The first reviews of the new MacBook Pro are in. Note that this only concerns the base 13″model, which does not come with the new Touch Bar.
While the display, build quality, and looks of the new MacBook Pro are beyond reproach, they’re no longer beyond the competition. Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Yoga has a spectacular OLED display. Dell’s XPS 13 has great battery life and design. HP’s EliteBook Folio has a hinge that folds out to a full 180 degrees, whereas Apple s laptops have always been limited to opening to a little bit beyond vertical. Razer’s Blade Stealth has a 4K touchscreen, Thunderbolt 3, and the latest seventh-gen Intel processors, whereas Apple is still using sixth-gen chips. Why does any of that matter? It matters because this new MacBook Pro’s compromises are large enough to make me, a loyal and satisfied MacBook user for seven years, look outside the cozy confines of Apple’s ecosystem. Apple has built a beautiful computer with all the upgrades I wanted, but it’s taken away things that I actually need, and now I’m looking elsewhere.
Putting aside larger concerns about Apple’s stewardship of the Mac as a hardware and software platform, the new MacBook Pro is a very solid design that should serve Apple well over the next few years. Some pros will claim that it isn’t “pro” enough, but the 13-inch models have always served as more of a bridge between the consumer MacBooks and MacBook Airs on the low end and the 15-inch Pros and the desktop lineup on the high end. They’ve never been particularly “pro.”
Being a developer I can not recommend this keyboard to even my enemies! OK, maybe to some of them but I would feel bad at nights because of it.
Have you actually tried it for some time?
Yes. if you mean the Macbook! Two of my colleges have it and I hated the keyboard. As someone who types a lot, I felt that this is at best an ipad keyboard replacement. You will never get the satisfaction you get from thinkpad or (now) old macbook pros.
+1000
Cannot agree more. Modern Apple keyboards are horrible, while the crown of the best laptop keyboard is still with old IBM ThinkPads, like ThinkPad x41…
I read that the new MBP keyboard is firmer and has a bit more travel than the MB so it might make a difference.
And when Apple changed it’s laptops to the chiclet keyboard some years ago everyone was complaining too but most actually did like the new keyboard after some time. So I’m not sure if trying it occasionally really gives you the right impression. Do your colleagues hate it too?
Edited 2016-11-03 12:33 UTC
Yes, since couple of us were waiting to see what we are getting, and as long time apple buyer my only problem why I cannot commit to these new ones is the keyboard. It is a shame since for the rest of the changes I like what they have done. But no, that’s not going to be a working keyboard for me. I spend too much time on the machine.
Oh, I just asked and the current owners in my department are using external keyboards whenever they are at their desk. That’s an option if you only consume when laptop is on your lap and work when at desk. This seems more reasonable, but doesn’t fix what is in my opinion a flaw for a pro machine.
According to the Verge
I’ll have to give it a try.
It doesn’t mean these reviewers are using the computer as a terminal to something like emacs. You can look at the keyboard when you are browsing social media if necessary, but when you do serious work, I do not think so. I am pretty much sure that I cannot use anything other than standard keyboard. The previous generation’s keyboard still wasn’t as good as something line X260 thinkpad but still it was good enough. Sure this is subjective, but this new one is a different beast, and I know that I need the key travel. Otherwise I am going to hit my keyboard every time I am compiling like a maniac!
Chiclet keyboards are ‘pretender’ hardware. Full Stop.
Any self respecting rocky Coder should go -at minimum- for the ‘Gamer’ Kind. Same for Mouses
I agree on that the Apple keyboards are a total disaster, but the old macbook pro keyboard is also questionable.
I had a mbp 2010 and its keyboard two years later felt too old and used. I am a heavy typist and coder, but that is not excuse, durability is what Pro means too.
So, I use an external mechanical keyboard right now as much as I can.
I like the new MacBook Retina keyboard. It has a nice hollow sound behind each keystroke that audibly reminds me of an old blue Alps-style switch. The tactile feel is pretty good. I understand this is the keyboard that is going in the new MacBook Pros.
Obviously the key travel is shorter, but the MacBook Retina is also designed to be a netbook replacement, and thinness/portability is king in this segment. It is an improvement over old MacBook keyboards.
My main desktop still has the space saver Model M from the late 80’s – early 90’s. I found a whole stack by the dump when I was a kid and took them home over several trips. I have tried modern Cherry MX key switches but it just doesn’t feel as good as the Model M and the Cherry will be on eBay shortly. I never tried the Northgate Omnikey which is supposedly the keyboard that rivalled the Model M’s back in the day.
Never liked the new Thinkpad keyboard layout. It shows wear too fast and what Lenovo gave up (seven row with traditional Home/Insert block) doesn’t make up for what I believe is superior keyfeel of the new chiclet keys over past designs. If Lenovo makes a new keyboard with the traditional layout, it will be the laptop king.
If you are a fan of the IBM Model M style keyboards this company purchased the patents for it from IBM (or possibly Lenovo after they bought IBM) and are making and selling them now.
http://www.pckeyboard.com/
My wife bought me one of the USB Ultra Classics 2 years ago for my Christmas present. Best Christmas present ever!
I tried the new keyboard in store. It feels almost exactly like clicking on the force trackpad.
It’s like they tuned the click to be the same, as in preparation for removing the keyboard altogether with some sort of haptic feedback surface.
I have some RSI issues and much prefer the shorter key travel as it allows me to type for longer before I experience pain. For that reason I’m right behind this change, even if each key press is a little bit less satisfying.
I’ve never been a fan of Apple but this is the first time I’ve felt bad for Apple users. It isn’t just the hardware that has failed, it’s the OS that limits it as well.
While companies like Microsoft and Google (and even Ubuntu) are finding ways to incorporate multiple interfaces, with ‘touch’ being what’s pushing hardware innovation, Apple’s macOS is being held back in this regard.
So what they came up with is a gargantuan touchpad and a touch bar as kludges for their stubbornness to drive macOS toward touch. They have all the money and resources in the world, afterall.
So either evolve macOS into a touch-friendly OS or create a great laptop. They have failed at both with this frankenstein mixture of a laptop pretending to be a near portless tablet (dongles everywhere).
As an outsider who would occasionally look into Apple products with some envy, it now feels like I’m watching a company treat its’ serious loyal users in the most condescending way.
“… They’ve never been particularly “pro.””
Humbly differing here. Not Particularly power-rigs, but definitively “Pro”.
Anyone who actually purchases one of these overpriced, outdated pieces of crap needs to have his or her head examined. Apple is on its way out.
There’s always the hackintosh option. I’ve had a few successful endeavors on that. Mostly with desktops, but after the installs, its best of both worlds for most
Apparently Apple just doesn’t think that anyone needing serious CPU or GPU power will buy a MBP (they’re partly right) so the only professionals they’re probably aiming their new Pros at are the ones that are starting out or don’t do some serious number crunching or heavy tasks.
They may or may not be right, but it is very annoying to those of us expecting to get some hardware love like the old days.
It got even worse by removing perhaps their most awesome thing: The magnetic charging mechanism, that is perhaps my favorite part of their MBPs.
Something’s gotta give, because like others have stated, a slightly more powerful iPad with a keyboard and without touchscreen is just not going to cut it for a lot of people like me that use virtual machines and occasionally do heavy processing.
There’s almost no reason for me to not pick up an Alienware or a Lenovo laptop and just skip them and settling to change my work flow due to interface changes. There’s literally NO program I can’t get on windows that works almost as well if not just as well.
Remember when we were talking about apple post jobs ?
Its pretty evident now the company is losing its way.
They have messed up the mac book pro, they cant see past their iphone / ipad cash cows, or what I actually believe is that they cant see past the profit margins, why bother pushing the envelope when you can rely on iteration and using cheaper components to maximise profit ?
I used to buy macbook pro’s and run linux on them (dual-boot) Apple would have the best hardware improvements they pushed pci-e ssd’s, they pushed screen resolution, they were pushing laptop hardware. I think the touch-bar is a neat idea, but they miss the fact that macbook pros are now heavily used in enterprise by developers working on linux servers, heavily dependant on *nix technology. They courted many linux users over as their platform provided a nice user interface (without having to rely on the command line at all), some of the best hardware around and importantly a bash shell and a full *nix environment, with a decent keyboard.
They no longer are pushing hardware and their user interface is getting watered down to work like ios. The keyboard doesn’t sound good, no esc key on 15″ by default…
Its pretty evident Cook doesn’t get technology, doesn’t get what jobs was targeting and I think they cant see past profit margins. Hey I ain’t complaining, I don’t really care, just makes the new linux developer laptops from dell etc look even better.
… paraphrase…
While Apple’s build quality and fit and finish are still the best, they maybe aren’t the best by as much as last 4 times we said all the other manufacturers were catching up to them.
In fact, for 15 years now other manufacturers have been catching up to them, but I guess still haven’t caught them yet. But it’s happening!
“Apple is slipping! (post Jobs) / dying! (pre Jobs)”.
Sorry – The evidence isn’t there. Production types have always wanted more from Apple. Corporate IT types have always thought Apple was off the reservation.
Meanwhile they count their money – profit earned from execution and stability, not fancy new features.
Touching your computer screen is stupid. Apple knew this along time ago. You touch a tablet if there’s no other pointing device available, but you don’t just smudge up your workstation’s screen with your nasty meat stick fingers.
You are supposed to wipe your boogers under the desk, not on the screen.
Edited 2016-11-04 12:19 UTC
And here I thought you are supposed to refrain from picking your nose.
Wouldn’t all this be fixed by a dock? Put in everything you want like sdcardslot, usb-a ports, displayport, HDMI, VGA, LAN. Maybe even a powerbank or a an M.2 slot?