Clarus

tht said:

It's still a machine for older students, or as a client-server machine for web and data workers.

It's capable of much more than that. It packs a quad-core i7, fast SSD, enough graphics power to drive a 6K external display...that's more powerful than some of the older MacBook Pros that I got "real" paid work done with. This new MacBook Air could probably sub pretty well for my current 2018 13" quad-core i5 MacBook Pro that I am running a business off of. Some would point out that my MBP has double the Thunderbolt 3 ports than the Air, but since I run everything through a desktop or mobile hub, I have found that I rarely need more than one port on the machine itself.

The degree to which some downplay the capabilities of today's computers is astounding. There are obviously people walking around who have a perception of the MacBook/MacBook Air that is 15 years old.

This new 13" is a major step up from the previous base model, which was only dual core. However, from what I've read elsewhere, this base model still has a single fan instead of the two fans of the higher versions. The old fan was noisy; would like to know what the single fan sounds like under load, the previous base model single fan was whiny and irritating. The dual fans have a more gentle sound.

chasm said:

What the hell do you old codgers actually do with the FUNCTION BAR part of the function keys?

Oh that's right, nothing. You're also apparently ignorant of the fact that your precious function keys are literally one tap away on a touchbar. So sit down and shut up already! Your incredibly productive function keys haven't gone anywhere! #sosickofignorantwhiners #dosisdeadalready

There isn't much true in what you wrote. And commentary hashtags? Seriously?

I liked the function keys, and I used them in several applications that made good use of them, like Lightroom. The Esc key, I used even more, since it is a shortcut for clicking Cancel. I see where the Touch Bar could be quite useful in surfacing and encouraging discovery of important functions for beginning users.

And I'll tell you what. I went into the Touch Bar with an open mind. I customized it using the controls in macOS. I found that in Keyboard Shortcuts, you can make a list of applications where the Touch Bar should appear as function keys. Then I customized it further with Better Touch Tool, to a point where I liked how it was set up for various programs I use. In theory, it was all figured out.

Then I tried to actually use it.

I found that because I'm a touch typist, I'm never looking at the keyboard. I'm hitting keys while I look at the screen. That means I'm never looking at the Touch Bar. And it's not tactile, so if I try to hit a Touch Bar button by touch, I can't do it. I have to do what I normally don't: Look down at the keyboard. Sometimes, it's worth it to redirect my gaze downwards to use the Touch Bar. But a lot of times, it is not worth it. But the net effect is that my wonderful Touch Bar customizations didn't get used because I'm keeping my eyes on what I'm doing on the screen.

But there is another frustrating side to the Touch Bar.

With function keys, if I press a key without looking thanks to muscle memory, it does what it is supposed to do. But since the Touch Bar constantly changes depending on the context, you cannot rely on muscle memory. You have to look at the Touch Bar to make sure that what you are about to hit is what you thought was going to be there, because it might be something else. Plus, you have to look carefully to hit the right button, because you can no longer orient by touch for the four-key groups of tactile function keys.

It is too easy to brush against the Touch Bar and have something happen that you didn't want to happen because you didn't mean to activate a Touch Bar control. With function keys, if you accidentally brushed the key, it didn't depress because you didn't press hard enough; it resists. Well, with the Touch Bar there is no pushback, so if a finger accidentally brushes against a Touch Bar control it is simply going to execute that. And because the Touch Bar constantly changes appearance, if you hit it without looking, sometimes you're not sure what it is you just accidentally set off with the Touch Bar.

So not all of us are old codgers resistant to change. Some of us like change, and cool new things...but only when they're ergonomic and intuitive. Not a shape-shifting muscle-memory-eluding no-feedback Touch Bar.

I use a MacBook Pro but my favorite Mac keyboard right now is the one on the MacBook Air, which no other Mac has: You get a real tactile function key row plus Touch ID, which I find really useful.

Soli said:

That is the best news I've heard and it's kind of pushing me toward updating my headless Mac mini that is connected to a large capacity RAID.

I should clarify that I am not sure how much the T2 helps with external drives. It might help somewhat, but maybe not as much as with the superfast internal storage.

My doubts come from what Apple says:

Data on the built-in, solid-state drive (SSD) is encrypted using a hardware-accelerated AES engine built into the T2 chip.

Apple specifically says built-in, but the tech note is not specific about how much T2 helps with external drives. I'd like to think that it is still faster, but it sounds like it may not be integrated quite as much with external drives. Has anyone measured this?

What I would like that to mean is that T2 hardware-accelerated encryption also benefits external drives (subject to their read/write speeds of course), but only the built-in storage is encrypted by default. Because FileVault on external drives still needs to be manually enabled.

ericthehalfbee said:

I wonder if the addition of the T2 chip affects this. Encryption on the fly could be the reason for the reduced write speeds.

What you're wondering about is actually the opposite of what has happened.

On older Macs without the T2 chip, only one component can encrypt/decrypt: The CPU. If you need the CPU for something else, it can be tied up by encryption. I would encrypt hard drives and it would tell me how many hours it would take to finish. It was always quite a few hours.

On newer Macs with the T2 chip, encryption/decryption can be handed off to the T2 chip. This has resulted in fast background encryption plus zero load on the CPU, which no longer has to be concerned with encryption. With the T2 chip, volume encryption is basically painless now.

So the addition of the T2 chip did affect encryption. It made it much, much faster and easier!