Macbook Pro (2016)
Discussion
These leaked images suggest nothing groundbreaking in the design. Still tempted though.
http://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/25/images-of-new-...
http://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/25/images-of-new-...
Guvernator said:
I've only seem them in pictures and not had a chance to play with one. Do they feel as solid\well built as the Macs IRL? That aluminium chassis on the Macbooks takes some beating in that regard.
The three Windows oriented choices (though at least one can be had with Ubuntu too) that to me compare are the HP Spectre, Dell XPS and Surface Book. Though none of these are necessarily relevant for you power junkies 
The Surface Book is nice enough, but the hinge arrangement is a disaster! They are also expensive in like for like configs. I preferred the straightforward Surface Pro (another good machine).
The HP Spectre is compromised connectivity wise in search of ultimate thinness. Looks very slick though. Screen not as good as the other two IMO.
The Dell is a very good machine - I've posted on it a number of times to the point of boring people
The one I tried was the Skylake version and even that was pretty quick.I don't really need outright power. I do a bit of video editing but not a massive amount. A reasonable amount of Photoshop but from there it's mostly Office based stuff, web browsing etc. No gaming. My 11" MBA is still good enough for all of this, though it does get a bit breathless with larger images in Photoshop and is a bit tardy on video editing. Main reason for changing it is a broken screen (not the fault of the machine!).
Whilst I'm reserving final judgement to tomorrow, I'm not seeing anything in the various rumours yet that will prevent me switching back to Windows after 15yrs on Macs (bought a Powerbook when OSX first came out at a show in Islington - had been struggling with video editing at the time on PCs, and one of the guys at the blew me away with how easy these things were on a Mac). The XPS is the likely contender - a 16Gb RAM, 512Gb SSD, i7 machine should be doable for around 1,300 with a 3yr warranty...
craigjm said:
Guvernator said:
Unfortunately for us and fortunately for Apple, most Windows laptops still look like they were either designed by a 13 year old with flashing lights everywhere and weird blocky cases or are a boring sombre black plastic lump. If someone actually brought out a Windows laptop now which looked as good as a Macbook they would be finished.
I think the new surface books are getting there and unlike the Macbooks they will function as a tablet when required too.Vaud said:
I am quite taken by the idea of a hackintosh, though it is at the fringes of my technical capability. I see mixed reports about doing it with laptops and it's nigh on impossible to change a non-working part (vs a desktop)
If you want it to actually work, and not have to worry about each update possibly meaning you'll be chasing some driver etc then they're a viable alternative. I'm not sure I'd want to use on professionally, but I know a lot of video editors who do, purely because it needs a lot of raw power to edit 4k broadcast quality footage.craigjm said:
Murph7355 said:
The Surface Book is nice enough, but the hinge arrangement is a disaster! They are also expensive in like for like configs. I preferred the straightforward Surface Pro (another good machine).
take a look at the new ones launched in the last hourLooks like they went to Ikea for a hinge, couldn't figure out how to adjust it so it closes properly and so left it like that. It would set my OCD off every time I closed the bloody thing
Digitalize said:
If you want it to actually work, and not have to worry about each update possibly meaning you'll be chasing some driver etc then they're a viable alternative. I'm not sure I'd want to use on professionally, but I know a lot of video editors who do, purely because it needs a lot of raw power to edit 4k broadcast quality footage.
Oh I agree - this would be non-production/non-critical use...Murph7355 said:
Still has the hinge that doesn't fully close, I think?
Looks like they went to Ikea for a hinge, couldn't figure out how to adjust it so it closes properly and so left it like that. It would set my OCD off every time I closed the bloody thing
Now that I have managed to look at a picture of a new one yes they still have a similar hinge and that would annoy me too. I guess that is the compromise to be able to use it as a tablet too.Looks like they went to Ikea for a hinge, couldn't figure out how to adjust it so it closes properly and so left it like that. It would set my OCD off every time I closed the bloody thing
16 hour battery though!
craigjm said:
Now that I have managed to look at a picture of a new one yes they still have a similar hinge and that would annoy me too. I guess that is the compromise to be able to use it as a tablet too.
16 hour battery though!
When I tried the previous version it was very good functionally. 16 hour battery though!
But the design felt a bit 1980s and unfinished. The hinger being a key culprit but not the only one (brick like edges on everything, 80s colour etc etc. Trivial possibly, but the thing that Apple showed with its laptops is that you can have both great design and performance, and the great design elements make the machines a pleasure to use.
Vaud said:
Esseesse said:
Once upon a time IBM lead the way.
I still like high end Lenovo kit, I just don't like the OS. Rolled out about 90,000 Macs to employees.
http://www.cio.com/article/3001871/macbook/switch-...
W00DY said:
Very cool indeed. I hadn't realised quite how expensive the Surface range can be. Surface Book models seem to be a lot pricier than 'equivalent' 13" Macbook Pro...?Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff