Why I would not buy the new Apple MacBook Pro right now
Finally, there is a design change for the MacBook Pro. Finally, the MBP has received that much-awaited upgrade. The upgrades are good. Super thin shell, massive trackpad, new second gen butterfly mechanism keys. The Touch Bar (at least in demos) looks amazing and innovative. They say that the display is the best ever from Apple. But, I do not think that its worth to upgrade to the new MBP if you already have a MacBook Pro that is working well. Not yet! Here are my reasons!
Price
There is no reason why one should pay 400-500$ extra for the new models. Also, if you rely a lot on external devices like external hard drive, SD card etc, you have to shell more for adapters and external SD card reader. Imagine buying one USB Type-C to USB 2.0 Type-A port, Type-C to HDMI port, Type-C compatible SD card reader, Type-C to RJ-45 port. It is going to make your new purchase ridiculously expensive. Are the new models so much more powerful that they can render the existing variant useless? I do not think so unless you do a lot of graphic intensive work that draws power from dedicated graphics.
Touch Bar is niche right now
This is the most talked about feature of the new MBP. It is a very new feature that is yet to be fully unlocked. It is a new feature that is yet to be supported by 3rd party applications. As of now, Touch Bar is a niche feature that is not going to save much of time for a normal user or for a productivity user. Even Microsoft is yet to add Touch Bar features to its productivity suite. Is it worth paying 400$ extra for this small touch bar? I do not think so. Not right now! After a few months, when the price of MBP comes down, it would be worth!
New keyboard
This is a hit and a miss. A keyboard on a notebook is something that cannot be changed or modded. The butterfly style keyboard met with mixed reactions. If you have tried the keyboard on the 12” MacBook and hated it, you will have a very hard time with new MBPs. Thin is good but too much of chipping off is not recommended.
Ports
Removing a headphone jack from a phone is one thing. Removing every single ‘widely used’ port on a computer is, in my opinion, arrogance at a peak level. The current gen MacBook Pro has MagSafe power input port, two USB 3 ports, Thunderbolt 2 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot. The new MBP has four Type-C ports. One these four ports is used to charge the laptop. The remaining three is for everything and for that to happen, you need lots and lots of adapter. Here is list of things that I use with my Mac:
- Dual HDMI displays (one connected to HDMI port, one using Thunderbolt to HDMI adapter)
- 2 external HDDs (one for Time Machine backup, one for data storage)
- SD cards to transfer photos from camera
- USB keyboard (Microsoft ergonomic keyboard)
Dual monitor setup is something that many Mac users love to use. It is common to have a dedicated HDD for backup and one for data storage, thanks to tiny onboard SSD. With the new MBP, port management is going to be as big a headache as data management on a 16GB iPhone. If you are ready to invest in lot of adapters or port multipliers, you are going to have a headache with cable management and you will end up with a messy backpack.
No more MagSafe
MagSafe connector is one of the best innovations from Apple. Tripping on a cable is something that is common and MagSafe connector disconnects from the Macbook when someone trips on it. A laptop with lock in power connector goes down the table if one trips on the cable while moving fast. In the new MBP, this is gone. You have to charge the MacBook Pro using a USB Type-C cable.
When to buy new MBP
Even if you are really desperate for a new Macbook, the current generations MacBook Pros are powerful enough for productivity work. The base variant will cost a third or a half of what you have to shell out for new MBPs in India. And they come with wide array of ports, have very good battery life. In India, one can get a Core i7 + 16GB RAM + 256GB SSD + 15” retina display configuration MacBook Pro for 1.4L. I highly recommend to wait it out for half a year at least if you want to go with new MBPs. By mid-2017, the world would have enough Type-C and wireless accessories and you will not have any problem using them. But if you are more into work where graphics processing power is #1 priority, go with the new MBPs.
