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[The Real Abed]

Shipping turn around is typically 3-5 days. In-store repairs could be longer depending on how much stuff is checked in

Due to the age it’s gonna take possibly 5-7 days. I decided if I have to leave it while I go on vacation then so be it. The price quoted, providing there’s no other damage, is $299 after labor before tax. They’d replace the battery and the top case would be part of the deal since it’s battery related. Crossing fingers nothing more is found. They’ll call me when they know for sure. And I’ll pick it up when I get home.

 

[Zeyphersan]

Due to the age it’s gonna take possibly 5-7 days. I decided if I have to leave it while I go on vacation then so be it. The price quoted, providing there’s no other damage, is $299 after labor before tax. They’d replace the battery and the top case would be part of the deal since it’s battery related. Crossing fingers nothing more is found. They’ll call me when they know for sure. And I’ll pick it up when I get home.

Sounds like it went pretty well, yeah?

 

[The Real Abed]

Sounds like it went pretty well, yeah?

So far so good. If I can get another one or two years out of it for that cheap I'll be really happy.

Edit: Anyway since I'm gonna be without my laptop for about a week and a half I bought a HDMI cable to plug my iMac into my TV. But I didn't realize at the time that while my MacBook has a HDMI port so the cable goes directly from HDMI to HDMI, my iMac only has ThunderBolt, but all I have is a Mini-DisplayPort to HDMI adapter, which doesn't carry audio. D'OH! So when I plug the cable into my TV, the audio stays on my iMac and comes out of its speakers instead of being carried to the TV like the MacBook does. Darn.

Either way I'll get used to it. It'll only be for the next 5 days before I leave. Maybe I'll just return the cable later. Though I would like to keep the iMac connected. But without audio I guess my option is to either buy a proper ThunderBolt to HDMI adapter that may possibly transfer audio or buy a long audio cable. But I'd need like 15-20 feet. (I bought a 15' HDMI cable and it's still slightly too short to be comfortably hidden. But I didn't see any 20' ones at Walmart.)

I just wish the iMac could output a Retina resolution to the 4K TV so using it in "Best for iMac" mode didn't make it just output a 1080p version of a shrunk down 1440p picture. I'll just have to use it in 1080p mode. (Or disable mirroring and set the TV to be the main screen when using it this way.)

 

[esmith08734]

Thinking of grabbing the 12 inch MacBook for a light development machine. Anyone have some thoughts on the machine for software development? I am currently using a 13 inch MacBook Air. I would hate to lose the screen size. However, what displays would you guys recommend for the 12 inch MacBook?

 

[The Real Abed]

You could always get a base 13" Pro. (The one without the touchbar.) The resolution will be higher than your current Air (With a maximum HiDPI setting of 1680x1050 instead of the 720 of the One.) and it's only a pound more than the One. But it'll be a lot more powerful and have two ports instead of one.

Unless the extreme lightness is that hugely important. I mean I have a 15" Pro and it's 4.5 pounds and it's still fine. The Air is the same weight as the 13" Pro. And the Pro is the same base price as the One. You'd be much better off going with the Pro. You won't gain any weight coming from an Air and you'll be spending the same amount for much more.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Thinking of grabbing the 12 inch MacBook for a light development machine. Anyone have some thoughts on the machine for software development? I am currently using a 13 inch MacBook Air. I would hate to lose the screen size. However, what displays would you guys recommend for the 12 inch MacBook?

I would say that the danger of the MB12 is that perf wise it might not be noticeably different. I mean, if you're just typing code, the experience is going to be smooth. And the res/screen are certainly a lot better. But the keyboard might be worse - you'll have to try it - and the "turbo boost" speed you see, that really only happens for a very short time (seconds). Vast majority of your exp will be at stock clock or thereabouts, because there's no internal fan, so compile times are going to suffer. Depends on your toolkit and workflow if that's a big deal or not.

Abed's advice, to go with a base 13" Pro, is a good one. The MBP is clearly bigger than the MB12, but same weight as the Air. Keyboard is minutely better but still a questionmark like with the MB12, but the difference is you get a fan-cooled processor so clocks are going to be much higher for general use. The Base Pro has one disadvantage in that it only has one fan (not two) which is why the clockspeed is much lower than the Touchbar edition, but it's still quite high compared to the Core M. Screen res is slightly better than MB12 I think, but in either case you'll probably want to use screen scaling to get 1080p or thereabouts.

 

[The Real Abed]

Definitely the 13” Pro. Though you’ll only get 1680x1050 HiDPI and not 1920x1200 like the 15. But since it’s Retina you won’t even notice since it’ll actually be outputting higher than 1200/1080 on a display with pixels too small to even notice it’s not 1080. I think you might be able to use QuickRes to output 1080 normal resolution at a cost of clarity though as that app can switch Retina displays to a lot of resolutions you can’t set it to via macOS out of the box.

Either way I’d say stick with 13”. You’ll actually get a slightly smaller machine, keep your same display size and weight but gain speed and other stuff. I’d mention ports but seeing as you were considering the One anyway which only has a single port, the second port of the low end 13” will be a big plus when you get down to it. (The TouchBar models have 4 ports though.)

 

[Zombie James]

Thinking of grabbing the 12 inch MacBook for a light development machine. Anyone have some thoughts on the machine for software development? I am currently using a 13 inch MacBook Air. I would hate to lose the screen size. However, what displays would you guys recommend for the 12 inch MacBook?

I wouldn't even consider the 12" Macbook when the 13" MBP costs exactly the same and you get a bigger and better screen, faster processor, faster GPU, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, and a 720p webcam.

It makes absolutely zero sense to get the 12" Macbook. The pricing is idiotic.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Either way I'd say stick with 13". You'll actually get a slightly smaller machine, keep your same display size and weight but gain speed and other stuff. I'd mention ports but seeing as you were considering the One anyway which only has a single port, the second port of the low end 13" will be a big plus when you get down to it. (The TouchBar models have 4 ports though.)

TouchBar model does 4 things

1. Replaces Function row with the TouchBar (I'm of mixed opinion)
2. Adds the second fan (this is why clockspeed is higher on all touchbar models, they can use 28W instead of 15W chips)
3. Adds the second Thunderbolt controller (hence, 4 ports, though is anyone really going to use them until USBC is much more popular?)
4. Adds TouchID (legit useful)

The downside is battery capacity goes down a bit. Honestly I like the slim look but would be nice to have a 75wh battery again.

As anyone would say, if you can't stand the keyboard, aim for a 2015 MBP refurb

 

[Angelus Errare]

I wouldn't even consider the 12" Macbook when the 13" MBP costs exactly the same and you get a bigger and better screen, faster processor, faster GPU, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, and a 720p webcam.

It makes absolutely zero sense to get the 12" Macbook. The pricing is idiotic.

I know someone who got a 12" purely because it had the rose gold color option lol.

 

[The Real Abed]

Okay I don't get it. Earlier my iMac was mirroring fine to my TV. Now suddenly it doesn't recognize the TV at all. The TV however is acting like something is plugged in. (If nothing is connected and outputting an "I'm here" signal, it won't even show the input.) But the iMac won't let me mirror or expand to the TV because it acts like nothing is there. It was working fine before. All I did was update from 10.12.6 Public Beta to the release of 10.12.6. Like did they fuck something up in the release version? Because now I'm frustrated I wasted $20 on a HDMI cable I can't even use anymore.

Ugh. I almost want to restore from my backup to put the beta back on but I really don't want to go through that trouble. Thanks a lot, Apple.

 

[Crazymoogle]

I wouldn't even consider the 12" Macbook when the 13" MBP costs exactly the same and you get a bigger and better screen, faster processor, faster GPU, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, and a 720p webcam.

Purpose is the selling point, though. You're paying for basically the lightest laptop on the market that is still well made. If I was a writer or student, and wanted MacOS enough to live with the keyboard, I'd be interested. It's not a Pro model - it's a "personal" model. So it's extremely portable and has a variety of colors. All of the feature war specs mean nothing to this target audience.

I would agree the price is a poor value proposition - it won't kill the MBA until the price drops appropriately - but the target audience makes perfect sense. I just think we all agree it could do a lot better as a mass-appeal laptop with a slightly thicker keyboard and $200 off the price.

 

[Zombie James]

Purpose is the selling point, though. You're paying for basically the lightest laptop on the market that is still well made. If I was a writer or student, and wanted MacOS enough to live with the keyboard, I'd be interested. It's not a Pro model - it's a "personal" model. So it's extremely portable and has a variety of colors. All of the feature war specs mean nothing to this target audience.

I would agree the price is a poor value proposition - it won't kill the MBA until the price drops appropriately - but the target audience makes perfect sense. I just think we all agree it could do a lot better as a mass-appeal laptop with a slightly thicker keyboard and $200 off the price.

...it's one pound.

 

[Deku Tree]

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/07/24/mid-2012-macbook-pro-top-case-battery-constraint/

How do I force my 2012 rmbp to need battery service ? 😂

 

[Croc]

I just got a refurbished 2016 13" MBP w/touch bar after using my 2010 one for 7 years and good lord it's incredible how huge the change is. The screen looks so much better I was literally just staring at the text on a word doc looking at how smooth it was.

 

[Zutroy]

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/07/24/mid-2012-macbook-pro-top-case-battery-constraint/

How do I force my 2012 rmbp to need battery service ? 😂

Heading into a Genius appointment shortly to try my luck. Seems those in the US have been having better lucky than in the UK, but I've nothing to lose so gonna give it a shot!

 

[Crazymoogle]

...it's one pound.

And yet it's clearly lighter and easier to carry without any case at all. This isn't 1 pound out of five?

 

[bionic77]

I just got a refurbished 2016 13" MBP w/touch bar after using my 2010 one for 7 years and good lord it's incredible how huge the change is. The screen looks so much better I was literally just staring at the text on a word doc looking at how smooth it was.

I was in the store today waiting for a genius to fix my dads iPhone and I was fucking around with the MB and MBPs.

My 2012 MBA runs perfectly and the only complaint I have is the screen res is a little chunky but I use it everyday and I love its portability. But damn did I have a tech erection looking at the MBPs and was tempted to upgrade there and then. I especially loved the 15" Pro. The screen was incredibly sharp and worked well with two or more windows open at once. I was also really impressed with the touch bar in how it felt and I also thought it would be super useful for how I use a computer (99% of what I do is email or making word or Pages documents). In light of how much people bitched about it I thought it was pretty badass and I am definitely getting one with it if I upgrade to a Pro next year.

Only drawback with the 15" is portability. Doesn't compare with the Air or MB. I thought the 13" Pro was a nice compromise though.

 

[Zutroy]

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/07/24/mid-2012-macbook-pro-top-case-battery-constraint/

How do I force my 2012 rmbp to need battery service ? 😂

Heading into a Genius appointment shortly to try my luck. Seems those in the US have been having better lucky than in the UK, but I've nothing to lose so gonna give it a shot!

To update on that - I was successful! Will be getting a call in the next few days to confirm which model I'll be getting, but it will be at least a 2015 version! It seems the more you customised your MacBook the more likely you are to get a newer version.

 

[Fuchsdh]

To update on that - I was successful! Will be getting a call in the next few days to confirm which model I'll be getting, but it will be at least a 2015 version! It seems the more you customised your MacBook the more likely you are to get a newer version.

Nice!

 

[The Real Abed]

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/07/24/mid-2012-macbook-pro-top-case-battery-constraint/

How do I force my 2012 rmbp to need battery service ? 😂

I saw that! Here's the thing. My MacBook Pro is a late 2013 15" model. Wouldn't it be the same exact thing as the early one? They didn't change the design did they? Part of me wishes they would be out of parts for the laptop I LITERALLY just dropped off yesterday for battery problems so I would get a new machine for $300. But I'm probably not that lucky.

 

[Deku Tree]

To update on that - I was successful! Will be getting a call in the next few days to confirm which model I'll be getting, but it will be at least a 2015 version! It seems the more you customised your MacBook the more likely you are to get a newer version.

Did your laptop have battery problems? or did you just take it in there and attempt to buy a new battery and they offered you a new computer?

 

[Zutroy]

Did your laptop have battery problems? or did you just take it in there and attempt to buy a new battery and they offered you a new computer?

Yeah my MBP was showing the 'Service battery' warning and had been for a few months. It tends to only last 2-3 hours now. I wasn't gonna bother getting it repaired because it costs £200, but thought it was worth a punt to try and get a newer model out of it.

 

[Zeyphersan]

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/07/24/mid-2012-macbook-pro-top-case-battery-constraint/

How do I force my 2012 rmbp to need battery service ? 😂

I saw that! Here's the thing. My MacBook Pro is a late 2013 15" model. Wouldn't it be the same exact thing as the early one? They didn't change the design did they? Part of me wishes they would be out of parts for the laptop I LITERALLY just dropped off yesterday for battery problems so I would get a new machine for $300. But I'm probably not that lucky.

Yeah my MBP was showing the 'Service battery' warning and had been for a few months. It tends to only last 2-3 hours now. I wasn't gonna bother getting it repaired because it costs £200, but thought it was worth a punt to try and get a newer model out of it.

Looks like as of today (26th) that’s no longer an option unless it was explicitly promised beforehand

https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/6plxy3/2012_macbook_pro_replacement_no_longer_works/

Now you just wait for a battery, like normal

Zutroy, seems like you got in just in time

 

[Fliesen]

So i'll be needing to replace my Macbook's (retina, 13", late 2012) battery tomorrow. (cells have become a bit bloated)

Regardless of whether i break the machine doing so or not, i also wanna do a complete format and reinstall of MacOS Sierra.

Seeing how all my personal documents are either stored in dropbox, or in my documents or desktop (which are stored in iCloud drive), and my photos are stored in my iCloud photo library - there's no need to really make a / restore from an actual 'backup', is there?
(same goes for my emails, icloud keychain, etc.)

I'd like to have as fresh of a system as possible.

 

[Zeyphersan]

So i'll be needing to replace my Macbook's (retina, 13", late 2012) battery tomorrow. (cells have become a bit bloated)

Regardless of whether i break the machine doing so or not, i also wanna do a complete format and reinstall of MacOS Sierra.

Seeing how all my personal documents are either stored in dropbox, or in my documents or desktop (which are stored in iCloud drive), and my photos are stored in my iCloud photo library - there's no need to really make a / restore from an actual 'backup', is there?
(same goes for my emails, icloud keychain, etc.)

I'd like to have as fresh of a system as possible.

A time machine backup would include things like applications and their data, do you have a ton of those?

 

[Fliesen]

A time machine backup would include things like applications and their data, do you have a ton of those?

not really. that's actually something i wouldn't at all mind to be completely gone.

 

[Fuchsdh]

So i'll be needing to replace my Macbook's (retina, 13", late 2012) battery tomorrow. (cells have become a bit bloated)

Regardless of whether i break the machine doing so or not, i also wanna do a complete format and reinstall of MacOS Sierra.

Seeing how all my personal documents are either stored in dropbox, or in my documents or desktop (which are stored in iCloud drive), and my photos are stored in my iCloud photo library - there's no need to really make a / restore from an actual 'backup', is there?
(same goes for my emails, icloud keychain, etc.)

I'd like to have as fresh of a system as possible.

Assuming you actually have your passwords and credentials somewhere, there should be nothing lost.

I generally like wiping my computer and starting clean every few OS versions anyhow to cut down on the application and document cruft.

 

[Fliesen]

Assuming you actually have your passwords and credentials somewhere, there should be nothing lost.

I generally like wiping my computer and starting clean every few OS versions anyhow to cut down on the application and document cruft.

Yup, all stored in my iCloud keychain.

I did that whole 'wiping the computer' thing back in my Windows days, but MacOS updates feel very 'clean' and frictionless. (admittedly, the Win 8.1 -> Windows 10 update felt similarly smooth).

It's also mostly because - prior to deciding i'd go and fix my laptop myself - i was eyeing just replacing it with a new 15" pro (company paid), sending the old machine in for repairs and reselling it.

So i figured - why not try to get as "fresh" a machine as possible while i'm at it.

 

[Deku Tree]

Looks like as of today (26th) that’s no longer an option unless it was explicitly promised beforehand

https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/6plxy3/2012_macbook_pro_replacement_no_longer_works/

Now you just wait for a battery, like normal

Zutroy, seems like you got in just in time

I’m sure way too many people went into the Apple Store after that Mac Rumors post.

 

[Fuchsdh]

I’m sure way too many people went into the Apple Store after that Mac Rumors post.

Well, congrats to the peeps who got in before the lock

 

[Deku Tree]

Well, congrats to the peeps who got in before the lock

Yeah for sure. I would have tried yesterday except that my 2012 rMBP does not have a bad battery. Unfortunately. It is mostly plugged in and I drain it periodically. I think it has gone through less than 40 power cycles.

 

[The Real Abed]

I just got a call from Apple. My MacBook is ready to be picked up! But I’m stuck at work until 10. Dang it!

Guess I know what I’m doing first thing tomorrow morning. Or afternoon. Whenever I get up.

 

[Fliesen]

Replacing my battery was easier than expected. Fuck that glue, though.

[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/OtsZXOP.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/GmezB7u.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/Ic1uHdS.jpg[/IMG]

Though now i'm left with 4 tiny black screws because the replacement battery iFixit sent me had slightly different holes than the one i removed (possibly a change from the late 2012 -> early 2013 update). The battery was labeled as compatible with both though.

No more wobbling macbook, and also the fresh install of macOS felt great.
I got the same content on my machine and i'm up ~20 gigs in free storage.
(5gigs of which are Messages.app attachments, some are parts of the adobe creative cloud that i didn't bother installing this time around. I figured i only use Photoshop and prefer Final Cut Pro over Premiere.)

 

[Zutroy]

Got a call from Apple, unfortunately they're going back on their word and I will no longer be getting a replacement. Sucks but nothing lost - nothing gained!

 

[Deku Tree]

Rip

 

[The Real Abed]

Got a call from Apple, unfortunately they're going back on their word and I will no longer be getting a replacement. Sucks but nothing lost - nothing gained!

I'm not even expecting anything except for a working laptop. Even if it's my same model, a new battery and top case will give me at least another two years if not just one. So I'm happy.

I'm leaving to go pick it up soon. I'm so happy to have it back before I leave for South Carolina.

Edit: I just got back from the Apple Store and boy am I happy. No, I didn't get a new machine, obviously there was pretty low chance of that. But I did get both a brand new topcase, battery AND a bottom case with brand new feet, but it only cost me $200. They didn't charge me for labor for some reason. Even though I agreed to the $299, it ended up only being $199 + tax. I'm confused and pleasantly surprised. They said it was gonna be $100. Do they do this often? They couldn't have forgotten could they? Is there a deal or something right now?

At first I thought I got a new trackpad because it felt weird, but I realized it's just because I've been so used to having to press really hard to use my trackpad. Also it's so refreshing to be using the keyboard on my computer and not a bluetooth keyboard like I have for about 2 years now. Plus I have my backlit keys again.

I really should have gotten a new charger while I was there. Maybe I'll pick one up while on vacation if there's an Apple Store around. Since I'll probably be using this for another couple years and I did save $100 somehow.

 

[Shadowhelper]

So I got the new mac keyboard, and I don't know man. I really don't know if I like it. Its only good if you don't have any recoil. like if you're sitting in bed and have it propped on your duvet, it won't work really well. I need to place a book on my lap to give it a solid base. I got it because I thought it would be easier and nicer to type on. But it feels like I have to hit the keys much harder actually.

Think I'll just get a new mechanical keyboard. Although, this new magic keyboard, it does seem like there is no latency at all. Still I don't know if I'm a fan of these keys.

 

[Vuze]

Is a MacBook 12" refresh expected this fall? Or how does their cycle go? I found a decent deal on a used one from early 2015 but wonder if I should hold out a little longer and wait for the inevitable influx of 2016 models when a late 2017 MacBook is announced.

 

[Deku Tree]

Is a MacBook 12" refresh expected this fall? Or how does their cycle go? I found a decent deal on a used one from early 2015 but wonder if I should hold out a little longer and wait for the inevitable influx of 2016 models when a late 2017 MacBook is announced.

It was refreshed at WWDC in June.

 

[The Real Abed]

So while I was in the Apple Store yesterday I decided to try out the trackpad on the current MacBooks.

I dunno. I really hope it's just because I was standing up and not in a comfortable position. I'd have to test one out with a game running. Namely Minecraft and GZDoom. The two main games I play on my MacBook with my trackpad**. If I could have I would have installed one of them on the laptop there.

I hope it's something I'll be able to get used to. Since of course it's inevitable I'll eventually have a laptop with it. I'm sure I'll be able to get past it. My new battery and casing bought me some time though. I had no problems with the clicking. I guess it was the second click that threw me off due to the Force Touch part. Maybe BTT can disable Force Touch's second click when games are running. (Well I would have hoped so but due to Minecraft's Java-ness, it's impossible to set up custom BTT commands for Minecraft because MC is just the "java" process in a wrapper. So it's not an actual app, which BTT requires to "hook" into. I'll have to contact the BTT creator and see if they have any suggestions on how to work with MC.)

I didn't even try the keyboard. Haha.



**

Spoiler

Yeah, I know what you're gonna say, "Why you playing with a trackpad? Use a mouse like everyone else!" Let's not go down this road. It's how I play. No need to get into a deep discussion here. I've said my piece before. Short version, I cannot play first/third person games with a mouse. Like at all. So let's not get into that. lol

 

[Kaworu]

My friend's MacBook Air 13inch early 2014 died and he went to the apple store to check what was going on. Seems that repairing it it's too expensive for my friend to afford it now but he got the storage unit already uinstalled in order to let him easily recover his information. The part is a SanDisk 128GB sd6pq4m, is it compatible with a standard ssd m2 case? I thought it wasn't but in the apple store they said that cases were cheap and easily available so maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Vuze]

The deed is done, my first ever (authentic) Mac computer should be here by the weekend. Around 630€ shipped for 2015 MacBook 12" 256GB seems like a good enough deal. Could've gotten the 512GB version for a few bucks more but somebody outbid me by a few in the last second. Not sure if I need that much anyway, I've been using a 32GB mini laptop for the past two years and it's been fine outside of Windows updates lol.
Scouring eBay to get an idea of what these go for was very annoying though.

Any tips? I've worked a few hours on a VM before to toy around in xCode and have written some papers for university in Pages (formatting feels so much more intuitive than in Word, but maybe it's just me) but that's about it. Favorite tools/software? Hidden commands that enhance your workflow?

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

The stars are finally aligning on Friday for the Macbook purchase for my wife that I've been mulling over for the past few months.

Not only is tax-free weekend coming up (Well, tax-reduced weekend I guess, bleh.) but the new student coupon Best Buy just released is for $125 off instead of the typical $100 off it has been for the past few months.

Should everything go to plan I'm looking at almost $1266 even out the door for the entry-level 12" Macbook. That's almost $200 off.

 

[Zeyphersan]

The stars are finally aligning on Friday for the Macbook purchase for my wife that I've been mulling over for the past few months.

Not only is tax-free weekend coming up (Well, tax-reduced weekend I guess, bleh.) but the new student coupon Best Buy just released is for $125 off instead of the typical $100 off it has been for the past few months.

Should everything go to plan I'm looking at almost $1266 even out the door for the entry-level 12" Macbook. That's almost $200 off.

People give the 12” MacBook a lot of shit but I think it’s a great computer for the basics, and even some heavier stuff if you don’t mind it taking a little while. And if you’re okay with that screen size

 

[Zutroy]

So after talking with the store manager, they apologised for going back on their word and honoured it again! I got a brand new 2015 model (the one that's £1900 on the website) for £199! Twice the memory of my previous model and I've gone from a dual core to a quad core - not too shabby!

 

[Deku Tree]

So after talking with the store manager, they apologised for going back on their word and honoured it again! I got a brand new 2015 model (the one that's £1900 on the website) for £199! Twice the memory of my previous model and I've gone from a dual core to a quad core - not too shabby!

Winner!

 

[Zeyphersan]

So after talking with the store manager, they apologised for going back on their word and honoured it again! I got a brand new 2015 model (the one that's £1900 on the website) for £199! Twice the memory of my previous model and I've gone from a dual core to a quad core - not too shabby!

Figured that would happen. Once they offered it they weren’t supposed to take it away

 

[The Real Abed]

I ordered a new MagSafe for my MacBook since the one it came with has lost its rubber and is mostly electrical tape at this point.

I ordered it off the Apple website and got to use Apple Pay from Safari for the first time. It was really cool. Of course I don't have the new MacBook with the TouchBar and Touch ID, so I used my phone. Basically a panel slides down on the Safari window with all the information. Final price, shipping address, last four numbers of the credit card. And the iPhone dings with the Apple Pay screen. A quick touch and boom, it's done. So cool really. I wish other places would adopt it.

Too bad my credit card only has a $750 limit. I'd love to be able to use it when I buy my next computer. I really should check into whether my bank lets me use my debit card for Apple Pay or not.

 

[Guess Who]

One underappreciated but exceptionally good thing about my 15” MBP I’d like to highlight: how fucking good the display scaler is.

I’ve been gaming under Boot Camp a lot, and obviously the Radeon Pro 460 is not pushing full 2880x1800 very well in most games (except, like, TF2). 1920x1200 and 1680x1050 are a lot more doable, and the display does a phenomenal job scaling those resolutions to the panel without being fuzzy. I’d honestly say it looks better than a native 1200p or 1050p display because the high PPI smooths out the screen door effect those resolutions would natively have.