I hear that as, “Unlike every other conference you’ve been to in the past 10 years, we weren’t able to set up a Wi-Fi network with WPA2.” For 18 users, they could probably have gone with a single access point. :-)
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I heard it as “Like every other such conference you have attended in your career, federal law bars the use of WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, and all other forms of radio communication in this secure conference room.” What is it called when multiple witnesses to the same event from nearly the same vantage point, each sees or hears something different? I mean, besides a Brit TV mystery?
Hah! I’ve never been in a secure conference room, much less been to a conference without Wi-Fi (for decades, anyway). So yeah, I wouldn’t immediately think of a conference as needing that level of security.
Oh wait. I once did give a Mac user group presentation at Los Alamos, and they didn’t allow Wi-Fi for security reasons. So I take that back—I have had one instance where this was the case.
But I’d assume anyone who was accustomed to that world would have an Ethernet adapter handy at all times.
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Rashomon, the crux of Japanese director/screenwriter Akira Kurosawa’s brilliant, groundbreaking movie classic. To quote critic Roger Ebert:
"Recalling this day in Something Like an Autobiography, Kurosawa explains the movie to them. The explanation is reprinted in the booklet that comes with the new Criterion DVD of “Rashomon.” Two of the assistants are satisfied with his explanation, but the third leaves looking puzzled. What he doesn’t understand is that while there is an explanation of the film’s four eyewitness accounts of a murder, there is not a solution.
Kurosawa is correct that the screenplay is comprehensible as exactly what it is: Four testimonies that do not match. It is human nature to listen to witnesses and decide who is telling the truth, but the first words of the screenplay, spoken by the woodcutter, are “I just don’t understand.” His problem is that he has heard the same events described by all three participants in three different ways–and all three claim to be the killer."
It’s been 6 years now… I’ve been debating when to finally upgrade my 2013 MBP. I have these gift certificates for Apple burning a hole in my pocket, so cost isn’t an issue. The new 16-inch model seems exciting for many reasons, including the new keyboard.
Hesitation points:
- The extra weight. I have the 13" model now. However, I’m leery of the extra weight of the new 16" MBP vs my 13" model. The weight difference is 430 g = almost a pound. On the other hand, I rarely carry my MBP anywhere. I just take it with me if I go on trips. For daily outside stuff when I need something portable (e.g. giving a class lecture or emergency server access)I bring my iPad with a keyboard case. But on trips I imagine the extra weight is pretty noticeable.
- Do I need a 16" screen? A long time ago I had the 17" PowerBook and enjoyed the size. But these days I use my 13" model with an external monitor anyway, so wonder if the bigger screen is worth it. In fact, I’m staring at the external monitor now. On the other hand, I’m getting older, and the larger, better screen might be easier on my 63 year-old eyes. Anyway, one thought is maybe I should wait until an upgraded 13" model with the new keyboard comes out. Or maybe it will be 14"?
- No real problems with my 2013 MBP. My current MBP works just fine. My main issue is that my 512 GB SSD is almost always nearly full. I’d sort of like to have a 1 or 2 TB SSD already. I have plenty of external backups (CCC, TimeMachine, BackBlaze), so if my MBP fails I could place a rush order for a new one. On the other hand, I could keep this one around as a backup if my new one has a problem!
- The ports. My 2013 model has all the “normal” ports - the magsafe adapter, the SD card slot (which I actually use, for my Photos library). But there’s no going home again as far as the ports are concerned. I get that. So this is a moot point already.
At what point did you decide you waited long enough and upgraded?
I, similarly, have a 13" retina 2014 MBP. I sort of need more RAM and sort of need a larger SSD. A couple years back, I bought another 13" MBP but the butterfly keyboard is just too horrible for my use case, so I’ve stuck with the 2014. My plan was to wait until Apple changed to a decent keyboard, then give it another year so I could pick up a refurb.
I originally got a 13" as an emergency stand-in for a larger (15"?) machine that died when the handle on the case broke and it fell on concrete. The fix wasn’t expensive, but I found that I liked the 13" form factor much more and have stuck with 13" machines since. I’m hesitant to go back to a larger machine. I do take the machine back and forth between home and office several times a week, and I frequently use it on my lap and carry it around the office, so the difference in size and weight will matter.
I think the USB-C/lightning connector would be an improvement for me. Whenever I unpack the laptop at home, I have to plug in MagSafe power, video, and USB cables. That would reduce it to a single cable, though I would have to buy two or three adaptors (one for home and one for work +/- travel). (My SD card slot died long ago, as has every SD card slot on every SD-equipped Apple laptop I have owned. Congrats on the longevity of yours.)
So I haven’t yet decided to pull the trigger, mostly because I just don’t want the larger form factor.
–Ron
I’m with a lot of the people here in being too interested in the 13-inch form factor. As compelling as the 16-inch MacBook Pro is, I just don’t need the power and would prefer not to have to deal with the size or weight, and don’t really want to pay for a beefier machine than I need for travel and testing.
My 13-inch MacBook Air from 2012 needs a new battery and possibly a new fan, but I think I’ll replace those now to get another 6-9 months out of it in the hopes that Apple will bring the new keyboard to the next revision of the MacBook Air.
Hi there, I have a 2012 MBP with a 15" retina display that I bought used at Chicago Experimac. As everyone else has said, it has an Escape key, I can use external monitors, it has all the ports I want, the keyboard works great, and it’s very fast because it has 16GB of RAM with a 4-core processor.
The new MBP would mean I would gain very little that I need, and lose quite a lot that I use every day, at a cost of several thousand dollars. It’s not worth it to me. I need a lot more from a laptop that I’m not getting from my old MBP before I’ll put down that kind of hard earned money.
I have been a faithful user of a 17" MBP for years and was sad to see the 17" format dropped. I found / find the large screen excellent for working on two documents side by side. It’s also more than handy for large complex diagrams. I’m still using a 2011 17" MBP (which is stuck at High Sierra) and I’d love to see a modern replacement.
I also tend to buy the biggest, fastest, bestest configuration, in the hope that it will remain useful for a long time (eg the 2011 MBP!).
Which brings me to the price. For me, no longer with professional requirements, I can’t justify the price. No way.
I can’t get excited about an escape key or not, and I wish Apple would offer a model without touch bar (which seems to me to be adding something new just for the sake of adding something new). I understand the connectivity decision, legacy connections will eventually fall away, but it’s a bind having to carry dongles.
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Aha, Adam is living the high life without dongles too. I’ve got three 2011 MBP (2 x17 inch, 1 x 15 inch) here. One is basically worn out (keyboard, battery, screen) but serves as a decent backup/kitchen computer. The 16 inch is the first to interest me. The base price is okay as is that configuration but I’d want at least 32 GB of memory and 1 TB of hard drive space (I have 2 TB in two of the 2011 MBP). The upgrade of graphic card is something you might want to pass on, as graphic cards run very hot and that heat causes long term fan and reliability issues (based on past MBP).
In terms of dongles and ports, four Thunderbolt ports beats the heck out of one USB-C port. One could buy a dock for home and a couple of dongles for road. I recommend buying third party docks and dongles where compatible as Apple uses flimsy cables with very poor joins (which wear out fast).
Finally though Apple has built a MBP again which I might want to own (first one since 2011). Large screen, high screen resolution, decent keyboard (with physical escape key, most used key), lots of memory on board. Very nice. Hopefully fan noise is not an issue, at least in the lower specced versions.
Another vote for waiting for the 13 inch. This looks lovely but just too big.
My 2011 MacBook pro 13” (upgraded with 16 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD by me) is still going strong. I find I do not use it much anymore, doing most of my work on a 2018 Mac mini at home.
On the road, I mostly use an iPad. So I’m more into debating if I should get a new MacBook or iPad for my portable needs. If I would decide on a MacBook, it will certainly be a smaller and lighter 13” (or 14”) model.
Well, sort of. :-) The only thing I do with my MacBook Air that requires connecting to anything is projection, when I’m giving talks. So I’ve always traveled with video adapters for Thunderbolt to VGA, DVI, and HDMI. And depending on the situation, I sometimes bring a cable or two in case there’s only a TV and I don’t know what ports or cables will be available. I also have a Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adapter that I carry, just in case.
That said, if I was traveling with a Thunderbolt 3-only device, I might feel more worried about the “what if?” situations and add in a few more adapters.
For me, it’s really about the size, weight, cost, and keyboard.
I prefer a single, multi-port, USB-C adapter over multiple adapters. I like the Dell DA300 for its compact, “hockey puck” design and tidy storage of the built-in cable. However, most people probably would want more USB Type A ports and would be happy with only HDMI for video out (until they encounter a projector or display that doesn’t have it). I’ve bought one Sanho HyperDrive Power 9-in-1; it seemed fine but I only performed minimal testing of the Ethernet port and USB ports. I only consider such adapters for portable use, in part because their power pass-through can’t deliver the full power for even a 13-inch MacBook Pro; at a desk I go for true Thunderbolt 3 docks.
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I’m in the same camp as @ace. Since I often use my MBP for presenting stuff, I usually carry around dongles for VGA, DVI, DP, and HDMI. And since there was some space left in my dongle pouch I threw in a Gigabit adapter, but that rarely sees much use these days.
I have to admit, to me the dongle issue is really not a big deal. For business trips, or if I’m away from my desk for longer, I need to bring along my charger anyway. Compared to its weight, those few dongles are nothing. I think the fact that we can get four ports that we can use for whatever we want and that have so much bandwidth we indeed can do pretty much everything over them, far outweighs the dongle thing. Plus, dongles are only going to get better. We’ll need fewer as we migrate towards more modern standards (to play devil’s advocate just mention VGA here 
). And swapping older cables (eg. USB-A -> USB-C) also means fewer dongles.
Of course at the desk I want a proper desktop experience so I have a TB dock with my mouse/KB, big screen, Gigabit, etc. I arrive at my desk, plug in one cable and done. Again, this extra convenience is courtesy of the great Thunderbolt port.
MagSafe, I agree, was a loss. It would have been great if Apple would have found a way to preserve MagSafe functionality for their implementation of the USB-C charger.
I have had a number of MBP varieties over the years, large screens, smaller screens, etc. I have a plastic bag in my travel bag with a wide variety of dongles and can connect almost anything to almost anything, greatly appreciated by colleagues who forgot theirs when we’re at a conference or meeting. I’m with you Adam about the size and weight factors. However, now that I’ve retired, I’m looking to simplify my gear. So I am considering the new 16-inch MBP and reconfiguring my home office so I don’t have a 27-inch iMac to maintain. (and my 2011 iMac is stuck on High Sierra). So my home office will be transformed to a walk-in station waiting for me and the new 16-inch MBP with a larger wall-mounted secondary screen, a Thunderbolt Dock, and a passel of dongles in a desk drawer. Any comments on this “downsizing” strategy? Are there pitfalls I haven’t considered?
p.s. Anybody out there looking for an original bondi blue iMac in its original box with matching serial numbers?
16" MBP First Impressions
I received my 16" MBP yesterday afternoon and here are a few of my first impressions. Note that I’ve spent most of the time getting it set up, so I haven’t really “used” it yet. So few comments about performance, etc.
Also note that I’m mainly coming from 2015-era MBPs, with the older keyboard. I have a 2016 MBP, but it works as a desktop with an external keyboard (meaning I use the TouchBar about once a year). My daily use machine is an older MBP which I use for writing and programming, and I carry it around the house or even outside on nice days, and literally use it on my lap. The 16" will replace that one, which I’ll keep for 32-bit app use.
Setup
to set up the new one I used Superduper to clone my 2015 MBP to an external HD, then plugged that external drive into the 16" and used Migration Assistant to set up the new computer. It worked quite well, though the process took about 4 hours (including cloning), and there were a few oddities due to Catalina being on the new machine. Then I spent several more hours upgrading various apps (like 1Password) to work with Catalina.
Specs
The machine I got is: 512GB/32GB/8-core 2.4GHz/base graphics
(Most of my files are text so I don’t need/want a huge drive and basic graphics are fine – I hope – but I decided to get the faster CPU just to future-proof it a bit.)
Thoughts (in no particular order)
- The screen is awesome. Much bigger. For some reason, early reviews focused on the keyboard and said little about the screen. I’d heard several reports that the new screen is bigger but provided no extra real estate, which disappointed me, but when I booted up into the 16" and my old apps were running, there’s a lot more real estate.
For instance, Apple Mail’s main window previously filled about 80% of my screen (I keep some margins so I can drag files into emails from the Finder) but on the 16" it’s more like 60%. I actually made my Mail window bigger and I love all the extra room. It turns out my display setting is on scaled, but it’s at the default setting for that and says I’m 1792 x 1120. That’s not the maximum, which is 2048 x 1280, but this setting is great for me and I notice no scaling artifacts. I must have had it set similarly on the old machine and it remembered the setting. (I do use control+scroll to zoom in for small text as I get older, but I like having UI elements like menus be less obtrusive and giving me more room for content.)
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So far, no big issues with Catalina other than the lack of 32-bit apps. I recompiled a couple of my own apps that weren’t 64-bit and that worked well. I’d already switched from Interarchy to Transmit recently, since Interarchy wouldn’t even run under Mojave. Mail seems fine, though I haven’t used it much or done searching (no gmail or exchange accounts, just IMAP through Pair).
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I can’t get Apple Pay to work because my “security settings have changed” – apparently some setting involving the T2 chip I have to turn on. I’m supposed to reboot under the Recovery Drive and turn on maximum security for Apple Pay to work on this computer. Not a huge priority; I just haven’t gotten around to it yet, though I’m puzzled why that setting isn’t turned on automatically.
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I did bite the bullet and subscribe to 1Password so I can use it in the web browser (the old 1PW6 extension doesn’t work in Safari 13 and I doubt I can downgrade Safari on the new Mac). Not a huge deal since I haven’t paid Agilebits any money since 2010 when I bought the standalone version, but I don’t like the idea of being locked into a subscription for such a critical tool, so I probably will explore other password managers in the future. (I partly wanted the subscription since I’m playing around with a cheap Chromebook I bought and the version for that is web-based and requires a subscription.)
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One annoyance: I got the 32GB of RAM, which was one of my main reasons for getting the new machine. I do a variety of different projects all the time, switching between them frequently (mainly writing and programming) and 16GB just wasn’t enough (typically I had 7-10GB of disk swap). But already, with just a few standard apps open (Mail, Dropbox, Xojo, Safari, BBEdit) the 16" is showing it using 22GB of RAM and even using a tiny bit of disk swap! Sigh. Still, it can’t be worse than 16GB. Maybe I should have gone for the 64GB. Apps today are ridiculous RAM hogs.
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The new trackpad is gigantic. Like bigger than an Plus-sized iPhone. No idea why it needs to be so big. It seems like it might get in the way and I’d hit it accidentally, but I haven’t notice anything so far. One annoyance is that the metalic sheen is already (in just a few hours) showing signs of wear. Maybe I have oily fingers, but it makes the brand-new machine seem worn and I’ve barely touched it.
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Oh, the keyboard. What can I say? I woke up this morning and realized I’d forgotten all about testing it. I mean, I used it to type in passwords and do a few things last night, but didn’t even think about the keyboard (the screen and Catalina distracted me). This post is my first real use of it. The bottom line is It Just Works. Not noticing it is fantastic. I love the inverted-T arrow keys (my number one problem with the butterfly), the key feel is great, very similar to 2015 MBP but even better, and the layout of the TouchBar and TouchID is great: Siri is on the TouchBar and I don’t hit it accidentally any more (I turned it off on my 2016 since I hit it so often by mistake). TouchID is awesome.
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Size/weight: pretty much identical to 2015 for all practical purposes.
Conclusion: me like it. The 16" is not ground-breaking or a completely new experience, it’s just more refined. It’s definitely great for pros who need extra resources/power, or for those who’ve been putting off getting a new MBP for way too long (like me).
It is for people who don’t mind the size/weight/cost of a bigger laptop. The sweet spot for most, however, is when the new keyboard gets put on the 13" (or rumors say a 14") version. Hopefully that will happen next spring.
I have a 2015 12" MacBook I use for traveling, so the 16" is great for my daily use machine. It would be a tight fit for use on an airplane in an economy seat, that’s for sure!
If anyone has any questions about the 16", I can to try to answer them.
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So this is strange—maybe Apple didn’t update the MacBook Pro’s tech specs page properly, but I was certain that the resolutions maxed out at 1920x1200 when we were writing that article. That was the entire reason I said that it wouldn’t show more content on the screen, but now it’s showing a completely different set of resolutions.
Curses! Indeed, the Wayback Machine reveals that Apple didn’t get the specs correct on the 16-inch MacBook Pro’s specs page until November 19th. As you can see here on the 18th, it’s still showing the specs for the 15-inch model. Hence my confusion and our now-incorrect comments in the article.
Wild that the specs were wrong. You weren’t the only one to say this – I saw/read it on several video and printed early reviews.
At any rate, I’m glad the 16" does provide more real estate without being visually much smaller than my old 15" setup.