mpschaefer

I believe that if people think there is an issue then they are free to lobby the manufacturer, no matter who they are, to fix the problem.

In my case, I held off my purchase as long as I could as I was concerned about the keyboard based on what I was reading online. I was like many in that I tried the keyboard in the store and thought it was the worst thing I have ever used and just couldn't see myself using it at all.

I ended up making the purchase, more due to my employer moving to provide Macs rather than the BYOD approach and my hating the specs that they picked for the machines.

I've had mine a few months now and is the keyboard louder than the old one? Yes.

I decided to put a keyboard protector on as soon as I bought it to keep any crumbs etc (I have a very bad habit eating over my machine) out of the mechanism from day one.

The keyboard takes some getting used to and I would say it will always be louder than I like but it is not as loud as it was when I tried it in store. There is also something to be said that once you get used to it you reduce the amount of force you use when belting the keys as you type. In fact, this might be the first keyboard which I haven't simply continued to use like the old mechanical typewriter I used in High School.

herodotus said:

Sad. Most people who buy laptops for business and general use buy 15” laptops and now Apple has made them unaffordable and added capabilities most users don’t need or want while removing feature like hdmi, MagSafe, functions keys (touch bar is stupid) and USB-a that people need and they still have the worst most unreliable keyboard in the industry. Customers want a 15”laptop, 4 core, Intel only gpus. Now apple does not have an affordable 15” laptop. I am buying an dell XPS and running win10 and unbuntu. Apple just lost a customer. John ivy and tim should be fired for ruining the MacBook family. Apple is brain dead stupid. Steve jobs is crying in his grave,

Strange. I must be looking at a different Apple Website.

For the same price I paid for a 2017 15" MacBook Pro with 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD, I can now buy a 2018 15" MacBook Pro with 32GB RAM and 2TB SSD. 

Not sure how it became more unaffordable with the 2018 release. 

To quote Roger Murtaugh - "That's pretty f***ing thin." Given a "Mesa" is defined as "an isolated flat-topped hill with steep sides, found in landscapes with horizontal strata." How do we know they aren't just talking about changes to the Lens / Flash Assembly / Bump, that seems to stick out a bit like a "Mesa" on the current phones.

jungmark said:

Has any professional used a MacBook Pro  and run into any issues with 16 GB? I've seen a review where the reviewer opened every Pro app he has (and then some) and didn't run into issues while using them. 

I'm still running my Macbook Pro (Mid-2012) with 16GB of RAM as my primary work computer.

I've never quite worked out if I an technically a "Pro", but I do Software Systems Implementations and Development and run various Virtual Machines in the process. To that end I will get close to using most of the RAM depending on the VM (and where I sourced it - one department issued a VM that needs 32GB to run but I can launch portions of it on my current one.)

I do have 32GB on my iMac so I can run the bigger ones there when required.

I have been quite puzzled by the various reactions, it's not as if Apple had a 32GB Macbook Pro last year and this year they don't.

And it's not as if the laptop being thin was some new concept they applied to this years model for the first time.

And it's not as they have never dropped a port before.

Personally, I'm still contemplating the purchase but then again I'm in no rush given how old the current one is and it doesn't feel like it's going to have issues anytime soon (knock on wood).

elijahg said:

charlesn said:

It seems like EVERYONE has reported on "SSD-gate," i.e., the slower SSD speed specs for the 512GB configuration for the MBP. (Which follows the previous outrage over slower SSD speeds in the 256GB configuration of the M2 MBA vs the M1.) And we know that the slower speeds in the MBP are the result of a 1x512 SSD configuration instead of the 2x256 configuration used in the M1 MBP.  Further, we know that the change in configurations was driven by tightening supplies and higher prices for the lower capacity 128GB and 256GB chips. But the question NO ONE answers is the most important one for prospective buyers: what's the real world impact of these slower SSD specs on the work done by a typical buyer of a base model MBP 14'? I'll go further with that question: is there ANY real world impact at all? I suspect it's so minimal as to go unnoticed in actual use. 

Yes, I'm sure that if you threw a workload at it that was more typical for the buyer of higher spec'd MBPs, then real world differences might show up. But those buyers aren't buying base model MBPs, so what's the point? 

Well since 16GB RAM is pretty constrained for a pro machine, they may well notice when it runs out of memory and starts swapping furiously. Mine spends a lot of time with 50%+ memory pressure. Safari is the main culprit. 20 or so tabs and somehow that's 7.5GB. Close them all and it still uses 2.5GB. Apparently full of memory leaks.

On my machine, it's the "Per-Tab Web Processes" which Safari spawns which are the culprit in that it doesn't close them when you switch between tab groups. I suspect because it wants to keep the last version you saw available for when you switch back.

You can turn of this function in the debug menu, or simply quit and relaunch Safari to release the memory.

lkrupp said:

Being a devil’s advocate I see most techies are vehemently opposed to any kind of cooperation between tech companies and the government regarding encryption. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are regularly trotted out. So let me ask a loaded question. If a terrorist attack occurred in your town and family and friends were killed who would you blame for not knowing about it or doing something to stop it? Would you blame the government? Why? It would also seem you are willing to accept the fact that more of us could be killed at any point because authorities are blind to what is being planned. The price of freedom from government snooping is sudden and arbitrary death?

Really, I would just like to know who you will blame for the next attack. The same government you despise?

This is Australia, we have no Bill of Rights (https://www.humanrights.gov.au/how-are-human-rights-protected-australian-law) the government is pretty much free to do what they like until called out or the next election (when they would likely get tossed for whatever they have / have not been up to).

As somewhat of a 'techie', I'm not opposed to Tech Companies assisting lawful investigations using suitable means. I'm opposed to deliberate weakening of security in a vain attempt to increase their ability to 'snoop'.

Let's take iMessage as an example. Right now, you can converse on that platform and the messages are encrypted. Now, let's assume that we get to the point where the public and private keys have to be stored by Apple and provided under a legal request so that intercepted and encrypted messages can be accessed by investigators. 

How does that change things for the regular person? Well, it doesn't unless you begin conversing with someone the government is watching and then your keys may be sought and your messages accessed. 

How does a terrorist react? I'd expect that they would simply pre-encrypt anything before sending it meaning that while the law can now access iMessages they still will not be able to read the actual content they are interested in.

So, I fail to see how we managed to achieve anything by allowing this. Worse still, given the various governments lack of ability to keep stuff secret and away from hackers and the like mean that this action is more likely going to end with the only regular preson's data being inspected and made available.

Marvin said:

rods5 said:

I too am waiting for a M3 iMac 27” or larger all in one Mac.  The Mac Mini is OK, but what other 27” or larger display will be good to great and not cost you a arm and a leg like the Apple Studio display @ $1,599, which is the cost of an iMac all by itself.  

And the Mac Studio starts at $1,999, plus the Studio display, brings the total to $3,598 for a entry version of the Mac Studio. 

Where is the M2 or M3 27” iMac?  I want two of them!  I am waiting!!!  What say you, Apple?

The prices aren't all that much different from before.

The earlier 27" iMac had a core-i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Radeon 5300 for $1799.
Studio Display is $1599, Mac mini M2 is faster than a core-i9, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, GPU same as 5300 for $599 = $2198.

A higher-end iMac was core i9, 8GB, 512GB, 5700XT for $3199 (32GB RAM was $600 = $3799). An M2 Pro will rival a 5700XT, M2 Max will be faster.

Studio Display + M2 Pro mini = $3298 (old iMac was $3199)
Studio Display + Mac Studio (32GB RAM) = $3598 (old iMac was $3799)

If Apple made a 27" iMac again, they'd likely have an entry model with M2 mini internals at $1999.

I have long been a fan of the AIO factor but have been contemplating the switch to a Mac Mini + Studio Display combination given the pricing is not vastly different and I can then choose to independently upgrade the screen or the unit if needed.

It would just be nice for Apple to explicitly state if the 27" iMac is permanently dead or only in some HomePod temporary hiatus...

I really wish Apple would just make a more flexible version of Apple One for Individuals, sort of Individual+ which allows you to plug in Apple News+ or Apple Fitness+ at a reduced price.

I only currently use the lowest tier of iCloud storage, Apple TV+ and Apple News+ and have no interest in the Apple Arcade or Apple Music services.

So, even though the Apple One Individual is cheaper by the time I bolt on Apple News+, I'm playing A$10.47 more than I currently pay for the ability to roll two payments into one and access two services I'm not interested in... hardly seems worth the effort.

Though for some time now I have been feeling that AppleTV+ needed to move to a when there is something I am interested in, I subscribe model...

Fidonet127 said:

mpschaefer said:

Does anybody know what the Magic Keyboard uses to communicate when you have it plugged into the computer?

I notice on my Mac that it greys out the Bluetooth Connection for the keyboard though it still has the icon coloured blue.

Is it still using Bluetooth for communication or is it using the USB cable?

If the Magic Keyboard is plugged in, it is communicating using USB. Handy when it looses Bluetooth connection. I have my Magic Keyboard and trackpad plugged in via kvm so I can also use them on my Linux desktop. 

Thanks. I guess that would be one way to close the attack vector then.