Few weeks ago, I started working at Algolia. When I arrived I was provided with a new MacBook Pro 15" which replaced my personal MacBook Air from 2011.
After nearly 2 months using it, I want to share my opinion on it. I used to be a proper Apple fan boy but I think Apple is losing it. ?
The product is great overall but I think the 3000 euros price tag allows us to be very demanding. Don't even get me started on the 4 years we waited for this update.
Connectivity
I love USB-C, I'm glad Apple is leading the industry toward this technology. I don't mind having a small adapter to use my old USB gadget.
What I mind is that it's not provided by default. I mean $2500, I think a $15 cable could be added to the box! Just like Apple added a jack adapter with the iPhone 7 when they decided to remove this old socket.
Speaking of iPhone, there is one thing I hate: I cannot connect my iPhone earphones to my Mac. So I take the metro in the morning, listening to something, then in work I want to answer a Skype call but I cannot use the same earphones...
Why not adding a lightning plug to the Mac? Or use USB-C for iPhone ?
TouchID
When I switched to Android after I got my iPhone 5S was stolen, the touchID was the feature I missed the most. I was very exited to have it on my laptop, hoping it would make my life easier by not typing passwords all day.
I was right, it's amazing! By far the best feature of this new MacBook. Unlocking your laptop is nice but opening 1password instantly is the best.
The TouchBar
This is the key feature of this update, marketing-wise at least. I really like it because it's really geeky but, to be honest, it's a bit pointless.
I'm convinced that it's because we didn't find the use yet. I hope we'll see app making original use of it soon. Electron support will probably help.
The actual problem is not to know if the touchbar is useful or not, the problem is:
Is this touchbar worth the extra $500 and the 4 years we waited.
I have my own opinion on this. ?
The sound
Apple advertise that the sound is amazing but I didn't care much about it.
I was wrong it make a huge difference when you're on YouTube or Netflix. It's louder and deeper. I love it.
The keyboard
The new keyboard is super flat and feels very nice but, people didn't lie: it's very noisy. And it is, so what? I don't mind this.
The overall feeling is very nice BUT, there is one big issue with it.
The arrows have changed and they made the right and left arrow twice as big as the up and down arrows. They are the same size as the other keys but it's really hard to feel where are the arrow. I keep hitting the shift key instead of the up arrow.
I know it seems small, but back in the days, Apple product were perfect, literally. All those little annoying things were thought trough, and you couldn't find anything bad to say about your Mac.
I hope the next generation will fix this because some people are so desappointed with it, they are switching back to Windows. ?