Linus's Recent Apple Experience

[AngelaHornung]

So let me start, I think his take is fair and reasonable with one surprise and a surprising argument defense from me. So please don't hate me, I think he makes some great points both in what's good and what needs improvement. 

 

• MagSafe: I won't lie I'm quite surprised that Linus and Alex didn't care for MagSafe and would prefer USB C charging only. Apple deserves a lot of criticism for port choices and becoming too restrictive and then backing up and creating a dongle nightmare for a bit and keeping lightning around for too long, etc. However I always considered MagSafe as a positive in the port choices on Apple machines (though like Alex pointed out not great for a metal machine shop environment given the magnets). 
  • Its extraordinarily simple to plug in (I would argue simpler than USB C)
  • Just like USB C it can go in either direction
  • It charges quite fast
  • If someone trips on the coord its less likely to drag your laptop and shoot it across the room
  • Harder to get things jammed in it (unless its metal shavings, sorry Alex)

Note: I'm not saying its necessarily perfect, but I'm quite surprised they didn't care for it and prefer USB C, I would love a more detailed discussion on them about what specifically about MagSafe they didn't like and what they would like to see change.

 

• Magic Mouse: Ya'll are going to hate me but I actually really like the Apple Magic Mouse, let me explain before you bring the pitchforks out. lmao 
  • Gestures and scrolling are so smooth on it, I love using it when going through code
  • I find it quite comfortable, of course this is subjective and I understand that it won't work for everyone, but I find it quite comfortable
  • I find it tracks quite well, not the best on the market but I have no issues with it 

The Magic Mouse is not good for gaming and quite frankly it likely sucks with CAD software, but for what I do as a Web Applications Developer, it's great! The charger on the bottom is still so STUPID like why? But outside of that I find it to be a very nice option for my ergonomic situation with what I find comfortable and for my line of work. HOWEVER I so agree with Linus and Alex that Apple SHOULD absolutely be required to support gestures and back buttons for third party mice. I didn't realize these things weren't supported natively on MacOS and that is such BS. 

 

Conclusion: I'm surprised they didn't like MagSafe and would love to hear further details as to why (they said it pulls out too easily apparently but didn't elaborate on other issues) and while the Magic Mouse is far from perfect I disagree with the idea that its one of the worse mice on the market. 

[justpoet]

While it wasn't always the case, MagSafe in the current latest version is just USB-C PD, but with a different plug for safety.  I would probably agree with Linus and Alex about just having another USB-C port or only a standard USB-C cable, except that I've actually had older laptops ripped off of tables during conferences and meetings and similar, and had a kid run through a cable recently that MagSafe made nothing happen except a power disconnect.

 

The thing Linus and Alex MAY be missing though, is that you don't HAVE to use MagSafe.  At least on the latest MacBooks, all the USB-C ports also take full power USB-C PD at whatever wattage the system can use.

[dizmo]

1 hour ago, justpoet said:

While it wasn't always the case, MagSafe in the current latest version is just USB-C PD, but with a different plug for safety.  I would probably agree with Linus and Alex about just having another USB-C port or only a standard USB-C cable, except that I've actually had older laptops ripped off of tables during conferences and meetings and similar, and had a kid run through a cable recently that MagSafe made nothing happen except a power disconnect.

 

The thing Linus and Alex MAY be missing though, is that you don't HAVE to use MagSafe.  At least on the latest MacBooks, all the USB-C ports also take full power USB-C PD at whatever wattage the system can use.

They didn't miss it, Linus pointed out that his Magsafe cable was still pristine, and thus unused...he wouldn't have been able to do that if he wasn't charging it some other way  

[Thaldor]

I find it kind of hilarious that Apple, which really likes to make things small even if it was to cost them couple ports, opts for basicly the most useless port just because magnets. They could have the magnets in the other end of the cable and have the exact same feature of it coming loose rather than pulling the laptop with it, but that would mean they would have another usable USB-C port on the macbook or something else useful. Not to forget Apple could offer as an option one of those USB-C plugs which have magnetic head just to mimic what magsafe does.

[GeorgeB123]

I would prefer it if instead of magsafe there was +1 usb-c thunderbolt port since that would give you more i/o options as well as charging.

Been using normal chargers on laptops my whole life so I don't find the magnet that necessary.

There are a lot of mouse options that have better pointer precision and tracking capabilities, better ergonomics (that's a bit personal but still) and cost less so I would never really buy it. Maybe the gestures are nice but idk.

[whispous]

6 hours ago, AngelaHornung said:

Gestures and scrolling are so smooth on it, I love using it when going through code

This is because MacOS still doesn't support two decade old mouse scrolling/extra button standards that every other decent mouse has.

[saintlouisbagels]

I wonder if their desktop/monitor issues would've been resolved if they purchased an extra trackpad.

 

My desk setup is 
[Trackpad] [Keyboard] [Mouse]

 

Mouse scroll wheel on MacOS is fine (especially after installing Mos), but the trackpad is great for lots of scrolling for like forums and Excel. I also constantly zoom in and out with it.

 

Also, I immediately stopped using Safari when I realized that it didn't support Back/Forward buttons (wtf?). I'm surprised they just decided to stay on Safari instead of downloading Chrome/Firefox.

[Donut417]

7 hours ago, saintlouisbagels said:

Chrome/Firefox.

Chrome is useless due to manifest v3. Firefox did something news worthy not long ago, something the community didn’t like. Also I had issues with Firefox on macOS. I have many tabs open over several windows and Firefox would stop registering my left click. It was specifically a Firefox issue, as safari worked fine. 

[wanderingfool2]

12 hours ago, Thaldor said:

I find it kind of hilarious that Apple, which really likes to make things small even if it was to cost them couple ports, opts for basicly the most useless port just because magnets. They could have the magnets in the other end of the cable and have the exact same feature of it coming loose rather than pulling the laptop with it, but that would mean they would have another usable USB-C port on the macbook or something else useful. Not to forget Apple could offer as an option one of those USB-C plugs which have magnetic head just to mimic what magsafe does.

Putting it on the other end is less practical.  You can still get someone who gets tangled up in the cord.

 

I generally dislike Apple products, but MagSafe and the lightning connect I actually liked.  Sure the cable broke a lot on lightning connector, but it was easier to clean and less likely to have damage on the charging port.  Seriously, having managed the phones of a business before the port was often what failed on other USB-C products...mostly because people would forget they were plugged in and yank out the cord.  On Lightning it was easier to pull out.

 

Same with MagSafe, back when I was going through school I saw at least a few incidents where the MagSafe saved someone's computer.  Rolling a chair and the cord gets trapped in the legs, or someone just walking by and the cord gets caught on their feel.  Sure the wall side it would pull out but there is still a decent chance of the cord getting tangled or pinched and pulled out...at which point your charging port is destroyed or laptop is yanked off the table.

 

Actually honestly, the charging port (and USB ports for that matter) were ones that actually broke a lot as well at work (along with keyboards)