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Document: WM-004 P. Webb
Category: Review 2017.01.07
MacBook Pro (Late 2016) review
Abstract
The Touch Bar is actually useful and I can't believe how thin/light
this laptop is. If you aren't already a Mac user in the market for a
new laptop, then this isn't for you. If you *are* in the market *or*
would like to see how I view my new computer, read on!
Body
1. The adapter "problem"
I can understand why a lot of people are complaining about the
dongles, plugadoos[1], throughports, &c, but I don't understand
why I'm seeing these complaints from people who would *never* buy
a computer from Apple. Quite frankly, it reads as bullshit and an
excuse to complain on the Internet.
I have two plugadoos and I backed another one on Kickstarter[2]. I
haven't decided which one will stay at home and which one will
stay in my bag yet (the Kickstarter one has more ports than the
Satechi multi-port adapter[3] I'm currently using). The transition
period is *always* annoying but once *everyone* is in this USB-C
future, no one will be complaining. To borrow Edison Wrzosek's
response to a 9to5Mac article[4]:
> Ah, people have such short term memory… I still remember when
> Apple transitioned people, almost overnight, to USB-only iMac's,
> at a time when USB was nicknamed the "U-Son-of-a-Bitch" port in
> the PC world due to compatibility, reliability issues, and lack
> of supported peripherals. Now look at USB, it's supplanted
> almost EVERY other standard.
>
> People just LOVE to whine and complain, and it's Human nature to
> abhor change, and be fearful of it. TB3/USB3.1 is the future,
> and it's here and now. Time to embrace it.
>
> I'm still gonna rock my 2011 MBP for a while longer, but I'm
> really looking forward to a ubiquitous standard cable for ALL
> connectivity.
I *really* wish "U-Son-of-a-Bitch" port stuck, unofficially. That
sounds hilarious.
2. Battery life
Trash.
Charging? Hella quick. It's a great compromise IMO. That and I'm
not sure if I'm using my computer like a normal person. It's not
uncommon for me to be running several browser windows with tabs
that are almost too small, while compressing a 1 GB folder of
images, in addition to running local servers (not sure if this
last part is applicable to power consumption).
Basically, it's *meh*. Could be better. I should've tested this to
be certain, but I think my average is ~3 hours at max brightness.
3. MagSafe
*Sigh*
I *loved* MagSafe because life is unpredictable. I've walked into
my charge cable too many times to count and I never had to worry
about my laptop flying to the floor. Because I shouldn't have nice
things, I've done the same thing with my new MacBook Pro and it
stayed on the table! The charge puck fell out of the wall instead,
thankfully.
Speaking of the charge puck, another complaint I've heard is in
regard to the retractable arms on the old charge puck. In
practice, the absence of them is *not* a big deal. To store my
charge cable and puck in my bag, I just fold and tie the cable
while it's still plugged into the puck. I'm not focused on making
my cable storage pretty while I'm in transit.
📸[Not sure what the big deal is…][IMG1]
4. The screen
Good grief this thing is bright, *and I like it*.
I'm the kind of person who keeps the brightness on his phone to
maximum so when I heard that this computer's brightness and color
gamut was increased/enhanced, I was excited. Colour is such a huge
part of my life, I get inspired[5] by it. In certain lighting
conditions, I *do* turn the brightness down though. I'm not
an animal!
5. The ESC key, or lack thereof
Two weeks in and I'm still confused when I need to use it. Albeit
only for a split second but it's enough to give me pause and
think, "That's weird", before continuing with whatever I was
doing. Currently, the only time I use it is when cancelling a
screenshot in progress, dismissing autocomplete keywords in Atom,
or exiting an iTunes visualization or whatever else is in
fullscreen mode.
Before I've experienced this for myself, I heard developers (who
also didn't have the computer to even try it) say they wouldn't be
able to do programming on it. Maybe I'm just a simple man because
all I do is code in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, but if you *need*
to use a physical ESC key to get things done you might have other
issues or a hella interesting programming environment (if I'm
wrong, let me know[6]).
6. The Touch Bar and Function keys
This thing is neat. My most-used "keys" are volume up/down.
Sliding the volume level is much more satisfying than repeatedly
tapping a button. I know, that sounds weird to say but it's true!
There's more granularity too. I've slid the volume down to where
the on-screen display says the volume is effectively off but I can
still hear audio. With the old function keys, volume was
changeable in steps.
Something to get used to is doing hard refreshes in my browser. I
have Vivaldi setup to do a hard refresh to clear the cache
sometimes and that keyboard shortcut is `Shift + F5`. Well, I
don't have my Touch Bar setup to show me the function row by
default so my shortcut (when not using an external keyboard) is
`Fn + Shift + F5`.
The Touch Bar changes based on whatever app you're using, which is
great. However, I don't think I've ever used it for an app besides
iTunes. When editing the photo of how I tie my charge cable, I saw
this in the Touch Bar (using Affinity Photo[7]):
📸[Neat-o][IMG2]
7. Touch ID
Like with the iPhone, you have to input your password when cold
booting (01.png "UGH") but in-between cold boots, it's wonderful
to use a single finger press to unlock my computer.
📸[Mmm, dat sweet Touch ID][IMG3]
How much time do we spend typing passwords? Who knows, but *my*
time doing so has decreased dramatically in part to Touch ID. The
other reason for my (almost) no password typing life? 1Password.
📸[1Password is life][IMG4]
You'd need to type in your Master Password to unlock it but now
you don't! It's *even less* of a hassle to use an already
hassle-free product for personal security. I don't know 90% of
my passwords.
8. The keyboard
I thought I would *hate* the keyboard due to the short travel.
This was based upon my previous experience of typing on the
MacBook One[8] (that's not the real name, but it's the MacBook
with only one port) in an Apple Store once. Might as well be
typing on a screen! I believe I was listening to ATP when I heard
Marco Arment talk about the keyboard travel on the MacBook Pro I
typed this post on, and he spoke highly of it. That made me feel
better about purchasing this and in everyday use, I enjoy it.
Typing doesn't sound particularly loud to me (this is another
complaint I've heard). Maybe this is because I own a Das
Keyboard? 🤔
The *only* gripe I have is with the new arrow keys. WTF[9].
Someone coming to MacBooks without prior usage would acclimate
faster, I think.
9. The trackpad
Dayum.
📸[Shot of the massive trackpad][IMG5]
📸[*DJ Khaled voice* Another one][IMG6]
The trackpad is nearly as big as my Magic Trackpad. As a former
external mouse[10]-only guy, I can say that 1) having a big
surface for multi-gesture controls is awesome and 2) it's even
better when it's on a laptop. Even with the dbrand skin[11] I have
on it, the trackpad is super responsive. My palms aren't typically
on the trackpad when I'm typing but when they are, the palm
rejection is great.
10. USB-C
I saved the best for last.
Let me tell you about the *glory* that is USB-C.
You know when you're outside on a *sweltering* hot day, and your
sweat betrays you and only makes you warmer? Okay, picture that.
Now, picture that you've just been given one of those red, white,
and blue popsicle rockets. You bite off a bit and your body thanks
you by cooling you down and you feel that elation of peace and
tranquility and your mood improves by 10 notches.
That's how I felt when I needed to charge my computer and I
realized that I could do so FROM ANY PORT FROM EITHER SIDE OF THE
COMPUTER. *MAN*. I'm mobile with my laptop of course, and I like
taking it to the living room while the family is watching TV or
hanging out, &c. Typically, I was forced to sit in certain spots
if my computer needed charging. Now, the *world* is my oyster. It
doesn't seem like a big deal but trust me, it *is*.
FIN
📸[Shot of the outside of my MacBook Pro][IMG7]
In conclusion, I will say that this computer was a fantastic upgrade
for me. It even survives water getting splashed on it! Not saying
I've ever done that recently, it's just something I've heard about…
👀 Of course, I'm going to feel some type of way i̶f̶ when Apple
refreshes this laptop later this year but it's okay. I like getting
glimpses of the future when I can. This computer is 0.5 pounds
lighter than the previous generation and I can definitely tell. I'm a
happy customer.
All that's left for Apple to do now is make everything super energy
efficient, crazily so. Oh, and fix software bugs. 🕸
References
[1] <https://theoutline.com/post/682/in-which-we-try-to-rebrand-the-dongle>
[2] <https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hypershop/hyperdrivetm-compact-thunderbolt-3-usb-c-hub-for-m>
[3] <https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J4BO0X8>
[4] <https://disqus.com/home/discussion/9to5maccom/majority_of_readers_say_no_big_deal_adapting_to_usb_c_world_of_new_macbook_pro/#comment-3066707705>
[5] <https://www.brisseaux.com/retro-series>
[6] <https://twitter.com/@NetOpWibby>
[7] <https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo>
[8] <https://www.apple.com/macbook>
[9] <https://www.instagram.com/p/BOV3YBjBJdV>
[10] <https://www.microsoft.com/accessories/en-us/products/mice/arc-touch-mouse/rvf-00052>
[11] <https://dbrand.com/shop/apple-macbook-pro-15-skins-2016-touch-bar>
[IMG1] <https://🔥.pixels.wtf/blog/image/2017/macbook-pro-review-a.jpg>
[IMG2] <https://🔥.pixels.wtf/blog/image/2017/macbook-pro-review-b.png>
[IMG3] <https://🔥.pixels.wtf/blog/image/2017/macbook-pro-review-c.png>
[IMG4] <https://🔥.pixels.wtf/blog/image/2017/macbook-pro-review-d.png>
[IMG5] <https://🔥.pixels.wtf/blog/image/2017/macbook-pro-review-e.jpg>
[IMG6] <https://🔥.pixels.wtf/blog/image/2017/macbook-pro-review-f.jpg>
[IMG7] <https://🔥.pixels.wtf/blog/image/2017/macbook-pro-review-g.jpg>
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