Apple's MacBook Pro Event (10/27/16)

[iacas]

1 hour ago, newtogolf said:

I agree, I buy computers with an expected 3 year life / usefulness period.  You can sometimes push a little more performance out of a laptop with upgrades but they typically aren't worth the cost.   

If you're only looking for three years, that'll keep you pretty well toward the top of the line.

We still get use - not my higher-end use for video editing, etc. - from laptops nearly three times older than that. (Early 2008 15" MacBook).

Granted, the kiddo uses it for word processing, homework research, etc. But still. It runs 10.11 and all the accompanying software she needs.

[newtogolf]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

If you're only looking for three years, that'll keep you pretty well toward the top of the line.

We still get use - not my higher-end use for video editing, etc. - from laptops nearly three times older than that. (Early 2008 15" MacBook).

Granted, the kiddo uses it for word processing, homework research, etc. But still. It runs 10.11 and all the accompanying software she needs.

Agreed, for basic word processing or web surfing older computers are fine.  I do mostly heavy graphics and video processing so I find that 3 years is about the point I'll start looking for a new box and hand down the current one.  

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

Agreed, for basic word processing or web surfing older computers are fine.  I do mostly heavy graphics and video processing so I find that 3 years is about the point I'll start looking for a new box and hand down the current one.  

Makes sense.

[nevets88]

Bulbs - MBP commercial

[nevets88]

Tried the 13 and 15 inch Touch Bar models in store. Battery life is even worse than the reviews said, but my usage was very unscientific, but removing the USB-C cable from the 13 inch and letting the os calculate remaining time yielded 7.5 hours and after 20 minutes on the machine, it read a little over 5. Again, very unscientific and OS updates will help, but disappointed. The Touch Bar, the jury is still out for me, I found it more useful than I thought it would be, let's see what apps are written for it. The "matte" Touch Bar screen is pretty cool. The 15 inch feels lighter than its official spec of 4 pounds.

Someone is working on a app switching app for the Touch Bar:

[iacas]

Ars got 10.5 hours from a TouchBar MacBook using automated tests. The Verge guy got about 6 using it himself.

It could depend on how much the TouchBar is used and/or the fans are forced to blow.

And screen brightness.

[nevets88]

I know I'm sounding like a very negative nabob, a hypercritical hawker, but part of my M.O. is to one star a product as much as possible, it helps me to be more objective. Maybe it's rationalization. You can't do much with its internals, the battery life is a big Q mark, MagSafe is gone, donglelitus, the keyboard is more of a personal preference thing although I am beginning to see the complaints of no travel, the backlight logo is gone - that's just superficial, it doesn't bother me, no lit logo for thinner and lighter, fine with me. 

The crux is its backbone is OS X and imho it is a far better experience than the hellscape that Windows still is despite my admiration of Nadella's moves and Apple would have to really screw up a laptop to make me go back and this is nowhere near that close and the big drawback of the machine is basically it's more expensive, not just upfront, but the turnover period to the next machine will probable be shorter than my last MBP.

And it is thin and lite. I think we take it for granted. It is really thin and lite, put it in a manila envelope during keynote address lite. Even the 15 inch. While I'm less and less enamored of Ives' aesthetic, this is where the world is going. What's the better camera computer, the one you have in your hand or the one that's out of reach? As you get older, maybe you overcompensate for get of my lawn tendencies in some aspects, but it cannot be overcome in others. This might be the one I can't overcome and Apple will drag me along despite my obstinacy, the endgame is my current laptop will age out, and it's replacement will be this or the next generation.

And there may be something to that touch bar. I'm very curious to see what apps people come up with. I really like John Siracusa's eink keyboard idea. Yes, it could wind up being a gimmick, let's see where it takes us.

Oh yeah, you really have very granular control over dimming the screen although maybe because I haven't used that feature in more recent MBPs that I noticed a big difference. The max brightness doesn't seem that bright though, will have to see it in full sunlight.

[iacas]

16GB of RAM has a reason:

https://macdaddy.io/macbook-pro-limited-16gb-ram/

[nevets88]

Given battery life with the touch bar models is a question mark so far, can only imagine how it would be with the more energy draining memory.

[iacas]

22 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

Given battery life with the touch bar models is a question mark so far, can only imagine how it would be with the more energy draining memory.

I've seen a few reviews citing 6-hour battery life, but I've seen more citing closer to 8, 9, 10… Like the ones I quoted above, or this one from Wired:

Quote

The speakers are louder and clearer than ever. I get eight or nine hours from the battery, as long as I’m not Photoshopping all day and keep the brightness below eye-bleeding levels. And the screen is, well, the screen is ridiculous. Apple’s ultra-wide color gamut, on top of the super-high resolution, makes it the best laptop display I’ve ever seen.

I think it's probably fine.

[nevets88]

Pretty much half the thickness, half the weight, maybe more. It's the computer on your lap, versus the one out of reach.

Completely blown away how thin the 2016 MacBook Pro is compared to my now old 2012 MacBook Pro...

 

 

[saevel25]

I guess apple is accurate in their expected delivery date. It still in the processing stage for me. ?

[Yukari]

For those of you who did get 2016 MBP, how many hours do you get on a full charge?

I hear so many conflicting results, it is difficult to get the true picture.

[nevets88]

12 minutes ago, Yukari said:

For those of you who did get 2016 MBP, how many hours do you get on a full charge?

I hear so many conflicting results, it is difficult to get the true picture.

LOL, I'm tempted to ask anyone I see in the wild with a new MBP (easy to tell no lit logo), they are popping up in coffee shops and such here.

[saevel25]

Probably depends on what you are using it for. 

[iacas]

9 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

Probably depends on what you are using it for. 

Yeah. Web browsing and email likely never get off that "low energy" CPU, while more intensive tasks will use the higher-energy one.

They're something like 1:5 ratio in power usage, right? Or 1:4 or something?

Plus how much you use the Touch Bar (i.e. how much it's lit up) will affect things.

[saevel25]

I just read a review. If you consider the MacBook Pro 15, with discrete graphics, and quad core CPU the battery life is impressive for what is under the hood. 

In the same review they find that the price of the Macbook is expensive if you consider straight up benchmark testing versus price. Though there is a lot more to computers than just benchmarks.

[saevel25]

YAY!! The MacBook has arrived :) 

It's pretty :)