Apple recently released the new 16″ laptop, and it’s a significant improvement over the fail-fest that’s been going on since 2016. Still a reduced selection of ports, still cooling any plasticky gaming laptop would easily surpass, but there’s the ESC key again, and the keyboard is no longer that terrible breakable thing.
However, I lost a whole day of vacation fixing the mess Catalina update made on my mid-2015 15″ retinabook, having disabled 32-bit code, which made Virtualbox not run, macports initially didn’t run so I had to wait for an update, GPG didn’t run, Synergy didn’t run, and half of other stuff either didn’t work, or had to be updated. Stuff that had no updates was a problem, but I replaced most of everything with open source stuff compiled from the macports library, but it left me wondering what would happen if Apple did another “upgrade” and simply blocked macports or at least its access to the xcode compiler. That would render the computer completely unusable to me. Also, something seems to be broken with the Virtualbox guest VGA driver, and so much of the functionality I relied upon was broken by that single update (including my mail archive no longer syncing due to Apple making “improvements” to the mail application, forcing me to get a paid upgrade for the archiving software) that I got incredibly pissed.
Also, after having used it for years I decided that the 15″ laptop is too big for what I normally use it for, which is to put it in my lap and write articles. The keyboard is too far away, the whole thing is too big and unwieldy, and the only plus is the screen and the speed. With everything else, I was able to get much more comfortable with my old 13″ Air, so I don’t think I’ll be getting another big laptop again, especially since I’ve been using an ultralight Asus (Zenbook Flip UX370UA) for half a year or so and I happen to be using it much more frequently than I do the big Macbook, and only due to a much more practical size, at least for what I use it for. Also, Microsoft integrated Linux into the Win10, so now I have full access to the CLI tools that I normally use even without OS X or virtualization, which makes Windows machines very usable to me, as usable as Macs. Sure, I can write text messages or pick up a phone call from the Macbook, which makes it very convenient at times, and the Macbook screen and touchpad are still significantly superior to anything non-Apple, but the gap is decreasing due to Apple screwing up increasingly more, and others doing increasingly more things right.
The Windows laptops still have significant problems. First, almost everything has a 16:9 screen ratio, which is terrible for small laptop screens; it starts making sense from 17″ upwards. Second, touchpads on Windows laptops range from significantly worse than Apple, to absolute garbage. Third, Windows has a nasty habit of not completing the suspend command if some process refuses to respond, which leads to closing the laptop that is still actually on, merrily overheating and draining your battery in the bag. This makes Windows behave terribly on laptops. Also, Win10 constantly updates, which makes it incredibly annoying after a while. Honestly, I don’t want to even see anything updating other than the antivirus. It can update itself twice a year and that’s it. The only improvement introduced by those updates was the WSL, everything else was cosmetics and had no business rebooting my system. Microsoft should seriously reduce the frequency of updates because this is getting on everybody’s nerves. However, other than that, Win10 is fine. It’s fast, it’s elegant, it’s comfortable to use, and for the most part it’s as reliable as Mac OS, and much more reliable than any Linux desktop. Essentially, Apple is one serious fuckup away from me switching completely to Windows/Linux combo. On the other hand, Windows was always one serious fuckup away from me switching to Mac/Linux combo, so things are quite equally matched now.
Did someone manage to get proper hands-on on last year 16″ MacBook Pro?
I am thinking about passing on my 2014 model, but because I am not sure what to get I might stick to it for a while.
On anything newer than 2015, I find lack of ports disturbing …
I will definitely wait for this year refresh because they might release 14″ upgrade of a 13″ version – which might be preferable to me.
But there is no way ports are coming back and idea of paying for and carrying bunch of dongles on a machine that is all about elegance, simplicity and performance is deeply insulting.
And after all this years I have exactly TWO USB-C devices – Samsung external SSD and Sony camera.
Biljana’s 13″ pro retina has a battery on its last legs and she finds the 13″ screen too small to be practical, so we’ve been eyeing the 16″ very carefully. Essentially, the drawbacks are the T2 chip, non-removable storage, non-upgradable RAM and limitation to only TB3 ports. Other than that, it’s a very nice machine, but it’s annoying that it forces you to spec it up from the already spicy starting price to add more storage and RAM. It’s a great machine, probably the best out there for photography, but I’m not happy with the way Apple is obviously fucking with us. I won’t replace my mid-2015 15″ yet. It’s not obvious to me why I need the biggest machine since I would find a 13″ with a big battery and a great screen equally usable for all normal purposes, except of course Lightroom, and I am also cheap and hate wasting money on stuff unless I need to replace something that’s really broken.
I am not so concerned with specing it up later since base model comes with 16Gb RAM and 500GB storage which is what I have now.
I added another 500gb external ssd because I want stuff on external drive anyway and beside that it didn’t even cross my mind to do any upgrades – and I can’t see what could possibly make me want to spec up in next few years.
I do not game on it, Lightroom works just fine on current model, work stuff is eons away from requiring more than this.
I more terrified of situation where ssd or ram dies after 1yr warranty and you need to replace entire machine because of it.
Why am I even considering this then?
Renata has some ancient HP monstrosity which just refuses to die, but it’s limping, coughing and showing general signs of more severe corona infection 🙂
And I would like to port her to macOS with Lightroom being one of the reasons – it’s a bit too messy to share catalog between macOS and Windows.
Also windows are still annoying me with updates and good windows machines are all but cheap and since I can get MBP for less than 2000 EUR (no VAT option from other EU countries) it seems reasonable thing to do.
Except … fucking dongles.
?
It’s actually totally not. I set up Biljana with an external-ssd that contains a complete Lightroom library, catalog, previews and warts, and it seamlessly opens from both her macbook and a 17″ win gaming monstrosity. After you set up the LR config to use that catalog, it just works from both computers. Or at least did when I set it up, before several OS and LR updates on both.
The trick is to format the external disk in the filesystem that will be readable on both machines, for instance NTFS, and install Paragon NTFS driver on the Mac. Then it all works seamlessly and quickly everywhere.
Well, there are several things.
First, we do not live in the same apartment, but in different buildings, so passing up the disk can be annoying (I want us both to use the same catalog).
Also, I am using MacMini at home and MacBook at work (which is yet another building), so having disk on the right place is even more annoying.
Then, there is the issue of different mounting paths on Windows and Mac, which means, each time you open catalog on different OS, you need to “Find missing folder” – which is another small annoyance – but more importantly – I actually managed to fuck up catalog that way – twice – for unknown reason (luckily, Synology keeps history).
And I had issues with Paragon twice – once I encountered a bug which they took some time to fix and another time they took some time to update to new macOS version at which point I simply stopped using it (and I got a Mac Mini at home and didn’t need NTFS any more).
And finally, I want to have a backup of all photos which means I have to deal with that manually as well.
So, to simplify and improve things, I keep the catalog and photos on Synology NAS (running mirror raid, keeping history for seven days and doing automatic, incremental backups on two external drives) and sync it between machines using their CloudStation (all buildings are connected with gigabit 60Ghz WiFi) – which is working fine, but still leaves the problem of different mounting points – and if I managed to fuck that up twice without figuring out what exactly went wrong – I can only imagine how Renata will be happy with all this.
It’s just one more reason to consider MacBook when she will need a new laptop which might be sooner than later all considering (HP is more than eight years old).
I’m too braindead for this at the moment, sorry.
Speaking of the devil i.e. Apple 😎 … I don’t know if it got your attention, at least it didn’t got mine until I found out that I received the e-mail from Apple some time in September informing me that my Macbook Pro 15 2015 qualifies for battery replacement program. So I contacted iStyle and they told me that they replace a battery for free and besides that also a keyboard and a trackpad. They offered me a dusting as well which is not free of charge of course, but I accepted because I don’t feel confident enough to disassemble everything blow dust away and then screw back every part back to its original position. 😁
Good for you, since by now your battery must be in a similar state as mine, ie. around 80% capacity, and due for replacement anyway, so you’re getting that for free.
Catalina also broke HDMI port on my Mac Mini when connected to HiDpi HDR (I have it connected to TV).
I thought I will have to order usb-c to HDMI adapter until I figured TV has non-HDR port that mostly works. That’s right, mostly.
It also broke SMB/AFP shares in some cases.
I never had such issues with macOS before.
Luckily I did not have any 32-bit issues since I prepared before (had masochistic urges last few months so I installed last beta 🙂 – which ran with less issues then GM, go figure).
On a bright side, new MacBook Pro seems to be fixing lots of issues – for the same price as 15” model with higher base specs. Coupled with cheaper iPhone 11, it seems Apple price madness is coming to an end.
I also like 13” “lapprint” of Air, much more comfortable when using it in lap and when it’s connected to display it doesn’t matter anyway.
And gone are times when we had to go to bigger model for performance, 13” packs more than enough these days.
Yeah, it’s as if they started writing code in FML++
🙂
You’re right about this, that’s why Microsoft Surface laptops have 3:2 screen ratio. You should try their 13.5″ version if you decide to switch to Windows. Build quality is equally as good as Apple’s, screen is great too, has a glass touchpad and keyboard is the best in the business, much better than anything Apple has to offer. You can even take quick notes using Microsoft pen directly on the screen. Alcantara palmrest is supposedly incredibly comfortable.
However, it seems that they copied both the good and bad business practises from Apple, because any kind of repairability is nonexistent. You can’t even change the battery or clean the fan. As soon as the dust builds up, you can wipe your ass with the machine.
The only computer that really looks interesting to me is the Mac Pro. Looks good, is upgradeable, has a big beautiful 6K screen. I could do architecture and 3D modelling on it, use the usual web stuff on MacOS, and if I pluck in a proper GPU, even play some games. I really like it because it’s basically a PC with MacOS, and I’m terribly sick of hackintosh quirks.
It’s expensive though. Given the current situation with metals, there are better investments than Apple’s metal.
I did consider Microsoft exactly because of that screen, along with the Huawei Matebook pro, which seems to be even better, but if Lenovo made a 3:2 ratio Thinkpad X1 carbon with a matte screen, I’d get one yesterday. Until they make something that good, I’ll make due with Asus, whose touchpad has issues, the screen is 16:9 and quite reflective, and the battery is on the low capacity end of the spectrum, but it’s very light, practical and fast. And it wasn’t really all that expensive compared to the competition, which is always good.
If you look it up on the internet, you’ll see that there is actually an existing prototype of the carbon 3:2 Thinkpad, but at this point it’s pretty old and it seems to be an abandoned concept they’ve created before finally giving in to the taste of the masses and going with 16:9 in the end.
I don’t know if the existence of the prototype is a good or bad news for those who would like to see 3:2 Thinkpad. Eventually, taste of the masses will probably turn over to 3:2 (at least in the business sector), and they will feel it’s a safe bet to do it, since in Chinese culture innovation is considered to be a sin.
Personally, I never liked matte screens anyway and I’ve much prefered glossy ones, especially if they’re made from a proper glass. Matte screens made sense way back in the day when we had 1920×1080 on a desktop and 1024×768 on a laptop machine. DPI was low enough not to interfere with the size of the physical grain on the matte finish and things didn’t look so bad. Nowadays, with all these hiDPI screens, size of the pixel can be a lot smaller than the size of the grain, and you lose clarity, not to mention contrast, saturation and viewing angle, which was always a problem with matte finishes anyway.
But yeah… If you intend to use a computer outside on a terrace, matte finish is still unbeatable, even with all of it’s downsides. The problem is that everyone is trying to do it the cheapest possible way, glueing a piece of grainy thin piece of low-quality plastic on top of the screen.
Apple seems to be the only company that’s doing it the proper way, laser-etching a flat panel of high-quality glass, causing micro abrasions that scatter outside light very effectively (they call it the nano-texture glass).
For now, they charge premium for it (and only for 6K screens), but since they’ve built a production line for that type of finish now, I’m sure it’s something that will trickle-down to all of their laptops eventually, and this is where your satisfaction will come from. 🙂
It doesn’t necessarily have to be a matte-finished screen, it can be a laminated screen with no air-glass transitions and as few layers as possible, and with a layer of anti-reflective coating, T* or something similar; I’ve seen Apple do a great job with that on iPad pro and similar screens, and if you compare that to a regular iPad you can see a huge difference, not only in color saturation and contrast but also in fewer reflections. Glossy windows laptops are quite terrible in that regard, and the best non-apple screen I’ve seen in person, on a laptop at least, is the matte screen on the 17″ Asus Zephyrus, which is what I bought Mihael last year. That thing is really good, I could work with that normally for prolonged periods and it wouldn’t be different from a good desktop IPS screen. On the other hand, reflections on my Zenbook are so bad, I can see myself in the screen as if it were a mirror, and I literally can’t see anything else on the screen when I attempt to work outside in reasonably strong daylight, it’s brutally bad.
So, yes, Apple glossy laminated and coated screens are fine, good matte screens are fine, but uncoated super-reflective screens are useless.
But as a note, that same Zenbook screen has excellent colors and contrast when viewed indoors in subdued light, so it’s not the LCD itself that’s the problem, but the glass and touch sensors in front of it.
Mac Pro leaves me quite indifferent, because it’s a specialist tool for something that’s not my usage case, something along the lines of an endoscope or an electron microscope; some people might drool over those, but I need a sophisticated 13-14″ laptop, not a rendering workstation.