Pity no good MagSafe adapter from Apple, and the only third party one is this giant thing—one ugly gadget. Then we have 10 hour battery life, so the argument that battery life is so good you rarely need to charge doesn't fly. I don't buy that as a good argument anyway. For me the best thing about MagSafe isn't the trip-safety, but the elegance of magnetic attraction for power.
And then there's the entry machine: €1,749 and no Touch Bar :-(
You might seriously consider flying over to NYC and picking up a couple! Might work out cheaper, airfare included...
Just be prepared to lie to the customs people at both ends, right? Hell, I get nervous talking to those guys even when I'm traveling for legitimate purposes (to say nothing of my smuggling and espionage missions).
I don't need a new Mac until next year, so I'm first going to see how Apple upgrades the 12" MacBook before deciding between it and the 13' Pro with Touch Bar. Too bad the Air still doesn't have a retina display.
What else can Apple do to the 12" MB other than upgrade to Kaby Lake?
Well let's start with what APPLE REMOVED from previous Macs: Longer Battery Life, dedicated USB 3.0 ports, dedicated thunderbolt port, SD-Card slot, HDMI out, MagSafe power, Backlit apple on the back. Now let's imagine what should have been announced: Faster CPU, improved batt life, Larger than 16GB RAM limit, Next generation WIFI AD (wiGig) --yes this exists look it up, improved Sound. So basically just include what we already had, and add these up to date cutting edge technologies. They already exist. It is possible. Instead Apple kowtows to the market and INCREASES prices, and EXCLUDES options/functions i/0 !!! It just doesn't add up. Please send a message to Apple and don't buy this stuff. They will get away with it as long as we allow it. I'm a mac fan, this hurts me to write this, but it's the reality, and Apple can absolutely do better. You know it and I know it.
*Spews coffee over desk*
No backlit Apple logo??
OH, THE HUMANITY!
Actually, the backlit Apple logo was great advertising. I'm sure Apple would have retained it if possible but it's a victim of 'thinness' no doubt. Not a profound loss but scenes like these were fun.
Pity no good MagSafe adapter from Apple, and the only third party one is this giant thing—one ugly gadget. Then we have 10 hour battery life, so the argument that battery life is so good you rarely need to charge doesn't fly. I don't buy that as a good argument anyway. For me the best thing about MagSafe isn't the trip-safety, but the elegance of magnetic attraction for power.
And then there's the entry machine: €1,749 and no Touch Bar :-(
If MacBook Air at 256 GB is €1,379 the least Apple could do is give us Touch Bar in the new machine at €1,749. I guess when my bonuses are $10M I won't care either. €2,099 for the cheapest 13" Touch Bar model.
Given the price, battery life and MagSafe, 13" MBA is the better choice for most people. The four reasons I choose MacBook Air, battery life, MagSafe, slimness and price and Phil's suggestion this "entry-level" machine be an Air replacement/upgrade and it only meets one of these.
That and the fact the new machine doesn't have Lightning is puzzling. So I buy an iPhone and can't use its headphones with my new MBP without that dongle? I don't wish to spend €300 on headphones; I don't wish to have to charge my headphones; I hate Micro-USB. Plenty of reasons I want to use wired headphones, especially the ones with my new iPhone without the requirement to use a dongle. Dongle for 1/4 jack products, Lightning without dongle—as it should be. Everything else will move to USBc/Thun3 eventually.
What mgnetic attraction ?! The power is conducted by means of good old pins, not magnetic attraction in MagSafe. Magnetic attraction just holds the cord in place. So you were thinking that the Mac has a magnetic charging similar to the Watch, right? OMG OMG...
No, no. It's about the convenience of just having to get the MagSafe close to the port and it gets pulled into place and aligned by the magnet. And when I pick up my MBP a light flick with my left thumb as I gripe the edge of the case will disconnect the MagSafe. I can disconnect power and pick up my laptop in one motion with a single hand.
I would miss that convenience even more than the trip protection MagSafe provided.
Thank you for expressing this so well. MagSafe was a beautiful (small) thing. This also explains why the third-party add-on version misses the boat. I can't toss my MacBook into my backpack with a rigid gizmo sticking out of one of the USB ports. The probability of that snapping off at some point is definitely non-zero.
I'll definitely miss the Magsafe as well, as I agree it was a very elegant solution to quite a few problems.
Though I will say, I'm very excited at the prospect of having a charging port on either side of my laptop. I'm also looking forward to single-cable docking with a Thunderbolt 3 dock at my desk.
Come on guys, this is basic English, and you're supposed to be professional journalists. The ability to convey the correct meaning with words is the fundamental requirement of your job.
Seriously though had Apple announced Touch Bar for MacBooks I could see iPad numbers.
There were some interesting choices made though. Like keeping the headphone jack even though it's "outdated" technology like the function keys. 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports, what happened to USB C? Problems? Shouldn't Apple be pushing a new Lightning standard?
A few disappointments: no new iMacs/Mac Pros/Mini, no Touch Bar keyboard peripherals.
Pity no good MagSafe adapter from Apple, and the only third party one is this giant thing—one ugly gadget. Then we have 10 hour battery life, so the argument that battery life is so good you rarely need to charge doesn't fly. I don't buy that as a good argument anyway. For me the best thing about MagSafe isn't the trip-safety, but the elegance of magnetic attraction for power.
And then there's the entry machine: €1,749 and no Touch Bar :-(
If MacBook Air at 256 GB is €1,379 the least Apple could do is give us Touch Bar in the new machine at €1,749. I guess when my bonuses are $10M I won't care either. €2,099 for the cheapest 13" Touch Bar model.
Given the price, battery life and MagSafe, 13" MBA is the better choice for most people. The four reasons I choose MacBook Air, battery life, MagSafe, slimness and price and Phil's suggestion this "entry-level" machine be an Air replacement/upgrade and it only meets one of these.
That and the fact the new machine doesn't have Lightning is puzzling. So I buy an iPhone and can't use its headphones with my new MBP without that dongle? I don't wish to spend €300 on headphones; I don't wish to have to charge my headphones; I hate Micro-USB. Plenty of reasons I want to use wired headphones, especially the ones with my new iPhone without the requirement to use a dongle. Dongle for 1/4 jack products, Lightning without dongle—as it should be. Everything else will move to USBc/Thun3 eventually.
What mgnetic attraction ?! The power is conducted by means of good old pins, not magnetic attraction in MagSafe. Magnetic attraction just holds the cord in place. So you were thinking that the Mac has a magnetic charging similar to the Watch, right? OMG OMG...
No, no. It's about the convenience of just having to get the MagSafe close to the port and it gets pulled into place and aligned by the magnet. And when I pick up my MBP a light flick with my left thumb as I gripe the edge of the case will disconnect the MagSafe. I can disconnect power and pick up my laptop in one motion with a single hand.
I would miss that convenience even more than the trip protection MagSafe provided.
This has me wondering, why didn't Apple incorporate this technology into lightning cables/ports? Would have been awesome on iPhone and iPad.
I don't need a new Mac until next year, so I'm first going to see how Apple upgrades the 12" MacBook before deciding between it and the 13' Pro with Touch Bar. Too bad the Air still doesn't have a retina display.
What else can Apple do to the 12" MB other than upgrade to Kaby Lake?
Well let's start with what APPLE REMOVED from previous Macs: Longer Battery Life, dedicated USB 3.0 ports, dedicated thunderbolt port, SD-Card slot, HDMI out, MagSafe power, Backlit apple on the back. Now let's imagine what should have been announced: Faster CPU, improved batt life, Larger than 16GB RAM limit, Next generation WIFI AD (wiGig) --yes this exists look it up, improved Sound. So basically just include what we already had, and add these up to date cutting edge technologies. They already exist. It is possible. Instead Apple kowtows to the market and INCREASES prices, and EXCLUDES options/functions i/0 !!! It just doesn't add up. Please send a message to Apple and don't buy this stuff. They will get away with it as long as we allow it. I'm a mac fan, this hurts me to write this, but it's the reality, and Apple can absolutely do better. You know it and I know it.
I couldn't agree more Digitol, this "update" is anything but. I've been buying Apple computers for 30 years and I'm at a crossroads. The only thing keeping meat this point is the OS. We are seeing an increasing amount of form over function and I for one do not like it. Apple needs to wake up and stop treating its PRO customers like *hit. I don't want a computer that I need a bunch of adapter cables to use and that severely limits me on upgrading memory and disk space.
Comments
Just be prepared to lie to the customs people at both ends, right? Hell, I get nervous talking to those guys even when I'm traveling for legitimate purposes (to say nothing of my smuggling and espionage missions).
If you have enough disposal income that you can afford nice things without tightening your belt, buy it.
Thank you for expressing this so well. MagSafe was a beautiful (small) thing. This also explains why the third-party add-on version misses the boat. I can't toss my MacBook into my backpack with a rigid gizmo sticking out of one of the USB ports. The probability of that snapping off at some point is definitely non-zero.
Though I will say, I'm very excited at the prospect of having a charging port on either side of my laptop. I'm also looking forward to single-cable docking with a Thunderbolt 3 dock at my desk.
There were some interesting choices made though. Like keeping the headphone jack even though it's "outdated" technology like the function keys. 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports, what happened to USB C? Problems? Shouldn't Apple be pushing a new Lightning standard?