Thanks, Apple, for rekindling my appreciation of you and making me lust in my heart.
I admit that I am not thrilled about the loss of the MagSafe connector (it's saved my ass on more than one occasion) or the glowing Apple icon on the lid, but damn…that thing is fine. Unfortunately, at $2399 for the configuration that comes closest to what I have now, it's not in this year's budget or probably even next year's, save for a winning lottery ticket.
It's probably just as well I can't go out and get immediate gratification anyway; there are undoubtedly kinks to iron out in this new hardware and by the time I can afford to buy one, they will hopefully long be taken care of.
At least that's what I'm going to keep telling myself.
It's a sexy looking machine, but there are many flaws that had me scratching my head during the keynote yesterday. There's no way to plug your iPhone or iPad into the computer without a dongle.That's crazy to me, especially since there are times when Apple wants you to sync locally with your computer. You either have to carry two pairs of headphones to listen to your music if you carry an iPhone and one of these new MBPs, or you have to carry a dongle. If you want pull pictures off your SD card you need a dongle. My work MBP is docked when I'm in the office in that the lid is closed and I'm using an external keyboard, mouse and display. I would not have access to the Touch Bar in this configuration. If I want to charge my Magic Keyboard or Magic Mouse, I now need a dongle.
I think Apple is betting their new business model on dongle sales. I'm worry the pricing of their new MBP line up prices them too far out of reach of comparable Windows laptops.
Apple makes a USB C-to-Lightning cable (albeit at a rather hefty $35) so that would solve the keyboard/mouse charging issue, but if they want us all to move boldly forward into USB-C land, this little item should be in the box—either with your iPhone or with your Mac. The headphone jack is problematic, I'll grant you that. I have a pair of Bluetooth headphones so it doesn't affect me personally, but I can certainly understand how it can be an issue.
As far as the Touch Bar being inaccessible when the lid is closed, I'm sure Apple will soon be offering a Touch Bar-equipped external keyboard to wring us out of another $100 or so.
The pricing is also an issue, but I think that's because we've all become so accustomed to the Apple price structure that has been in place for YEARS now that any increase will be viewed as an assault on our sensibilities. I don't mind paying a premium for Apple hardware but I definitely take issue with the fact that the software is becoming so unreliable it's really hard to justify the premium on the hardware side.