It does sound like you might be better off cutting your losses and selling the 14” MBP and getting a Mac Studio if that is remotely feasible for you to do. Can you live without a mobile Mac and just use an iPad in combo with the Mac Studio?
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Concerns About Getting A MacBook Pro
- Thread starter Iliketheapples
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Nah... while I don't agree with a few things (wifi, etc), those are your preferences and as I keep saying we're all different and we each need to tailor our tools to what we each do and what we like.
That's what makes it hard to comment on questions like the OP's - None of us are them, so we each bring our preferences to the answer when they need to satisfy their own preferences, not ours.
Not at all. That's why there are choices.
I split my time between: iMac24, MBPr16, MacMini, Asus Zenbook Pro Duo and an Asus G14.
From my personal experience; 5 years ago I took a plunge into MacOS buying a macbook air at discount for home use and honestly, the glass trackpad was the biggest positive surprise (up to that point, I downright hated trackpads on any laptop). In certain professional programs where precision is key, mouse is still definitely a must, though - at least for me. But for home usage, apple trackpads are king.
If you're buying for home use, maybe MBA is an ideal option. If you buying for work where you sit behind the desk 95% of time, buying desktop mac would probably be a better solution. For combined usage, MBP is likely the right choice. If you're not using memory hungry apps, maybe Air would meet all your work needs as well; from what I hear, some folks that used MBP were so astonished with the speed of M1, they use MBA for work now
Some people are laptop people (oh the freedom to work on the coach, in bed, on the train - yay!) and some people are desktop people (oh the perfectly set up command center to maximize my output - yay!). You probably know what type of person you are.
Yes, the MacBook Pro is very comfortable to use with a lovely large screen. Yes, the MacBook Pro has an amazingly responsive trackpad that is very comfortable to use. But at the end of the day the MacBook Pro is still a laptop with a laptop form factor.
If you know you are a desktop person, and want to use macOS, maybe consider going for a Mac Mini or Mac Studio instead? I didn't see anything in your post about needing the portability of a laptop, so why spend the extra money on a fancy built-in display that you might not use that much anyway?
Yes, the MacBook Pro is very comfortable to use with a lovely large screen. Yes, the MacBook Pro has an amazingly responsive trackpad that is very comfortable to use. But at the end of the day the MacBook Pro is still a laptop with a laptop form factor.
If you know you are a desktop person, and want to use macOS, maybe consider going for a Mac Mini or Mac Studio instead? I didn't see anything in your post about needing the portability of a laptop, so why spend the extra money on a fancy built-in display that you might not use that much anyway?
I use Magic Trackpad with my Macs! I do have mx master 3 as well which I use with my windows pc but nothing beats trackpad for me!
Still on the fence there. I have both but the precision positioning required for graphical work is a no go on the touchpad so far.
Either way, at least neither of them is a magic mouse which is just horrible.
I do have Magic Mouse and I absolutely hate it. I am a dev so trackpad works perfectly fine for me!
This is my setup with my iMac, I have a magic trackpad on left, keyboard middle, mouse right. It's very handy for swiping spaces quickly, accessing mission control, and moving windows. In accessibility you can set a three finger drag on the trackpad to move windows, highlight text, and a couple of other things. It makes ol' lefty feel included!
That’s why I’m considering it. As a lefty, it would be great to have a setup like yours.
Get a Mac Studio?
Laptop is just not your cup of tea. Wifi sucks on cheap routers - get some $300+ routers like from Ubiquiti.
I'm just the opposite. I hate the mouse and put trackpads on all my macs.
I have a rather expensive Draytek 2865LAC literally 1 metre from the MacBook here which is fine.
The dislike is the technology as a whole. I would have to go into a mile long rant to explain all my dislikes and prejudices against Wi-Fi but in summary it’s a crap fest compared to a £5 cable.
All-In-One Modem+Router+etc is just bad (doesn't matter what brand) just the chip cannot handle so many requests+ security at the same time, just fyi. Unless it has a Core i5 chip inside - that wouldn't go under $300.
Best stable setup is external Modem -> Router (protect) -> pihole/DNS Server Module (Raspberry Pi4) -> AP.
4 set of hardwares. Wifi at full speed with full firewall/privacy filtering/ads filtering.
Best stable setup is external Modem -> Router (protect) -> pihole/DNS Server Module (Raspberry Pi4) -> AP.
4 set of hardwares. Wifi at full speed with full firewall/privacy filtering/ads filtering.
All-In-One Modem+Router+etc is just bad (doesn't matter what brand) just the chip cannot handle so many requests+ security at the same time, just fyi. Unless it has a Core i5 chip inside - that wouldn't go under $300.
Best stable setup is external Modem -> Router (protect) -> pihole/DNS Server Module (Raspberry Pi4) -> AP.
4 set of hardwares. Wifi at full speed with full firewall/privacy filtering/ads filtering.
Nope. Your average mid-range gateway ASIC these days has 6 Intel Atom cores, dedicated IPsec/TLS and hardware interfaces (VSDLS2/ethernet + switch) with protocol offload. On one chip. It can throw 2.5GB/sec through it without a fan. Also without a 4U box full of cables, duct tape and crappy RPi enclosures, a hefty electricity bill and administrative cost to keep it ticking and debugging it.
As for running DNS on RPi, don't even get me started. The EE and the sysadmin in me die a little bit whenever I see that solution promoted.
Plus I don't want to take my career or the last one home with me. I have quite enough trouble debugging broken Linux networking all sodding day thanks 🤣
From my experience trackpads on PCs have been utter trash and the MacBook trackpad is the gold standard.
Not going to discount your experience, but 4 is both a blessing and a curse -- it's fantastic to not lose work because of a pulled plug or a house power outage, but yes the price you pay for this is eventual battery replacement -- and 5 may be overstated. I recently fell off a train (hey, it's been a long time since I've commuted) onto my MBP and aside from a slight dent in the case there was no damage to the machine. These all in one logic boards -- maddeningly non-up-gradable, but solid as a rock.
Very few professionals these days have the luxury of only ever working in one location, so the calculus is moot. If I'm going to need a laptop anyway, I would prefer a desktop replacement to a desktop enhancement.
I've always used my MBP trackpad alongside a connected mouse (currently Logi MX Master). I just prefer a traditional mouse and not having to hit control + click for right click. But also having the trackpad available simultaneously is a great way to still get all the gesture functionality supported by Mac OS. The MX Master can be mapped to an extent, but it can't replace the trackpad.
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All magic trackpads have weird lag/delay issues that don’t get brought up often enough. It can become quite annoying and it’s only the trackpads as the keyboard and mice seemingly work fine. Sometimes it feels there’s a dead zone in the trackpad. Personally I’ve gone through 3 with my 24 iMac and if you look it up you’ll see other reports.
I hadn’t heard of any issues with them. I’ll definitely dig into this before I make the jump.