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  • Apple's 31.6-inch professional display may arrive soon, 17-inch MacBook Pro in early 2021 ...

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    It's gonna take that long to fix a keyboard issue that was never broken in the first place 'till they broke it?

    And ANOTHER two years before Apple offers ANY notebook many of feel we can buy with confidence that it'll be usable for us?

    I may have to start looking for the last of the MB Airs before they got caught up in butterfly gate.  And give an Win 10 machine a try.

    Honest, Tim, I've had $3,000 burning a hole in my pocket for over three years now....!  This is getting beyond farcial.  Why has Apple just kept doubling down on the worst KB they've ever offered (worst on multiple dimensions for many of us, though yeah I know, it works for many, noise and all.  But "works for many" should never be Apple's goal.)


    bohler80s_Apple_Guychemengindysamoriadavgregwilliamlondon

  • Compared: buying a 13-inch MacBook Air versus a 13-inch MacBook Pro

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    wood1208 said:
    entropys said:
    Your kidding right? For the last six or seven years the MBA has been the most common student laptop. I think I’ve seen one kid with an rMB. In our schools it’s all BYOD.  It’s MBA and then daylight to old Dell pavilions, HPG2 (there was a huge discount a year ago), XPS, Spectres, the occasional MBP, and then a bunch of also rans. Heck Heavy gaming laptops in the school bag are more common than an rMB.
    But at these prices and restricted choice in ports MBA leadership in schools may not, it won’t, stay that way.
    Students will love the new MBA even more, because it is their familiar companion now in a smaller footprint and with a better display. Some of those MBAs you mention were 11” ones and the 12” Macbook now perfectly replaces them. Also MBA was common because it was the only model at that range until the release of 12” Macbook in 2015. Integration is the way Apple goes regarding ports, there is no restriction of port choices. Thunderbolt 3 means PCIe, USB, Ethernet, DisplayPort on a single port. I understand the dongle issue but I believe an integrated port may appeal more to students than a multitude of ports of seldom use. There is nothing in the new MBA that will alienate students, but there are enhancements that will appeal to them. With a PS4 or Xbox at home, with even some desktop PC, an iPhone in their pocket and MBA in their backpack, students are not newcomers to technology.
    13" MBA needs no less than 3 ports(two on left, one or two on right) and more processor power. By doing so, Apple can get away by not offering function keys 13" Macbook Pro upgrades in future. Many who like MBP but don't see much of usefulness for touchbar and feel pain of paying extra for. If Apple ever offers upgraded 13" function keys MBP, than that will sell lot more than equivalent touchbar 13" MBP. Gauranteed.
    Two things kept me away (I was willing to risk that I could adapt to the KB) - the lack of a beefier CPU to power all of that welcome RAM, and the inexplicably stupid decision NOT to offer a 1TB SSD at their overly priced but in my range budget - while at the same time offering a horribly pricey 1.5TB option that simply doesn't seem well suited to the target buyer given the unsuitability for heavy duty work with large files.

    What am I missing in that last decision especially??
    williamlondon

  • Compared: buying a 13-inch MacBook Air versus a 13-inch MacBook Pro

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    indiekiduk said:
    Like all of Apple's best Macs, the 2017 escape won't be around for much longer get one while you can!
    Without the keyboard barrier I wouldn't touch any of the 2017 MBPs for fear of KB failure, not even with the up to $1000 discounts being touted elsewhere on AI today.

    However, other aspects of screen quality other than "brightness" mentioned in the article make the MBP's screen notably superior to the MBA.

    And I find it anemic CPU wise, plus I'm still not a "butterfly" fan, reliable KB or no....

    ...But I need a reasonably mobile computer.

    Can someone confirm that you can use EITHER of these in "clamshell mode," i.e., hooked up to an external monitor and KB?  I have two prime locations I move between and have external monitors at both, so I COULD use a KB of my choice if this is true.....
    williamlondon

  • Initial 2018 MacBook Air benchmarks show modest improvement over 2017 MacBook

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    I've given up trying to understand Apple's decision-making on portable Macs the last four years.  Anemic performance for $1800 (with 16GB Ram and 512 SDD) and "You VILL like our butterfly keyboard EFFEN IF you don't".....??? Do people like a nice screen and an orangey gold color that much? 

    It does make the 13" MBP more appealing at least, though still not thrilled at the notion of $2899 for the fairly well-equipped with the dead end touch bar and.... ....that Keyboard.  Clackety-clack here I come...??

    Maybe Intel will deliver in 2019 and they'll deliver a less thermally constrained 15" with 32GB of lower power RAM and drain my wallet of $4,000 for a pretty great machine with still challenged input (with a year to show that the KB holds up to the crumb menace). And finally start doing all of those power-needing projects I've been deferring.....

    Still it seems clear that the iOS stuff is getting the real performance love and the most innovative thinking - check how the Geekbench scores on the new iPad Pros absolutely smoke this machine - and even the higher end stuff, and how this is the first time in a while there's only one processor option on a new portable Mac.  But I have a tablet that works fine - and it just sits doing nada.  My phone gives me enough when I'm mobile and don't need real PC class apps and input tools.

    "Geekbench 4 benchmarks have already leaked, revealing the new iPad Pro's processor is nearing the performance of Apple's new 15-inch MacBook Pro, and it's even closer to the performance of the best processor in the 2017 5K iMac. The new iPad Pro actually outperforms the best processor in the 2018 13-inch MacBook Pro, and even the best processor in the 2017 15-inch MacBook Pro."



    asciiwilliamlondonelijahgbaconstang

  • A year with Apple's 5K iMac: Still the best Mac for your money

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    mike54 said:
    I'm waiting for a reasonably priced and spec'd headless mac. I will not buy an all-in one, especially these iMac's as they have serious thermal limitations.
    Is your last name Godot?

    'Cos I imagine your wait is gonna be interminable. 
    kingofsomewherehotwatto_cobrabaconstangfrankeedelijahg