Apple 2015 Macbook Rant30

[RichardsD]

Hello everyone:

 

After perusing a great deal of articles on todays' launched Macbook, which the amount is defined as "a lot", I have come to make some educated conclusions.

 

It's bollocks.

 

Allow me to explain.

 

Firstly, the idea is so pretentious that anyone would want a Gold laptop, that It is almost the single most pretentious item ever constructed.  Of course, behind Bentley cars.  I digress.  It's a bold.. self declaration of affluence.  This for me is the final form of Apple computers.  Totally impractical, absolutely gorgeous yet completely irrelevant.  

 

Performance

 

Firstly, the 1.1Ghz base model drew some initial criticism, rightly so.  But to be fair, it's not really a 1Ghz machine.  It's a dual core of a new architecture that can actually turbo to a massive 2.4.  Now, this isn't the worst, and for mobile battery life I am sure it will be more than enough.  Enough to keep the battery on longer, that is.  Honestly, it's a $1300 computer.  I don't give a shit if it gets decent performance with a 1.1Ghz CPU in Chrome, Instagram and Word.  The fact is, they're charging for a Dual Core, 1.1 Ghz CPU.  Ridiculous.  This really is a laptop for Starbucks and nothing more.  I mean, I love looking at Vines as much as the next guy, but I actually use my laptop for.. more then that (well.. at least a few more things).  

 

Design

 

Ports on all sides of a laptop are decidedly ugly.  Luckily, Apple by about.. 2011 had decided to place all of the needed ports on a singe side of their machines, it was very neat and No one complained.  Literally no one.  They plugged in their Ethernet, USB, Mini DP, and had a great time.  Sure, Apple had no VGA which meant you needed an adapter, but it was fine, the adapter was like $20 and it had Mini DP.  Now, again being a rational person who may need to plug in say.. a flash drive would enjoy a USB port.  The Lenovo Carbon X1 has I believe graciously given us two USB ports.  Nice.  Apple include, a single, USB 3 Type C port which is effectively useless, as it is occupied by the power cable when charging the device.  Jesus.  I understand Apple is about form over function.  But this is form needlessly fucking function.  Bollocks.  If I spend this much, I NEED A USB port.  I want to connect.. anything.

 

So in conclusion, I think this is too far.  A single USB 3 port and.. headphone and power would even be better.  Jesus.

 

Anyone disagree, or do you think this is reasonable?

[Castdeath97]

1- have you ever heard of turbo boost?

2-that's subjective

Update: apologies to OP if I was rude.

[LinusTech]

1- have you ever heard of turbo boost?

2-that's subjective

3- this is Linustechtips not linusranttips I don't think this post is relevant

 

I don't think there's anyting wrong with this post. There is no personal attack and the OP is giving his/her opinion on a tech product.i

 

Lose the 'tude

[Jaybird]

I'll take 3 in gold please!

There is a headphone jack.

If you consider using this device strictly for meeting minutes, business presentations, traveling as a job. The MacBook Air is a very capable machine.

It's kinda like saying the iPod is useless you could just buy this instead. But then you have people who say, well I have a company phone that they let me use for personal things so I don't need another phone, I'll just buy an iPod.

[Castdeath97]

I don't think there's anyting wrong with this post. There is no personal attack and the OP is giving his/her opinion on a tech product.i

Lose the 'tude

Okay, sorry if I went a bit off I just don't believe it deserves all the hate it gets.

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Apple's stuff are more like fashion accessories anw. Wouldn't expect much performance. 

[Castdeath97]

Apple's stuff are more like fashion accessories anw. Wouldn't expect much performance.

It's a core M proccessor, even the new yoga 3 cost just the same sans the new fast PCI E SSD. So Apple didn't add too much margins like many think.

[Jaybird]

It's a core M proccessor, even the new yoga 3 cost just the same sans the new fast PCI E SSD. So Apple didn't add too much margins like many think.

True, people complain apple is expensive but when you compare it's not that much more. Plus you get added aesthetic features such as the all aluminum chassis.

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

It's a core M proccessor, even the new yoga 3 cost just the same sans the new fast PCI E SSD. So Apple didn't add too much margins like many think.

 

Yea stuff like these are for people who just want a laptop to do stuff instead of using their smartphones.

[JohnnyFALLEN]

I posted it in another thread, but I really feel the device has its niche. It is not for power users it is for someone who wants a portable laptop and not a tablet. If you are a basic web browser or word processor it will do the job! Apple is doing what they do and drive design and new standards. It will be interesting to see if they are making the right move by removing IO and going all wireless. I am curious to see how the processor will perform under extended multitasking. The price is always going to be a gripe for PC enthusiasts, but come on we spend thousands water cooler and use high end motherboards that have been proven to have little gain. Its a pretty piece of hardware that will drive design and standards for the rest of the industry for better or worse.

[Castdeath97]

Yea stuff like these are for people who just want a laptop to do stuff instead of using their smartphones.

Yep, like students. We need something light that runs the ligh desktop applications like photoshop and dreamweaver for instance in my case.

[Jaybird]

Yea stuff like these are for people who just want a laptop to do stuff instead of using their smartphones.

Look at this from your mom or grandmothers perspective. If all you do it use word, PowerPoint, excel and a web browser, you don't need much more than what they gave it. By your logic you would insist that all car should come with 400+bhp. But your mom doesn't need 400+bhp to go to the grocery store just 5 minutes down the road with 30mph speed limit.

[STRMfrmXMN]

I like it... kinda. Don't like the keyboard. Something about it really irks me.

Also please stop with the thinness obsession. I need more than one USB port

[JohnnyFALLEN]

Everything else aside, its crazy that motherboards are now this small and can do this much. I can not imagine what it will be like in 10 more years.

 

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Yep, like students. We need something light that runs the ligh desktop applications like photoshop and dreamweaver for instance in my case.

 

I see where you're coming from but there are cheaper alternatives. I myself have a Lenovo u430p that I use for school (photoshop/coding and stuff) . This laptop costs me 1.2k while a 13" macbook air would have cost me 1.9k. Quite expensive if you ask me. The u430p is thin and kinda light as well (1.7kg)

 

Look at this from your mom or grandmothers perspective. If all you do it use word, PowerPoint, excel and a web browser, you don't need much more than what they gave it. By your logic you would insist that all car should come with 400+bhp. But your mom doesn't need 400+bhp to go to the grocery store just 5 minutes down the road with 30mph speed limit.

 

Yea but my mom/grandmother wouldn't want to spend 2 grand on something like this.

 

edit: Oh and that car analogy didn't really make sense in this context. My mom wouldn't need a 100 grand luxury car to go to the

grocery store. A simple 20 grand saloon would suffice.  

[Antistatic12]

To me, this device is targeted to those people that want something light and portable for travel but still a usable machine for work like MS office or online content like Google docs and other things. For those people, this is a device worth looking at.

I watched the keynote, and the technologies they implemented or developed for this are pretty amazing. Other companies will be implementing them as well.
The logic board is ridiculously small, the majority of the Macbook is glass, aluminum and batteries.
It is about the same size a a Raspberry Pi which you may know is quite small.


what I want confirmation on and interests me. Is to charge this you use the USB type-C. Does this mean Apple is going to use this on just this device or the new iphone later this year??
I'm also surprised Apple implemented USB type-C before Samsung (or atleast to my knowledge they have, correct me if i'm wrong). I think the new galaxy S6 and edge is only mirco USB.

It is intersting to note, that the USB on the mabook is very verisitle. (well it has to be, cause it only has one). It's USB, display port, HDMI, VGA and for charging the device.
I wonder if this could be implement into GPU's. So it would just have 4 or more USB -c ports and just plug the cables in as you see fit like HDMI, VGA or display port.

edit
only 920grams. WOW.

[Razzaa]

Like all Apple products, you are paying for the name. 90% of people will buy this so they can use FB at Starbucks.

[Sousuke]

Now as a MacBook Air Owner I can say that Apple makes the best thin and light laptops however saying that....

 

The new MacBook is a bloody nose to its name. Why MacBook? In my opinions MacBooks have been the lowest price, affordable MacBook whilst the new MacBook isn't ... also the MacBook Air is Heavier and Thicker than the new MacBook ... I think that Apple has now confused their notebook line up as it always has been

 

MacBook >Thinner> MacBook Air

MacBook >More Power> MacBook Pro

 

I think Apple should have added this laptop to its MacBook Air Lineup and perhaps dropped the Air part of their current MacBook Airs.

 

Anyway onto the hardware.

 

The trackpad looks awesome, I mean simply amazing as their trackpads are the best in the business simple as. The Display will be awesome a retina display on this laptop will look stunning! 

 

Right onto the bad, 256GB SSD and a 1.1GHz Dual Core CPU for £1050! What the heck? However Apple have targeted the "iPad Pro", "Fassion" and "Starbucks too much money" Range of the market.

 

I have to say one thing that the design and the engineering that went into this is simply awesome, the size of the motherboard is simply ... the most amazing part of this laptop in my opinion. It holds everything from the CPU to the SSD a full Intel based X86 Motherboard.

[chaozbandit]

Woah woah woah, what's wrong with Bentley??

 

But yeah design-wise, while appealing to some, does have some pretty major sacrifices, which knowing apple will be marketed as features. Personally, I could never see myself living with butterfly switches and a haptic feedback touchpad (because there is 0 travel on the glass), not to mention the complete lack of usable IO. At the end of the day (with the cost of adapters, etc.) you could just as well be looking at the 2015 XPS 13, both of which are stuck with 8GB of ram and varying levels of storage.

[ShadowCaptain]

Anyone disagree, or do you think this is reasonable?

 

Lenovo Yoga Pro 3, same processor, similar price at $1300

HP Envy X2 - again similar thing

 

But the mac has a better screen, keyboard and trackpad, USB C, and is thinner, lighter and has better battery life

 

Also, I would probably get the gold one, I think its a nice colour, my dad has his iPhone 5s in the same colour, its really nice

 

You have to consider the users of a product like this, and since the laptop has around 10 hours of battery life, why would you need to have it connected to the power while using the USB port? and equally if you are connected to a monitor, having a small dongle have off with extra ports is probably something you do with any laptop , I know I do - I actually use a USB hub for my desktop!!!

Honestly I almost never connect things to my laptop - this isnt a gaming laptop so you dont need a mouse (apple trackpad are amazing) and you can sync your iphone etc via wifi, as I can my camera and other things - I dont need to connect stuff via usb very often 

 

this device you charge at night/morning - and use all day, you dont need to take a power cable to work so your usb c port is free for memory sticks or using a display - apple mice also use bluetooth so no usb required

 

The target is students for a note taking machine, travelling workers, like say travelling sales executives, that need to display photos, maintain spreadsheets, and do invoices and letters - all perfectly capable  

 

regarding performance to quote the yoga pro 3 review from notebookcheck (SAME CPU) apple use even faster ram and SSDs though

 

"our general application performance measurements communicate a very snappy machine with little reason to keep its user waiting during typical use. Indeed, we never found ourselves ruing the machine’s lack of benchmarking superiority throughout our time with it; thanks to a balance which includes a very fast SSD and ample RAM (8 GB), the CPU really is just powerful enough 95% of the time. "

 

Sure the specs dont suit your need, they do the air and retina pro for that or other laptops

 

[Guest]

I like it... kinda. Don't like the keyboard. Something about it really irks me.

Also please stop with the thinness obsession. I need more than one USB port

The keyboard looks awesome! The new keyswitches are more stable, plus the keycaps are a bit bigger too.

[Guest]

What I find pretty weird is that people completely overlook the fact that Apple either created or expanded upon the following technologies:

'Force touch' for pressure and depth sensitivity on the (now much larger) trackpad

Stacked, odd-shared batteries to fit as much as possible in the frame

Ridiculously thin display with a really high resolution

Fanless design

A better keyboard that's all so much thinner - new keyswitches, backlighting, and keycaps

8GB of RAM standard - finally! - especially on such mobile-oriented hardware

Full stereo speakers on that insanely small body

Yes, one USB-c port, but an adapter can use USB, power, and DisplayPort all at once through a single port - pretty creative!

*also on the port argument, the headphone jack is less than a MILIMETER from the edge of the chassis - likely, they simply couldn't fit USB/MDP ports. This is much more elegant, and the MacBook is designed for a more 'modern' use scenario where the user won't constantly have to plug in things - wireless display mirroring, cloud storage and digital software distribution all make this possible without cables, if you prefer.

THIS IS NOT a 'power user' computer, it's a radical step towards the future of mobile computers - wireless, super-thin and great battery life.

Remember when Apple killed off the floppy disk in the original iMac and everyone freaked out? Or when they also offered WiFi connectivity in the original iMac, but people thought it was a waste of time for a dead standard?

In a year or two when other manufacturers scramble to catch up, once again Apple will lead this category of devices.

[RichardsD]

Hey everyone, I wrote this topic before immediately going to sleep, so sorry I couldn't address any of the replies, especially the the first one which is now updated with an apology.  I really wanted to see that one, ah is the way of things.

 

Some great views from both sides who either

 

• want to kill me
• totallly agree

Excellent.  I think debate as to whether a computer like this is even remotely worth the asking price, etc is wonderful and I am glad I had so many responses.  

 

So, to the end I'll say this.  I'm not sure the specs are that bad for the price, but $1300 is no joke, and it is quite pricy indeed.  But does it even matter?  I guess at the end of the day it doesn't, it won't be for anything else than basic productivity, so It isn't a big deal.  But for me, if I wanted a PC just for basic tasks, I'd buy a $200 Acer which has awful specs, but gets the job done.  Yes, it won't have the build quality, battery life, or snappy startup.  But I'm using it for the internet and like 2 apps anyways, so for me It just wouldn't matter.  Simply, I wouldn't spend that much on a computer to be used for so little. It's like... I'd equate it to buying an AMG Mercedes to drive 2 blocks to the drug store where the speed limit is strictly enforced.  Yes, it's nice, yes it's comfortable, but in the end it's  actually overkill for the situation, and you cannot use it for the full potential.  

 

Secondly, the port(s) as there are two.  I get that the USB Type C/Display/Power is a neat, combined solution and that most people will just use the adapter as they would with a notebook anyways.  But I feel it's a needless compromise.  My 2009 Macbook which I use on my modeling desk is not that thin.  But.. for me it was thin enough, it was fine.  Even the new Macbook Pro with Retina.. I thought  it was thin enough.  I feel like they should have kept it a bit thicker, and just added more USB 3 C ports, or more ports of some different kind.  Yes, Apple won't get the headlines if they do that.  But.. for me the real bonus would come from the usability, not the .000001mm less thickness.  

[jtmccutcheon98]

My objection is not necessarily from the design, but rather that this is what they are using to bring back the Macbook. This, in my opinion, is a Macbook Air. Marketed as such, I think it would be a nice addition to the lineup. I, however, would like a comeback of the origional idea of the Macbook vs. Macbook Pro. It wasn't super thin, it wasn't super powerful, and it wasn't super expensive (relatively). The technology is there to make a cheap Starbucks machine that they can still make money on.

[handymanshandle]

I personally would buy one but only as a back up of a back up.