I'm in the process of transferring data from a MacBook (MB) (early 2015) to a late 2016 MacBook Pro (MBP). The two machines are directly connected using gigabit Ethernet adaptors plugged into USB-C ports. And I'm getting about 400 Mb/s. I guess that's about ⅔ of the read speed of the MB SSD. I initially tried to do the transfer using WiFi and after about 3% completion, the status said 2 minutes until completion. And it sat there for two hours before I cancelled it and dug out the Ethernet dongles.
Quite a performance difference between the two laptops. The MB is a 1.3 GHz Core M with 8GB of memory. The MBP is a 3.3 GHz Core I7 with 16GB of memory. Both have SSD drives though the MBP has double the capacity and at least 3x the read and 10x the write speed. The read speed pegged the scale on the Blackmagic speed test at 2 GB/sec and the write speed was 1.8 GB/sec. The MB is a very light 2.03 lbs with the MBP weighing in at 3.02 lbs. It feels much heavier. The picture shows a comparison of the 15" 2012 MBP, the 13" 2016 MBP and the 12" MB. I have been using the 15" Apple laptops since the 2001 PowerBook G4 Ti. For travel, I've used the 11" MB Air and the 12" MB but both seemed pretty underpowered compared to the MBP but the SSDs kind of compensated for the lackluster performance making them both great travel laptops.
There has been a lot of discussion about the touchbar on the new MBP. When I saw the demo videos I wasn't really sure what value it adds. But I don't hate it either. The fingerprint reader to log in is incredibly fast and easy to use. It is also is a physical power button. So far, no complaints. Another complaint seen on the Internet was the keyboard. It is a similar design to the MB but feels much better and is much more positive. And a bit noisier. It has a huge trackpad with the same device to simulate a physical "cick" even though it doesn't move at all. It feels convincing enough to me. Plus, I set the preferences to just tap and not press anyway.
For the MB, I had already accumulated some dongles as it only had a single USB-C port. Fortunately, the new MBP has four of the type C ports.
BTW, it snowed several more inches today but warmed up to around freezing by mid-afternoon. I didn't ride today but have been for most of the week. Just too lazy to take any pictures...
Never been a MAC guy per se, but I will say their screens are much better than non-mac laptops!
ReplyDeleteBefore 2001, I was primarily Windows and unix. After OS X came out I saw little reason to stick with Windows except for a small number of software packages that were only available for Windows. Mostly packages that worked with real odd hardware. Such as a hardware OTDR to test fiber.
DeleteI must admit that the Lenovo Helix Ultrabook is a very nice laptop though it's a bit heavy. The touchscreen (with stylus) is very handy to have.
Ah, what fun... I just finished a similar process, transferring my e-life from my old desktop PC to an iMac that I purchased at the first of this month. I'd never used a Mac, but I've been an i-device user for a number of years now. And that's precisely why I went with a Mac--the ease of iCloud, iTunes, and all. It's taken some getting used-to, but I'm starting to get the hang of it...
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the new toy, Richard!
It's always fun to get a new toy to play with. I was kind of on the wall with this version of the laptop but one of the techs who went with me to Barrow last week had one and really liked it. I've used many different operating systems over the years and generally preferred the different unix variants. OS X is unix with a pretty user interface so it was an easy sell.
DeleteThat touch bar is interesting. The other attorney in our office just bought one and was showing me. I was surprised at how large the track pad was on it too.
ReplyDeleteThe touch bar is an interesting idea. I rarely used the old function keys and it has the potential of being much more useful. But time will tell. The large trackpad is pretty nice. About the same size as the Magic Trackpad for the iMac.
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