"It's Simply The Best" - My Honeymoon Period with the 2017 15" MacBook Pro

Two weeks on since I took possession of my new MacBook Pro and I’ve not lost that loving feeling. On the contrary; I’ve become seriously bonded to the machine and I find I miss not working on it so I keep sneaking off to do more work. It’s simply the best.

Before I embarrass myself any further with dubious song references and suggestions of deviant man-machine behaviour, let me run through the new Apple Harvest configuration. For the record, this is Apple Harvest HQ at my fiancee’s house. I’m back in the UK after nearly four years of living in Prague and last year Mel and I got engaged (in Prague, on her birthday!). I set up a temporary AH HQ here back in 2013, and now we’re settling down to domestic bliss, it’s back up and running.

To be honest, not a great deal has changed. The old 2011 MBA got replaced with a 2015 MBA which has now been replaced by the 2017 MBP. As I indicated in my last post, this is a refurbished 2017 Space Grey 15inch model. It’s the quad-core "Kaby Lake" i7 2.9GHz version, with 16Gb of RAM, 512Gb SSD, with Radeon Pro 560/4Mb and Intel HD 630 1.5Mb. At the time of writing, I’ve just updated the OS to Mojave 10.14.2.

Initially, the laptop was connected to my old Belkin Thunderbolt Hub, but at the weekend I swapped this out with an OWC Thunderbolt 2 dock that was idling away at my house (which I never got around to writing about, but it’s a great piece of kit). This was a good idea for various reasons:-

• It’s at least twice the speed of the Belkin, which didn’t  quite meet the original TB speed potential because of design constraints
• It has an HDMI port which the Belkin doesn’t and this frees up a TB2 port for a TB2 external hard drive
• There are two additional USB-A 3.0 ports making 5 in total as well as a FireWire 800 port

12 port OWC Thunderbolt 2 Dock

All in all, it’s a much tidier set up, and it means I’m only using two of the ports on the laptop - one to connect to the hub (using an Apple Thunderbolt 2 to 3 adapter) and one for the power (more on that in a moment).

I’ll admit, the idea of a laptop furnished with only Thunderbolt 3/USB-C connectors made me a little bit nervous. But in reality, I’m not really sure I understand what all the fuss is about. I miss the SD card slot that proved so useful on the MBA with only 256 Gb of onboard storage but having twice that storage capacity on the MBP made it slightly redundant. I was using it to keep all my Apple Mail files on, and a used a thumbnail flash drive for my photo library - all of these now live on the SSD - a much better arrangement.

I appreciate that when I’m on the road things will be a little different, but I have that covered. I purchased a set of 3 USB-C to USB-A 3.0 adapters, a 7-in-1 USB-C dongle which includes Gb Ethernet, SD card, micro SD card, headphone, HDMI and 2 USB-A 3.0 ports and a USB-C extension lead for a little over £40. Job done! For reference, this was the ATZEBE which I managed to get on an Amazon Lightning deal for £27.19 down from £35.99. So far, I’ve only used the SD card slot, but that worked perfectly well. The USB-C/USB-A adaptors were £5.91 for a packet of three.

ATZEBE 7-in-1 USB-C dongle

Since Apple, in their less-than-infinite wisdom, decided to do away with the MagSafe power connector I decided to go with a third party USB-C option which is ideal. I got a First2savv Magnetic USB Charging Cable which is rated at 87W/4.3A which means it’s perfectly capable of charging the MBP at full speed and does it in about 90 minutes. To emphasise that it’s a charging cable I got it in bright red! It’s currently selling for £11.99 on Amazon, but I got mine for under a tenner.

USB-C Magsafe type connector from First2savv

No doubt the arguments about cables and adaptors will continue for the next couple of years - don’t they always? The thing is, it’s a fact of life that technology changes. Apple is often an early adopter and if you haven’t got used to that by now then you’re in the wrong ecosystem. Quite frankly, if I’m going to be carrying the extra pound of weight of a 15inch MBP compared to a 13inch MBA, I’m not likely to complain about an extra few ounces of additional dongles!

In my last post, I hinted that my initial purchase of the same spec'd MBP from eBay was about to go to arbitration. It did, and I got a full refund without any issues. Happy days!

It's not all about the future! But...Caveat Emptor!

Regular readers to the Apple Harvest will know that I'm a relative newbie to the Apple brotherhood. I first started using computers at university in 1980, first on ICL 1900/2900 machines, then on a VAX 11/780 and various micros - Superbrains, PETs, and BBC Model Bs. In my first job in the real world I started to use the original IBM PC running DOS alongside IBM 360s. Up until 1998 I was still designing and writing programmes for Windows. I'd never even seen a Mac close up until about 2004, and certainly never used one.

I bought my first Mac in 2008 and have never looked back. Until just recently...one of the downsides of being so late to the party was that I missed out on enjoying some of the classic Macs of yesteryear. But such is the engineering and design quality of the Mac that a machine that now sits on Apple's official obsolete list can still find a place in a modern Mac based network. And you can pick them up at silly prices!

The last PC I bought before my first Mac was an Asus R1F tablet. In 2007 that laptop was pretty much state of the art, and well suited my needs. While it does still work, it has no place in a contemporary office. It takes over forty-five minutes from power up to being in a position to do anything vaguely functional.

ASUS R1F tablet

Why would I mention that? Well, some three or four years earlier, Apple launched the 17inch iMac G4, the 'iLamp', which in my mind is probably the most beautiful computer ever designed. I recently bought a 2003 G4 for about £100. It sits in my bedroom, linked in to the main Apple Harvest network. Within a minute of pushing the power button, the machine is ready and waiting.

Good as new - G4 17inch iMac

I bought my G4 through a Mac specialist on eBay with a good reputation but even when you go through these channel you need to be diligent. The machine arrived a couple of days after putting the order through but on getting it out of the box and starting to set it up, I realised there was something wrong. Although specified as having both Airport and Bluetooth adaptors fitted, a quick check of  About This Mac showed neither were in place.

I contacted the seller, and very soon received a reply, excuse and apology, with instructions on how to return the machine. The next day a courier arrived an took the box away, and about a week later (this all happened over a bank holiday weekend) the replacement came. Everything appeared to be OK regarding connectivity but there was now a problem with the CD/DVD burner - it looked like there was one fitted but I couldn't get it to accept a DVD.

I didn't want the hassle of sending the whole kit and caboodle back to the dealer for a second time so I ordered a replacement DVD drive and downloaded the replacement instructions from iFixit. On receipt of the new drive I began the task of installing it. In fact there was a DVD burner installed - but the cable hadn't been connected (or it had come loose). I attached the connector and put the machine back together, booted up and nothing happened. Nada, zilch - cold sweat and that feeling of panic began to set in, until I realised I hadn't flicked the mains switch. Yes, it happens to even experienced computer users from time to time!!!!

I confess, the G4 is an extravagance. It isn't permanently switched on, unlike most of the other Macs at Apple Harvest HQ, and it's really only getting used to surf the internet and run iTunes. But heck, you'd struggle to get a tablet for that sort of price, never mind a fully functional piece of engineering history and a magnificent art deco item to boot!