Embracing a wireless future: What it's like to use Apple's 12" MacBook as your main computer

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  • Reply 21 of 222

    TL;DR - I have a legacy device but didn't get the legacy adapter.

     

    Another lame review of the new 12" MacBook. Others have already pinpointed the glaring flaw in this review.

     

    Simple (and common) adapter solves this. EyeFi solves this. Modern camera to go with modern computer solves this.

     

    We didn't bash the other "review" because we are "Apple supporters" but because we are forward-thinkers, not mired in the past and complaining about legacy ports. Now where's my Zip drive...

  • Reply 22 of 222
    idreyidrey Posts: 647member
    Sounds like the writer needs to updates it camera to one of the many cameras that use Bluetooth or just use his freaking iPhone. I have a saying: "GIVE ME SOLUTIONS NOT PROBLEMS"
  • Reply 23 of 222
    the cool gutthe cool gut Posts: 1,714member

    Damn straight you're living in the past, who uses a compact camera anymore?  You didn't even have the white balance on it set properly.  Surely you must have known in advance you couldn't plug an SD card into it?  

  • Reply 24 of 222
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    joestory wrote: »
    This truly is a fairly lame review. Bring back DED.

    Though it's exactly what every single reviewer has said about the MacBook. If you can live with no HDMI/Display Port, SD Card reader, at least 2 USB inputs, than this is the machine for you. I personally love the simplicity and own a wireless SD Card, USB reader from Kingston, the MobileLite and for connecting to a display I use the EZCast which supports Airplay. Though I wish Apple would just support Miracast or even WiDi out of the box as lots of monitors and TV's support those protocols but I've seen very few if any AirPlay enabled Displays, not even Apples own monitors, why not. Anyway I don't mind the new Macbooks lack of, well, everything but the next model defiantly needs an additional USB-C port on the other side. My Google Pixel II has two and it's great being able to plug in the power cable on either side, not to mention having an extra port so your daisy chained dongles don't look to cluttered. Which is funny, the Macbook has gotten slimmer but your carrying bag fatter do to all the dongles and wireless input devices you now need to carry around.
  • Reply 25 of 222
    v900v900 Posts: 101member
    Alas, the unfortunate truth is, that the wireless future some of you are claiming to see right around the corner will probably never fully arrive.

    Because the reality is, that

    A: A simple, physical interface (whether card or cable) is for the vast majority of tasks simpler, easier and faster than using a wireless connection. Putting an SD card into a slot will always be a more convenient way to transfer pictures than trying to do it wirelessly. Using a minijack switch to change headphones will also always be easier than fiddling with pairing, un-pairing and pairing again.

    B: Wireless connections create wireless pollution. No, not the imagined "I'm going to get cancer" pollution, but simple wireless interference. The more devices we put on our limited bandwidth, the worse it gets. Already the typic wireless channels are too crowded for a good connection in many houses, it ain't going to get better.

    Wireless has its place, but so does the convenience of physical connectors.
  • Reply 26 of 222
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    v900 wrote: »
    Alas, the unfortunate truth is, that the wireless future some of you are claiming to see right around the corner will probably never fully arrive.

    Because the reality is, that

    A: A simple, physical interface (whether card or cable) is for the vast majority of tasks simpler, easier and faster than using a wireless connection. Putting an SD card into a slot will always be a more convenient way to transfer pictures than trying to do it wirelessly. Using a minijack switch to change headphones will also always be easier than fiddling with pairing, un-pairing and pairing again.

    B: Wireless connections create wireless pollution. No, not the imagined "I'm going to get cancer" pollution, but simple wireless interference. The more devices we put on our limited bandwidth, the worse it gets. Already the typic wireless channels are too crowded for a good connection in many houses, it ain't going to get better.

    Wireless has its place, but so does the convenience of physical connectors.

    Isn't that the truth, once you've paired, say a mouse, keyboard, wireless SD card reader, headphones and display I can almost guarantee at least one of those devices will start to act up, the bluetooth headphones most likely. As I'm always having problems when I try to use my bluetooth speaker when I also have a mouse and keyboard connected at the same time. Hopefully this will change with further advances in wireless technology but like you said, doubt it at least not in the foreseeable future.
  • Reply 27 of 222
    v900v900 Posts: 101member
    The thing is...who uses SD cards anymore? Professional photographers, yes, but the MacBook Pro is targeted at them, and that has an SD card slot.

    Who uses SD cards?!? Christ, anybody who is even a tad bit serious about photography, from amateur photographers and up. Almost all DSLRs use it, and most other cameras use either that or microSD. You may not use them, but everyone whose photographic ambitions go the slightest bit above an iPhone camera do.
    hubel wrote: »
    Who uses a camera anymore? Why not take the pictures with your phone?

    Oh god, what a Joe-six-pack, pickup truck driving, tobacco spittin-thing to say!

    "Why, we don't need 'em fancy cam'ras and good fo nothin' lenses round here! I take my pictions like a good Christian with Besse 'ere... My good ol' iPhone5! Photographers... Bah! Running around with them huge erected objectives sticking up in good folks faces like sum pornographic movie... Fo' shame!"
    lkrupp wrote: »

    My next question would be why doesn’t your Sony camera support WiFi file transfers? A whole lot of midrange and high end cameras have for years.

    Unfortunately as many amateur or professional photographers can tell you, wifi-files transfers are often slower and nowhere near as easy and quick as popping an SD card in.

    But regardless...

    Not only does he need to get a few 70$ USBC adapters to use his retina MacBook, to get full use of it, you expect him to run out and buy a new camera? This is exactly why the retina MacBook is getting a lot of flack, and why you see so many "but..." In the reviews. It's not a computer that adapts to your work and habits, you need to spend a few hundred dollars and adapt your habits and work to fit it. And that is a
    machine that is as un-Apple like as a computer can get.
  • Reply 28 of 222
    mojodkmojodk Posts: 6member
    @Neil Hughes ... Eyefi Mobi Pro, use your smartphone or buy an adapter - plenty of options. Your problem in this article ... well ... isn't a problem.
  • Reply 29 of 222
    poksipoksi Posts: 482member

    So, the only thing to write about this new Macbook is lack of ports....     Can this rubbish be called an article?

  • Reply 30 of 222
    Really suprised about how mnuch AI is missing the point with this one. This laptop is perfect for the bulk of consumers who are looking for something to surf the net, e-mail and watch movies.
  • Reply 31 of 222

    Thanks for the review, Neil. It could be longer -- more about power drain, different ways of stressing the CPU, more about the feel of the keys and that glorious trackpad we keep hearing about. (I haven't had a chance to see this in person yet.)

     

    I think you're getting attacked for one specific use-case and it's probably just representative of many other situations. Tesla seems to have some problems like this, too. Building something that we all anticipate will get here one day.

     

    Having no cables on the MacBook seems completely inevitable, as does getting thinner and thinner and lighter. This will get faster and battery life will continue to improve. Apple is so innovative. The design of this new MacBook showcases so many principles that Apple is known for.

  • Reply 32 of 222

    Wow. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the sheer silliness of this article.

     

    Please just trash -- or at least, withdraw -- it, AI.

  • Reply 33 of 222
    d4njvrzfd4njvrzf Posts: 797member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by v900 View Post



    B: Wireless connections create wireless pollution. No, not the imagined "I'm going to get cancer" pollution, but simple wireless interference. The more devices we put on our limited bandwidth, the worse it gets. Already the typic wireless channels are too crowded for a good connection in many houses, it ain't going to get better.

    People who've been following the WWDCs will remember that Apple has had first-hand experience with that issue ().

  • Reply 34 of 222
    tronaldtronald Posts: 36member
    That's a lot of criticism in the comments for an article saying that the device is awesome, but that it just isn't practical for even slightly power-oriented users, at least not yet, which seems very true.

    The frustrating thing for people like the reviewer is that the Macbook *Air* has all the required connectivity, but really could use a better screen. The new Macbook has a stunning screen and is almost entirely adequate, but the "almost" makes it essentially unusable, as it would be for me for roughly the same reasons. Sure, the Macbook Pro is designed for all the uses that the new Macbook isn't, but it's heavier and bulkier than the Macbook Air. So, we who need just slightly more than the Macbook is capable of have to add another pound due to limitations that have little to do with fundamental technology, or accept a non retina screen. Now, the 13" Macbook Pro is a pretty awesome machine, and isn't that heavy or bulky. That doesn't mean there isn't some reason to be frustrated by some of Apple's choices.

    I am also frustrated by Apple's stubborn refusal for the last decade to ship a machine without a monitor that is positioned somewhere between the underpowered Apple Mini and the ridiculously expensive (and frankly overpowered) Mac Pro. My frustration doesn't stop me from using apple's products. That's one of the things about staying with the Apple ecosystem. Unless you do your own Hackintosh, which can be a questionable proposition, the only way to get Mac OS X is to live within Apple's sometimes frustratingly limited hardware choices.
  • Reply 35 of 222
    tekmtekm Posts: 14member
    The single worst part of the 2015 MacBook is the reviews. Haha. There have been a lot of good things said about the new future rig, but most have also whined about the same things.... Things that are non-issues for most of the target audience, or, easily remedied with a $7-20 adapter.

    If you're compiling code, transcoding 4k video, heavy Adobe user, or have 10 things you need plugged in.... This clearly isn't the machine for you. In fact, it's downright silly to think you could comfortably do any of the above on a 12.2" screen.

    For myself, I have a 5k iMac on my desk for the heavy lifting. And I do some major stuff. On the couch and anywhere I go the new MacBook goes with me... And I also have remote access to the iMac and my work PC setup so I can hit both from anywhere.
  • Reply 36 of 222
    v900 wrote: »
    Who uses SD cards?!? Christ, anybody who is even a tad bit serious about photography, from amateur photographers and up. Almost all DSLRs use it, and most other cameras use either that or microSD. You may not use them, but everyone whose photographic ambitions go the slightest bit above an iPhone camera do.
    Oh god, what a Joe-six-pack, pickup truck driving, tobacco spittin-thing to say!

    "Why, we don't need 'em fancy cam'ras and good fo nothin' lenses round here! I take my pictions like a good Christian with Besse 'ere... My good ol' iPhone5! Photographers... Bah! Running around with them huge erected objectives sticking up in good folks faces like sum pornographic movie... Fo' shame!"
    Unfortunately as many amateur or professional photographers can tell you, wifi-files transfers are often slower and nowhere near as easy and quick as popping an SD card in.

    But regardless...

    Not only does he need to get a few 70$ USBC adapters to use his retina MacBook, to get full use of it, you expect him to run out and buy a new camera? This is exactly why the retina MacBook is getting a lot of flack, and why you see so many "but..." In the reviews. It's not a computer that adapts to your work and habits, you need to spend a few hundred dollars and adapt your habits and work to fit it. And that is a
    machine that is as un-Apple like as a computer can get.

    You make up maybe 3% of the market. Guess what? MacBook Pro is for you.
  • Reply 37 of 222
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member

    This notebook is built for the (very mobile) cloud.

     

    Once you realize that, you'll have a lightbulb moment. 

     

    Think about writing with Ulysses on your iPad + keyboard. 

     

    Now think about wiring with Ulysses on this new Macbook. 

     

    It's the crossroads between Intimate and Convenient. 

     

    You're welcome. 

  • Reply 38 of 222
    What is this contrived 'dongle' BS anyway? My PowerBook G4 needed two dongles for video depending on which projector was available. My first MacBook, the same (but different, so two new ones). My latest rMBP 13" is missing Firewire so I could get the USB version, or the Thunderbolt version, and to tie into my ethernet is another dongle! I never did dongle into Thunderbolt, just used the USB3 cause it was fast enough, but USB3 takes a different dongle than USB2 even though they are compatible!

    I have a new rMB on order. I also ordered the $19 converter (for anything that doesn't match up with the following), the HDMI USB3 dongle (I can buy an HDMI to VHS converter for $8-$12 at Amazon), a USB-C to USB3 micro for all my external drives and a USB-C to USB-A for Migration etc. So, I should be set.

    I am disabled and carry oxygen around with me so the 2lb difference will hopefully lighten the load from home to car and car to coffee shop!

    p.s. It is a real shame that you didn't get the really important news of this dongle travesty out to the public before they ran delivery dates out to 4-6 weeks!
  • Reply 39 of 222

    This product isn't for you™

     

    Yes, we get that.  The problem with the 2015 MacBook 12" is that in introducing it, the product that is for most of us doesn't exist.  It's a shame that Apple didn't release something similar to the MB 12", but had at least one more USB port on the other side.  Or that Apple didn't just take a MBA and give it USB-C ports and a 12" Retina display.

     

    Photos.app isn't for me either, a prosumer photographer, and more and more we're being told what Apple products aren't for us, despite "us" still wanting them.

  • Reply 40 of 222
    In writing our review for Apple's impressive new 12-inch MacBook, the reality of using the ultraportable notebook didn't fully set in until I realized I couldn't actually finish the publication of said review without turning to my MacBook Pro.

    <div align="center"><img src=http://photos.appleinsidercdn.com/gallery/12623-6822-12566-6650-DSC01666-l-l.jpg alt="" />
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    The new 12-inch MacBook is an impressive product. It's a great product. But it's also, at the moment, an <em>aspirational</em> product.

    In <em>AppleInsider's</em> <a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/04/21/review-apples-all-new-12-macbook-with-retina-display">official review</a> of the all-new MacBook published earlier this week, I noted that the entire review was typed on the device's redesigned, shallower, but perfectly usable keyboard. I didn't have any major setbacks with its power sipping Core M processor. The battery life was more than enough to get through the day.

    But that doesn't tell the whole story.

    Photos for the very same review were taken on my Sony compact digital camera. Those images were saved to an SD card, though they could also be transferred over to a computer via USB.

    I do not own a USB-C to USB-A adapter, and the new MacBook does not have a traditional USB slot, nor an SD card slot.

    Once I hit this roadblock, I had no choice. I had to turn to my MacBook Pro, and its available full-size USB ports and SD card slot, to finish the review.

    When using the new MacBook as my main computer, I found myself with one foot in the future, and one foot in the past.

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    <h2>Living in limbo</h2>

    This obstacle wasn't a surprise, of course. But it was harsh reality that highlights the interim struggles Apple faces as it looks toward an inevitable completely wireless future.

    More than a few readers took issue with my review, even though it was overall a positive take on the machine. Though critics were likely focused more on the final score I gave (3.5 out of 5) than the actual content of the review, these readers were still quick to say they didn't mind the lack of ports, the new USB-C connector, or the end of the MagSafe magnetic charging cable, all of which were my biggest gripes.

    And that's fine -- for some. While Apple supporters are undoubtedly the most likely to embrace Apple's vision of the future with the aspirational first-generation MacBook, the reality is that more traditional computer users today, in 2015, will be less forgiving.

    <div align="center"><img src=http://photos.appleinsidercdn.com/gallery/12623-6824-12566-6652-DSC01686-l-l.jpg alt="" />
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    The issues I ran into trying to finish the review were not uncommon tasks for the average computer user. The fact that that person would need to have a dongle handy in order to transfer over photos from their camera, whether via USB or an SD card reader, is likely too much of a sacrifice to make for a $1,300 ultraportable notebook.

    This is not to say that the new 12-inch MacBook is a bad machine. It's quite outstanding, actually. Its thin design is an incredible achievement, and its shallow keyboard and relatively low-powered processor are, in my view, acceptable compromises made to achieve its ultra-thin fan-less design.

    There is certainly a market for this notebook, today, in 2015. Users who almost never plug anything into their notebook, whether for charging or syncing, will be perfectly happy with this machine, if they can stomach the price. And certainly there are those who don't mind having to carry dongles -- they'll probably be content too.

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    <h2>Interconnected inevitability</h2>

    Here's the thing about the MacBook being aspirational: It's a showcase for what Apple sees not only as the future of the notebook computer, but also the future of connected devices. We're not there yet.

    Time will likely prove Apple correct. In a few years, nearly every device will feature Bluetooth, wireless USB, or some form of connectivity that will allow seamless transmission of files. Everything will be connected much easier than it is now, and wires and adapters will be a thing of the past.

    And even before we achieve that wireless utopia, USB-C will gradually become the new standard, and more devices will be able to plug into the single port of the new MacBook (provided the user isn't charging at that moment, of course).

    But until that day, here in the present, wires and adapters remain. The future hasn't arrived. When it does, Apple will be ready.

    The MacBook is as close to the future as you can get today. Just buy a $19. cable and all will be solved.
    There is nothing like thus MacBook available today.
    Long battery life, Mac OS, retina display, light, relatively large screen, cloud focused but 500G local storage, fast due to updated GPU and 8G RAM, awesome keyboard, and force touch trackpad.
    The future has arrived and will only get better moving forward.
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