Mac Hardware - 5k Supremacy - The Something Awful Forums

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NoDamage: Dec 2, 2000

KidDynamite posted:

SO would the new base 13" air be able to handle xcode? Cause gently caress if I don't want to return my 13" MBP

I've been doing iOS development on a mid 2009 MacBook Pro (4 GB RAM/Core 2 Duo), and just ordered the 13" Air as an upgrade (hooray tax deduction!).

Considering the 13" Air has the same amount of RAM, a much faster CPU, and a SSD, I think it will do just fine.

# ¿ Jul 21, 2011 20:07

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 04:39

NoDamage: Dec 2, 2000

Anyone have a good case/bag recommendation for the 13" MacBook Air? I'm looking for something fairly lightweight that can handle holding the MBA, charger, digital camera, backup drive, and a few other things. Preferably something that doesn't scream, "hey I'm carrying an expensive laptop around come steal me!"

# ¿ Jul 28, 2011 08:53

NoDamage: Dec 2, 2000

Corbet posted:

How much are you looking to spend?

Timbuk2:
http://www.timbuk2.com/tb2/products/laptop/

Tom Bihn (I own this, I like it):
http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/PROD/300/TB0223

SFBags:
"Air Wallet" (You can add a strap to it):
http://www.sfbags.com/products/macbookair-wallet/macbookair-wallet.php

"Muzetto" (aka ridiculously expensive but oh-so-nice):
http://www.sfbags.com/products/muzetto/muzetto.php

---

I got the Tom Bihn bag as a birthday gift last year and I'm happy with it. If I didn't mind dropping a chunk of change, I think I'd go with the Muzetto though.

Under $100 would be ideal, but I could probably stretch to $150 or so if it was really worth it. I've heard Tom Bihn's bags are great in general, s that's definitely a consideration. The Muzetto looks awesome but $240 is a bit too pricey to me.

Actually this is a bit of an unusual requirement but I need to be able to carry my 13" Macbook Air and an iPad in the same bag (for development purposes). Fortunately they are both relatively thin devices.

# ¿ Jul 28, 2011 20:51

NoDamage: Dec 2, 2000

Daric posted:

I don't know, I can't even feel the difference between 2lbs and 5lbs so I guess I'm just weird but I could definitely see how the 17" would be annoying. Not on the weight aspect, but trying to fit it into anything would be difficult. That's just about the size of a small tv, and you certainly aren't carrying one of those around with you all day.

It depends on what you're doing. If you're just carrying it between home and work/school, it's probably not that big of a deal. But if you travel a lot, the difference is pretty massive, especially since you're not just carrying the 5 lb laptop but all sorts of other things.

# ¿ Aug 4, 2011 18:30

NoDamage: Dec 2, 2000

Star War Sex Parrot posted:

"Portable" is a completely subjective criteria and dependent on each person's usage habits. Context is everything, so one person calling others out for questioning a MBP's portability is pretty ridiculous.

I'd much rather carry my new 13" Air when I go shooting instead of my old 15" MBP. My bag's already loaded down with lenses, lighting, a tripod, and other miscellaneous crap. Every pound saved is precious to me if I'm going to be wearing it all day.

Fully agreed. I just switched from a 15" Macbook Pro to a 13" Air as well, and the lighter weight is really noticeable to me, especially walking long distances with a fully packed bag.

# ¿ Aug 4, 2011 22:23

NoDamage: Dec 2, 2000

It looks like we're not going to see 32 GB of RAM in the ultrabook category until LPDDR4 is widely available. Skylake only supports LPDDR3 at a max of 16 GB. Kaby Lake does not appear to support LPDDR4 either except in their ultra-low power chips (presumably not the ones you would see in a MacBook Pro).

Comparable ultrabooks using LPDDR3 (Dell XPS 13, Surface Book) also max out at 16 GB, so this seems to be a hardware limitation. In order to get to 32 GB you need to switch to DDR4, which is what the Dell XPS 15 does, but its resulting battery life does not appear all that great.

If we're indeed stuck with LPDDR3 on Skylake and Kaby Lake for this year and next year, it's entirely possible we won't see 32 GB MacBook Pros until 2018, unless Apple is willing to switch from LPDDR3 to DDR4 like other vendors have done, and make up for lost battery life with power savings elsewhere.

NoDamage fucked around with this message at 06:28 on Oct 31, 2016

# ¿ Oct 31, 2016 06:14

NoDamage: Dec 2, 2000

Speaking of which, can anyone recommend a longer USB-C charge cable to replace the default 2 meter one that Apple ships with the 2016 MacBook Pros? Since Apple stopped bundling the extension cord with their power bricks I figure it's easier just to get a longer USB-C cable instead.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2017 22:14

NoDamage: Dec 2, 2000

Pivo posted:

I can't find any reputable USB-C to USB-C cables over 6ft.

This might explain why: https://superuser.com/questions/961176/usb-type-c-power-delivery-profile-max-length

There are some on Amazon but YMMV: https://www.amazon.com/Cable-WiRoTe...in%3A7800928011

Ah, that's too bad. Sounds like it might be too risky to try one of these aftermarket cables, so I'll just get the extension cord for the brick instead.

# ¿ Jun 5, 2017 00:31

NoDamage: Dec 2, 2000

beefnoodle posted:

The answer seems to be: I am hosed to the tune of $544.94 if I do Apple mail-in repair. Expensive sushi.

Happily, since it wasn't under warranty/Applecare, it was worth trying to fix it myself. Can't void a non-existent warranty.

I thought all butterfly keyboard issues were covered for free under their service program? https://support.apple.com/keyboard-service-program-for-mac-notebooks

# ¿ Apr 1, 2020 03:45

NoDamage: Dec 2, 2000

Anyone else experiencing screen flickering issues on the new 13-inch MacBook Pro? It was flickering out of the box, resetting the NVRAM/SMC and reinstalling macOS did not help. Seems like it might be defective in which case I will need to do an exchange.

# ¿ Jun 9, 2020 00:17

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 04:39

NoDamage: Dec 2, 2000

NoDamage posted:

Anyone else experiencing screen flickering issues on the new 13-inch MacBook Pro? It was flickering out of the box, resetting the NVRAM/SMC and reinstalling macOS did not help. Seems like it might be defective in which case I will need to do an exchange.

So I ended up getting the faulty unit replaced, but now I've run into a new problem where my external USB mouse will randomly stop working until I reboot the machine, which is apparently not uncommon:

https://9to5mac.com/2020/06/17/users-reporting-usb-2-0-compatiblity-issues-with-2020-macbook-pro-and-macbook-air/
https://www.tomsguide.com/news/new-macbook-air-and-macbook-pro-models-have-serious-usb-flaw-what-to-do

gently caress, these last two MacBook Pros I've bought (2020 13" and the 2016 13" with the butterfly keyboard) have been the least reliable Macs I've owned in decades.

# ¿ Jun 25, 2020 03:35

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