Why is everyone so upset about the new MacBook Pro? | Hacker News Reader

Why is everyone so upset about the new MacBook Pro?

4 pointsmterwill10 comments

It seems like the entire tech community is up in arms about the new MacBook Pro. Let's remember stripping connectivity is nothing new for Apple. I have not missed my DVD drive for a day. It's increasingly rare that I find myself plugging in a USB drive, external display, or SD card. The SD card slot and HDMI port also ~~are~~ were fairly recent additions to the line. The running commentary seems to be "Pro is for professional," by which they really mean to say "Pro is for _creative_ professional."

For the few times per year I download pictures from my camera I will be happy to grab a dongle. Why? Because there's not a big air pocket where there once was an SD card slot. The machine is lighter, thinner, brighter, faster, all of which are steps in the right direction. USB C is fast and versatile. Yes, it will be sad to lose the MagSafe. Yes, it's expensive. Yes, I will miss the escape key. The criticism seems a bit premature, though.

The only thing that baffles me is why did they leave the headphone jack? And why is the iPhone 7 still Lightning and not USB C? Not enough courage.

It's just nothing special compared to what Microsoft is doing.

On TV Microsoft is advertising touch-screen computers used by artists to make art for stage sets, film, etc. Developers like the Unix personality in MacOS, so Microsoft is adding a Linux personality to Windows 10.

That is, a significant move into Apples turf.

Also Intel chips have not gotten that much better in recent years for laptop uses; you have to jump a long interval in time to feel an impact. Skylake's strength is the "Super Tablets" in the $999 price range that Microsoft wishes you would buy. They could have skipped Skylake and gone to Kaby Lake which would give a 10% increase in clock speed, which would have been noticable, particularly bundling in other x86 improvements, but they didn't.

Big picture is that Apple is focused on phones and the consumeration that entails. You can replace a cash register for a tablet, but if your work is creative you need a PC.

what exactly is so special about what Microsoft is doing? A touch screen on a desktop? We had it for years. Faster processor? Not really...

The "Super Tablet" is a very good idea it just is stuck in a weird place.

Part of what is cool about a low-cost tablet (say $150) is that you don't feel that bad about losing it or wrecking it so you can beat on it hard and do things that I would not with a PC.

Something like a Surface costs a lot more and changes the psychology, a lot for me.

Microsoft has that new dial that you can use with the Surface AIO and also HP and Intel are doing interesting stuff with 3D Cameras which again could be game changing for creative work. Microsoft also has Hololens and the entertainment franchise around XBox which goes up against Apple TV, iTunes and all that.

Not everything Microsoft sticks but they are throwing many things at the wall. If anything they got in trouble with Windows 8 by being ahead of their customers and anticipating that "Super Tablet" would catch on faster than they did. They will be back however, at the very least because if you follow the thinness assumption that Apple is based, they will beat laptops.

I've been happily using Macs for 14 years. I routinely do things like burn DVDs, plug in USB and FireWire devices, use external displays, transfer photographs from cameras, etc.

I may be content with a current Mac, but it seems to me that the path Apple is on is moving away from what I personally want. I remain presently undecided, but I am starting to consider non-Apple alternatives for my next computer.

I'm not mad, though. Things change. I wish I could still realistically be using Commodore Amiga computers, but I'm not.

'memba video toaster?

I never owned one, but I used one briefly. I had some other brands of genlock, video capture, & video editing software, and used Imagine 3D and Brilliance for 2D graphics. It's been so long now, I don't remember the details of the other items. I got an Amiga planning to do software development on it, but became engrossed in multimedia production instead...

Because it's expensive and is a sidegrade to anyone who owns a MacBook Pro from 2012 and newer. I don't know why any developer would upgrade their MacBook Pro if they bought one in the last few years.

Call me when the MacBook Pro has an OLED screen.

I for one, am looking forward to it -- my company ordered our new MacBook Pros yesterday.

I think the new touch bar is going to be the target of much elisp diddling on my part. And frankly, I don't care about connectors.

"Let's remember stripping connectivity is nothing new for Apple."

I think you answered your own question.

Lack of more RAM.

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