Since I use Thunderbolt only in the studio at this time, I'm fine with that Kanex box. On the road, I've got my array of adapters and cable bits and assorted computer/iOS crap along, anyway, so I'll throw a USB-C to Firewire and USB-C to USB-A in there; end of story.
PHIL SCHILLER: "This is the all new MacBook Pro with OLED display bar. It is a beautiful display bar. It is a beautiful laptop. And it starts.............at just $1,999. And if you need more screen real estate, you can opt for the 15" version. That starts............at just $2,299. It is a beautiful laptop." Mark my words.
What's the purpose behind removing the function keys and replacing them with an OLED bar instead?
Is it because instead of F1,F2,F3 etc. being shown, now the computer will be able to have symbols and full color icons instead for each key, that can change and adapt to the software being used?
If so, I hope it can support multiple touches like iPads to, and doesn’t lag. But if the DRAM is soldered & the storage is non-upgradable, I’ll pass anyway, and hope Apple comes out with an upgradable machine at some point again.
Some apps can use the bar as a long volume slider, using the entire bar for just volume control, or brightness control for example. You just slide your finger from left to right to make the volume louder.
Or a Moog Synth can use the entire OLED bar as a ribbon controller, emulating the original.
A lot of higher-end DJ gear has these strips—user assignable. Some have 2 to 4 of these for pitch bending and/or scrubbing, etc.
What's the purpose behind removing the function keys and replacing them with an OLED bar instead?
Is it because instead of F1,F2,F3 etc. being shown, now the computer will be able to have symbols and full color icons instead for each key, that can change and adapt to the software being used?
If so, I hope it can support multiple touches like iPads to, and doesn’t lag. But if the DRAM is soldered & the storage is non-upgradable, I’ll pass anyway, and hope Apple comes out with an upgradable machine at some point again.
They can't. Low-power DDR3 and DDR4 aren't manufactured in socketable form.
anome said: I hope so, because having identical ports with different functions is a failure in basic usability, which is something Apple has always (back to the original Mac) been a leader on. (There was a brief period where the two serial ports on a Mac had slightly different functions, but they fixed that.) Also, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports? Could be quite useful. Of course, I'll believe it when I see it. Don't want to get my hopes up too high, lest I fall into the same trap as all those people going on about the iPhone leaks.
I do remember the RS 422 ports on the mac where only one of them worked for localtalk (appletalk). I remember always having problems with people taking their SEs home for the weekend and bringing them back in and then complaining because they couldn't get on the network. Eventually a piece of colored tape solved the problem. Fortunately it was less of a headache than the voodoo magic of figuring out where in a SCSI chain to put a terminator. -- Man, those were the days.
I'd forgotten about that. I was thinking when the 660AV came out, only one of the serial ports had the socket for the 9th pin that was needed for the GeoPort functions.
I do remember the RS 422 ports on the mac where only one of them worked for localtalk (appletalk). I remember always having problems with people taking their SEs home for the weekend and bringing them back in and then complaining because they couldn't get on the network. Eventually a piece of colored tape solved the problem. Fortunately it was less of a headache than the voodoo magic of figuring out where in a SCSI chain to put a terminator. -- Man, those were the days.
I'd forgotten about that. I was thinking when the 660AV came out, only one of the serial ports had the socket for the 9th pin that was needed for the GeoPort functions.
Ah yeah.. the Quadra 660AV. The one with the power button directly below the floppy drive that all my Windows / PC user fiends thought was the eject button.
Me "You have to drag the disk to the trash" Them "But I don't want to delete it!"
I'd forgotten about that. I was thinking when the 660AV came out, only one of the serial ports had the socket for the 9th pin that was needed for the GeoPort functions.
Ah yeah.. the Quadra 660AV. The one with the power button directly below the floppy drive that all my Windows / PC user fiends thought was the eject button.
Me "You have to drag the disk to the trash" Them "But I don't want to delete it!"
Hell, it got me a couple of times when my brain wasn't working. Fortunately, as it was a physical switch, I could hold it in while I desperately shut the machine down to avoid damage.
Great machine, though. In fact, I think I preferred the 660AV to the Power Mac 6100 I upgraded it to (via a very pricy motherboard replacement upgrade from Apple). Even though the latter had two GeoPorts (for which no peripherals ever got to Australia - especially the Communications Pod that was held up by regulatory requirements until it ceased to be relevant), and could run SoftWindows (which meant you could run...well, Windows software...very slowly...), I think having the separate DSP made it faster for multimedia. Also a friend of mine developed a game at about that time, and there was an issue with the 68K AV models which we'd have caught in beta testing if I'd still had it.
If so, I hope it can support multiple touches like iPads to, and doesn’t lag. But if the DRAM is soldered & the storage is non-upgradable, I’ll pass anyway, and hope Apple comes out with an upgradable machine at some point again.
They can't. Low-power DDR3 and DDR4 aren't manufactured in socketable form.
If they'd left in a Mini or MicroSD card slot, at least HD upgradability wouldn't have been an issue. There are some large capacity SD cards available now.
Can someone try their best to explain to me the benefit of a potential move away from MagSafe, other than cost savings for Apple? Oh, and without throwing a tantrum in the process, lol.
I know quite a few pro users whom are very nervous of the mechanical function bar being replaced. They are software engineers and algorithm developers. They regularly navigate OS X exclusively through function keys and other various commands. As a pro-sumer, I'm excited
Well, it's not the answer people like, but ultimately it seems to be an overall strategy to make every port multi function, and remove single-function dedicated ports. And the reason for that? Thinner, smaller, and lighter products.
That's one reason the 3.5mm headphone jack likely has to go. It's a single function port that takes up a lot of room, and I'm not just talking about the 3.5mm opening. If Apple can safely supply power and data via a single port, and that makes the laptop lighter, then magsafe actually starts to lose its effectiveness since the force required to break the magnet will likely pull the laptop off the counter anyway. And if I'm right and Apple does remover the headphone jack from the iPhone then it makes sense to add a Lightning port to all of the MacBooks, a connector Apple is universally using as a charging connector, which is also robust enough to stay connected, yet pull out easily if needed.
Why not add the iPad Pro Smart connector? Power, data, and MagSafe.
I wonder if any of those USB ports are actually Thunderbolt 3 ports.
It must be. They can't let their Pro model go backwards in bandwidth. USB3 is capped to 10Gbps, Thunderbolt 2 (current) is 20Gbps. Thunderbolt 3 does USB 3, DisplayPort 1.2, PCI Express and of course Thunderbolt itself (but at 40Gbps instead of 20Gbps). It is the final convergence in the end of USB and Firewire (which if I recall correctly was influenced by SCSI).
This would actually be good news on the adapter front for the first time. It would be nice for reuse of existing accessories if we would see quickly some affordable dongles to the older physical formats.
Unlike many of the sketchy iPhone 7 leaks, this one of the MacBook Pro does seem to be the real thing! I'm excited...still they could of squeezed a couple more USB-C ports in there IMO. Oh and the headphone jack remains, hurrah! And I don't know if its just the light, but the casing seems to have matte finish chamfers like on the iPhone SE.
If it is the latest USB-C standard we should see plenty of performance out of the ports with TB support. What really burns my ass about the rMB is it having just one port. That isn't tolerable.
Well in 2017 it will be the case in the EU. All new smartphones launched in 2017 must have a universal charger (which will probably be USB-C based). I don't know how apple will cope with this requirement
I doubt the EU will have any force of law by then. Might be a little optimistic at this point, but you know how quickly some events happen...
The EU could very well desolve as they have become a poster child for excessive regulation and rule without limits on their authority. I do believe the the Constitution in the USA provides us with more personal protection from bad government than what the EU has. Of course that doesn't explain the current administration and the current crop of Democrats, but it does appear that they have been held in check.
What's the purpose behind removing the function keys and replacing them with an OLED bar instead?
Is it because instead of F1,F2,F3 etc. being shown, now the computer will be able to have symbols and full color icons instead for each key, that can change and adapt to the software being used?
If so, I hope it can support multiple touches like iPads to, and doesn’t lag. But if the DRAM is soldered & the storage is non-upgradable, I’ll pass anyway, and hope Apple comes out with an upgradable machine at some point again.
They can't. Low-power DDR3 and DDR4 aren't manufactured in socketable form.
I've beaten my head into the wall trying to explain this to people, I'm not sure they will ever get it. Beyond all of that what are people going to do when RAM is packaged into the CPU package like is happening with Xeon Phi and AMDs GPUs with HBM? Eventually manufactures will have no choice as it will be the only avenue for advancing performance once the size wall is hit. That is until a post silicon solution is hit.
Unlike many of the sketchy iPhone 7 leaks, this one of the MacBook Pro does seem to be the real thing! I'm excited...still they could of squeezed a couple more USB-C ports in there IMO. Oh and the headphone jack remains, hurrah! And I don't know if its just the light, but the casing seems to have matte finish chamfers like on the iPhone SE.
If it is the latest USB-C standard we should see plenty of performance out of the ports with TB support. What really burns my ass about the rMB is it having just one port. That isn't tolerable.
They will replace the headphone jack with a Lightning port on the rMB as soon as they drop it from the iPhone. The most interesting thing about this leaked photo is that there is nothing opposite the headphone jack -- a perfect place to add the Lightning port without removing the headphone jack, at least in the short term. Eventually I would expect to see it go as well.
Since I use Thunderbolt only in the studio at this time, I'm fine with that Kanex box. On the road, I've got my array of adapters and cable bits and assorted computer/iOS crap along, anyway, so I'll throw a USB-C to Firewire and USB-C to USB-A in there; end of story.
I've been using a Kanex Thunderbolt - USB3/eSATA adapter since they shipped. Any slight hiccups I can definitely attribute to Apple's implementation of Tbolt and USB, as some with powered docks ran into the same behavior. It's been in and out of a hundred bags and pockets and never performed less than perfectly. Was well worth the cost to me for having an easily transportable adapter.
Comments
https://www.startech.com/eu/Cables/thunderbolt-3-cables/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-thunderbolt-adapter~TBT3TBTADAP
https://smile.amazon.com/Kanex-Thunderbolt-USB-C-Adapter/dp/B01EJ4XL08?ie=UTF8&keywords=Kanex Thunderbolt 3&pldnNewCustomer=1&qid=1461617246&ref_=smi_ge_chk_cnf_smi&ref_=sr_1_3&sr=8-3#
Since I use Thunderbolt only in the studio at this time, I'm fine with that Kanex box. On the road, I've got my array of adapters and cable bits and assorted computer/iOS crap along, anyway, so I'll throw a USB-C to Firewire and USB-C to USB-A in there; end of story.
Me "You have to drag the disk to the trash"
Them "But I don't want to delete it!"
Hell, it got me a couple of times when my brain wasn't working. Fortunately, as it was a physical switch, I could hold it in while I desperately shut the machine down to avoid damage.
Great machine, though. In fact, I think I preferred the 660AV to the Power Mac 6100 I upgraded it to (via a very pricy motherboard replacement upgrade from Apple). Even though the latter had two GeoPorts (for which no peripherals ever got to Australia - especially the Communications Pod that was held up by regulatory requirements until it ceased to be relevant), and could run SoftWindows (which meant you could run...well, Windows software...very slowly...), I think having the separate DSP made it faster for multimedia. Also a friend of mine developed a game at about that time, and there was an issue with the 68K AV models which we'd have caught in beta testing if I'd still had it.
If they'd left in a Mini or MicroSD card slot, at least HD upgradability wouldn't have been an issue. There are some large capacity SD cards available now.
Easier on the cartilage than the Macbook one.
Lemon Bon Bon.
Ditching it is a mistake.
Meat the same time I understand and agree with an addition use port.
But surely there is a way to make a MagSafe style connector for the usb c port there.
This IS Apple we are talking about.
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/io/thunderbolt/thunderbolt-technology-developer.html
This would actually be good news on the adapter front for the first time. It would be nice for reuse of existing accessories if we would see quickly some affordable dongles to the older physical formats.