
Updated 13in MacBook Pro with Magic Keyboard, double storage, faster performance - todsacerdoti
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/05/apple-updates-13-inch-macbook-pro-with-magic-keyboard-double-the-storage-and-faster-performance/
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justinsaccount
> the new inverted-"T" arrangement for the arrow keys makes them easier to
> find, whether users are navigating through spreadsheets or playing games.
> Magic Keyboard also features a physical Escape key

Step 1: Remove features and call it an innovative new design.

Step 2: Add those same features back in and act like it is an innovative new
design.

~~~
stetrain
Alternatively, listening to user feedback and specifically addressing points
of criticism in the announcement.

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sumedh
I just dont understand why would Apple with its billion of dollars for R&D
would think removing the physical escape button and T arrangement would not
cause any negative experience for its users.

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stinos
_R &D_

Most (?) human's middle fingers are longer than the surrounding ones so from
the ergonomic point of view an inverted T is the only thing which makes sense.
Getting your middle finger on the same row as the other 2, or the row above,
feels ok. Row below feels awkward. Multiple buttons on same row as well unless
the keys are quite big: middle fingers are also not very small. It's likely
also why an inverted T is the de facto standard for 'normal' keyboards I
guess. So one can only wonder why anyone would ever do that differently. Just
for the sake of being different and the revenue that might bring? Which would
be a bit of a shame for a company which takes pride in design.

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hartator
Disappointed they didn't expand the screen to 14".

That will allow them to reduce the screen bezel that looks very last gen now
and also match the work the done on the 16" line.

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jlengrand
Yup, that's pretty much the only thing I was hoping for. Guess I'll keep my
2018 version!

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tenpies
I like how they gently reduced the Touch Bar.

A few more iterations and they'll hopefully realize what an awful idea it was
and we'll go back to a normal and functional keyboard.

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ntkachov
I disagree that its an awful idea. If anything its a pretty great idea with a
lackluster execution. There are alot of problems it can solve but it needs to
have a killer app first to drive adoption. "Contextually sensitive" actions
are decent but not the killer app.

~~~
vidoc
> I disagree that its an awful idea. If anything its a pretty great idea with
> a lackluster execution.

I dont think any execution can overcome the fact that going from analogic to
software keys _is_ a downgrade in terms of usability.

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robenkleene
It's only true that a physical key is always better if you're sending a single
key press event, which unfortunately is usually the case for most Touch Bar
controls, but there are certain use cases where sending a stream of events is
preferably: For example adjusting color sliders in Photoshop, or a volume
fader in Logic Pro.

The foundational problem with the Touch Bar is that it's a UI only for some
use cases that are desktop-first workflows (like design and music production).
And not only is the Touch Bar not available for the desktop, the form factor
is so compromised by the small size of a laptop that it ends up not even being
good for the use cases that it is a good fit for on a laptop.

I was initially excited when I saw the Touch Bar, because I hate adjusting
sliders and knobs with the mouse (and find that UI element to be nicer to use
on an iPad for example). But the Touch Bar is so small it's terrible for
adjusting sliders and knobs, and I usually use an Exeter all keyboard and
mouse when I'm doing these tasks anyway...

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brenden2
I'm a little disappointed tbh. It's good that they fixed the keyboard and
brought back the escape key, but the screen hasn't been improved and I was
really hoping they'd make it slightly larger, close to 14" with the bezel
trimmed, which was what had been rumored.

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dom96
Interesting to see them show off Dota 2. Could this imply a closer Valve/Apple
relationship?

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0xdada
Strange choice, given that the game (the port to Source 2 at least) is from
2014, and it's nearly unplayable with a touch bar.

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jlengrand
I wondered the same thing, for the very same reason :). Feels like whoever
picked that game never tried to play it with a touchpad and a mac keyboard :D

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api
This isn't that much better than the fully decked out quad core 2020 Air. The
biggest difference is the ability to have 32GB of RAM. Both are 10nm Ice Lake
processors, which offer much better battery life (can attest to this as I have
a 2020 Air) and have hardware mitigations for at least some of the security
bugs that have plagued Intel. The latter gives you some of your syscall
performance back, which can be noticeable on I/O heavy apps.

I personally prefer the 2020 Air as it also has physical function keys (but
still has Touch ID). If I wanted to go Pro I'd probably go for the 16 inch
with eight cores.

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m_st
Note that performance could be an issue with the Air, as it will throttle the
CPU to prevent too much head. The MBP has much more thermal leg room.

That said, the Air indeed is a great machine and I too prefer the function
keys to Touch ID.

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ulfw
But if you’re after performance you’d go with the 16”.

With no dedicated GPU and still quad core, the 13” MBP is a bit in no mans
land in terms of Air vs 16” Performance.

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gpvos
_> the new inverted-“T” arrangement for the arrow keys makes them easier to
find_

I checked my (now sadly defunct) 2010 13" MBP and they are arranged the same
way. Is this just a sentence they left in for >=10 years?

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mmillin
On the 2016 series of Macbook Pros they are not in an inverted T shape. The up
and down arrows are half-sized buttons stacked vertically. This results in a
single line of 3 keys instead of the T shape.

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hartator
Awesome. I wonder how single core performance compare to the current 16"
Macbook CPU. (I have the maxed out one.) Most daily usage is unfortunately
still bound to one thread.

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_ph_
Good that they finally upgraded all mobile keyboards. But otherwise not too
many enhancements.

\- going to 14 inch like with the transition from 15->16 inch sounded like the
obvious thing to do, especially to separate from the Air.

\- just quad-core processors in a day and age where AMD launches 8-core low
power mobile chips

\- no dedicated graphics unit.

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pseingatl
Can you downgrade to Mojave? 32 bit apps will not run on Catalina.

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werber
I really hope they make the magic bar an option not the baseline. I just
updated to the new air and would not buy another Mac if it doesn’t have a
fully physical keyboard

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dom96
Since this was marked as a dupe, could we not merge the comments here into the
other thread?

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walkingolof
"Up to 32GB of memory for running multiple pro apps."

What is a "Pro" app?

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gbanfalvi
Resource-intensive applications like Chrome and Slack

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karatestomp
In seriousness, having to run 5+ tabs and Electron apps that each take
500-2500MB is the _only_ reason 8GB of memory feels cramped for work purposes,
for my case. Take those out of the picture and I can run a few light VMs and
still have enough room to work, on 8GB.

Main reason 2 cores + hyperthreading gets laggy and unresponsive at times,
too, for that matter, compiling aside.

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spdegabrielle
I was hoping for an ARM processor. Too soon I suppose.

