So I really like the form factor and screen of the 12" Macbook. And now it’s more powerful. I’m wondering if it’s as powerful as my 2013 retina Macbook Pro? Even though I’m tempted by the ipad `10.5", I still think I’d prefer a “real” computer. The only problem being that single solitary USB port and Dongle Hell.
It’s even a bit more reasonably priced this time round.
I reckon you’ll find it’s not as fast. Or as flexible. The screen res is lower, no thunderbolt, everything is an adapter.
On the upside, it’s incredibly light and compact.
I’ve been using my 2016 one for nearly a year now. I really thought the one port thing would be a pain, but it hasn’t been. I rarely plug anything - I share files over dropbox, and store mine in iCloud, so apart from charging it’s just the occasional full backup to an external drive that I use the port for now. On the downside whilst you an buy an adapter for VGA/HDMI connections, there isn’t a mini displayport/thunderbolt adapter which means it can’t run my old Cinema Display. Also the keyboard is quite susceptible to toast crumbs, but I think the latest MacBooks have the second generation butterfly keyboard like the MBPs do.
Is your Cinema Display Thunderbolt or Mini Display Port? You can use a mDP monitor on it, just not a Thunderbolt one.
One thing to note about the MacBook that drives my wife bonkers, and some of her students too - because the keys sit flush with the screen when it’s closed, the keys leave marks on the screen. Even when it’s clean. So you kind of have to keep a microfibre cloth with you at all times unless you can deal with a grid of fingerprint level smudge on the screen every time you open.
Also she’s got the first gen, but we had to disable a fair few things to make it work well. E.G. Click2Flash in all browsers otherwise when flash shows up the whole MacBook grinds to a halt, keypresses don’t catch up fast enough when typing, that kinda thing. I’d hope the 2017 model is better.
I’ve asked myself the same question (whether I’d want a second Mac laptop instead of an iPad), and I think the answer is no. Even though my MacBook Pro sits on my desk 95% of the time, what I want when I’m away from my desk is just a larger screen than my iPhone that I can watch a few streams on, do so casual web browsing, that kind of thing, making the iPad a better choice, probably.
Do you think a 2017 iPhone Plus with decreased bezels would suffice, or do you prefer something bigger, say the new iPad Pro?
Since getting an iPhone + in December last year, my iPad mini has basically sat unused in my drawer. I just don’t find I use it, and it’s inconvenient to have to always charge a second device when my iPhone is such an amazing device and can get almost anything I could do on an iPad done on it. The bigger screen is wonderful.
So I guess for me, I find if I can’t do it on an iPhone +, I need a laptop. There’s very little I could do on an iPad that I don’t need a laptop for, to the point that there’s no point carrying an iPad for me.
FWIW, I disabled Flash on all my machines a few months ago. Haven’t noticed any issues arising from that. What I have noticed is that I don’t have to keep updating it every 15 minutes.
Ah, interesting, thanks I’ll investigate. 