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Comment by internet2000 | Hacker News Reader

internet2000

The only one of those choices I disagree with is no Touch ID in the base spec. Otherwise, good corners to cut to get to the cheap price point.

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Since it's just $100 to get 250 -> 500 GB and Touch ID, I think it's okay.

It means people who need the cheapest computer can get it, and people who want to upgrade pay a small amount and get all the upgrades in a package without jumping up to the MacBook Air, etc. for much more.

I would say "No keyboard backlighting" is a true show-stopper for a huge portion of the target audience (students).

My experience with students (outside of engineering) is that the most common show stopper for MacBooks is price. They’re not nit picking about keyboard backlighting.

Most people have no problem using a keyboard in the dark or with light from the screen.

Backlit keyboards are a nice-to-have, not a showstopper.

I would say the vast, vast majority of people are completely unable to use a non-lit keyboard in the dark.

Learned touch typing just fine on a non-backlit keyboard. What would you feel would be the issue?

Can't see the keys in a dark classroom or bedroom.

https://xkcd.com/333/

...the skill of touch typing is that you don't need to look at the keyboard.

And the keys are still labeled...

The F and J keys still have bumps, to be able to locate them and position your hands correctly on the keyboard without looking.

I think different people will have one feature they feel should have been kept (other than the ram which is universal). For me not so much the Touch ID but the backlit keyboard.

Agree on the Touch ID. Love that feature for passwords etc.

Not terribly happy about the USB 2.0 port as well

I bet there are some paranoid people out there who will love that no touch-ID means no way for law enforcement to compel you to unlock the device.

You could just not set it up don't add your finger.

Yeah; but then the police will compel you to put your finger on the button + get pissed when it doesn't work.

https://xkcd.com/538/

In the United States, anything they beat out of you could be considered legally inadmissible evidence, and thrown out by the court.

(Whether or not that's a limit on law enforcement behavior depends on their particular aims.)

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