Mid-December can’t get here soon enough then.
1 Like
In theory it’s a great idea.
What if I don’t need 1000baseT? What if I need 10 gb ethernet instead. What if i don’t really need usb ports, but I need to connect up multiple monitors instead. Apple says. “Here are four 40 Gbs ports. Go nuts”
But as anyone who has used a mac can testify, one of the thunderbolt 2 ports is used for a bog standard dvi or hdmi monitor, one is left unused, and what would benice right now is an extra set of usb 3 ports. Because buying thunderbolt hubs turns out to involve a 100 or 200 dollar premium and doesn’t play well with bootcamp.
4 Likes
more on standards.
3 Likes
On my 2015 Mac, I have an ethernet dongle and one for my video – both using the Thunderbolt connectors. I found out about the USB priority thing when plugging in a USB 3 hub so that I could keep things at my work desk and not think about it. Took me 30 seconds to fix it. It is weird, on this Macbook it will take over priority…on my older one it doesn’t. It is inconsistent but the way it works on my newest one is the USB standard (even if I don’t like this).
Again, a simple and standard fix…go into network and tell which poorly named ethernet adapter is the one you want to use!
As for an extra set of USB 3 Ports…what’s wrong with USB-C? I picked up Anker USB-C to USB 3 dongles for $6 for 3 of them a few weeks ago. Eventually, I’ll just get the right cables…but for now it works. I’d rather have USB-C than USB 3 as I’m looking towards the future not the past.
Edit: BTW thanks for that Survival Guide! I’ve picked up several adapters and tried them out in the store (seems Apple Store employees really don’t give a damn what you do with their machines!!!) and they all seemed to work perfectly. But this is handy to have…
4 Likes
he’s using 3rd party dongles, so it’s possible that the dongle/external hard drive vendors have crappy shielding on their devices, and emissions from them are interfering with the wifi.
intel did a white paper on this problem 4 years ago. http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/io/universal-serial-bus/usb3-frequency-interference-paper.html
2 Likes
well not really, as the older macbook pro didn’t have USB C, so the USB C to USB3 dongle wasn’t used.
2 Likes
the new MacBook Pro is possibly the most open device Apple has ever built.
What?! No! That’s not how it works.
“Open” does not mean “It will work with all your devices once you replace them with compatible ones or buy adaptors”
USB-C may be an open standard, but it is not yet widely supported. Rather then sully their design with one or two ports that would make the user experience better, Apple went for a kind of engineering purity.
It’s disappointing from Apple, who built their brand by putting delivering amazing user experience first.
2 Likes
An incredibly rare outcome.
I’ve never seen a real world case of that happening due to the connectors in my experience in over 10 years of IT support.
Cases where a removable component* has failed and has been replaced, fixing the problem: more than i could possibly recall.
Yes, restoring the data/OS adds it’s own challenges and many people will chose not to do that. But i do not see how denying everyone the chance of fixing something to shave a few pence off the build cost, in so making the entire device pretty much unfixable if there’s a problem, is a good thing for anyone.
*Mostly the storage, but rarely RAM dimms and one notable example of a wifi card burning out (main chip package actually cracked open, a replacement fixed it)
1 Like
I think the ones they sell are fine. My complaint is that they are not selling one that’s 5 lbs and 1" thick that uses the chipset that supports 32 and 64GB RAM configs, and ideally used NVIDIA as well. I make my living selling computing systems and platforms and storage systems and lots of fun stuff to the media industry, and have sold probably thousands of Apple’s computers to my clientele over the years, many of the largest media companies out there. So trust me, I am way up on the shortcomings of Apple’s hardware lineup. However I think the message that we should make is NOT “these machines suck,” rather, “make these crazy thin light computers all you want, but PLEASE release just ONE model that is truly a pro machine!” Don’t even get me started about the 3-year-old piece of shit trash can Mac Pro…
Then I guess you should create your own computer, that meets all of your particular needs. This just in, nothing is perfect for everyone.
Isn’t their market share dropping on premium laptops?
What kind of drugstores are you going to that are selling USB power adapters capable of putting out 87W (which is what the Macbook Pro charger outputs)?
Just like you can’t use just any “drugstore power adapter” to charge an iPad, you need an especially high output one to charge a Macbook Pro. Even the 12" MacBook needs a pretty beefy 29W power supply.
Phones on the other hand need considerably less juice to power.
2 Likes
I believe their market share on laptops and desktops has been nibbled away by the competition as of late, and I expect that to continue; frankly, the Surface Studio kicks the iMac’s ass, and the Surface Pro does a very fine job of bridging the gap between tablet and laptop, something the iPad hasn’t really cracked yet.
1 Like
Microsoft has been doing a pretty good job these days in out-Appleing Apple on hardware. The Surface Book is a pretty damn fine laptop (too bad I’m totally over Windows these days). Great keyboard and trackpad and I’m a real snob about these things. Apple has always excelled at great trackpads and keyboards but they have really been screwing the pooch lately.
The MacBook keyboard is just an awful thing to use. I don’t know how people type on it. The new MBP keyboard is slightly better than the MacBook’s but it’s still pretty bad – nearly as bad as typing on a Surface touch cover (although I was able to get used to it pretty quickly).
Apple’s quest to make everything thinner whether it needs it or not has really become detrimental to their HW design. I’d much rather have an extra mm or two of thickness if it means a more tactile keyboard with better key travel.
6 Likes
Consoles themselves excluded*, i’ve always highly rated Microsoft’s hardware. Often it’s higher quality than their software.
Had good quality with their mice/controllers/joysticks.
*The notable exception being the 360 console. But the controllers for it were amazing IMHO, still use one to this day with a USB PC adapter to the point i’m in danger of wearing out the rubber coating on the pad sticks from usage.
2 Likes
Did anyone else notice that (aside from the egregious misconception that being a ‘hacker’ apparently involves l33t USB device plugging) approximately half the article was about how neat and compatible everything was if you happen to own a recent and reasonably high end Android phone; without the slightest mention of how people who own expensive Apple laptops might just lean toward being iOS users?
5 Likes
Very much agreed. Ports and dongles aside, Apple’s had a weird single-minded focus, design-wise, on reducing thickness and weight while also maximizing battery life. The new MBP maxes out at a puny 16GB of RAM due to battery life concerns, which makes the “pro” part a little dodgy. Microsoft’s design team has been putting out sexy, well-designed, well-thought-out hardware lately that I would buy in a heartbeat if not for my dislike of Windows and the fact that I’m pretty well entrenched in the Mac ecosystem (and that I’d have to buy Adobe CS all over again, no thanks).
4 Likes
Did seem a great advert for the USB-C standard really.
Apple got there very early*, but they’re likely to be the worst example of a ‘hacker’ USB-C laptop in the long run.
*only after the initial hilarity of the single port for charging OR connectivity at any one time. (or a dongle chain)
as in three years the battery will be mostly royled and the SSD will if you are a heavy user be on its last legs, yes your only choice is to throw away and get a new one. For us mear mortals on normal cash flow clearly this is not an option so buying something else is what you should do.
The heavily glued in battery on all Macs makes puts them on the “one to avoid” list for me three years life is not enough for me on an expensive computer.
1 Like
I would agree that Apple’s obsession with Thin as opposed to functionality seems a step in the wrong direction.
2 Likes
