Apple 'Spring Forward' Event 09/03/2015

lamboman · 10 Mar 2015 at 20:07

Somnambulist said:
That reminds me to have a moan at no-one in particular; as an owner of the mouse, keyboard and trackpad it's a bit annoying they haven't updated the peripherals in forever.

But there was nothing to change though, that's the problem. The keyboard has been updated to cater for new buttons (as in, updated keycaps), the trackpad had nothing to update as Apple haven't made any changes for the last 6 years or so (Force Touch is the only thing they can really do, if you think about it), and the mouse is always going to be awful anyway

McBain said:
You will notice the difference, not just the weight but the form factor as well. I really liked the way the Air tapers, but ultimately after a couple of weeks of usage you won't look back I don't think.

I'd agree with this really, though whether you look back depends on your priorities. Personally still prefer the Air's keyboard and taper to the rMBP, I found the rMBP to be closer to the cMBP's form factor in that your wrists are very high when you type. Didn't like it on my cMBP 13", and didn't find it much better on the rMBP.

In terms of using the machine, my opinion is that if you primarily type, the Air is possibly the better choice, purely because the keyboard has a little more travel, and has that taper (which makes typing effortless). If you primarily browse or edit pictures and videos, probably the rMBP.

In terms of the actual form factor and carrying the machine, in a bag the MBA will probably be noticeably smaller but not really feel that much lighter. Carry it in your hand (in a sleeve), I'd take the Air.

Somnambulist · 10 Mar 2015 at 20:36

With Force Touch being pretty deeply integrated into the OS, I'd expect a new Trackpad and perhaps that will get a refresh later in the year.

The keyboard is... okay. I actually use a BulletTrain Express which creates a fake MBP style layout with the keyboard/trackpad and makes it more ergonomical to use.

I use a Puk wrist rest with the Magic Mouse which makes it waaaaay more comfortable to use.

Hxc · 10 Mar 2015 at 22:25

As I have a 2011 Air, the CPU would technically be an upgrade... and I've not felt CPU limited at all, ever. The only thing that has ever struggled is graphics and that's a big step up. I'm becoming more convinced but I have a fear the 2nd gen will be a mile better and annoy me for being an early adopter.

Caged · 10 Mar 2015 at 22:31

I'm disappointed that they couldn't come up with a way to get the new USB port on the right alongside the headphone jack, and leave the left for a MagSafe connector.

I hope that the design will be refined in the same way in the same way the original Air was.

englishpremier · 10 Mar 2015 at 23:05

Hxc said:
As I have a 2011 Air, the CPU would technically be an upgrade... and I've not felt CPU limited at all, ever. The only thing that has ever struggled is graphics and that's a big step up. I'm becoming more convinced but I have a fear the 2nd gen will be a mile better and annoy me for being an early adopter.

Will it though? The 2011 Macbook Air still has a 1.6ghz Core I5 processor.

Is that not faster still than the 1.2ghz Core-M?

I ask because I'm on a 2011 MBA.

On a separate note, do we know the UK release date? If I buy anything it need to be before the new tax season.

Jony27 · 11 Mar 2015 at 00:10

April 10 for US, so Im guessing the same on UK or a few days latest.

xxalxx · 11 Mar 2015 at 10:55

Quite impressed with the new MacBook, wonder if I can get one for work (well according to the taxman

)

Meatball · 11 Mar 2015 at 23:15

I'll be buying the refreshed MacBook Pro shortly. Has anyone purchased one through John Lewis? My dad's a partner so I can get the discount and the 3 year guarantee, however I want the 16GB ram upgrade. It appears you can't custom spec with John Lewis?

Fallen god · 11 Mar 2015 at 23:37

I'm more interested in what this means for the next gen rMBP. The Pixel 2 dropped today and it has 14 hours on the verge battery test using the i5 boardwell chip, seems like they could really push the rMBP soon enough.

Meatball · 12 Mar 2015 at 09:32

Surely they can't upgrade the rMBP again this year?

Steedie · 12 Mar 2015 at 10:05

Jony27 · 12 Mar 2015 at 10:24

Fallen god said:
I'm more interested in what this means for the next gen rMBP. The Pixel 2 dropped today and it has 14 hours on the verge battery test using the i5 boardwell chip, seems like they could really push the rMBP soon enough.

I was reading about this on reddit, but surely even with the specs, it's still a chrome book?

mame · 12 Mar 2015 at 16:46

Steedie said:

I came back in her just to post that

Somnambulist · 12 Mar 2015 at 18:03

Meatball said:
Surely they can't upgrade the rMBP again this year?

They won't until the appropriate Intel Skylake chips are ready for them to use with the new models (the delay with the Broadwell ones is why the current 13" only just got an soft update and the 15" hasn't yet since the i7 chip that will use isn't available yet) - you're looking at either late 2015 or early 2016 for those, so a fair wait still.

Fallen god · 12 Mar 2015 at 21:18

Meatball said:
Surely they can't upgrade the rMBP again this year?

Not this year, but when they do it could be as light as the Air, offering similar battery to the chromebook Pixel 2 and have a decent amount of ports like the Macbook.

Jony27 said:
I was reading about this on reddit, but surely even with the specs, it's still a chrome book?

It is, and its a stupid buy but its super impressive from a hardware stand point, I coulnd't believe anything expect the Air could reach that battery life, but it does, while having a "retina" display. The first gen Chromebook Pixel had meh battery. I can only imagine how nice a 13" rMBP for example would be with that battery life, sticking in 2 USB Type-C while hopefully keeping the Thunderbolt 2 ports.

DanF · 13 Mar 2015 at 10:39

rMBP 13" teardown

CPU is a i5-5257, can't find any benchmarks on it yet.
SSD is removable so will make it upgradable

englishpremier · 13 Mar 2015 at 12:18

DanF said:
rMBP 13" teardown

CPU is a i5-5257, can't find any benchmarks on it yet.
SSD is removable so will make it upgradable

I think the SSD is removable in all Macbooks, yet they always say not upgradeable.

I want to see benchmarks.

If by some marvel it's faster than a 2011 MBA I'd get one. I won't however hold my breath.

shiver · 13 Mar 2015 at 12:39

englishpremier said:
I think the SSD is removable in all Macbooks, yet they always say not upgradeable.

I want to see benchmarks.

If by some marvel it's faster than a 2011 MBA I'd get one. I won't however hold my breath.

If you're just talking about SSD benchmarks, every MBA and rMBP has had a much faster SSD since 2011.

2012/Early 2013 = faster SATA
Late 2013/2014 = even faster PCI-E
Early 2015 = even faster PCI-E with extra lanes (1GB/s +)

uvarvu · 13 Mar 2015 at 13:01

I went into my local Apple Store today to play with the new computers. The Force Touch trackpad is weird. It almost feels like the mechanical ones as the haptic feedback as really been perfected. You can depress two "levels" with one finger and one "level" with two so sometimes it will feel like it's faulty.

Depressing once requires the same amount of pressure as the old trackpad, you have to press noticeably more for the second level.

Somnambulist · 13 Mar 2015 at 13:18

englishpremier said:
I think the SSD is removable in all Macbooks, yet they always say not upgradeable.

I want to see benchmarks.

If by some marvel it's faster than a 2011 MBA I'd get one. I won't however hold my breath.

It's user replaceable insofar as you can dismantle the MacBook to do it, but this voids the warranty (unlike say, adding RAM to an iMac or older MBPs which was 'okay'). With the older ones you could swap stuff out and put it back and nobody would be any the wiser anyway, but with the newer designs I'm not sure if pulling them apart leaves any telltale signs.