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MacBook Returns (Page 2)
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pigmode
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Apr 5, 2015, 12:18 AM
 
Perhaps I'm mistaken, but my impression is the anti-glare screen on the rMBP's are a different ball game from the non-retina MBP that came before?

For close to 5 yr I've been using this stuff called Duragloss 951 Aquawax on two 13" MBP, and two iPhones. Its a non aerosol spray car wax enhancer, with which I've been cleaning these screens quite frequently with zero effect. Obviously need to learn new habits before the upgrade.

Think I'm finally talking myself out of the new rMB, which for me would have been nothing more than an aesthetically hip, handy and convenient, but useful cool Apple device. No wait...
     
ghporter
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Apr 5, 2015, 09:16 AM
 
Which covers have you used, how do you carry your computer, and what do you put on top of it? And what do you use to clean the screen with?

As I said earlier, after 9 years, my 2006 MBP has no issues with its screen, and I've only used the simple keyboard cover I mentioned earlier. Seeing the LETTER for the keys implies you've done something much more than simply closed your cover with a fabric-type screen protector.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Ham Sandwich
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Apr 5, 2015, 09:56 AM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
Which covers have you used, how do you carry your computer, and what do you put on top of it? And what do you use to clean the screen with?
Why should any of these things matter?

[1] Here is a list of the various covers that I have used:

Amazon.com: Topcase New Design Silicone Keyboard Cover Skin for Macbook 13" Unibody / Macbook Pro 13" 15" 17" with or Without Retina Display / Wireless Keyboard + Topcase Mouse Pad (Rainbow, Rainbow): Computers & Accessories

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o01_s00

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o02_s00

I think also in the past something like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Kuzy-Keyboard-..._bxgy_pc_img_y

I first started using keyboard covers in about 2010 after I had a white plastic Macbook, and the plastic keys made permanent marks on the screen which I could not remove.


[2] How I carry my computer: Well, that depends.

[2a] When I need to bring it to a meeting, I usually have it in a dedicated laptop bag by itself or with a few items, such as an external hard drive, but those go in a separate zippered slot in the bag.

[2b] When I bring my computer to another room temporarily, I hold it by the sides with two hands.

[2c] When I am going between my apartment and work, or on a long road trip, it's kept:
[2c1] inside of a Neoprene blue sleeve, for protecting the computer,
http://www.amazon.com/Neoprene-Carry...IWK/ref=sr_1_5

[2c2] and then the Macbook-inside-the-sleeve is inserted into the specifically-designated laptop slot in my backpack. I absolutely need this for bringing all of my books. So do students; they have tons of stuff in their backpacks and most of them also need to bring a computer with them. Does Apple keep that in mind when they design the laptop/screen/keyboard combination?


[3] What do I put on top of it: Well, that also depends.

[3a] When I need to bring it to a meeting, very little is on top of it, except perhaps for the accessories for the momentary instant that I put my laptop bag on a table and again those accessories are in a different slot.

[3b] When using the computer at work, rarely will I put anything other than a few sheets of paper over the closed lid; otherwise there is no externally added weight.

[3c] When the computer is being transported in my backpack, my books/notebooks go in vertical, and so does my Macbook, into its own slot. I always make 100% super sure that the backpack is never tipped over so as to have the weight of all the books on the computer. That I think is abuse.


[4] I clean the screen with:

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Electronics...f=sr_1_fkmr0_3

and sometimes I also use

Amazon.com: iKlear 8 oz Spray Bottle: Electronics
     
Ham Sandwich
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Apr 8, 2015, 02:39 PM
 
...so, how are you traveling with your Macbook since yours doesn't have marks?
     
P
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Apr 8, 2015, 02:46 PM
 
11" MBA. I close the lid and put it in a special zippered compartment in my briefcase. The MBA fits snugly there, which is the only reason that I don't just toss it in.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Apr 8, 2015, 05:03 PM
 
Originally Posted by And.reg View Post
...so, how are you traveling with your Macbook since yours doesn't have marks?
13" MacBook Pro. Close it and slip it into a padded sleeve (designed and originally bought for a 15" PowerBook) that's sitting permanently in the laptop compartment of my messenger bag. The messenger bag is typically stuffed, with sheets, notebooks, power supply, a dozen cables, shades, and whatever food and drink I need, so there is pretty much constant pressure and flex on the 'book/sleeve.

It is four years old as of last month.

No marks.

None.

I do not use a "screen protector" cloth, as I found those will tend to leave marks as they get oily over time and the keys press through.
     
Ham Sandwich
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Apr 8, 2015, 08:36 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
13" MacBook Pro. Close it and slip it into a padded sleeve (designed and originally bought for a 15" PowerBook) that's sitting permanently in the laptop compartment of my messenger bag. The messenger bag is typically stuffed, with sheets, notebooks, power supply, a dozen cables, shades, and whatever food and drink I need, so there is pretty much constant pressure and flex on the 'book/sleeve.
That's pretty much what I did when I had my old white Macbook... that is, before I started using screen protector cloths... after a year of use with no cloths or keyboard covers, or hard shells, straight marks showed up on the display where the spacebar would press in while the lid is closed.


*shrug* I have no idea, maybe the design of the Pro Macbook is more forgiving than the (non-pro and non-2015) Macbooks in terms of having things "stuffed in" with it.
     
The Final Dakar
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Apr 9, 2015, 04:50 PM
 


I"m probably missing something, but it looks like my current Air (Refurb from fall 2013) is as good as these new ones.
     
Mike Wuerthele
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Apr 9, 2015, 05:34 PM
 
Benchmarks are funny. The closer the model they use to what you do, the more accurate they are.

Your 2013 can't do 4k video. The 2015 MacBook can. You can't see this in the benchmark. That said, I wouldn't want to do any video transcoding or 3d modeling on the new machine, but I wouldn't do that on an Air either.
     
The Final Dakar
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Apr 9, 2015, 06:01 PM
 
I don't give a crap about 4k, so sounds great to me!
     
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Apr 9, 2015, 06:12 PM
 
It appears that the "Core M" processors, such as the Core M-5Y31 (that has to be silliest name ever), have a tendency to throttle quickly in benches. In more regular usage, that should not happen, and they can turbo up and down freely, but I have to wonder what their gaming performance will be like.

I wonder how long until someone makes an external cooling system for the new Macbook. They exist for bigger laptops already, but I'm sure there will be special matching variants for the 12" Macbook.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
subego
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Apr 10, 2015, 11:52 PM
 
Re: laptop flex in your bag

I throw a rigid, self-healing cutting mat in the bag between the lappy and my body. Doesn't do anything about pressure, but definitely cuts down on the flex.

My fave is a Marvy brand, but current models are made out of a more flexy material.
     
pigmode
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Apr 11, 2015, 10:55 AM
 
For backpacks I've never saw the wisdom of those thin, tight laptop partitions that put a notebook right up against your back, possibly with a full load behind it as well. Of course its a simple and inexpensive way for manufacturers to add a laptop *feature* to their products.

I use (among others) a Chrome Bravo pack that holds a notebook in a partition outside of the main compartment, with another space outside of that. Sometimes I use a padded sleeve for the MBP with the backpack, sometimes not. When inserting one-handed my non-retina MBP into a thin sleeve, you can see how flexy the case behind the display is, and how it probably should be protected. With creative packing strategies in the Bravo, the MBP can sit there with enough give front to back to try to eliminate hard pressure on the top half.


     
Ham Sandwich
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Apr 12, 2015, 01:06 PM
 
Why are these only one-shoulder-strapped? I have a lot of stuff to carry and I'd like to free up an arm/hand and not put the burden all on one arm or a single could-tear strap, which is why I've used backpacks my whole life.

Also, is your product weather-proof, and are there zippers to protect the Macbook from rain/wind? I couldn't tell if there was from your description of "padded sleeve."
     
pigmode
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Apr 12, 2015, 03:47 PM
 
I use backpacks for *similar* reasons--a lifelong smorgasbord of moderate to severe work and athletic related neck/back injuries.

The Chrome Bravo is a backpack. With only that pictured velcro cover, the laptop pouch is water resistant, hence the use of a 13" sleeve if there are signs of potential rain. In a real pinch the sleeved notebook can be stored in the rolltop main compartment, and not necessarily in the thin compartment within, that lies against the back. The rolltop is imo much rain safe.

I also have a Mission Workshop Fitzroy, with a longer velcro main flap, but the 13" won't fit in the outer compartment with a sleeve.

I've used the Chrome cycling in a moderate rain with a bare 13" mbp that the outer compartment. We're just talking about a 25 min ride, and without sidewinds gusting to 25mph, so ymmv.




Bravo Rolltop Backpack | Bravo Backpack | Chrome Industries[B]%20Chrome%20Backpacks%20%7C%20Product&gclid=CMiOpK O_8cQCFdKFfgodLqMAlA

The Fitzroy 40L weatherproof rucksack by Mission Workshop.


P.S. Another thing I really like about the Chrome Bravo's outer laptop compartment, is unlike most other backpack designs, it keeps the laptop a few inches above the bottom. Basically if you're in a check out line etc, you don't have to act like you're dealing with eggs when you stand the pack on the ground, pulling out your wallet and such.
     
Ham Sandwich
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Apr 13, 2015, 06:59 AM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
I do not use a "screen protector" cloth, as I found those will tend to leave marks as they get oily over time and the keys press through.
So how do you clean out dust/specks from getting underneath the keys? And how do you keep the keys/trackpad from looking oily over time?
     
Spheric Harlot
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Apr 13, 2015, 09:19 AM
 
Every few weeks, I'll go over the whole machine with a damp microfibre cloth. That's it.
     
ghporter
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Apr 14, 2015, 08:04 AM
 
I carried my MBP in a North Face Yavapai pack. It has a padded slot in the back of the main pocket for a laptop. I always had text books or binders in the pack going to school, so I didn't need to add anything for rigidity, but subego's cutting board idea is a nice one - they're not expensive or heavy, and they give structure to soft, padded pockets.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Ham Sandwich
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Apr 19, 2015, 09:28 PM
 
Alright separate question, about the gold Macbook... since I tried one out in a store (not an "Apple store") and the rep didn't know, if I get a USB 3.0 with a connector to the USB-C port, how many devices can I use simultaneously with the hub?
     
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Apr 20, 2015, 06:53 AM
 
USB 1.1 and 2.0 max out at 127 devices per port, of you chain up hubs (note that the hubs count as devices). I would assume that USB 3.0 has the same figure, though of course I have never tested it.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Ham Sandwich
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Apr 20, 2015, 06:58 AM
 
I guess my concern is if USB-C is really limited to USB 3.0 speeds (5 Gbps) and you start connecting a bunch of external devices to a USB 3 hub that each want to use the full 5 Gbps, then aren't you still limited to total data transfer between the hub and the Macbook of 5 Gbps? Would that mean that each device performs slower? If Apple had dedicated, independent USB 3.0 slots on the Macbook, then each could independently deliver 5.0 Gbps.


(Also an update regarding the keyboard: I did not like the keyboard; I was absolutely annoyed with it. I found myself making way too many mistakes on the new Macbook keyboard; I couldn't tell which key was which or where I was placing my fingers without looking, and typing on it was louder than on the Pro/Air MacBooks when I tried it.)
( Last edited by Ham Sandwich; Apr 27, 2015 at 01:29 PM. )
     
ghporter
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Apr 20, 2015, 08:15 AM
 
If everything on your USB port/hub is USB 3, the whole bandwidth is available from the port, but it is shared via the hub. In other words yes that 5 Gbps is shared. On the other hand, USB 3 is about 10 times as fast as USB 2 by data rate alone, but it is also full-duplex, where USB 2 is only half-duplex; that essentially doubles the data rate again (about 20 times as fast as USB 2).

How many different 5 Gbps devices do you foresee connecting to your laptop? If the MacBook actually uses USB 3.1 standards, it's pretty close to Thunderbolt speeds...

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
P
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Apr 20, 2015, 08:33 AM
 
Originally Posted by And.reg View Post
I guess my concern is if USB-C is really limited to USB 3.0 speeds (5 Gbps) and you start connecting a bunch of external devices to a USB 3 hub that each want to use the full 5 Gbps, then aren't you still limited to total data transfer between the hub and the Macbook of 5 Gbps?
Yes, just like it is today.

Originally Posted by And.reg View Post
Would that mean that each device performs slower? If Apple had dedicated, independent USB 3.0 slots on the Macbook, then each could independently deliver 5.0 Gbps.
They're only slower if they're active at the same time. In practice this is not so common, as few devices can saturate a 5.0 Gbps bus for more than bursts, and even those that can, are not likely to do so in normal use cases. The most likely situation where you will saturate the USB 3.0 bus is when you use Alt Mode to run an external display - depending on the resolution of the display, DisplayPort may want to use all four of the high-speed lanes for its purposes, leaving you only the USB 2.0 bus free.

Not sure at what resolution it will start to use all 4 lanes. According to this, 2 lanes is enough for 2560*1600 or 2 1080p displays, but it also speaks about using DisplayPort 1.3 and HBR3 signalling to support 4K displays, and it implies that this can also be done over 2 lanes. That HBR3 signalling mode is a bit of a warning, though - HBR3 includes optional lossy compression of the video signal, so maybe that's how they fit 4K over 2 lanes.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
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Apr 20, 2015, 09:07 AM
 
What I've managed to figure out on Alt Mode: USB type C connectors include four high bandwidth transmission lanes, double that of plain USB 3.0. USB 3.1 Gen 1 - which is what Apple uses on this Macbook - allows for full duplex 5 Gbps USB 3.0 traffic on two of those lanes, ones transmit and one receive, with the other pair being used in Alt Mode for HDMI or DisplayPort or PCIe or whatever. Since Displayport is unidirectional, it can change the receive lane to a second transmit lane. The question is how far this stretches. USB 3.0 is 5 Gbps full duplex, so it is at least 5 Gbps per lane - but 10 Gbps does not stretch to 4K displays, which require 12.54 Gbps in the signalling DisplayPort uses. The question is if the USB 3.1 standard requires cable quality high enough that DisplayPort can use its HBR3 mode of 6.48 Gbps per lane. The presentation I linked seems to imply that - particularly since it specifies a max cable length of 1 m - but I wish it were clearer.

And if you wanted 10 Gbps USB 3.1, like some publications implied would be possible? That requires ganging up all four transmission lanes into pairs of two, for which you need USB 3.1 Gen 2. The new Macbook doesn't support that yet - and neither does anything else, as far as I can tell.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
OreoCookie
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Apr 20, 2015, 10:36 AM
 
Originally Posted by P View Post
And if you wanted 10 Gbps USB 3.1, like some publications implied would be possible? That requires ganging up all four transmission lanes into pairs of two, for which you need USB 3.1 Gen 2. The new Macbook doesn't support that yet - and neither does anything else, as far as I can tell.
Given that the 10 Gbps flavor USB-C requires a separate controller and the limited relevance of 10 Gbps in the real world for this type of machine, it's obvious why Apple went this route.

I'm very intrigued by the machine, and I am sure I will envy them the same way I did when I saw a first-gen MacBook Air in the flesh. It's incredible how quickly Apple makes my 13" Retina MacBook Pro (which I adore) look fat. And hopefully it cures one of the few nitpicks I have with my current machine: I prefer the trackpad of my 15" MacBook Pro, because the trackpad has more click travel.
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Ham Sandwich
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Apr 21, 2015, 01:33 PM
 
My impressions after doing some more in-store-demo testing with:

12" Macbook (I didn't check if it was a 1.1 GHz or 1.2 GHz)
13.3" Macbook Air (dual 1.6 GHz)
13.3" Pro Macbook (dual 2.7 GHz)
15.4" Pro Macbook (quad 2.2 GHz, I think)

I tested basic functionality such as web browsing, scrolling, launching applications, reading a data-rich PDF (with several thousand data points to render), and manipulating a 3D plot in Grapher on the highest possible setting. (I did not test the playback of 1080p videos or the editing of media.)

Result based on personal observations:
The 12" Macbook did basic tasks at 90% to 100% the speed of its competitors. Yes, even the 12" Macbook was nearly as fast as the 4-core monster Pro Macbook for basic tasks.

That impressed me, seeing that the Macbook cores are only 1.1/1.2 GHz whereas the Pros are so much faster.

Has anyone else tested the Macbook in stores?

Edit on April 23: 1080p video playback on Youtube was all the same... but the non-retina Macbooks were much more responsive (as in fluid-like response) to zooming-in / zooming out of full screen, and resizing browser windows.
( Last edited by Ham Sandwich; Apr 23, 2015 at 12:26 PM. )
     
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Apr 21, 2015, 04:44 PM
 
For basic tasks, there is little difference. For one thing the CPU is not the bottleneck, and for another they can all complete those tasks on single core turbo, where they're all more or less the same speed.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
OreoCookie
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Apr 21, 2015, 05:36 PM
 
Originally Posted by And.reg View Post
That impressed me, seeing that the Macbook cores are only 1.1/1.2 GHz whereas the Pros are so much faster.
For certain periods, they actually turbo up to 2.4–2.9 GHz (depending on the model). That means the MacBook can literally be as fast as a MacBook Air for short amounts of time. For bursty workloads where the core runs on full tilt for only a short amount of time, the MacBook will give you most of the performance. If you read Anandtech's analysis, you see that performance crucially depends on the cooling, and systems with slower Core M CPUs can actually be faster than others.
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pigmode
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Apr 27, 2015, 01:12 PM
 
Originally Posted by And.reg View Post

Has anyone else tested the Macbook in stores?

Was able to use my girlfriend's new MB last week for an extended afternoon/night/morning period in my usual notebook environments. Not being my computer I didn't try anything more than pedestrian usage.

What I found after a few hours is mainly in terms of text size, the 12" screen is too small for my eyes. It works and I could live with it, but would rather not.

I really like the new keyboard. When finishing up with the MB, there was a thought if I could still live with the old style keyboard. I can, and do but it will be nice to have the new keyboard eventually.

This was my first real usage of a retina display, and based partly on that (extended) usage I finally ordered a bto retina mbp.
     
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Apr 28, 2015, 05:17 PM
 
Originally Posted by pigmode View Post
This was my first real usage of a retina display, and based partly on that (extended) usage I finally ordered a bto retina mbp.
I'm kind of in the same boat... if only the 13" Pro Macbook had a gold trackpad and was thin like the Air, my decision to upgrade wouldn't be so hard.
( Last edited by Ham Sandwich; Apr 28, 2015 at 09:14 PM. )
     
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May 2, 2015, 02:58 PM
 
Hey is there any harm done to the battery if I keep it plugged in for days at a time and use it that way?

I ask because I don't want to shorten the life of the battery by having it go through 300 recharge cycles per year.

Also, is there any harm in using the battery all the way down to like 10%, or should I start re-charging it at like 40%?
     
Spheric Harlot
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May 2, 2015, 03:04 PM
 
Just use it.

I decided ages ago that the reason I have mobile devices is to cut down on things I need to consider, and if I can spend every day worrying about battery usage, I worry every day and waste effort and attention on something that's going to happen anyway.

Look at it this way: if you fret and worry and think and arrange, your battery MIGHT be dead in August five years from now. If you don't bother and just use the damn thing, it might need to be replaced in April five years from now.

You have better things to spend your attention upon.
     
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May 15, 2015, 02:26 AM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
Because it is the analog of the first MacBook Air, it's reimagining this machine – and Apple seems to think so as well: they said that they think all computers will be like this in a few years (to be fair, they said this when they introduced the 2010 redesign of the Air). And these machines do resemble each other: initially, a step back in terms of performance, too few ports, etc. But it's clear that this is where things are going, and the new MacBook will arrive there first. I'm sad that they stuck to MacBook, I never came to liking that moniker. PowerBook, now that was a name … 
Totally agree with you about the name. But, in their wisdom they felt that Power was tied to PowerPC (which it probably was), and as such, the baby was thrown away with the bathwater.
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May 15, 2015, 02:27 AM
 
Originally Posted by ajprice View Post
I don't get the single USB port thing. I know Apple have previous for forcing new tech by dropping common parts (floppy disks, USB only iMac, optical drives etc), but 1 port for the charger, I/O and external display is pushing it.

There's a new Chromebook Pixel too, with a USB-C on each side, headphone jack, i5 or i7 processor and an SD card slot. The price is £799 or £999 (Macbook is £1049 or £1299). It weighs 3.3lb (MacBook is 2lb) and runs Chrome though .

New Chromebook Pixel takes on new MacBook with USB-C | Computing News | TechRadar
At least that machine has two USB-C ports, and it's just a hardware based web-browser.
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Spheric Harlot
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May 15, 2015, 02:37 AM
 
Originally Posted by driven View Post
Totally agree with you about the name. But, in their wisdom they felt that Power was tied to PowerPC (which it probably was), and as such, the baby was thrown away with the bathwater.
The predecessor of the MacBook line was the iBook, which really isn't any better of a name.
     
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May 15, 2015, 04:33 AM
 
Originally Posted by driven View Post
At least that machine has two USB-C ports, and it's just a hardware based web-browser.
I have a new Pixel, the i7 variety, and it makes a great Ubuntu portable. Really an amazing notebook.
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May 15, 2015, 05:03 AM
 
Originally Posted by Cap'n Tightpants View Post
I have a new Pixel, the i7 variety, and it makes a great Ubuntu portable. Really an amazing notebook.
I do like the display on that machine. Do you have to hack it to get it to run Ubuntu?
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May 15, 2015, 05:44 AM
 
Originally Posted by driven View Post
I do like the display on that machine. Do you have to hack it to get it to run Ubuntu?
Easy now to run from USB as a second OS.
Google just made it easier to run Linux on your Chromebook | PCWorld

Getting it as the primary OS is a bit more involved
How to Install Linux on a Chromebook | Digital Trends

It'll be much easier if you just comply.
     
OreoCookie
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May 15, 2015, 11:02 AM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
The predecessor of the MacBook line was the iBook, which really isn't any better of a name.
You're right, and I also liked iBook — even if my opinion is tainted by nostalgia. I really liked my white dual USB iBooks.
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pigmode
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May 15, 2015, 08:49 PM
 
I threw one away a few weeks ago, it sitting on a shelf for so long time with a dead logic board. Was kind of surprised how bulky it was, with its little hatch for the battery and all. I remember the 12" iBook having such a pixelated screen.
     
ghporter
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May 16, 2015, 10:34 AM
 
Yesterday I got to feel the difference in weight between the new MacBook, the 13" MBP and the 15" MBP. On paper, it's about a pound difference between each, but in your hands, it's amazing.

The new MacBook weighs just over 2 pounds. The 13" MBP weighs 3.48 pounds, and the 15" weighs 4.46 pounds. By comparison, my first gen, 2006 15" MBP weighs 5.6 pounds...

The only things keeping me from plunking money down on a new MacBook right now are the limited processor speed and limited memory available. I really like that they even put a 512 SSD in the MB, but I feel that I want a much faster processor and as much RAM as I can get. Call me old fashioned...

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
OreoCookie
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May 18, 2015, 10:54 AM
 
The MacBook's processor is faster for most tasks than you'd think, on par with a MacBook Air. That's because it turbos up to the same frequencies (up to 2.9 GHz) as its bigger brethren, has the same core and a very, very fast SSD. So for anything that has a bursty CPU load, I don't think there is an appreciable difference in performance. If you hammer the CPU constantly, then yes, you'll see the difference. That's also the reason why in benchmarks the Air is significantly faster.

But I had a look at it, too. If I were in the market now, I'd seriously consider a maxed out MacBook over a 13" Retina (which is what I have now). Oh, and it comes in space gray.
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driven
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May 18, 2015, 11:54 AM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
Yesterday I got to feel the difference in weight between the new MacBook, the 13" MBP and the 15" MBP. On paper, it's about a pound difference between each, but in your hands, it's amazing.

The new MacBook weighs just over 2 pounds. The 13" MBP weighs 3.48 pounds, and the 15" weighs 4.46 pounds. By comparison, my first gen, 2006 15" MBP weighs 5.6 pounds...

The only things keeping me from plunking money down on a new MacBook right now are the limited processor speed and limited memory available. I really like that they even put a 512 SSD in the MB, but I feel that I want a much faster processor and as much RAM as I can get. Call me old fashioned...
For me the holdout is the single port and lack of Ethernet jack. (Useful for large file copies).
Perhaps when a hub comes out for it maybe.

But very nice machine. That's the only thing that would give me pause.
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OreoCookie
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May 18, 2015, 12:09 PM
 
Originally Posted by driven View Post
For me the holdout is the single port and lack of Ethernet jack. (Useful for large file copies).
You have to get a dongle then. Even my 13" Retina doesn't have ethernet built-in — which is a tad annoying.
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driven
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May 18, 2015, 12:10 PM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
You have to get a dongle then. Even my 13" Retina doesn't have ethernet built-in — which is a tad annoying.
My 15" doesn't either.
I have a Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter I use. I don't see a USB-C to Ethernet adapter even existing yet.
Edit: and even then, I'd have to give up charging to use it.
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OreoCookie
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May 18, 2015, 05:22 PM
 
Originally Posted by driven View Post
I have a Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter I use. I don't see a USB-C to Ethernet adapter even existing yet.
You can use any existing Ethernet-USB adapter with a USB C-USB A adapter, preferably one that uses USB3 so that your throughput isn't throttled by the USB protocol. Having to fiddle with two adapters isn't exactly elegant, but eventually we'll see Ethernet dongles with USB C plugs. I bought 2 Ethernet dongles, one for the office, one for home, so I wouldn't care much if I had to use an additional USB-USB adapter.
Originally Posted by driven View Post
Edit: and even then, I'd have to give up charging to use it.
Doesn't the MacBook continue to charge if you use Apple's dongle?
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May 24, 2015, 11:27 AM
 
     
driven
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May 24, 2015, 06:01 PM
 
I like the convenience and health benefits (back, neck) of backpacks, but I often dress in business attire for work and I prefer the more professional look of a traditional computer case. With a backpack I always feel like a kid going to school, and they look silly when wearing a sport jacket.

my impression of the new MacBook keyboard from my very short time using one was very positive. I liked it much better than the current MBP keyboard. I really liked it.
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May 29, 2015, 09:07 AM
 
So with Apple eliminating the usual USB 3.0 port, this probably means an update to the iPod Shuffle ought to come soon, since there's no way to connect to it (without an adapter), and I would expect a model with a lightning connector.
     
Mike Wuerthele
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May 29, 2015, 09:13 AM
 
Originally Posted by And.reg View Post
So with Apple eliminating the usual USB 3.0 port, this probably means an update to the iPod Shuffle ought to come soon, since there's no way to connect to it (without an adapter), and I would expect a model with a lightning connector.
I don't think so on the Lightning connector on the shuffle. The single port provides data, power, and headphones, and I don't see them going with Lightning earbuds any time soon.
     
 
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