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Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

Bob Morales posted:

Apple did a really good job with the power saving on the MacBook. I can sit in a coffee shop for an hour just dinking around on the web wasting time and the battery goes down like 4%

I'm ready for Apple to make 12 Macbooks with the A11 Bionic chip. Probably get something ridiculous like 20 hour battery.

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Binary Badger
Oct 11, 2005

Trolling Link for a decade


So according to this MacRumors thread, it appears that updated firmware provided by upgrading to High Sierra brings better support for M.2 NVMe drives for use on older model rMBPs, most notably Late 2013 to Early 2015 models, both 13 and 15-inch.

Basically, with a $10 adapter, some Kapton or other electrical shielding tape, and a modern M.2 SSD, you can finally upgrade your older rMBP's SSD with a NEW one, not old, used, or refurbished without having to pay ridiculous sums for pulls out of old laptops on eBay.

Other pros include faster speeds depending on what you're upgrading from.

Cons include slightly less battery life, potential instability depending on parts, loss of deep sleep mode / hibernation. Doesn't look like anyone's tested full disk encryption / FileVault yet. And of course absolutely no support on Apple's part.

Upgrades can cost as little as $200 for 500 GB, $289 for 1 TB.

Looks like choices are limited to SM961s, Samsung 960 EVO/Pros, WD Black, Kingston and Intel 600p M.2s as those are the only ones tested / suggested so far.

Binary Badger fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Oct 14, 2017

DEUCE SLUICE
Feb 6, 2004

I dreamt I was an old dog, stuck in a honeypot. It was horrifying.

Mu Zeta posted:

I'm ready for Apple to make 12 Macbooks with the A11 Bionic chip. Probably get something ridiculous like 20 hour battery.

As long as Core Audio plugins don't need to be rewritten I'd be all about it.

huhu
Feb 24, 2006
I just switched over to Mac, the MacBook Air 2017 to be specific and I'm trying to hookup two external monitors. Perhaps it's because I'm searching wrong but I can't find a definitive answer on if this is possible or not. The monitors support VGA, DVI, and HDMI.

Pivo
Aug 20, 2004


You're going to have to use a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cable for the primary monitor, and the second monitor is going to have to be driven by a USB -> DVI / HDMI adapter. Correct me if I'm wrong, thread?

Bob Morales
Aug 18, 2006


Just wear the fucking mask, Bob

I don't care how many people I probably infected with COVID-19 while refusing to wear a mask, my comfort is far more important than the health and safety of everyone around me!

huhu posted:

I just switched over to Mac, the MacBook Air 2017 to be specific and I'm trying to hookup two external monitors. Perhaps it's because I'm searching wrong but I can't find a definitive answer on if this is possible or not. The monitors support VGA, DVI, and HDMI.

Take it back and buy a MacBook Pro? You can connect two monitors to them, and nobody will make fun of you for buying an Air.

Alternative is track down a Matrox DualHead2Go that works with Mini DisplayPort

Social Animal
Nov 1, 2005

Bob Morales posted:

Apple did a really good job with the power saving on the MacBook. I can sit in a coffee shop for an hour just dinking around on the web wasting time and the battery goes down like 4%

I’d like to buy one but the price is so close to the nTB MacBook Pro that I wouldn’t be able to justify it. Can you remind me about what you primarily use the MacBook for? I think you’ve mentioned you also have a beefier machine too right?

Strong Sauce
Jul 2, 2003

You know I am not really your father.





even the sales people at the SF apple store tell customers not to buy airs because they're so old...

Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

Social Animal posted:

I’d like to buy one but the price is so close to the nTB MacBook Pro that I wouldn’t be able to justify it. Can you remind me about what you primarily use the MacBook for? I think you’ve mentioned you also have a beefier machine too right?

The Macbook Air is overall a good machine with great battery life and lots of ports. It's just the screen is inexcusably bad for something that costs over $1,000.

Bob Morales
Aug 18, 2006


Just wear the fucking mask, Bob

I don't care how many people I probably infected with COVID-19 while refusing to wear a mask, my comfort is far more important than the health and safety of everyone around me!

Social Animal posted:

I’d like to buy one but the price is so close to the nTB MacBook Pro that I wouldn’t be able to justify it. Can you remind me about what you primarily use the MacBook for? I think you’ve mentioned you also have a beefier machine too right?

I got mine on sale at Best Buy for $750, the closest I could get a nTB for was $1250

Use it for everything except virtualization because it isn’t really fast enough. I also have a 15”

Krispy Wafer
Jul 26, 2002

I shouted out "Free the exposed 67"
But they stood on my hair and told me I was fat

Grimey Drawer

huhu posted:

I just switched over to Mac, the MacBook Air 2017 to be specific and I'm trying to hookup two external monitors. Perhaps it's because I'm searching wrong but I can't find a definitive answer on if this is possible or not. The monitors support VGA, DVI, and HDMI.

You need one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=usb+display+adapter&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ausb+display+adapter

Plug that into your USB port and a mini displayport to HDMI/DVI/whatever for the other monitor.

There is a problem though, some of MacOS's visual candy doesn't translate over an USB connection. So menu bars and other parts of the UI are going to look funky. Not so much that it's an issue, but you won't get a crystal clear display out that USB port. When looking for a displayport adapter, find an USB 3 model and make sure the reviews state it works with MacOS. Even then, you may need to find an updated driver for High Sierra.

I used this setup for 3 years and it works pretty well.

Social Animal
Nov 1, 2005

Bob Morales posted:

I got mine on sale at Best Buy for $750, the closest I could get a nTB for was $1250

Use it for everything except virtualization because it isn’t really fast enough. I also have a 15”

poo poo $750? I’m assuming the m3? Next time I’m back in the states I’ll keep a look out for one at that price cause that’s a steal. I guess if I need virtualization I could just spin up a remote server.

Bob Morales
Aug 18, 2006


Just wear the fucking mask, Bob

I don't care how many people I probably infected with COVID-19 while refusing to wear a mask, my comfort is far more important than the health and safety of everyone around me!

Marco Arment wrote up a post on how annoying USB-C can be

https://marco.org/2017/10/14/impossible-dream-of-usb-c

clamiam45
Sep 10, 2005

HIGH FIVE! I'M GAY TOO!!!!!!
Does anybody use their laptop with a KVM switch? I'd like to be able to use my late 2016 Macbook Pro with my two 4k, 60Hz monitors, keyboard, and mouse. But I don't know if there are any Apple-blessed or known-good KVM devices.

Proteus Jones
Feb 28, 2013



clamiam45 posted:

Does anybody use their laptop with a KVM switch? I'd like to be able to use my late 2016 Macbook Pro with my two 4k, 60Hz monitors, keyboard, and mouse. But I don't know if there are any Apple-blessed or known-good KVM devices.

What I've used is an Ultra Wide Screen with an input switch and Synergy (network based K/M sharing). I think the tricky part of a traditional KVM would be the video signal with the rMBP.

The way I set things up was for the Mac to be the Synergy server (with a Magic Touch Pad and BT keyboard), and my Windows computer running in client mode. It was pretty straight forward and I never had any real issues. I did have to make a couple power management related Registry changes on the Windows box, but I'm not sure if that's needed anymore with Synergy.

I've since redesigned my home network and lab and don't really have a need for it anymore.

EDIT: You got me curious and I do see IOGear does have a USB-C/Thunderbolt3 KVM that outputs the video over either Tunderbolt 3 or HDMI, but it's $400. Also requires whatever other computer you'll use with this setup to have USB-C/Thunderbolt3 as well.

Whoops. Hold on. It's a Thunderbolt 2 KVM/Dock. So you can get the Thunderbolt 3-to-2 cable for the rMBP, but the other only needs to be Tunderbolt2.

Proteus Jones fucked around with this message at 05:40 on Oct 16, 2017

Entropy238
Oct 21, 2010

Fallen Rib

clamiam45 posted:

Does anybody use their laptop with a KVM switch? I'd like to be able to use my late 2016 Macbook Pro with my two 4k, 60Hz monitors, keyboard, and mouse. But I don't know if there are any Apple-blessed or known-good KVM devices.

I run a late 2013 RMBP through a henge dock and a Windows PC through a USB KVM I got off amazon for around €20.

I don’t run the video through the KVM, so have mini-display coming from the dock directly to the monitor and a display port cable from the back of the PC, then audio and peripherals through KVM like this:

https://imgur.com/a/lbxM5

Generally speaking it works fine but if i could go back in time I’d buy one that had an independent power supply rather than one that’s powered by the devices it connects to. To switch I have to manually unplug some USB extender cables I bought to turn the KVM off and on again - it’s fine but it’s a bit of a ghetto solution and I was never going to use both of the computers at once anyway as I have one monitor.

Something else to watch out for is audio interference from everything being connected to the same circuit. I had to get a new mouse because I started to get coil whine through my old one. A more technologically experienced goon might be able to explain why that actually happens and how to prevent it.

Entropy238 fucked around with this message at 05:42 on Oct 17, 2017

Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

Apple might finally be acknowledging that their new flat keyboard with 0 key travel are pieces of poo poo. They put up this page to instruct how to clean your keyboard in case your Macbook keyboard gets owned by a piece of dust.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205662

Even the Daring Fireball guy that thinks Apple can do no wrong complains about the keyboard.

Rabid Snake
Aug 6, 2004



Any chance the 13" MacBook Pros get updated with the new low watt quadcore chips anytime soon?

Generic Monk
Oct 31, 2011

Rabid Snake posted:

Any chance the 13" MacBook Pros get updated with the new low watt quadcore chips anytime soon?

probably looking at early 2018-wwdc time

Nanigans
Aug 31, 2005

~Waku Waku~
Just found out my Wii U Pro controller won’t work with my Macbook anymore.

I’m not a serious gamer, I just wanted to play AM2R with a pad but don’t have a PS3/4 or Xbone controller to use. What’s a recommended/cheap controller I can use?

Pivo
Aug 20, 2004


Reinanigans posted:

What’s a recommended/cheap controller I can use?

definitely xbox 360 wired controller, there is no contest. the driver is stupid reliable on macOS and it just works with everything.

i'd troubleshoot your wii u pro controller further though. all you lose is analog triggers vs xbox. the battery life is phenomenal.

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



Doesn’t the Xbone S (specifically) work great with no drivers too? I’ve never tried with mine as the emulation software I wanted to mess around with seems like an arse on first inspection, but will do at some point.

Entropy238
Oct 21, 2010

Fallen Rib
Xbox 360 controller d-pad is pretty bad for retro gaming.

champagne posting
Apr 5, 2006

YOU ARE A BRAIN
IN A BUNKER

Entropy238 posted:

Xbox 360 controller d-pad is pretty bad

I wonder why they bothered including it. It’s not like any Xbox needed it for backwards compatibility, unless being rear end backwards counts.

Housh
Jul 9, 2001




Mu Zeta posted:

Apple might finally be acknowledging that their new flat keyboard with 0 key travel are pieces of poo poo. They put up this page to instruct how to clean your keyboard in case your Macbook keyboard gets owned by a piece of dust.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205662
This fixed the problem but that's really lame. Add a can of compressed air to the dongle life.

Bob Morales
Aug 18, 2006


Just wear the fucking mask, Bob

I don't care how many people I probably infected with COVID-19 while refusing to wear a mask, my comfort is far more important than the health and safety of everyone around me!

Mu Zeta posted:

Apple might finally be acknowledging that their new flat keyboard with 0 key travel are pieces of poo poo. They put up this page to instruct how to clean your keyboard in case your Macbook keyboard gets owned by a piece of dust.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205662

They've had a similar page up longer than that one. poo poo, the spacebar on my barely 1 month old MacBook started acting up this weekend :argh: Getting stuck on one side. Slid a piece of paper under it and must have worked the crumb or something out of it.

The little plastic butterflies are very fragile, it's very easy to damage them if you take the keys off, and you can't get ANYTHING under that keyboard or you'll have issues.

enojy
Sep 11, 2001

bass rattle
stars out
the sky

My Switch Pro controller works in High Sierra with no drivers as well, not sure what happened with the Wii U Pro controller. Maybe just try using it wired? A small compromise if it works; costs nothing and the controller is good.

Nanigans
Aug 31, 2005

~Waku Waku~

enojy posted:

My Switch Pro controller works in High Sierra with no drivers as well, not sure what happened with the Wii U Pro controller. Maybe just try using it wired? A small compromise if it works; costs nothing and the controller is good.

The Wii U Pro controller doesn’t work the way the Switch Pro controller does. I’m still on El Capitan though. I’ll upgrade and see if that works. Otherwise a friend is giving me his old 360 controller.

I tried using the Wii U controller wired too. Nada.

Choadmaster
Oct 7, 2004

I don't care how snug they fit, you're nuts!
Akitio’s Mac-compatible 4-bay Thunderbolt 3 drive enclosure is finally for sale: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076C72RX2

I don’t have $400 lying around right now, so someone else will have to be the guinea pig.

Weedle
May 31, 2006




I used a wired 360 controller on my Mac for years but recently broke down and picked up an Xbox One Bluetooth controller. It’s way better, especially the D-pad, and I highly recommend it. I use this driver: https://github.com/360Controller/360Controller/releases

Social Animal
Nov 1, 2005

Bob Morales posted:

They've had a similar page up longer than that one. poo poo, the spacebar on my barely 1 month old MacBook started acting up this weekend :argh: Getting stuck on one side. Slid a piece of paper under it and must have worked the crumb or something out of it.

The little plastic butterflies are very fragile, it's very easy to damage them if you take the keys off, and you can't get ANYTHING under that keyboard or you'll have issues.

I really like the keyboard though so it’s a shame knowing I’m a graham cracker away from breaking it.

Dick Trauma
Nov 30, 2007

God damn it, you've got to be kind.

Social Animal posted:

I really like the keyboard though so it’s a shame knowing I’m a graham cracker away from breaking it.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed typing on the 13" MBP I bought here at work. Usually I don't like no-travel keyboards but that one was satisfying to type on, and I wasn't fumbling like I sometimes do with smaller laptops.

Shame it has such a dumb flaw.

Krispy Wafer
Jul 26, 2002

I shouted out "Free the exposed 67"
But they stood on my hair and told me I was fat

Grimey Drawer

Bob Morales posted:

Marco Arment wrote up a post on how annoying USB-C can be

https://marco.org/2017/10/14/impossible-dream-of-usb-c

Is there a reason why the MacBooks don't support Thunderbolt 3? They came out first, so is it something as simple as Apple upgrading to TB3 on a future revision or is there a legitimate reason Apple has this senseless segmentation?

Bob Sanders
Jun 21, 2009

Krispy Wafer posted:

Is there a reason why the MacBooks don't support Thunderbolt 3? They came out first, so is it something as simple as Apple upgrading to TB3 on a future revision or is there a legitimate reason Apple has this senseless segmentation?

AFAIK the Intel chips in the Macbook don't support Thunderbolt.

clamiam45
Sep 10, 2005

HIGH FIVE! I'M GAY TOO!!!!!!

Social Animal posted:

I really like the keyboard though so it’s a shame knowing I’m a graham cracker away from breaking it.

Yeah I love the action on the keyboard. It took me about one hour to get used to it from the prior Pro's design. Both my personal and work models' keyboards are still cruising along fine, but knowing they could break so easily is terrible.

DEUCE SLUICE
Feb 6, 2004

I dreamt I was an old dog, stuck in a honeypot. It was horrifying.

Reinanigans posted:

Just found out my Wii U Pro controller won’t work with my Macbook anymore.

I’m not a serious gamer, I just wanted to play AM2R with a pad but don’t have a PS3/4 or Xbone controller to use. What’s a recommended/cheap controller I can use?

I have the 8bitdo N30 and while it initially sucked & didn't work very well on a Mac, later firmware updates fixed everything up and now it's great.

ArcticZombie
Sep 15, 2010
About month ago my friend's 2012 mbp started having some issues. The screen started acting up, some loose connection somewhere that means she has to push the left side in a specific way to get the display to show anything other than garbage, but she put up with this. Then it did the ole triple beep on boot, signifying bad ram and shortly after it stopped booting completely, couldn't read the hard drive.

She took it to the Apple store, they diagnosed the bad ram, harddrive and said they screen would need replacing. She bought a new harddrive for them to install (really wish she'd spoke to me first so I could swing her on an SSD instead) and they fixed it up. She decided the screen wasn't worth it ($$$).

She complains to me it's super slow since she got it back, I take a look at they literally just removed the bad RAM stick, didn't sort out a replacement or anything, leaving her with 2GB of RAM :wtf:. I upgraded her to 8GB, it's been fine for a month.

It's doing the triple beep on boot again. The RAM is less than a month old, is there something else happening here?

Housh
Jul 9, 2001




I guess I wasn’t the only one with keyboard issues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdS3tjEIqUA

Quantum of Phallus
Dec 27, 2010

The absolute state of the MacBook lineup.

Y'all see those iMac pro geekbench stats?


😍😳

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eames
May 9, 2009

Base frequency 3.0 GHz
Boost frequency 1.3 GHz
:cheeky:

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