolt adapters for my old Glyph 120 - no dice, by the way - and they congratulated me on having what, to their knowledge, is one of the oldest surviving examples of that drive still in service.
No nifty plugins for me.
I’m not even mad because, you know, a decade plus. But still.
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Oh, you people 
Apple didn’t “die”. They’re in the sort of spinning-their-wheels holding pattern you might expect when the man driving the vision of the company passes away and is replaced by a decidedly non-visionary strong leader who’s keeping the engine running nicely without revving it very much.
They’ve made some fascinating brave decisions and some really dumb ones, just like they did with Jobs in charge (remember the circular puck mouse? The Cube?). Consolidating their ports to USB-C and providing adaptors for any task is far from the death knell of an incredibly successful company.
And really, I think the Magic Strip or whatever they call it could be super useful. A context-oriented control area? I’ve been wanting a keyboard with that for awhile.
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They are easing into this
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by right/shift clicking the mouse on a program’s dock icon. at that point, pressing “option” changes “quit” to “force quit”.
i’ll bet money that the default state of the OLED bar has an “esc” “key” where “cancel” is shown.
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I’ve developed on apple since 2010. After spending 3 hours last week getting compilers working again on sierra and closing 8 nag screens a day about apple services I don’t want I vowed to never buy a Mac again.
Yup this seals it :P… This is not a macbook pro. These features add cost, kill battery and contribute to productivity in no way! This is some idiots idea of a neato gimmicky laptop. I’m out!
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