As I sit here looking at the stupid TouchBar, the hunk of aftermarket plastic that contains an HDMI port, Thunderbolt port and USB ports hanging off the side of my MacBook Pro so that I can connect my peripherals, the TouchPad I never use and the keyboard I hate, I can't help but wonder if I'm just an idiot for buying Mac after Mac after Mac. I've run Apple products since 2007 and this is the feeling I'm left with. When my iPhone 7 decided to stop working, I ended up getting a Pixel 3a because it was cheap and good enough for what I want to do with a phone. I'm looking at my laptop the same way. I can't shake the feeling that for my use, I'd be happier on a Thinkpad T480. If I can self-upgrade that second NVME to whatever I want, it'd be a ripping machine to run in i7-8550U 32GB RAM 1440p trim, and comes with a second 72Wh battery, for less than £1800.
I just replaced my 13' mid2012 MBP with a 12' 2019 MBP. Newer software, Spectre updates and driving my Thunderbolt monitor was getting too much for the 7 year old machine which overheated and slowed it down to a crawl whenever things moved fast on the screen. My old Thunderbolt monitor is now augmented with a Dell UHD monitor + CalDigit dock which cost together roughly the same. The new MBP is driving both with ease. My desk cabling is as clean as before with the added advantage that I can plug in the Windows laptop into the monitor when I'm occupationally forced to use is.
I was worried a bit about the keyboard but the latest generation seems to have a little more travel and Apple is backing it for four years. I mostly use it with a full size keyboard so the lack of ESC key is nuisance I can live with. Price is an issue but considering that I upgrade only every 4-6 years and value the smooth operation of the setup I'm ok with it - even if should be 20% less imho. I worry however about accessibility of Macs for people who can't afford to spend so much. Last year Apple PC sales shrunk by 3.8% which is o.k. as the market shrunk by 4.3 but is abysmal considering how superior their product is.
Granted. I have Drevo Calibur keyboards and Logitec MX Master S2 mice at both home and work. I've relegated my MacBook to being a flat desktop that gets hauled between the office and home. I'm the first to admit that I'm a sub-optimal laptop user.
