Actually, the design of recent MacBook is substantially worse.
The notch is poorly implemented.
USB4 supports HDMI and DP2.1 so having HDMI port is unnecessary.
Magsafe is easily achieved with adapter for those who worry about cables being yanked.
I don't care about Touch Bar much so it's not sorely missed.
The addition of SDHX slot is unnecessary.
We literally have plenty of USB-C hubs that can take HDMI, SDHC, and USB-A all at once. There is NO point of putting it on a laptop and make it look tacky.
It seems backward.
How many times do you have to be told the HDMI port and SD slot is for convenience and the Magsafe port is to regain a USB-C port and for the brilliance of Magsafe itself?
You can bleat on again with an identical post about how you don't like it, which has been refuted ad nauseam, but Apple tried what you liked, got lots of flak, and now we're back to having ports people want. Just because you feel these things are not required for you, doesn't mean no one else wants them. The majority in fact. It's not all about you. You think a couple of extra ports "makes it look tacky"? Who gives a shit about functionality then as long as it looks nice. Might as well remove all the ports then, that'll look great. Also, it's one hell of a lot more "tacky' to have 3 dongles hanging off the side of the machine.
If you're so pissed about it, go get a hub or a dongle, which the majority had to do who needed these missing features. Now you're in the minority, and you're moaning Apple doesn't cater to you. Tough.
The graphic designers now have the keys to the kingdom and this does not moon bode well for the usability of Apple’s products.
And when engineers have the keys to the kingdom, you end up with things like Windows Mobile: shoehorning a desktop OS on a mobile device because you only see the functionality and not the usability.
Last I checked the folks holding the keys to the Apple kingdom are all engineers, thankfully: Cook, Federighi, Williams, Srouji, …. even Joz.
Same at Google, Microsoft, Tesla, SpaceX and so many other tech titans.
As it should be.
Cook, Williams and Joswiak graduated as engineers, but none of them have practised that for a very long time. Cook since his Masters in business, Williams since he joined Apple in '98 and Joswiak has been in marketing for 30 years at Apple.
The engineering background is a foundational mindset. Same for Bezos. Armed with this they can make intelligent long term decisions whereas non-engineers quickly end up regurgitating what they read and hear but can’t understand the nuance of new tech and what it takes to engineer it. I see it over and over. Ballmer is the last type of person any of the tech companies need. All bluster.
People that give presentations NEED an HDMI port. HDMI 2.1 doesn’t matter. What matters is that you can give your presentation even if you forget your dongle.
Actually, the design of recent MacBook is substantially worse.
The notch is poorly implemented.
USB4 supports HDMI and DP2.1 so having HDMI port is unnecessary.
Magsafe is easily achieved with adapter for those who worry about cables being yanked.
I don't care about Touch Bar much so it's not sorely missed.
The addition of SDHX slot is unnecessary.
We literally have plenty of USB-C hubs that can take HDMI, SDHC, and USB-A all at once. There is NO point of putting it on a laptop and make it look tacky.
Apple was not first on the CD ROM train. They were one of the first to drop it, but they started adding it into their computers around the same time everyone else did.
Apple sold stand alone CD-ROM drives, long before they were integrated into computers of any description, at a loss when the total number of CD-ROM titles available globally was around a dozen and all subsidised by Apple. The big question at the time was why? In doing so, Apple seeded the 'multimedia revolution' before the term had been coined. I know, I was there and have used Macs continuously since 1985.
Apple have a history of being early or first in and first out of every major technology. They still are. I had reply to the utter nonsense in Dk49's post.
Jony Ive is a talented designer. However, his quest for minimalism definitely led to form over function designs. When Jobs past, nobody was in position to keep him in check. At the end of the day, as the designer, he bares responsibility for flawed designs. Attempting to deny this in ridiculous articles like this doesn’t change the facts.
A lot of odd supposition from people who clearly are not industrial designers and are shooting hot takes from the hip with half a clip.
(eye roll)
LOL... there is no need to be an industrial designer to know that the "Chief Design Officer" at Apple was ultimately responsible for such design decisions. Seriously, your comment is like suggesting the CFO isn't responsible for a company's financial statements. I'm not an accountant either, yet I understand where the responsibility belongs. You should look into that.
Actually, the design of recent MacBook is substantially worse.
The notch is poorly implemented.
USB4 supports HDMI and DP2.1 so having HDMI port is unnecessary.
Magsafe is easily achieved with adapter for those who worry about cables being yanked.
I don't care about Touch Bar much so it's not sorely missed.
The addition of SDHX slot is unnecessary.
We literally have plenty of USB-C hubs that can take HDMI, SDHC, and USB-A all at once. There is NO point of putting it on a laptop and make it look tacky.
It seems backward.
The notch is perfectly implemented
If you show up to give a presentation and realize your dongle doesn't work, or got taken by your roommate or forgotten or the person who was supposed to bring one for you forgot, the HDMI port is definitely necessary.
3rd party MagSafe adapters were notoriously unreliable. I have personal experience with this.
Public opinion would disagree with your assessment that the new MBPs are 'substantially worse,' but since you're so unhappy with them I'm sure there will be plenty of Intel MBPs on the used market soon. You should have no problem getting a computer without any of those horrible ports that are so unnecessary.
Personally, I'm thrilled - I find these machines to be a significant step forward on all fronts. I don't need an SD card slot and will probably never use it, but you know what? The computer will still work just fine for me and I'm happy for the people that do need the slot.
Comments
You can bleat on again with an identical post about how you don't like it, which has been refuted ad nauseam, but Apple tried what you liked, got lots of flak, and now we're back to having ports people want. Just because you feel these things are not required for you, doesn't mean no one else wants them. The majority in fact. It's not all about you. You think a couple of extra ports "makes it look tacky"? Who gives a shit about functionality then as long as it looks nice. Might as well remove all the ports then, that'll look great. Also, it's one hell of a lot more "tacky' to have 3 dongles hanging off the side of the machine.
If you're so pissed about it, go get a hub or a dongle, which the majority had to do who needed these missing features. Now you're in the minority, and you're moaning Apple doesn't cater to you. Tough.
Apple have a history of being early or first in and first out of every major technology. They still are. I had reply to the utter nonsense in Dk49's post.
(eye roll)
The notch is perfectly implemented
If you show up to give a presentation and realize your dongle doesn't work, or got taken by your roommate or forgotten or the person who was supposed to bring one for you forgot, the HDMI port is definitely necessary.
3rd party MagSafe adapters were notoriously unreliable. I have personal experience with this.
Public opinion would disagree with your assessment that the new MBPs are 'substantially worse,' but since you're so unhappy with them I'm sure there will be plenty of Intel MBPs on the used market soon. You should have no problem getting a computer without any of those horrible ports that are so unnecessary.
Personally, I'm thrilled - I find these machines to be a significant step forward on all fronts. I don't need an SD card slot and will probably never use it, but you know what? The computer will still work just fine for me and I'm happy for the people that do need the slot.