Extremely disappointed at the new Macbook Pros

[HaukSwe]

I can't feel the difference between mechanical and the vibrating trackpad. I also tap to click and very seldom actually hard press it. It's unecessarily big, but otherwise it's a top trackpad.

Keyboard is very good but needs more travel.

My new favorite touchbar usage is when I'm working in windows via vmware and i tap siri to create a reminder (the only thing i have ever used siri for) - without switching enviroments siri just appearing on top of windows and boom i have my reminder set across phone mac etc. Not mind blowing or anything, not a reason to pay this much for a MBP, but a bit nicer than what F keys do.

Apple has gone all iPhone and i think we've reached peak iPhone. People are tired of it and the upgrades are so incremental now. But apple is still putting everything into those incremental upgrades, neglecting the mac (and the developers making their apps), all the while windows is rapidly catching up.

It's a shame because what could the mac have been if apple continued to put it's muscle into it?

It's just ridiculous to get interface lag on basic OS features on this brand new pro machine with dedicated GPU etc. Just plain shit.

 

[Divvi]

I got desperate and bought the 13" Pro with touch bar. I will be returning it and so I could purchase a 2015 13" Pro instead. Here's my take on the 2016 Macbook Pro after 5 days of usage:

Touch bar: I find it neat but mostly annoying to use and mostly useless. I now have to look down on my keyboard each time I want to adjust the brightness or volume because I can no longer feel my way around physical buttons. The touch bar is also prone to accidental touches because I rest my fingers slightly above the number keys. This becomes annoying quickly and I've had to relearn where I can rest my fingers. I haven't had that moment of "wow, this thing makes my life easier". When I'm watching a movie with the lights turned off, any touch on the giant touch pad will trigger the touch bar which distracts from the movie.

Giant touch pad: I have no idea why Apple decided to make the touchpad bigger. It feels weird now that half of my palm is always resting on the touchpad as I type. Palm detection is mostly good but scrolling with a resting palm is sometimes off. I prefer the smaller touch pad.

Keyboard: I must admit that I was skeptical of the new keyboard but so far, I actually quite like it. It has a satisfying crispness to keystrokes and my typing speed is just as fast. I had an issue with the space bar malfunctioning. I fixed it by hitting the key hard several times. Still, this doesn't give me confidence that the keyboard will last.

Battery life: Anecdotally, the battery life is advertised but it's still disappointing. When web browsing, it lasts about 8-9 hours. Streaming a movie is only 3 hours or so. I really wish Apple stepped up and delivered next-gen battery life of around 15 hours.

Ports: I haven't been bothered by the lack of ports yet because I purchased a USB-C to lightning cable to charge my iPhone and because I haven't had a need to plug anything into it. I'm sure it'll get annoying if I ever decide to use an external monitor, keyboard, mouse, or flash drive.

Size and weight: The best thing about this new laptop is the weight and the thinness. It feels much lighter than the old Macbook Pro Retina and it's even thinner. I also love the space gray color.

Ultimately, my fears were realized. It's expensive ($1700) and it doesn't make my life easier. I'll be returning it for the 2015 model.

It does. At least Edge supports it.

Hello supports fingerprint sensors.

HI, I wish that I had read this article prior to last Monday when I bought the latest 13" Macbook Pro with touchbar and 4 totally useless Thunderbolt 3 connectors with little or no peripheral support. 8 hours of mac technical support I ended up with a very messy computer loaded/ migrated up from my time machine from my old 15" MacBook Pro, hell I couldn't even buy a Thunderbolt 3 firewire/ethernet adapter.
I have owned Macs for 26 years since 1991 commercially and professionally.
It is such a shame that Apple Mac holds what is and was their core business in such disrespect to offer such rubbish to the market.

I guess this is what happens when the directors are accountants and there is no one with the experience of Steve Jobs to bridge the market, senior management and the bright young technical teams.

I would loved to have the space grey lightweight 13" Macbook Pro but I guess I like many others will go looking for an amped up 2015 13" MacBook.

Love to all
Divvi

 

[manly]

I finally checked out both the new 15" MBP and Dell XPS 15 a few weeks back. Superficially the MBP was better even though the XPS 15 gets very high ratings from reviewers for external design and build.

But in the end, I sold off my AAPL shares and bought the Dell. I guess if I knew for certain that Apple would release a Kaby Lake 15" MBP by September at a fair price point, I'd wait and reevaluate. But when's the last time Apple refreshed any Mac model within 12 months? By the time we see a KBL MBP, Coffee Lake will be out and then I'd feel the same annoyance lol.

It's not just price/value alone. I didn't get the greatest deal on the XPS 15 IMO but the fact I can eventually upgrade to 32 GB RAM or a 1+ TB SSD means that it's much more future-proof and serviceable.

 

[mikegg]

I finally checked out both the new 15" MBP and Dell XPS 15 a few weeks back. Superficially the MBP was better even though the XPS 15 gets very high ratings from reviewers for external design and build.

But in the end, I sold off my AAPL shares and bought the Dell. I guess if I knew for certain that Apple would release a Kaby Lake 15" MBP by September at a fair price point, I'd wait and reevaluate. But when's the last time Apple refreshed any Mac model within 12 months? By the time we see a KBL MBP, Coffee Lake will be out and then I'd feel the same annoyance lol.

It's not just price/value alone. I didn't get the greatest deal on the XPS 15 IMO but the fact I can eventually upgrade to 32 GB RAM or a 1+ TB SSD means that it's much more future-proof and serviceable.

Unfortunately, a Windows machine is not an option for me. MacOS is simply the best for developing apps and the programs I use aren't supported by other Linux platforms.

 

[Rubycon]

Been going on month 4 now and no problems to report.

 

[Tegeril]

Really happy with mine - grown very fond of the keyboard and USB-C is nice and flexible.

 

[LikeLinus]

Having my MacBook Pro 15" for a couple of weeks now, I love it. There are several things that I miss about my 17" MacBook Pro, but it is what it is. For one, I don't like the keyboard as much, The 17" (and others) had keys that raised up and it felt more like a keyboard. Also, using a surface as my personal device, i REALLY wish it had a touch screen. I know Apple has said they wouldn't put a touch screen on the macbook because they want to "separate" the devices, but it's BS, plain and simple. Just like they said they wouldn't make a large iPhone and all their other BS. I LOVE my surface. I LOVE my MacBook Pro. I could ditch my surface if Apple was smart enough to merge it's iPad Pro and MacBook. They won't do it though. Same.

Performance wise, it's an incredible machine and so well built. It's a pain to need adapters to do most anything, but hopefully that changes over time. But right now, I have like 6-8 different USB Type C adapters, lol.

Overall I'm happy with the device and have no issues. That said, I got an XPS for my mom and it's an awesome machine as well. I think Apple helped push the segment to new limits, but they are becoming stale and they need to push forward. Everyone has caught up....

 

[desura]

Apple has taken a few steps back in technology and innovation when it comes to MAC laptop. I had MAC air book in 2013 and yeah I can agree with you it had the best features and battery life time but the newer the apple laptops more are the complications! I am too disappointed. and yeah this dongle part for every thing is disappointing yet funny! they're selling dongles for literally everything now!

I'm using the last plastic MacBook right now.

I actually prefer it to a MacBook Air I had. It just feels more solid, can be upgraded more easily, has more storage, and it isn't cold to the touch like the metal MacBooks.

Cold to the touch is a big one for me. I really dislike metal laptops for that simple reason.