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Three years ago, the decision to buy a MacBook became a matter of price and the acceptance of a life within the confines of Apple's walled garden.
On the plus side, you would have a stellar design, unparalleled display, a secure and stable platform and of course, outstanding resale value. On the other hand, you pay a premium for a device that offers a fraction of the power of competing Windows devices.
Today, this decision involves worrying about the longevity of devices, giving up the resale value once unmatched and a lifetime "
The purchase of a MacBook in 2018 requires to make a leap of faith.
The problems began to manifest themselves in 2015 when Apple first introduced the world to the MacBook 12 inch inches beautifully but ultimately defective. I say "manifested" because the design cycle of Apple is supposed to start three years before the launch of a device.
The previous generation MacBooks had all their faults, GPU problems, motherboards that were prone to failure, anti-glare coatings to stay, and so on. None of these were as bad or as infuriating as those that Apple imposed on us, as of 2015.
Let's start with the most recent news, the problems with the latest and best MacBook from Apple.
Thermal Limitation
Seven months after the world turned to more powerful and faster Intel processors, Apple has updated its range of MacBook TouchBar-toting. It was an exciting update for Apple fans. In addition to a performance promise of 40-70%, there was also the promise of a solution for keyboard problems (later) and the addition of a bunch of new features.
Barely a week after launched, Apple had to issue an unqualified apology and a software patch.
Why? The brand new MacBook Pro would become so hot that it would be less efficient than the model of the previous generation. Now, there are some caveats to this, but the bottom line is just that the latest Apple computer has suffered from a serious flaw.
I explained the problem in more detail here just say that Apple had not properly configured the device, resulting in overheating. While Apple apologizes, they are also trying to pass it off as a rare problem affecting "certain specific workloads". These specific workloads include video rendering, one of the main selling points of the MacBook line.
being so careless for not having tested for video editing performance on their new devices?
OS and T2 Bridge
Unless you have closely followed the development of Apple Macs, you would not have heard of Bridge OS, and may have heard of T2 only passing.
The T2 is a coprocessor that Apple introduced in the iMac Pro and the 2018 MacBook Pro with TouchBar. Its predecessor, the T1, was introduced in the 2016-17 MacBook Pro TouchBook devices.
The chip is similar in design to the chip that powers Apple's iPhones. If you are curious, the T2 is said to be in the same performance class as the A10 chip that powers the iPhone 7.
This chip provides additional security for TouchID, independently crypt the disc, handles the TouchBar, the speakers, TrueTone and much more.
This is an essential part of the MacBook Pro TouchBar and the iMac Pro. On a related note, it appears that the T2 chip makes it impossible to retrieve data from the MacBook Pro.
The interface between T2 and macOS is via something called Bridge OS. Recent reports now suggest that BridgeOS is so buggy that it causes kernel panics. A kernel panic is the macOS equivalent of the infamous Windows BSOD
The list of issues includes a non-functional sleep mode, devices that do not respond and of course, frequent reboots. To be clear, it is not definitively known that the T2 chip and Bridge OS are to blame, but mounting evidence points in that direction.
Apple seems to be working to fix these issues, with the latest update apparently fixing some of the more serious issues. That's fine, but these problems began to appear in the week following the launch. With regard to thermal problems, how did Apple's quality assurance team not react to these problems?
I'd love to cut Apple for that, it's a brand new platform after all, and nobody else did anything like that, but a computer of 3,000 $ should not be a buggy, unstable mess. Fortunately, this is at least something that can be corrected by software updates.
Butterfly keyboard: Worse than useless
The biggest faux pas of Apple was by far the introduction of Butterfly Switch keyboard in the 12-inch MacBook in 2015.
The keyboard uses a mechanism called "butterfly" to record a strike. This is an ingenious design that has helped Apple reduce the profile of its MacBook, but it has also arrived with the greatest weaknesses: dust
Essentially, a single grain of dust can make a key unusable .
This was a problem with the 2015 MacBook, and despite the problems, Apple stayed with the key design, reporting it on the 12-inch MacBook 2016 and 2017, MacBook 2016 and 2017 (all models)
It is quite frustrating to have keys stuck on a high-end device. It's even more frustrating to have to deal with a potential data loss and a $ 700 bill to simply replace a key.
Why? The keys are so fragile that they can not be replaced individually. To replace the keyboard, Apple technicians will have to tear the device and replace the entire top panel. Since the battery, the speakers and some other things are stuck on the panel and are replaced by it.
If your device was not under warranty (1 year of regular warranty or 2 years of overtime), you pay through the nose for repair.
Despite further evidence that the keyboard was faulty, Apple has continued to postpone the iteration after iteration, year after year. The design has improved over time, with fewer 2017 models affected than 2016, but the damage has been done.
Apple refused to acknowledge the problem until users were angry enough to sue . Apple then pulled back, slightly, and did the right thing, sort of. Apple announced that all affected models would be protected by a 4-year extended warranty program that covered only the keyboard. Those who paid for a repair would get a full refund.
Apple has more pro-actively tried to solve keyboard problems the new models of MacBook Pro
While all of this is good and dandy, replacement keyboards are as vulnerable to failures due to dust as they are. they have always been.
Indirectly, the keyboard problem is a blow to the second … MacBook market by hand. You must be particularly silly in spirit to deliberately go out of your way and buy a faulty product, especially one that is as expensive to repair as an Apple device. If you ignore the problems, woe to you.
Apple's reaction to the initial reports was not "we messed up". It was "it's not a big deal, the feedback does not matter, let's continue to push a design that we know defective because it shaves a few millimeters of the thickness of our MacBook. "
To add to that, Apple's wording the problems try to minimize the severity of the problem. Apple claims that only "a small percentage of devices" are affected. Everyone I know with a MacBook butterfly switch has had problems with the keyboard. Literally everyone. Some have already had their keyboards replaced twice. Back-of-the-hand calculations by some people suggest that up to 20 percent of the outstanding butterfly keyboard MacBooks could be affected.
MacBook TouchBar of Apple 2018 more pro-actively address this problem by introducing a silicon membrane under the keycaps. iFixit reports that keys are now easier to remove, making repairs easier. Despite the evidence to the contrary (the Apple Repair Manual), Apple continues to insist that the membrane serves only to reduce the sound of keystrokes.
#DongleLife
If you thought that a phone without a headphone jack was bad, imagine a computer without ordinary USB ports. It's life in the land of Apple.
The first sign that something was wrong was coming from the 12-inch MacBook and the transition to USB-C. Contrary to what one might think, the USB-C refers only to the shape of the port and not to its capabilities.
"It Works" " @Apple #donglelife pic.twitter.com/vhomYUIgTI
Three years later, it's still the case Hell, Apple has not even introduced the USB-C to Lightning cable, essential to connect your iPhone or iPad directly with a MacBook, until a year or two after the release of its first USB-device. C only
users have complained, Apple has finally lowered the price of its dongles, and this also only temporarily.Worse, they doubled on USB-C,
Keyless:
- You can not connect your iPhone
- You can not connect a camera
- You can not connect a wired mouse or keyboard
- You can not connect to an external monitor or TV
- You can not connect a portable player
One could argue that Apple has the muscle to force the world to USB-C, but one could also be delusional. It's not as if the 3.5mm headphone jack showed signs of disappearing anytime soon.
USB-Confusion
In theory, the USB-C is a universal port and you can plug anything in the port. performance. There would be no need to worry about the variation of the display standards and others.Unfortunately, USB-C is not a standard as universal as it may seem. Since USB-C simply describes the shape of the USB port, USB-C could refer to anything from USB 2.0 to USB 3.1 to even Thunderbolt 3. Even in this regard, there are a lot of small print to consider. USB-C cables also vary considerably in terms of capacity and power management capability.
Here are distributed USB-C ports of Apple MacBook:
12-inch MacBook: all models
1x USB-C port classified for USB 3.1. In other words, it's the same as an ordinary USB port, the only difference being that it has the shape of a USB-C and that it's not a USB-C. it is therefore incompatible with ordinary USB devices. This is the only port on the device and must pull dual duty for charging as well as data transfer.13-inch Non-TouchBar MacBook Pro: All Models
2x USB-C ports rated for Thunderbolt 3. These are flamboyant fast ports that meet and exceed the expectations of the most people.However, the Apple MacBook Pro earlier had 9 ports. The new one is only 2. No matter how awesome this port is on the paper, 2 ports are not equal 9. Plug in a screen and power and you have no room for anything else. ;other.
Why is this ridiculous? When using a MacBook with an external display, the only way to use it with the MacBook's lid is if the device is connected to an external power supply and that a mouse and keyboard are connected. With only two ports at your disposal, you'll run out of ports faster than you thought.
13-inch MacBook Pro with TouchBar: 2016-17 models
2x USB-C ports rated for Thunderbolt 40 Gbps 3.
2x USB-C ports rated for 20 Gbps Thunderbolt 3.All ports on these MacBook Pro seem identical, but they are not. If you connect multiple screens or external graphics card docks (eGPUs), there is a bit of voodoo in the way they are connected.
That 's true, it' s not a case of use for us, but the people that these MacBook Pros are targeting, live and apparently die by these aberrant use cases.
13-inch MacBook Pro with TouchBar: Model 2018
The newest MacBook Pro now has 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports with 40 Gbps, ie, ports are all built equal now. Three years after their introduction.15-inch MacBook Pro with TouchBar: all models
Fortunately, this model has always had 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports rated at 40 Gbps. As critics point out, however, why has not Apple just added useful I / O ports to at least this model? The powerful 15-inch line is, after all, really meant for professionals.If all this was not confusing enough, the USB-C cable that came with your MacBook can only be used to charge and transfer speed data. You will need a new cable to connect an external display, a USB key, and so on.
Where is the trust?
I can not help but think that the closed garden of Apple is becoming more and more Orwellian. There is little room for feedback and only outright revolt provokes a response from more and more reluctant custodians.
Does Apple not understand that we simply need a device that works blindly? We do not care if the sides are thicker than a millimeter or if an excess of ports seems ugly. Unreliable keyboards are frightening and dongles are even more ugly.
Come on, Apple! You are better than that.
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