It’s a new year, so we’re all looking forward to what sweet Apple products are forthcoming this calendar. The introduction of the M1-powered Macs late in 2020 was an absolute game-changer, and we eagerly await the Apple silicon to proliferate to other models. A MacBook Air is nice, but for my purposes I need something more substantial. As a current user of an Intel-powered MacBook Pro 16-inch, the eventual M1 equivalent to come is what I am anticipating highly.
I thought I’d want an iMac with Apple silicon instead. The vast screen real-estate is not to be ignored, especially now that we are mostly working from home. However, the romance of being a “digital nomad” - being able to go and be anywhere at any moment - holds large over my psyche. The biggest Mac laptop - in dimension - that Apple sells remains the right product category for me. An iMac is rather difficult to take with you.
Lots of rumors are abound on what the M1-powered 16-inch MacBook Pros will be like. There’s talks of the return of MagSafe charging, though the lack of it currently hasn’t been that bothersome for me. There’s talk of the return of SD card slot, which would be very welcomed for a hobbyist photographer like myself that deals primarily in that storage format.
Finally, there’s talks of the eliminating the TouchBar, the controversial touch surface that replaces the function row on the keyboard. The advantage of the TouchBar is that it allow for content-aware, app-specific keys, rather than a fixed set that cannot be changed. Sounds great on paper, but personally it’s not something I use at all (much like shortcuts on iOS). Perhaps I’m a bit of a simpleton: all I need from the function row are the basics adjustments for screen brightness, and the media controls. The rest of the time I largely ignore the contextual keys that pops open. Emoji keyboard? I never use it.
Like the controversial “butterfly” keyboard, I would be happy to see the TouchBar go into the Apple museum of tried but unsuccessful ideas.
Simple and elegant.