javacowboy

Going to comment on the keyboard specifically:

I have a 2016 MacBook Pro.  Aside from a brief early problem with repeating keys that soon resolved itself, I haven't had any flaws with the keyboard.  It works as it was designed to.  

Having said that, I object to the design of the keyboard, especially as a touch typist.  I find it absolutely jarring, especially when using it immediately after using my mechanical external keyboard:

a) The key travel is insanely shallow, again even more jarring after the satisfying key travel of my external keyboard.  My fingers start to hurt after long typing sessions by I can type on my mechanical keyboard for hours at a time with no problem.
b) The new arrow key design with double sized left and right arrow keys makes it more difficult to distinguish each key by touch.
c) The TouchBar makes it impossible to find function keys and volume/etc keys by touch.
d) There are too many accidental clicks with my palms on the touchpad while I'm typing.  Why can't Apple implement functionality in Linux distros that disables the touchpad while typing?

There are silver linings however:

1) Touch ID is awesome and has added untold hours to my life saving me from retyping passwords to unlock my session
2) I can map ESC to CapsLock easily.  As a vim user this is much appreciated

Why don't I have the option of shutting off the TouchBar if I have an external keyboard plugged in? The TouchBar is useless if my hands are far away from the laptop keyboard.

foggyhill said:

javacowboy said:

If Apple switches from Intel to their variant of ARM what does this mean for?

1. Windows (BootCamp, Parallels/VMWare/VirtualBox)
2. Running other OS's in VM's like Linux, etc?
3. Software that relies on x86, including various unix command line tools, brew/nix, Java/Eclipse/IntelliJ, databases like Postgres/etc?
4. Specialized, complex, professional GUI software beyond that which can be safely ported with a recompile such as Adobe CS/Microsoft Office, etc?

I think Apple knows they're in a pickle with the Intel situation but switching to ARM would cause a slew of problems with the above use cases.

Most Apple buyers don't give a shit about all that; they just want to get the job done.
IOS app variants for the desktop could work.

For that do, if they keep the pro line, they can still keep Intel for that.

Pro users care.  This thread is about the MacBook Pro, not the MacBook.

If Apple switches from Intel to their variant of ARM what does this mean for?

1. Windows (BootCamp, Parallels/VMWare/VirtualBox)
2. Running other OS's in VM's like Linux, etc?
3. Software that relies on x86, including various unix command line tools, brew/nix, Java/Eclipse/IntelliJ, databases like Postgres/etc?
4. Specialized, complex, professional GUI software beyond that which can be safely ported with a recompile such as Adobe CS/Microsoft Office, etc?

I think Apple knows they're in a pickle with the Intel situation but switching to ARM would cause a slew of problems with the above use cases.

You're kidding right? Browsing on Dell's site I see a Lattitude with 8Gb of RAM and 128 Gb of SSD for $1,619.00.