Macbook Pro image

2017 Macbook Pro Review

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I recently purchased a 2017 Macbook Pro (the 13 inch model, without the Touchbar).  Mostly I love the machine, but there are a few drawbacks as well.  I thought a review in layman’s terms might be helpful, as I’m far from a tech expert.

The new Macbook Pro comes in two colors; the standard Apple silver and the new space grey.  I picked space grey, and it’s a beautiful laptop.  You can get the base model with as little as 128 gb of hard drive space and 8 gb of RAM, but you can’t upgrade either of these later on (the laptop is sealed).  As such, I opted to increase the hard drive capacity to 256 gb (you can go up to 512 gb or even 1 tb, but that much space is unnecessary for me).  I recommend that you increase your hard drive capacity though, as we all seem to need more space these days.

I use my computer mostly for work and web browsing, though I do maintain a sizeable photo library (mostly pictures of golf courses and my kids).  The new Macbook Pro easily handles all of these applications with speed an reliability, and the retina display is absolutely stunning, especially with your pictures.  The included software suite has Apple’s version of Word (Pages), Excel (Numbers), and Powerpoint (Keynote).  I use all of these programs for work, and while you can go back and forth between the two, I recommend that you purchase and install the Microsoft Office Suite for Macs if you use these programs for work.

Being a very small laptop (13 inches diagonally and a mere 3 pounds) the new Pro is great for travel and for everyday work, but a large monitor would be a good idea if you do most of your work at a desk.  That gives you the best of both worlds (portability and ease of viewing).  With a relatively small display many of the programs are condensed, especially if you’re using it for a few hours at a time.

The only other drawback is the price.  While Apple has worked hard to introduce a scaled-down, entry-level Macbook Pro model for “only” $1,299, doubling the hard drive capacity bumps up the price to $1,499, and adding more RAM or the new Touchbar feature (which I think is overrated and unnecessary) adds hundreds more to the price.  Factor-in tax and you could easily spend $2,000 or more for the 13 inch model, or $2,500+ for the larger, more powerful 15 inch model.  And that’s a lot of money for a new laptop.

In my humble opinion, the new 13 inch Macbook Pro sans Touchbar is worth the price, especially if you tend to keep your high-end purchases for a long time like I do.  You can find cheaper PC laptops out there, but for the money, the new Macbook Pro is a real winner.

iPhone 6

The new iPhone 6; as reviewed by a regular Joe

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Having just picked up a new iPhone 6, I thought I might take this opportunity to comment and review Apple’s latest product.  I thought that a review from an everyday guy approaching middle-age might be useful, as opposed to the typical reviews you read from 20 year old geniuses who speak a completely different language than the rest of us.

I’ve been an “Apple guy” for quite some time.  It started about 8 years ago when I traded in my old Sony Vaio laptop for a shiny new Apple iBook.  I had that iBook for about 4 years before trading up for a Macbook Pro, which I still use as my work computer today.  I even have an iPad Air, which comes in quite handy when I travel for business (you know how much legroom the airlines offer in economy class these days).

I had the original iPhone all those years ago, and eventually traded it in for an iPhone 4.  Fast forward some 4 years later and I’m now the owner of the new iPhone 6.  In fact, about 2/3 of our staff uses an iPhone (various models) and about the same percentage of us use Macs for our work computers.

I didn’t have any trouble choosing the iPhone 6 over the 6 Plus.  Both appear absolutely huge to me, but the smaller iPhone 6 still fits in my pants pocket (the 6 Plus is ENORMOUS, and looks like a tablet that has been put on a vegan diet).  The 6 is considerably thinner and lighter than my old iPhone 4, and has a remarkably sharper resolution on the screen.  Battery life and processing speed are similarly impressive, as is the new camera (which I only really use to take pictures of golf courses and my kids).

But to be honest the new iPhone 6 isn’t really that different from the previous models (the 5 and 5S).  Apple Pay is a nice idea, but it isn’t really something that I envision using anytime soon.  The built-in Health app is nice, but it’s a lot of work to upload everything you’ve eaten and all the exercise you did, and who wants to feel worse about that donut you ate at 3 pm while sitting at your desk?  Most of the other features haven’t changed from past iterations.

Is the new iPhone 6 worth the price?  Probably not for a guy like me, who doesn’t get all that excited about the newest and greatest tech gadgets.  Don’t get me wrong.  It’s a nice phone, with a slim design, a lightning fast processer and a great screen.  But it’s bigger than I’d like and costs more than it should.  But would I get it again?  Yeah, sure.  Especially because I tend to hang onto these things for 4+ years.