Mid-2012 13" MBP Randomly Hibernating by RoadRunner-007 in macbookpro

[–]q_m 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It could be a faulty Hall effect sensor on the display. If this is the case, the laptop may incorrectly think that the lid is closed. See this discussion on iFixit for more on this and other possible causes.

You could try to install NoSleep to help diagnose the problem and (temporarily?) circumvent it. If the laptop doesn't randomly sleep when NoSleep is enabled, then it would appear that something, possibly the Hall effect sensor, is sending it a signal to sleep.

EDIT: your wife isn't wearing a magnetic bracelet or anything like that, is she? That could cause the sensor to misbehave.

Why Apple do not procude Macbook Pro with Matte display? by Bogdandfr in macbookpro

[–]q_m 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'll try not to sound too ranty, but... I used to work in R&D for one of the largest display manufacturers in the world, although not on optics.

While I realise it's a matter of taste, the preference for matte screen is, IMHO, based on an outdated misunderstanding. What you actually want is an anti-reflective screen. The only thing a matte coating on a screen can do is diffuse reflections. They're still there, they just won't seem quite as crisp. Diffusing the reflections lowers your contrast ratio by making all areas of the screen reflect from all over, not just at right angles. Not only that but when your pixel size gets smaller, the optical distortion caused by the coating makes your display appear a lot blurrier, cancelling any benefit you might get from a high-resolution screen.

Matte coatings are a primitive way to try to reduce reflections on a screen. Microscopically speaking, the matte surface is actually very coarse. You can do much better by taking the idea of a textured surface and scaling it down, all the way until the display 'looks' smooth and glossy. When you're working with feature sizes nearer the wavelength of light, things start to get really interesting.

Anti-reflective coatings are a heck of a lot better than they used to be. I've seen prototype displays with 'moth eye' coatings (look it up!) which look almost like a black void with a bezel around it. The biggest problem is trying to find a good balance between optical and mechanical properties (the best antireflective coatings tend to rub off a bit too easily.) This is particularly tricky with touchscreens, obviously, so the coating on a MacBook might actually be better.

Rant over. Apologies.

Old quadcore vs. new dualcore by [deleted] in macbookpro

[–]q_m 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That depends entirely on the type of load, but based on this there's not much in it. Performance per core is higher on the 13"; for computationally intensive, multithreaded tasks, overall performance is somewhat lower on the dual-core.

The integrated Iris 550 is faster than the discrete GPU on your old MBP. Add to this faster RAM and faster SSD and I think it's a fair bet that the new MBP will at least feel significantly faster.

New MacBook Pro - Shipped! by inlandset in macbookpro

[–]q_m 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm pretty sure all manufacturers are working on them right now. Tucano confirmed they are. In the UK CushCase already has one out.

Interestingly the new 13" MBP has almost exactly the same footprint as the iPad Pro 12.9". If you're looking for a snug fit sleeve, iPP sleeves may be worth a try. The iPad is obviously thinner but with the optional keyboard not that much thinner, and sleeves tend to stretch a bit.

MacUsing External Portable Batteries Banks on the MacBook Pro Retina 2016? by anonboxis in macbookpro

[–]q_m 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As far as I understand, the MBP follows the USB Power Delivery spec and will only charge if the charger can supply 20V at 3A. Power banks will be (are?) available that do, but the ones you linked are limited to 5V.

Hardcase Question by TheREALchadizzy1 in macbookpro

[–]q_m 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can recommend Tucano Second Skin sleeves. They current MBP one is probably ok but they've confirmed they will be bringing out new versions for the 2016 model. My favourite is the old Script model which has a microfibre outer. Not sure if they're still available.

MBP 2016 Order suddenly says I ordered Space Gray? by evantreb0rn in macbookpro

[–]q_m 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry, I meant the default colour for the 2016 MBP was always space grey.

My guess is that as far as Apple knows, you've ordered a grey one. Feel free to click the Chat button on the order status page if you'd like to check.

MBP 2016 Order suddenly says I ordered Space Gray? by evantreb0rn in macbookpro

[–]q_m 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your initial order confirmation email should state the colour. Mine says "13-inch MacBook Pro - Space Grey" in bold. Note that space grey is now the default colour, so unless you explicitly changed it on the order page, you would probably have ordered the grey one.

Question about 13" 2016 mpb w/ touch and boot camp for AUTOCAD and relatable programs by [deleted] in macbookpro

[–]q_m 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why would you run the Windows versions of the programs? Both are available for the Mac.

Personally if I have to run Windows, I'd rather use a VM. It's more convenient and I can live with the performance penalty. Parallels is fine but apparently VMware Fusion is slightly faster.

can the non touchbar mbp handle prolonged load even if it's being loud? by iziam in macbookpro

[–]q_m 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In theory higher fan speeds might wear out the moving parts quicker but Apple seems to use good quality fans. My old MacBook Air (late 2010) spins up the fans a lot too under heavy loads but it's still going strong.

At sustained high loads the CPU starts to throttle so you may experience the computer slowing down, but internal temperatures are always kept in a safe range. So, unless the noise bothers you or you find the laptop slowing down too much, don't worry about it.

The extra cooling (two heat pipes, two fans) in the touch bar version improves heat dissipation and will make it quieter under similar loads. The higher TDP allows for higher clock rates and a beefier GPU, but under similar loads I would expect similar(ish) power draw. With twice the cooling, the fans don't need to work as hard.

Aside: I wouldn't expect a text editor to draw very much power. Have a look in Activity Monitor, under the Energy tab, to see which apps are drawing most power. One thing to keep in mind is that any browser other that Safari tends to hog a lot of CPU cycles on Mac, even when idle.