WEBVTT 00:00:00.761 --> 00:00:04.923 (rock music) 00:00:04.923 --> 00:00:08.006 (rock music) 00:00:16.120 --> 00:00:19.950 - In their October 18th event, Apple will likely announce a brand new 00:00:19.950 --> 00:00:23.140 full-size, full-power, big Macbook Pro. 00:00:23.140 --> 00:00:28.110 It's been a long time coming mainly because of this thing, 00:00:28.110 --> 00:00:33.220 this MacBook Pro from 2016. It was poised to take us to the next generation of computing 00:00:33.220 --> 00:00:36.543 and we're still waiting. So, in this video, 00:00:36.543 --> 00:00:40.940 I'm going to look back at this generation of Macbook Pro to demonstrate everything Apple needs to get right 00:00:40.940 --> 00:00:44.850 for the new one to live up to the hype. And to fix the reputational damage 00:00:44.850 --> 00:00:49.860 inflicted on the MacBook Pro brand over the past five years. 00:00:49.860 --> 00:00:52.453 Let me explain where this is all coming from. 00:00:55.230 --> 00:00:59.140 - There's a certain kind of person. - A couple of years ago, 00:00:59.140 --> 00:01:02.210 Apple launched a new campaign to promote the Mac line 00:01:02.210 --> 00:01:05.930 titled "Behind The Mac". The ads featured photos and vignettes 00:01:05.930 --> 00:01:09.710 of some of the most famous and well-regarded creators in their fields 00:01:09.710 --> 00:01:15.160 using their Macs to make the amazing things they make. It brought us into many of these artists setups. 00:01:15.160 --> 00:01:20.900 And the one standout thing was that almost all of them were sitting behind a glowing Apple logo. 00:01:20.900 --> 00:01:25.870 This is significant because there was no glowing Apple logo on MacBook Pros they were selling at the time. 00:01:25.870 --> 00:01:30.350 The ads were airing in 2018. See, no glowing logo. 00:01:30.350 --> 00:01:33.460 Clearly, many famous Apple users hadn't upgraded. 00:01:33.460 --> 00:01:37.360 They knew what they were going to be losing. And so, they held on to their older Macs 00:01:37.360 --> 00:01:41.250 for longer or bought the older generation while they still could. 00:01:41.250 --> 00:01:45.950 And I don't blame them. I realize this is a MacBook Air, but 00:01:45.950 --> 00:01:51.318 God! this was more convenient. And this keyboard was way better. 00:01:51.318 --> 00:01:54.870 And how can you not like the glowing logo? Look at this. Look at this charger. 00:01:54.870 --> 00:01:58.480 A little flip-up flaps to hold the cable. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:03.420 MagSafe easily plugs in, has an indicator light on it. 00:02:03.420 --> 00:02:05.533 This is way better. And watch this. 00:02:07.590 --> 00:02:09.540 Should I try that with the MacBook Pro? 00:02:11.350 --> 00:02:17.610 It's a loose port, okay? This 2016 MacBook Pro was a major departure 00:02:17.610 --> 00:02:20.960 from what professionals were familiar with on their MacBooks. 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:25.560 It replaced the IO that they were comfortable with. And instead, highlighted a bunch of new features 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:29.920 and technologies that were promising at the time, but became issues later. 00:02:29.920 --> 00:02:34.290 Like, the butterfly keyboard, the touch bar and the thinness. 00:02:34.290 --> 00:02:37.510 The biggest harm to the reputation of the MacBook Pro 00:02:37.510 --> 00:02:42.620 was the butterfly keyboard. It was first introduced on the single port MacBook, 00:02:42.620 --> 00:02:45.790 a laptop that flew too close to the sun. 00:02:45.790 --> 00:02:49.620 The butterfly mechanism was supposed to bring comfortable stable keys. 00:02:49.620 --> 00:02:53.990 It was supposed to feel clicky and satisfying despite the short stroke. 00:02:53.990 --> 00:02:57.910 It was supposed to usher in thinner designs from the Mac laptop line. 00:02:57.910 --> 00:03:02.290 It was not supposed to miss or duplicate letters because of a speck of dust. 00:03:02.290 --> 00:03:07.420 In 2017, Casey Johnson wrote in the outline how the keyboard was ruining her life. 00:03:07.420 --> 00:03:10.670 And a year and a half later, Joanna Stern cleverly demonstrated 00:03:10.670 --> 00:03:13.900 the unrepairable plate of a broken butterfly keyboard 00:03:13.900 --> 00:03:18.260 in her mistake late in column. There's even still a class action lawsuit. 00:03:18.260 --> 00:03:22.660 Many pundits accurately stated that the butterfly keyboard had a lasting impact 00:03:22.660 --> 00:03:28.160 on the reputation of the MacBook. It took over four years and a repair service program 00:03:28.160 --> 00:03:31.890 for Apple to change course and fix the keyboard two years ago, 00:03:31.890 --> 00:03:36.660 which is much better. So, I expect the next MacBook to remain on course. 00:03:36.660 --> 00:03:42.563 Though, could you imagine if they actually introduced and improved butterfly keyboard? 00:03:42.563 --> 00:03:44.229 - [Man] No. - That'd be crazy. 00:03:45.610 --> 00:03:48.820 Please don't. The attitude that bore the keyboard 00:03:48.820 --> 00:03:54.450 caused another problem, which I'll explain after introducing this video sponsor, Pulseway. 00:03:54.450 --> 00:03:58.680 If you need to manage all your desktops, servers, network devices and cloud infrastructure, 00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:02.570 you can do it with Pulseway's iOS and macOS applications. 00:04:02.570 --> 00:04:07.650 Use their out of box commands to backup files, reset user passwords or kill processes. 00:04:07.650 --> 00:04:12.520 And with power auto remediation, Pulseway can resolve things like low disk space 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:16.530 or high CPU usage. Try it for free today at www.pulseway.com 00:04:16.530 --> 00:04:21.930 or through the link below. The thinness afforded by the keyboard 00:04:21.930 --> 00:04:25.190 pushed Apple to Intel's thermal limits as well. 00:04:25.190 --> 00:04:28.700 In their reviews of the bigger, more powerful MacBook Pros, 00:04:28.700 --> 00:04:33.480 my colleagues at LTT found that these MacBooks can still get hot. 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:36.920 And there were a couple of versions that had issues with thermal throttling. 00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:42.770 - We're at 100 degrees. To their credit, Apple did improve in these respects, 00:04:42.770 --> 00:04:49.070 but there is only so far they could go. But the new MacBook Pro could be just as thin or thinner. 00:04:49.070 --> 00:04:52.360 But it's not a problem because with last year's launch of the M1, 00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:56.580 Apple has demonstrated they can get some great performance out of a small package. 00:04:56.580 --> 00:05:02.510 And I think that's why we're really excited about the next MacBook Pro. Because, it's poised to have an even faster M1X chip 00:05:02.510 --> 00:05:06.160 with 10 or more cores that will run much more efficiently. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:13.320 But then, there's still the issue of ports. On recent MacBooks, there's less and they're less usable. 00:05:13.320 --> 00:05:18.010 The Retina MacBook Pro was convenient with two classic USB-A ports, 00:05:18.010 --> 00:05:23.240 two Thunderbolts, MagSafe HDMI and SD card slot on top of the headphone Jack. 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:27.650 Seven ports that are really convenient for professionals. Need to get a photo off your camera? 00:05:27.650 --> 00:05:31.420 Slot the card in. Need to hook up a projector? Plug it in. 00:05:31.420 --> 00:05:36.180 Easy. But Apple wanted to push the world to USB-C and Thunderbolt. 00:05:36.180 --> 00:05:39.650 So, all we got are these four ports. 00:05:39.650 --> 00:05:42.810 They're capable of doing everything and plugging into nothing. 00:05:42.810 --> 00:05:47.240 They can help put display, charge the laptop and do USB and Thunderbolt things. 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:50.640 But this was 2016 and nobody had a USB-C flash drive. 00:05:50.640 --> 00:05:54.990 So, everyone who bought this, ended up having to live the dongle life 00:05:54.990 --> 00:05:58.950 which is a constant nightmare of making sure you have the right dongles in the right bags 00:05:58.950 --> 00:06:04.600 for the time that you need them and hoping they work. Even today, five whole years later, 00:06:04.600 --> 00:06:09.690 the transition to USB-C has been extremely slow and increasingly confusing, 00:06:09.690 --> 00:06:15.340 which is why rumors have me excited about the possibility that HDMI MagSafe and an SD card reader 00:06:15.340 --> 00:06:19.200 might be making a return. Lastly, there is this touch bar. 00:06:19.200 --> 00:06:22.270 Seemingly a gimmick, this narrow OLED touchscreen 00:06:22.270 --> 00:06:25.500 replaced the function row above Apple's new butterfly keyboard 00:06:25.500 --> 00:06:30.780 to provide application-based options to users, most of whom were largely uninterested. 00:06:30.780 --> 00:06:33.840 Likewise, Apple removed the hardware escape key 00:06:33.840 --> 00:06:38.720 much to the chagrin of app developers. Though, that one did come back. 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:42.330 Now, after having used this MacBook Pro with the touch bar, 00:06:42.330 --> 00:06:45.710 I should note that I don't mind it. The fact that it's capacitive 00:06:46.660 --> 00:06:51.230 does increase the cognitive load a bit. I'm touch typist, so I never look down 00:06:51.230 --> 00:06:55.780 at the keyboard. But there are times when it's nice to have the function button close at hand 00:06:55.780 --> 00:06:59.090 as opposed to hunting around and interface with a mouse. 00:06:59.090 --> 00:07:02.120 Whatever the case, rumors are that it's getting axed. 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:07.580 And I might be a little sad about that. Also, no rumors that a touchscreen will replace it. 00:07:07.580 --> 00:07:11.690 Sorry, not sorry. I remember when this MacBook was announced 00:07:11.690 --> 00:07:16.470 and how unappealing I found it. But my feelings for the next one are much more optimistic. 00:07:16.470 --> 00:07:20.220 There's a lot that has been fixed already and the rumors are promising. 00:07:20.220 --> 00:07:24.970 So, tune into our coverage on the 18th to see if I get wowed this time around. 00:07:24.970 --> 00:07:29.330 I'm hoping I will. Thanks for waiting to update to this Mac Address. 00:07:29.330 --> 00:07:32.910 If you're one of the many who skipped over this Mac, give us a like. 00:07:32.910 --> 00:07:36.010 And if you're someone who upgraded, why not subscribe? 00:07:36.010 --> 00:07:40.590 In the comments, I'm curious of any of those who have one of these MacBooks regretted 00:07:40.590 --> 00:07:44.490 or if everything has been just fine and it's just been me this whole time.