MacBook Pro 2017 model

[rockymtnhigh]

So, I had a small grant at work, and used it to purchase a baseline core i5 MacBook Pro 13" model, no touchbar. With educaiton pricing, it was $1249. I will use it for some special projects with students, but for now, it is just another machine to play with.

My primary Mac is a 2015 model Pro, 16GB ram, 1 TB SSD. This is the entry level new macbook, 8GB ram, 128GB SSD, core i5. Given my needs, it is perfect for it. Side by side I am struck by a couple things:

1) The much maligned keyboard is strange - it has the loudest keys I have ever used, but I seem to type with very few errors. It's nowhere as soft as my Google Pixelbook keyboard (which I rate as one of the best I've ever used), but it is not terrible.

2) The retina display is nice. I know it is supposed to be better than the one on my 2015 model, and using it outside today for a bit, I'd say it is true. But nominal.

3) Side by side, the form factor is just nice. it is light, it is compact. It is what a laptop should be. The difference between it and my 2015 MBP is remarkable. And I love how there is a minimal bezel for the screen. Good use of space.

4) The ports, oh the ports. I'm used to USB-C thanks to having had chromebooks. But a macbook PRO with 2 ports? That is absurd beyond absurd. Thankfully I already have the necessary adapters. And the 61W USB-C charger is just huge. Of course, I know have a 29W USB-C for my iPad Pro, a 45W USB-C for my Pixelbook, and this 61W beat. I ordered a third party 61W charger/USB-A 5 12W combo, which I'll use at home.

All in all, this is a fun machine to use, and quite responsive. I doubt I'd like it for heavy duty statistics work, but it has a lot more utility than I thought. It is unclear to me why they still sell the 12" macbook, although I get why the air exists, with a $899 starting point.

 

[Foxbat]

Yesterday, Apple freshened the 13" and 15" MacBook Pro models with 8th gen Core processors. They did not make changes to the base non-TouchBar model (the one we have) and finally discontinued the 2015-era MacBook Pro with USB-A and Thunderbolt 2 ports.

I have had the Late 2016 MacBook Pro 13" sans TouchBar with 256 GB SSD and 8 GB RAM. For what I've been using it for, it more than adequately replaced the 13" MacBook Air that I gave to our son for college (after a new battery and larger SSD). The battery life has been a bit of an issue, and using this site uses more battery than some other sites, so maybe Scott figured on mining cryptocurrencies in the background while we're here. Or there are some very active scripts going on, I'm not sure. All I know is I only get 2-4 days of use with my MacBook Pro when I remember getting a week or more of use with the Air.

The Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1 situation is fine. I bought the Apple HDMI/USB-A/USB-C dongle but really, I only use that at work when needed as I AirPlay to our AppleTVs at home. I can use my Anker PowerCore+ to charge the MacBook Pro through the USB-C connector, and the 20.1 Amp-hours of batter capacity are enough to fully charge the 13" MacBook Pro from 20%. Or, I can use it as a way to extend portable usage, but the Anker weighs a pound, so it isn't very elegant.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I saw they refreshed, and am kind of relieved they didn't impact the machine I JUST Bought. Sad to see the 2015 model gone. But it is sitting right next to me right now, and should have several more years of use.

I just received the Nekteck 60W USB-C/12-w USB-A x3 charger I ordered. A friend recommended it and I am pleased so far.

Two days with this machine, and I actually am a convert to the keyboard, and like the feel of the whole machine. The retina display is super crisp. I still am only installing programs as I need to, and I have some which won't go on it, as I only have 2 activation licenses for things like Stata and Adobe CC (and my son get's one of them). This has been a hell of a month for me with computers, as I also have a brand new 27" iMac (5k, 16gb ram, 1TB fusion drive, 4.2 Ghz Core i7) for the office, with my Dell 4k 24" monitor side by side. It's a hell of a setup.

 

[Foxbat]

This has been a hell of a month for me with computers, as I also have a brand new 27" iMac (5k, 16gb ram, 1TB fusion drive, 4.2 Ghz Core i7) for the office, with my Dell 4k 24" monitor side by side. It's a hell of a setup.

It's been nearly four years since I replaced my 2006 Mac Pro with the 2014 5K Retina iMac. The one thing about Retina Macs that you need to keep in mind is when you do a screen capture your capture will be huge if you don't adjust the DPI or otherwise adjust for posting to SatelliteGuys.

Rocky, after I sent in my 2016 MacBook Pro for the battery replacement program, I noticed my keyboard was replaced as well. Does your 2017 MBP have the icons on the Control and Option keys?

 

[rockymtnhigh]

It's been nearly four years since I replaced my 2006 Mac Pro with the 2014 5K Retina iMac. The one thing about Retina Macs that you need to keep in mind is when you do a screen capture your capture will be huge if you don't adjust the DPI or otherwise adjust for posting to SatelliteGuys.

Rocky, after I sent in my 2016 MacBook Pro for the battery replacement program, I noticed my keyboard was replaced as well. Does your 2017 MBP have the icons on the Control and Option keys?

View attachment 134006​

Yes, it has those icons? Why?

I really like this machine, but even my wife says, "dang, that keyboard is loud."

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I have set the resolution on my iMac to have bigger text, for my eyes. It is still stunning. I'll look to see about screen shots the next time I'm in the office.

 

[Foxbat]

Yes, it has those icons? Why?

I was trying to figure out if Apple was updating the 2016/2017 MacBook Pros to the 2018 Butterfly v3 keyboard, but never mind, as I just saw a closeup of the 2018 MacBook Pro keyboard and the size of the Option key icon is taller than mine, so I have a 2017-spec Butterfly (v2.2) keyboard.

It's interesting to see that the 2018 MacBook Pro has been out for one week and already the *-Gate videos have started, in this case "ThrottleGate". Turns out that trying to use your "Pro" MacBook to do "Pro" things causes the thermal management to reduce the clock frequency, so some are reporting that the Core i9 with 6 cores actually takes longer to perform some extreme tasks than the Quad-core 2017 MacBook Pro.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I was trying to figure out if Apple was updating the 2016/2017 MacBook Pros to the 2018 Butterfly v3 keyboard, but never mind, as I just saw a closeup of the 2018 MacBook Pro keyboard and the size of the Option key icon is taller than mine, so I have a 2017-spec Butterfly (v2.2) keyboard.

It's interesting to see that the 2018 MacBook Pro has been out for one week and already the *-Gate videos have started, in this case "ThrottleGate". Turns out that trying to use your "Pro" MacBook to do "Pro" things causes the thermal management to reduce the clock frequency, so some are reporting that the Core i9 with 6 cores actually takes longer to perform some extreme tasks than the Quad-core 2017 MacBook Pro.

Apple, we took the pro right out of macbook pro.

 

[Foxbat]

rockymtnhigh since you travel with your MacBook Pro, I found this in my Inbox being sold by B&H Photo: DockCase
It's a travel sleeve for our MacBook Pro notebooks that includes a Thunderbolt 3 Dock with USB-C, USB-A, Ethernet, HDMI, and SD/µSD reader in one end. No more dongles!

 

[rockymtnhigh]

rockymtnhigh since you travel with your MacBook Pro, I found this in my Inbox being sold by B&H Photo: DockCase
It's a travel sleeve for our MacBook Pro notebooks that includes a Thunderbolt 3 Dock with USB-C, USB-A, Ethernet, HDMI, and SD/µSD reader in one end. No more dongles!

View attachment 134368​

Interesting! I might have to check that out! Thanks!!!

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Interesting! I might have to check that out! Thanks!!!

I looked at the video for it, and while the space of the case and dock is nice, the $130 price tag is such that I could get a USB-C hub with all the same ports, for about $65 on Amazon, and I don't actually use a sleeve for my MBP.