The MacBook Pro reviews are coming. Not the ones about the base model, but the ones that finally analyze the model with Touch Bar, that invention that according to Apple is the future of those computers. Well, not many seem to think likewise.
In fact, most of the reviews are just a confirmation of what people thought of these machines after being launched a few weeks ago. On ReCode Walt Mossberg has been unsusally crude with Apple, something that is really surprising:
The new 13-inch MacBooks — even the base model without the Touch Bar — are costly. And they may make pro users unhappy. But, for everyday Mac lovers — users of the Air or maybe the older low-end Pro — they are now your only thin, modern option with a full-fledged processor. The Touch Bar has potential, but it’s not magic. The battery isn’t likely to deliver on Apple’s claims. You can’t count on liking the keyboard. But, if you’re a Mac devotee ready to move past the Air — not back to a lower-powered MacBook — this is what Apple is offering. Take it or leave it.
There you go. It’s Apple’s way or the highway.
Same thing on The Verge. These guys have tested both the 13 and the 15 inch models, and the former has been rated with a 7.6. That’s the lowest score I’ve seen on an Apple product since The Verge was born five years ago. The two final sentences are again conclusive:
I have little doubt that in a couple years, the technology Apple has been waiting for will arrive and this vision, or something closer to it, will be complete. Apple just released this machine too soon, or was too aggressive in the decisions it made.
That future is almost certainly out there. But it’s not in this machine. Not yet.
In both cases they talk about the #donglelife problem: you better buy adapters and dongles for all those non-USB-C peripherals you got around, but they also claim the battery is underwhelming. The Touch ID, though, is a nice addition.
Engadget is on that line too: they don’t seem to understand this MacBook Pro and the reasons why Apple has decided to go this route:
As I said, there’s ultimately a lot to like about the new MacBook Pro. But it’s designed for someone who I’m not sure exists outside Apple’s fantasies of how professionals use computers. The MacBook Pro I want to see is built around real people’s work habits. I still recommend it, and I imagine many of you who have been waiting patiently will indeed buy this. But I’d enjoy it more if it were designed for people like us.
There are lots of other reviews, but from what I’ve read they are all (with a few exceptions) almost the same. Nobody seems to get the MacBook Pro, and maybe it’s our fault. Maybe we don’t understand it because we aren’t looking beyond our current devices or our current workflow.
Maybe Apple has just got ahead of its time like it did with other products. Or maybe not. Maybe the MacBook Pro is a big failure everybody is trying to understand and accept because it’s coming from Apple, so it has to be thenextbigthing.
I assume the latter.
I do think that some of the ports we’re using right now have to dissapear sometime in the future, but not so soon and in such a radical way. I really thing the Touch Bar isn’t going to stay with us for much too long.
At least, it will have to evolve and be something that proves that changing our way to work is really worthy. The current Touch Bar doesn’t do that.
This is not looking good Apple. Not at all.
