Apple Debuts new MacBook Pro and iMac with up to 8-cores

[HarryT]

I could just about put the OTA on the mount, but it was a real struggle, and I never felt particularly safe. It's really a 2-man job to set up a telescope that size.

[tomsem]

My MacBook Pro is nearly 10 years old. Recently I put a 1GB SSD in there, and it made a huge difference. Then I realized the battery was swelling up in there and was why I could no longer register a click with the trackpad, and replaced that. Like new! Of course it is still running El Capitan, but I can put off replacing it for awhile.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by OtinG

Just looking at images of the 10” Meade LX200 type/size of telescopes makes my back hurt! Definitely not light weight. I have a small tracking mount, the Skywatcher Star Adventurer, along with a Celestron 93493 Heavy Duty CPC 1100 Tripod that weighs about 50 pounds. I use Sony ILC digital cameras and camera lenses, the biggest of which is the Canon 400mm f/5.6L. So much lighter to set up, but still more than I feel like dealing with most nights. My setup is light compared to what most would use, but it works within limitations. But it is sufficient enough to enjoy the hobby, albeit in a rather limited way.

My uncle built an observatory for his telescope so he wouldn't have to set it up or pull it down (my father actually built it for him). It was pretty cool with a roof that could be manually rolled to the side. This was probably 50 years ago though. My uncle lived out in the country and there was very little light pollution in his area at the time. 50 years ago, south Georgia was actually one of the good areas for dark skies. That was even true as little as 30 years ago.

[Dylrob]

There is a persistent rumor that Apple’s longterm goal is to ditch x86 altogether and migrate MacOS to their own in-house ARM-based processors. (Which admittedly have gotten quite impressive, though the switch would obviously cause lots of headaches in regards to legacy software)

Originally Posted by OtinG

You are forgetting one important detail as far as desktops go. It is easy to build your own Windows box, and cheaper. If you are buying off the rack then the prices might be similar, but you can certainly build a WinBox cheaper. That is what I did in the 1990s and early 2000s. Okay two details: You can modify a WinBox and repair it yourself, not so easy to do that with Apple computers.

That's only true of desktops though.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by Dylrob

There is a persistent rumor that Apple’s longterm goal is to ditch x86 altogether and migrate MacOS to their own in-house ARM-based processors. (Which admittedly have gotten quite impressive, though the switch would obviously cause lots of headaches in regards to legacy software)

That's only true of desktops though.

I was only talking about desktops. No one I have ever known has built their own laptop from scratch.

Switching to ARM-based processors screws up legacy software, means fewer apps available for Mac initially and perhaps forever, and means you can kiss goodbye the ability to run Windows in Bootcamp. Personally, I’m too bleeping old and won’t have enough years left to see enough usable software be rewritten for those new processors if Apple chooses to go that route. I’ll switch, very reluctantly, and with a great amount of anger towards Apple for making me have to switch from a system that works as is. I don’t have time to wait for apps to be updated, and many will never be updated, nor a desire to wait. Those apps are mostly available on Windows now, so I will switch to Windows rather than the new Apple chips. My hope is they will screw up the development of their in-house processors and have to abandon this idea.

[Dylrob]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I was only talking about desktops. No one I have ever known has built their own laptop from scratch.

Switching to ARM-based processors screws up legacy software, means fewer apps available for Mac initially and perhaps forever, and means you can kiss goodbye the ability to run Windows in Bootcamp. Personally, I’m too bleeping old and won’t have enough years left to see enough usable software be rewritten for those new processors if Apple chooses to go that route. I’ll switch, very reluctantly, and with a great amount of anger towards Apple for making me have to switch from a system that works as is. I don’t have time to wait for apps to be updated, and many will never be updated, nor a desire to wait. Those apps are mostly available on Windows now, so I will switch to Windows rather than the new Apple chips. My hope is they will screw up the development of their in-house processors and have to abandon this idea.

I would imagine that, like their switch to Intel in the first place, that the Operating System will include an emulation layer to continue running older software for a few years. It won’t be perfect, and Mac gamers will suffer particularly (as if Apple hasn’t made them suffer enough already), but it will ease users through the rough patch.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I was only talking about desktops. No one I have ever known has built their own laptop from scratch.

Desktops are, I suspect, an extremely small market sector these days. More and more people don't have any form of PC, and those who do nearly always have a laptop. It's generally gamers or other "power users" who buy desktops. I use one for photo editing.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Desktops are, I suspect, an extremely small market sector these days. More and more people don't have any form of PC, and those who do nearly always have a laptop. It's generally gamers or other "power users" who buy desktops. I use one for photo editing.

I have a 27 inch 5K iMac and a MacBook Pro, but then again, I'm a programmer. I really like having the big screen and higher resolution.

[OtinG]

Well, if you want to build your own, a desktop is the way to go. I don't know how we got off on how many people have desktops verses laptops, because that is irrelevant to my original point, in which I was saying if you want a lesser expensive computer that you can build and modify yourself for a lot less money than buying a canned computer, then building your own desktop, whether Windows or Linux, is a less expensive way to get a decent computer. I couldn't care less about whether desktops are popular or not. That is irrelevant. What is relevant is what one can do on a limited budget to get a computer with enough power to get their tasks accomplished. I too prefer laptops for their portability and smaller size, but given the choice of not having enough money to buy an off the shelf Apple or Windows laptop and being able to afford a build it yourself desktop, I'll take the desktop.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I was saying if you want a lesser expensive computer that you can build and modify yourself for a lot less money than buying a canned computer, then building your own desktop, whether Windows or Linux, is a less expensive way to get a decent computer. I couldn't care less about whether desktops are popular or not. That is irrelevant. What is relevant is what one can do on a limited budget to get a computer with enough power to get their tasks accomplished.

If you want to modify to exact specifications sure. Nowadays, off-the-shelf is pretty inexpensive as well particularly if you run Windows and have to factor in the license cost for DIY.

I think I paid $500-600 for my current laptop back when I got it 5 years ago (ThinkPad with quad-core Haswell). Add an extra $300 for aftermarket 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD upgrades. I reckon you can get something much faster for the same price nowadays.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

I started having "issues" with it on my 2012 Mini, so yesterday I bit the bullet and did a clean install of High Sierra. Its a lot happier now.

Mine was a clean install. Since they changed the file system in Mojave, something went wrong with the conversion. I've just recently fixed things. I can't imagine what non-tech folk would have done.

~Dˢ