This article essentially sums up why I have decided to wait another year or so before getting a new Mac Pro. I strongly suspect there will be a major refresh of its innards in the pretty near future. I've just bought the very reasonably priced 27" iMac 5K i9 with the upgraded GPU and added 64 GB of RAM to tide me over and I am keeping my Trashcan in service too. The iMac is very nice I must say and it is the first one I've ever owned. My 2018 MBP is fine for me too, I've never had an issue with the keyboard and I love the Touch Bar. In fact, I wish Apple's standalone Magic keyboard had it.
I don’t get this whole thinness at all costs argument. Wasn’t the previous MBP roughly the same thickness as other laptops?
There wasn't a ton of difference between them. I think what really started it all was the original MacBook Air. That was a game changer in terms of size and design and subsequent updates only improved on it in terms of power, battery life, etc. Now the MBA wasn't a 'pro' machine- it had a lighter weight processor, lower resolution monitor, etc, but it was perfect for a large number of people. Beyond that, they managed to fit an excellent scissor keyboard in it.
The 16" MBP looks like a good machine. As I've posted on other threads, I think Apple's being rather pig-headed with the USB C ports, but unfortunately I'm stuck living with that or getting a PC, and for me I'd rather live with it, even if I don't like it.
The keyboard on my 2017 MBP has never truly failed, so it wouldn't be included in any statistics, but on a regular basis debris gets under the keys making them close to unusable. I've taken to sliding a piece of thick paper under the edge to dislodge whatever's stuck and so far have been lucky with that but it definitely compromises what is otherwise a good machine. We need to wait and see on the keyboard - hopefully it is more reliable and has a better feel. Even separating the keyboard so you can replace it without doing a complete overhaul would be nice.
Quote: ‘To blogger critics who have never done anything apart from writing their opinions on a subject, the solutions are simplistic: stop making light and thin machines, go back to using a keyboard from 2015, and add more RAM! Also, be faster with less heat and don't spin those fans up!’
It turns out that the solutions WERE quite simplistic - stop making such a thin and light machine, go back to using a scissor keyboard with a decent amount of travel, and add more power while addressing the heat issues.’
It was Apple who complicated things by pursuing its silly ‘thin at all costs’ mantra which undermined a generation of Macbooks. Now, with the new MacBook Pro, they are back on track
The new MBP is one piece of paper thicker than the 2016-2018. At the same time, it is thinner, smaller, and lighter than the 2012-2015 RMBP.
I saw that written somewhere too, but the 16” MBP appears to be .7mm thicker than the 15” MBP (16.2mm vs. 15.5mm), which of course is a lot more than the thickness of a normal piece of paper. Out of curiosity, I just measured my printer paper (which claims to be “standard weight 20lb.”) with a digital micrometer, and .7mm was a little more than 7 sheets. Still not a big difference, of course, but a typical sheet of paper is very thin.
I normally love your analysis and evaluation of Apple’s directions and design decisions, but you wrote an entire section on the keyboard “fiasco”, but you mis-identified the keyboard in question. The controversy was about the butterfly keyboard, not the scissor keyboard.
Comments like this happen when you don’t know how to read and come to conclusion based on your own flawed thinking.
I enjoyed this article tremendously. I agree with Daniel about keyboard fiasco that was overblown by bloggers, who know nothing about butterfly keyboards or even failure rate butterfly keyboards vs. scissor mechanism. It’s kind of sad to see that big company like Apple has to take step back to go forward because of few pesky bloggers and YouTubers.
It's easy to calculate why Apple updates its MacBook Pro lineup every year-- sometimes twice a year-- while its other Macs sometimes languish for years between updates. The majority of Mac buyers are opting for notebooks, a trend that has only increased over the past decade. MacBook Pro is also Apple's most profitable portable Mac.
Really? That’s the reason other macs have languished? Was it really?
Cook bet on iPad. End of story. Lost bet. We are now in the early days of course correction.
It's easy to calculate why Apple updates its MacBook Pro lineup every year-- sometimes twice a year-- while its other Macs sometimes languish for years between updates. The majority of Mac buyers are opting for notebooks, a trend that has only increased over the past decade. MacBook Pro is also Apple's most profitable portable Mac.
Really? That’s the reason other macs have languished? Was it really?
Cook bet on iPad. End of story. Lost bet. We are now in the early days of course correction.
And you’re basing that on what evidence? That he said a lot of people don’t need laptops anymore? That’s simply a fact, both of my parents switched to iPads and never looked back. Cars and trucks, Apple couldn’t have been any clearer on the different form factors and use cases.
Also, your logic doesn’t make any sense — Apple bet on iPads over MacBooks, so that’s why they continued to release new MacBooks but didn’t release new MPs or Minis? MPs and minis aren’t remotely the same form factors as an iPad with keyboard.
MacBooks and iMacs have been humming along, and they’re obviously the biggest sellers. MP is a niche, and the slowest (thermal corner error has been thoroughly explained by Craig in the TechCrunch transcript). There is no course correction with other Macs due to iPads.
I would say there was a hiatus in MacBook updates too. And it has to have been some internal political reason for the long gaps between Mac updates that don’t reflect parts availability. Other companies have had no trouble regularly updating their machines. The only computing tool that Apple has regularly updated for the last five years or so is the iPad. Like this iPad Pro I am typing on.
anyway, my point was not updating some Mac models has nothing to do with the importance of the 15 inch MBP, which is what DED was implying.
Well it has to have been some internal political reason for the long gaps between Mac updates that don’t reflect parts availability.
What Macs? There had long been complaints about the Intel roadmap, and Apple already had a detailed press event discussing the problems they ran into with the MP.
None of that supports a theory that Cook bet on iPads and lost. Both Macs and iPads are doing kickass per the numbers.
Touchbar is a bad idea. It should be an option. The display is to look at. They keyboard is for typing on physical keys where muscle memory can be used to touch type.
Butterfly keyboard was a flawed design. Not just a few. Every machine I've seen of that era has eventually had a failing keyboard. We have many of them at work and my personal machine. They all have issues.
I don’t get this whole thinness at all costs argument. Wasn’t the previous MBP roughly the same thickness as other laptops?
There wasn't a ton of difference between them. I think what really started it all was the original MacBook Air. That was a game changer in terms of size and design and subsequent updates only improved on it in terms of power, battery life, etc. Now the MBA wasn't a 'pro' machine- it had a lighter weight processor, lower resolution monitor, etc, but it was perfect for a large number of people. Beyond that, they managed to fit an excellent scissor keyboard in it.
The 16" MBP looks like a good machine. As I've posted on other threads, I think Apple's being rather pig-headed with the USB C ports, but unfortunately I'm stuck living with that or getting a PC, and for me I'd rather live with it, even if I don't like it.
The keyboard on my 2017 MBP has never truly failed, so it wouldn't be included in any statistics, but on a regular basis debris gets under the keys making them close to unusable. I've taken to sliding a piece of thick paper under the edge to dislodge whatever's stuck and so far have been lucky with that but it definitely compromises what is otherwise a good machine. We need to wait and see on the keyboard - hopefully it is more reliable and has a better feel. Even separating the keyboard so you can replace it without doing a complete overhaul would be nice.
I guess I was specifically referring to the MBP with butterfly keyboard. People claim the issue with that laptop was Apple’s obsession with thinness. But wasn’t that laptop basically the same thickness as other laptops? I don’t remember it being radically thinner than other laptops on the market. I don’t think it can be proven that the issue with the butterfly keyboard (or its purpose) was in pursuit of radical thinness.
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Apple did a fine job of that themselves when they released a brand new laptop and instantly bundled a keyboard repair program with it.
The 16" MBP looks like a good machine. As I've posted on other threads, I think Apple's being rather pig-headed with the USB C ports, but unfortunately I'm stuck living with that or getting a PC, and for me I'd rather live with it, even if I don't like it.
The keyboard on my 2017 MBP has never truly failed, so it wouldn't be included in any statistics, but on a regular basis debris gets under the keys making them close to unusable. I've taken to sliding a piece of thick paper under the edge to dislodge whatever's stuck and so far have been lucky with that but it definitely compromises what is otherwise a good machine. We need to wait and see on the keyboard - hopefully it is more reliable and has a better feel. Even separating the keyboard so you can replace it without doing a complete overhaul would be nice.
I'm so excited!
Also, your logic doesn’t make any sense — Apple bet on iPads over MacBooks, so that’s why they continued to release new MacBooks but didn’t release new MPs or Minis? MPs and minis aren’t remotely the same form factors as an iPad with keyboard.
MacBooks and iMacs have been humming along, and they’re obviously the biggest sellers. MP is a niche, and the slowest (thermal corner error has been thoroughly explained by Craig in the TechCrunch transcript). There is no course correction with other Macs due to iPads.
anyway, my point was not updating some Mac models has nothing to do with the importance of the 15 inch MBP, which is what DED was implying.
None of that supports a theory that Cook bet on iPads and lost. Both Macs and iPads are doing kickass per the numbers.
Touchbar is a bad idea. It should be an option. The display is to look at. They keyboard is for typing on physical keys where muscle memory can be used to touch type.
Butterfly keyboard was a flawed design. Not just a few. Every machine I've seen of that era has eventually had a failing keyboard. We have many of them at work and my personal machine. They all have issues.