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Comment by skilled | Hacker News Reader

I have owned 3 Macbooks so far. And all 3 have had one of the speakers break. Am I just that unlucky?

Oh and yeah, what a diarrhea of a keyboard in the 2016 edition.

Still clinging onto my late 2013 MBP for dear life in hopes that Apple will eventually release a laptop with a reliable keyboard again.

I hate hate hate the newer Mac keyboard. Diarrhea is absolutely the perfect word to describe my feelings toward it.

When the MacBook Pro were presented with this new keyboard I bought the older model in prevision of the 5+ years keyboard winter. Very happy of this decision so far.

I got a nice used 2015 model. Absolutely love it. Great keyboard, MagSafe, SD card slot, hdmi. Physical keys instead of a touchbar.

The other day I walked through the cord while it was charging on the table and my laptop did not get destroyed.

how could Apple f that up so badly is beyond me.

Likewise, very happy to still be using my 2015 MBP. I don't feel any envy for users of the newer models.

Yes, the various ports were also a big selling point. By the time USB-C will be democratized we will have (I hope) a total revision that will solve the current issues.

I hope USB-C (the connector at least) never becomes the standard. I have a MBP with these god awful ports and it's really frustrating how bad the connector is.

There are DJs for whom the macbook pro is required equipment for their performances. They're performing in front of 10s and sometimes >100 thousand people. Their midi controllers, and their SOUND CARDS (really a DJ mixer, most likely) are connected by: USB A.

USB-C doesn't have the sort of retention that USB A does, at least the ports on my super expensive laptop don't. At this point, they cable would likely just fall out if I tipped the laptop sideways.

Thing is: there are LOTS of things for which this type of thing is true. I've done lighting shows where this MBP was running a large lighting element on a large stage, and it was all dependent on that crappy USB-C connector, and a chain of dongles (!!!). Same thing is going to be true for interactive art installations, (some) large lighting shows. All sorts of stuff. So annoying.

I have exactly the opposite experience. I find that USB-A connectors tend to become loose over time, and eventually a mild bump is enough that the device disconnects (even though it looks like it's still 100% plugged in). No such issues with USB-C yet.

I have never seen a USB-A connector become loose. It's been over 20 years. The USB-C connector on my 2016 touchbar was loose within months.

It's much more evident with USB 3.0. I can almost never use USB 3 drives on my laptop because they won't connect. Maybe 1/10 times it'll connect fully, but any touching the cable will disconnect it.

Are you talking about the USB-A connector, or the "micro b superspeed" connector https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/USB_3.0_...?

USB-A is this part of the cable: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/USB_Type...

GGP here - I was talking about the USB-A connector. I think the issue is the physical size of the connector - it catches on things, and when I use it in non-desk locations (couch, mostly), the larger protrusion from the main chassis of the laptop makes it more likely to move around. Over time, it makes the socket looser and looser.

If you currently use your mac for audio and are about to upgrade, be warned; there seems to be endemic audio issues with the newer 2018 models: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19196354

Like other posters I've had USB-A ports go "sloppy" and loose in a number of laptops and other devices.

Yes, MagSafe is still awesome, I'm blown away that they took it away for something else.

I love the newer Mac keyboard. It is hands-down the best laptop keyboard I've ever used. Literally my only complaint is the design of the arrow keys.

Been there.

Wait several months.

I'm not an Apple fan boy by any stretch but years ago I discovered that the Apple 104 key keyboard suited me down to the ground. Despite using it mostly on Ubuntu and Windows. I've put up with strange key mappings just to use that keyboard.

The MacBook Pro I've just gotten at work is a nightmare. I assumed this was just getting used to it until this weekend when I finally setup my desktop at home with the old 104 key keyboard. The difference is night and day.

For what it's worth, I hate laptop keyboards in general. The MBP keyboard being the best laptop keyboard I've ever used is, quite frankly, an extremely low bar.

My older generation MBP keyboard (2015?) Is really good, best laptop keyboard I've touched. The newer one is just painful. I don't even know what I don't like about it, it just feels terrible, maybe because of how short the travel is. The key bottoms out immediately and it feels like I'm just tapping my fingers on a solid surface.

As far as I understand there has been plenty of iteration of the butterfly keyboard since it was first launch to the degree of ~4 different types (?). The newest macbooks should be a lot more stable

I wonder about that too. My experience with Macbooks has been solid (vs. other laptops). I even spilled water (a full cup) on one of them and it only needed a Wifi card change.

Well my ThinkPad actually has drainage channels and holes to protect it against liquid spillage. It's also far more repairable and modular. With Apple's obsession with thinness and the corresponding sales, I actually fear for the future of all function-over-form laptops.

My last macbook pro lasted for 6 years and still can do many jobs. I love the thin form factor because it makes it easy to take.

I don't know if I was lucky or these are just some extreme cases but: Except for the water spilling (which costed a bit), I never had any hardware issue with any Apple product I bought.

And the late-2018 model with the third revision of that keyboard is still broken (I have keys that are starting to go after just two months of use).

Man.. your jaw would drop seeing mine...

I’ve owned 5 or so and have never had that happened. Is there something magnetized in your workstation or bag that comes into contact with the speaker grill/ side of the laptop?

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