Apple: Pros outweigh the Cons

I finally relented and upgraded both my 2013 MacBook Pro and 2015 iPhone SE to the 2018 MacBook Pro and the iPhone XS.

And I’m amazed at what I’ve been missing. The user experience and interface is truly remarkable and incredibly well done from my perspective. Welcome to 2018.

I had built a negative narrative in my head around both products. Specifically, things like the new MBP butterfly keyboard and Touch Bar were supposedly hard to use and more gimmick than substance. Then I imagined that the larger phone size and the lack of button would be very difficult to adjust to. Also, I was concerned that Face Id wouldn’t be as secure in the hands of someone else that could just hold it up near your face and unlock it really easily.

HOWEVER, it is amazing what happens when you actually try these things for yourself. Granted, it took about 2 weeks to really adjust the butterfly keyboard and I still have to remind myself to use the Touch Bar, I find that anytime I have to use my 2013 MBP that the experience feels positively antiquated. Same for the iPhone XS. The old SE home button and touch id seem positively anachronistic as compared to the incredible speed and ease of Faceid and the swiping motions that now set the industry standard.

Quick summary of pain points and realizations (Things that kept me from upgrading and what I found after upgrading):

iPhone XS: 

• Lack of 3.5 mm jack solved by a $12 bluetooth device that interfaces with my 2008 Ford speakers via aux input
• Lack of home button and fear of the swiping interface took about 2 days to overcome. The ease of the swiping motions and the incredible flexibility of the interface makes the larger screen FAR more manageable with one hand than the one old single home button arrangement
• Bigger phone size of the SE will still be a problem in tough working conditions, but I am doing less and less of that so realize that I can use my SE for specific situations
• Integration of Face Id means that someone can just hold your phone to you face and VERY quickly unlock your phone. At least with Touch Id I felt I could at least fight to hold my fingers closed or use a pinky finger that would add some confusion to the process. Not so with Face Id… Just hold it up to your face with pretty much any expression or glasses or hat and your phone is wide open. My mitigation is to use passcodes on all financial and personal apps and then know to turn off Face Id when traveling abroad. I’m still not super as comfortable with this feature as touch id and the passcodes, BUT it is convenient and works EXTREMELY fast and reliably.

2018 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and only USB C ports

• New butterfly keyboard seemed to lack the haptic feedback that I was used to from the thick heavy keys of the 2013 MBP. There was a significant break in time for the new keyboard of over 2 weeks where I found myself making a LOT of typos and learning to adjust to the new keys. However, once that break in period finished, I now have a harder time going back to those old, clunky keys of the older version. The butterfly keys with the new moisture/ debris barrier are quieter, smoother, and much easier to use.
• New touch bar seemed to be pretty gimmicky, especially given plenty of negative product reviews. However, I find this Touch Bar to be a great timesaver as it adapts to each and every application. For example, in my email, emails pop up with their respective folder based on my history and with a single tap, I can sort through my email and archive in no time. I also really appreciate the touch id on the new MBP which allows speedy opening of password protected documents, downloading applications, and apple pay. It also feels amazing and works flawlessly. It reminds me of the e-ink sort of display that never smears and just works.
• Only USB C ports. There’s no way around this… this sucks… It’s truly dongle hell. I have to  have two cases just to carry dongles to make this MPB work with anything external. The one thing that is pretty cool is being able to charge the computer via my new USB C external harddrive. Plus, I was able to get Thunderbolt adapters to the USB C and keep my old Mac External Monitor in use- which now also charges my notebook. I still don’t like the “stickiness” of USB C. It can be challenging to “seat” them properly and then it’s often hard to pull them out without feeling like you are doing some damage to the cords.  
• Loss of the MagSafe adapter seemed like an added risk. I really appreciated having a charging cord that could just pop off if you tripped on it. Tripping on a USB C cord would DEFINITELY pull this notebook off the table and/or do some damage to the port. There’s no margin of safety here, so I just have to be more careful.