2019 16" Macbook Pro buyers and owners thread (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

I'm minding the dongles less because most of the time I don't need them, and can anticipate when I will.

The thing that's still bothering me the most is no keyboard shortcut for shut down. How can Apple think that going to the Apple Menu and dragging down to shut down a computer is the way to go?

 

[DaveF]

Maybe a way to prevent accidental shutdowns?

Also, why are you shutting down you laptop frequently? Why not shut the lid and use sleep. I don’t know that I’ve shut down a computer, except for power outages and trouble shooting in ten or 15 years.

 

[Carlo_M]

Because all OS's get bloated over time and power cycling fixes that. Also I don't like the battery drain of sleep (no matter how little it is now).

But bottom line, until apparently this iteration of TouchPad MBPs, accidental shutdowns have never been a problem, not in any forums I've read (and I'm on their Dev forums too). It was super simple:

• Clicking power button put it in sleep.
• Holding power button for 2 seconds brought up the "Shut down your Mac?" prompt, which was superior to the Apple Menu because you could just hit enter vs. having to navigate the pointer to Apple Menu and then clicking down to Shut Down.
• Holding power for 5 seconds forced a shut down, in case something was preventing you from shutting down (i.e. frozen MacOS)

For some inexplicable reason, for touchbar only MBPs, they removed option 2.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I guess I used Windows for so long that when I switched to Mac, shutting down any way other than through the Apple menu seems wrong.

 

[Carlo_M]

Windows is Alt+F4 twice, then enter (on Windows 10, it used to be just once on Win7 not sure why it sometimes takes a double Alt+F4). I'm a big keyboard shortcuts guy. And again, the 2 second power button pause would bring up the Apple Menu shutdown prompt, so it wasn't a hard forced shutdown, it was the same thing, you just didn't have to move a mouse up and click then select another option then click, then click okay.

 

[Thomas Newton]

(Look no further than the pre-USB-C “Thunderbolt” port that was going to be Apple’s next best thing that no one wanted, that’s pretty much useless now.)

Combining Thunderbolt with MiniDisplayPort probably looked pretty attractive back when USB didn't support sidecar protocols, and Macs were still using USB 2.

It was Intel's decision to move Thunderbolt from a MiniDisplayPort connector to a USB-C one. Intel looked at what the USB Committee was doing ("one port to rule them all") and considered the likelihood that anything with the USB name on it would probably become popular, and thought the move seemed attractive.

Indeed, many PC vendors have put Thunderbolt 3 ports on their laptops, even if they have been more stingy with the ports than Apple has been.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Windows is Alt+F4 twice, then enter (on Windows 10, it used to be just once on Win7 not sure why it sometimes takes a double Alt+F4). I'm a big keyboard shortcuts guy. And again, the 2 second power button pause would bring up the Apple Menu shutdown prompt, so it wasn't a hard forced shutdown, it was the same thing, you just didn't have to move a mouse up and click then select another option then click, then click okay.

Different strokes I guess. I generally only use three keyboard shortcuts on both Windows and Mac (copy, paste, and undo). I never had the desire to learn more when I can do the same thing with a mouse or trackpad. My life isn’t so hectic that I need that extra second or two that would be saved by a keyboard shortcut. At one time, I was a steady user of Windows+L to lock my work PC until I bought a keyboard with an actual lock key. I know there’s a Mac command to lock my Mac but it’s just as easy for me to drag my mouse to the bottom right corner of the display and activate the screensaver which also locks my Mac.

 

[Thomas Newton]

For those who like to live and die by the sword … here's how to make an application that will shut down your Mac.

1. Run Script Editor (not Automator)
2. Enter the new script's command: tell application "System Events" to shut down
3. Save the script as an application
4. Quit.

 

[Thomas Newton]

Here's another way to create a Shut Down shortcut:

1. Open Keyboard Preferences.
2. Click on the Shortcuts tab, then on the App Shortcuts list item.
3. Click on the "+" below the right-hand list.
4. In the dialog, select "Finder" for the application and enter "Shut Down" for the menu title.
5. Enter a key binding (by simultaneously pressing the keys).
6. Click the Add button, then close Keyboard Preferences.

I do not know if this will work with Touch Bar keys, but it worked for Command-Control-Shift-S. As with the Script Editor approach, there was no confirmation dialog.

 

[Carlo_M]

The shutdown issue is still my main annoyance after a couple of weeks of use. I honestly can't understand why they'd remove that functionality for this machine (it's still in the current version of the MacOS because my two MBPs are on the exact same OS version, yet my 2015 machine has the 2-second hold Power to get to Shut Down prompt while my 2019 doesn't). But I'll learn to live with it for now. I'm more okay with the dongle issue because I rarely ever need it. But I'm appreciative for the size/weight reduction all the time, so I'm okay with incurring the "dongle penalty" (sounds dirty) the rare times I need to use it. What will probably set me off will be the first time I need it and have forgotten the dongle.

Meanwhile, in ARM rumor news:
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/02/24/mac-apple-designed-processor-2021/

Kuo has a relatively decent track record with his Apple predictions. Not perfect, but one of the more respected rumor analysts.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Dongle penalty

 

[Sam Posten]

Again, if you have more than one dongle you are doing it wrong... =)

 

[Carlo_M]

One dongle is enough in my definition to qualify for a dongle penalty (in that with my previous MBP I had zero).

Again, to be clear, I'm fine with it now since over 95% of the time I don't need it, and I appreciate the reduced size/weight. But the remaining small percentage of the time...dongle penalty.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I just can’t ever imagine a scenario where I appreciate the device being a millimeter thinner or a gram lighter over just having the right port built into it. The cumulative weight of the adapters and the need to have a carry case that can fit them is more disruptive for me than it would be to be able to just pick up the laptop with the knowledge that it’ll work anywhere I go.

 

[Sam Posten]

The problem is that the ports you need aren't what other 'pros' use and vice versa. I need Ethernet, mobile professionals don't. I don't want an SD card slot, millennials do. I'd kill for Magsafe to come back, others don't care.

I did not choose the dongle life. The dongle life chose me.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

To a certain extent that’s true... and by all means, I think the Air is a great product line for people who prioritize a slim form factor above all else.

The MacBook Pro product line, in my view, should not be targeting absolute thinness as a goal to the same degree.

The big omission for me is the removal of the standard USB connection - a universal standard so universal that Apple uses it for its own peripherals. It’s ridiculous to me that in order to plug my Apple iPhone into my Apple MacBook Pro that I need to purchase an additional device in order to do so.

 

[Carlo_M]

And not all port changes were bad for me. As I said, going from Magsafe to USB-C has allowed ANY of the ports on either side to be power. So when I'm working in various odd places where power is located on only one side, I can run a relatively short cable out of either side of the MBP to a nearby power supply. Magsafe was anchored to the left, and so if your port was far to your right and you can't turn around (i.e. in bed or on a sofa) then you gotta run a long power cord to that outlet.

 

[Carlo_M]

Also I know I’m late to the party but since this is the HTF I thought this was relevant to us in two ways.

Apparently Taika Waititi blasted Apple’s keyboards in his Oscar presser. Not the new one on the 16”, but the ones they used on the previous gen (and are still on the 13”ers).

https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/9/2...eyboards-jojo-rabbit-academy-award-press-room

 

[Josh Steinberg]

And not all port changes were bad for me. As I said, going from Magsafe to USB-C has allowed ANY of the ports on either side to be power. So when I'm working in various odd places where power is located on only one side, I can run a relatively short cable out of either side of the MBP to a nearby power supply. Magsafe was anchored to the left, and so if your port was far to your right and you can't turn around (i.e. in bed or on a sofa) then you gotta run a long power cord to that outlet.

I agree, that’s a nice improvement. It’s been very handy with mine.

 

[Sam Posten]

The thing I was 2nd most looking forward to, behind a decent GPU, is TouchID and it doesn’t work a damn with my fingerprints. This feature is a total bust for me. I reset it every few weeks and it works for a day or two then never again.