A Few Initial Thoughts On Upgrading to a New Macbook

I’m using a current Macbook Pro 13 inch but to be honest, in the first few days, it is not great. I got a newer machine with 16GB ram and a faster processor since the Macbook Air that I had (which is quite old at this point), was getting slow.

But right now, since I’ve been using it, the battery life has been really bad, and the fan has been really loud. The speed so far, which is the main thing I was looking for seems fine so far, though I haven’t yet used it very intensely.

Right now I’m not sure yet what I think about the new keyboard — this one does not have a touch bar.

Also, it feels like they have made a step in the wrong direction with the charger. The magsafe charger actually seemed to solve a problem by disconnecting and having a magnetic connection if you trip the wire. It seems they’ve brought back a solved problem with the new charger. And now it seems I will need a number of new cables.

Essentially the thing is, I kept looking to upgrade to a newer laptop but none seemed to have better price/value than a Macbook Air — which is not even a computer they make anymore. I think that’s actually pretty disappointing, and for me a sign that the Apple laptops are not trending in the right direction or noticeably improving. Considering how much older the computer was that I was using, this computer does not seem that much better. Also, it seems for the same price point, the $2,000ish computer has the same specs as over 6 years ago. I got a Macbook Pro then which also had 16GB of RAM and right now you are not able to get a computer that is cheaper with comparable specs, and at the same price point you have the same specs. I would expect if you buy a computer for the same price 6 years later it would be way better but that does not seem to be the case.

So at the moment a bit disappointed with the Apple laptops. I wonder if this is something other people are experiencing? Or if people generally feel the newest generation of Mac laptops are good. I much rather would have seen a new Macbook Air that had 16GB RAM and was just way faster and still cheaper. I think when buying this computer it reluctantly seemed like the best option for what I needed. Right now I’m pretty bought into the Apple ecosystem in terms of the phone/software/UX/etc, but I really hope they make more significant improvements to the next generation of laptops.