Shahid Kamal Ahmad has a Few Things to Say about his MacBook Pro

Shahid Kamal Ahmad — best known for his work at Sony’s PlayStation division, has a few words to say about his MacBook Pro in his post titled, “MacBook Pro? No“.

Let me count the way my latest MacBook Pro is not suitable for professional use, but before I do that, you should know that I’ve been buying and recommending Macs since 2001. I’ve spent a fortune on them. I love them, but I only like my latest MacBook Pro (a 2016 model with the Radeon Pro 460). I write this with a heavy heart and a malfunctioning keyboard.  This is a story about unrequited hardware love.

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You know that a design has failed when you’re forced into using it. The Touch Bar is Apple’s Clippy. An embarrassment.

I currently use a Mid-2011 iMac as my desktop computer and a Mid-2013 MacBook Air as my notebook. Both these Macs are now old, slow and I’m looking to replace them with better & faster Macs. The iMac will probably be replaced by a 27-inch 5K iMac, largely because I cannot afford the iMac Pro at ₹4,15,000 here in India. The MacBook Air on the other hand, or just in general for that matter, won’t be replaced with another notebook — at least in the near future, for one very simple reason.

Apple does not currently make a better & faster notebook computer.

The current MacBook Pro lineup raises more questions than it solves, and Shahid outlines many of them perfectly. I’d have loved to replace both my Macs with a single MacBook Pro machine, but today’s lineup is anything but a “Pro”.

There are so many incredible things that Apple brought to the table in the past years, but decided to throw them away for no good reason.

  • I want a MacBook Pro that’s actually powerful.
  • I want a MacBook Pro with a keyboard keys that doesn’t stop working in a few months.
  • I want a MacBook Pro with a decent number of ports
  • I want a MacBook Pro without a Touch Bar — or at least one where the Touch Bar doesn’t take away functionality. Move it to the bottom of the screen if you want to.
  • I want a MacBook Pro where I can upgrade the default RAM. Apple doesn’t offer BTO options in India.
  • I want a charger with an indicator light at the end to tell me the charging status.
  • Heck, I want a charger that ships with a goddamn cable.

I absolutely loved my 2008-era 15-inch MacBook Pro and I’d love to use a MacBook Pro as my primary machine, but as it stands today, I just can’t.

Apple’s New Magic Accessories Lineup

Apple's Magic Accessories

Along with a new iMac lineup, Apple has also today introduced an all new lineup for their Magic accessories for Macs. The company today launched an all-new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and the Magic Trackpad 2, all of which now sport built-in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that can be charged with any Lightning cable. The company has given special attention to the batteries and power management, such that you get up to an hour of usage with just one minute of charging, while a full-charge takes around 2 hours.

These new accessories will be available in India in about two weeks, at prices mentioned below.

Apple Magic Keyboard

The Apple Magic Keyboard replaces the previous generation ‘Apple Keyboard’ and features an updated design and a re-engineered scissor mechanism that offers 33% more key stability. This new keyboard also sports full-sized keys with the new in-house San Francisco font seen in iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan.

The Apple Magic Keyboard is priced at ₹8,300 in India.

Apple Magic Trackpad 2

The new Magic Trackpad 2 is a much more substantial update compared to the Magic Keyboard. It is 29% larger than the previous generation and features an all-new design, similar to the new keyboard. The Magic Trackpad 2 also now features Force Touch, giving you access to more ways to interact with your Mac. Of course, you can still use Multi-touch to navigate.

The Apple Magic Trackpad 2 is priced at ₹11,200 in India.

Apple Magic Mouse 2

The Apple Magic Mouse 2 only changes internally to house the new lithium-ion battery. There are no new features added to the mouse, except for this ugly way to charge it.

The Apple Magic Mouse 2 is priced at ₹6,600 in India.