Internaut

Just been reading MacRumor's take on USB-C. It's big. Does this mean Thunderbolt is long-term dead?

I have a three year old MacBook Air, and still don't have a single Thunderbolt peripheral, btw.

HDQDD

Most developers use monitors with their laptops. I'm not aware of any 30" laptops. It is still nice to have a small laptop to travel with, but in this case, it doesn't have the power for dev apps.

tmiw

Probably. I kinda figured Thunderbolt was going to die when only the expensive accessories had it.

WIRunner

Apple dropped the ball on not making a Thunderbolt to Lightning port cable. I'd use it to transfer movies, songs, etc quickly from my mac to my iPad or iPhone.

RCyyz

I think it's odd there's only one USB-C port on the new MacBook. Eventually USB-C hubs will be readily available but for now I think that Apple should have at least built another USB-C and another USB-A into the dongle.

Other than that, based on specs alone the new MacBook looks interesting to me.

richard

The really innovative product would have been a touchscreen like the iPad over iOS with a keyboard. Maybe next year.

Internaut

They're quite a long way from an OSX GUI where touch would make sense*. In this respect, I'm quite impressed with what Microsoft hasn't quite achieved yet .

* And I'm sure I've read somewhere that the version of the Mach kernal, used in iOS, is quite a significant fork to the one used in OSX, so I don't see any prospect of an iOS/OSX hybrid any-time soon.

antirealist

Exactly. And it seems that the adaptor only supports display mirroring, not dual display.

My MacBook Pro is connected to 2 external hard drives, an external display, speakers and a wired keyboard. I'd have a wired mouse too if Apple made one and there was a port to plug it in to. If this trend of ditching ports continues, I might seriously have to consider ditching Apple.

manneca

Needs more ports. (Now I am lusting after that $17k Apple watch)

tmiw

I want the black stainless one with the black link band, but judging by Apple's previous history with first-gen products it might be safer to get the aluminum one and wait for the second/third gen.

ou81two

Yes and if you need a powerful laptop, you wouldn't be looking at a 12" model and as such your comment isn't really applicable to the discussion. You're talking about doing Pro level work. Hmm, if only Apple HAD a PRO line of laptop. Oh wait, they do.

What you're whining about is sort of like complaining that Chevy makes a Cruze when you need a dualie with 5000lb towing capacity. It's two different use cases.

ou81two

HuH??? I'd break your fingers if you laid one on my retina display. Why would I want to spend all day cleaning my laptop screen. I never sit back and think wow, I really wish I could press things on my laptop screen. It's entirely not ergonomically corrent to have to move your hands around that much to get things done. Notice Microsoft's lack of market success with this concept? It's really not that innovative. It wouldn't solve anything.

ou81two

From Macworld...

Its spec sheet says that the MacBook comes with “native DisplayPort 1.2 output,” which will support 4K (3840x2160 pixels in dual monitor or mirroring modes),

Why would you give up a Pro model for a regular Macbook?
https://cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu....10GHz&id=2382

I'm with you there. I'm guessing it had to go to support this form factor.


FYI sorry for the dupe posts. The site wouldn't let me delete them.

JClishe

Spoken exactly like someone that hasn't spent real-world time with a touchscreen laptop.

Literally yesterday I was on a plane with my Dell XPS 13 (the new bezel-less display version) on my lap and the woman next to me had a 13" Macbook Air on her lap. I was reading email in Outlook 2013 with touch mode turned on and was comfortably grabbing both sides of the screen and navigating through my inbox with my thumbs. Meanwhile, the woman next to me had her arms flailed out to the sides like chicken wings so she could maneuver the trackpad.

After awhile she noticed how much more obviously comfortable my touchscreen laptop experience was then her MBA experience and she asked me how I liked it and we had a very nice conversation.

I also have a 2014 15" rMBP and I find myself touching the screen all.the.time. and am frustrated when nothing happens.

But, since you say touchscreens don't solve anything, clearly myself and my seat mate were obviously incorrect.

WIRunner

Google introduced a new Pixel Chromebook today (and it did USB-C right with a port on each side) and with it, a whole bunch of inexpensive USB-C accessories... it really shows how out of touch Apple is.

$12.99 USB-C to USB-A - https://store.google.com/product/usb...dard_a_adapter