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Discussion on: Which 2018 Mac is best for web development?

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vuild profile image
Vuild • Edited

You've beat up a few it seems. 😳

If you have your backups & stuff then it works well, but it's like a stone in your shoe (the smallest sticky x key & suddenly every 20th press is insecure). If you do on-site stuff it is more likely to be an issue. Office coding shouldn't impact much (there are skins too).

A few spare keys (in advance) solves the biggest issue (the keyboard issue is mostly the hooks on the back of the keys rather than a bigger problem). A drop of dried glue on the key back will fix the 'non registration' issue (they are both related as the plastic is very fine). These two take away the deadline-no-c-key worry.

My experience compared to the 2015:

  • The LED bar is very good for basic video scrub, stuff, novelty & specific apps. Prefer a smaller one at the top of the trackpad & keep keys (faster, better, obvious). Gets hot.
  • Very quiet. Nothing moving really. Machine stays cool (mostly).
  • Very stable physically. Less slippy (big feet well balanced, less likely to flip it over or spin).
  • Nice screen/color/brightness/audio/video/fonts/render.
  • Bigger trackpad. Easier to use, more accidental cursor moves. Easy to get used to the new hw.
  • Battery/never switch off/restart/rarely stall. Reliable.
  • Fast & slow (textedit/photoshop/safari can hang but also throw gigs around with ease). Setup & tune helps a lot.
  • Less dust/cleaning needed. Better seals everywhere.
  • No more breathing light (bright light when shut, pre 2015 I think) or backlight ad (Apple logo that you could see through in sunlight). Good changes. No cable light indicator (pre magsafe).
  • Better screen hinge & trough (that gap below the screen that collect stuff). Stiff hinge.
  • Small fan vents, less dust, harder to Nintendo-blow clean.
  • No magsafe. - Plug in both sides is nice. Not nice enough for FloorMac though. Let's see on this one.
  • Stronger 'center' (the middle of the keyboard takes a lot of pressure/percussion, the old ones would dip after a while). Backlit keys now brighter & neater.
  • Low exhaust (those brown scorch marks that appear above the vents).
  • Connects, checks, downloads & notifies you of email before you have logged in (prob not mbp specific). πŸ‘€
  • Donglegate - If you accessorize a lot then it may bother. It's fast.
  • Costwise. - I find, when broken down by day/hours used/reliability Apple products are not overpriced (it hurts when you spend or like-for-like compare).
  • Siritating buttons.
  • Harder to scratch, easier to chip corners. Screen feels less likely to crack.
  • Screen scratches show but keyboard imprint no longer appears on the screen.
  • Arrow keys are bigger.

It is better overall, though the keyboard makes it more fragile than most previous models. Anyone can live with/work around broken speakers or a cracked screen but key failure is different. Replacement keys are working for me so far (it's a handful of shapes, I don't buy every key).

This stuff is obviously just my experience but I hope it is useful.