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TechTranscript
00:00In 2016, Apple announced their new MacBook Pros.
00:06They had a 15-inch version, and they had a 13-inch version, and these were devices that looked incredibly beautiful.
00:12These were just such a different look from everything else on the market at the time, and they just looked like works of art.
00:18But right away, there were some kind of issues that people had with the new designs.
00:23For one, the touch bar was something that people weren't sure if they were going to actually make use of.
00:28Like, it just felt like potentially a gimmick, and three years later, maybe it didn't pan out in terms of its usability the way that Apple wanted it to.
00:35But there were other issues, and I would say bigger issues, that stem from the fact that these devices were built in such a thin form factor.
00:42Now, before I go any further, I have to explain that I'm someone that prefers macOS.
00:45I like MacBooks, I like iPhones, but as a reviewer, I feel like the responsible thing for me to do is to actually look out for issues like this.
00:52So the first thing I'm going to get into is the keyboard.
00:55This is a keyboard that was created specifically to fit into a super thin chassis.
00:59It's called a butterfly keyboard, and what makes it unique or special is the fact that the switches inside this keyboard are very low profile.
01:06When you use it for the first time, it just feels a little bit different from any other keyboard out there.
01:10And even for Apple users to use this keyboard, it was a little bit like, why did Apple do this?
01:15It just feels so different from the original MacBook Pro keyboard.
01:18But the issue is that the durability and the long-term reliability of this butterfly mechanism is not great.
01:24There were a lot of people that had issues with these keyboards because dust or other particulate matter would get underneath the keycap and just screw things up in the switch.
01:32And in 2018, Apple addressed this a little bit, like they put a membrane underneath there and people thought maybe this would fix things.
01:39But you can see right now, there's still a lot of issues with those membraned keyboards because dust is still getting underneath them and it's causing problems.
01:46And the whole reason why this thing exists, the whole reason why people are having issues with this keyboard is because they had to fit this keyboard into something so thin.
01:53And when you compare this device to the older generation, like the 2015 MacBook Pro, it's not like it's that much smaller, right?
02:00It is noticeably smaller, but it's not like people were using that 2015 MacBook and thinking like, oh, we need a thinner laptop because this won't do.
02:07It wasn't the case, but Apple decided to make something thinner, they went for it, and these are the issues that we've had.
02:12So, the other thing that comes from having such a thin device is when you make something super thin, you can't have removable components inside.
02:20The RAM being soldered on isn't anything new, Apple's been doing it for years and other Windows laptops have been doing it for a while.
02:25But having soldered on storage, it's such an inconvenience. You can't ever upgrade your storage and if anything ever goes wrong, you have to send the whole device back to get it fixed.
02:33It's seriously stupid, and for what? To shave one or two millimeters off the device? It doesn't feel like it was worth it.
02:38And another issue that's popped up more recently is the display cable.
02:42So, the 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pros have a pair of cables that connect the screen to the chassis, which are very thin.
02:49They're quite delicate, and over time, as people bend the screen back and forth, it can cause issues.
02:54It's something called stage lighting, where the backlight has some issues, and eventually, the backlighting can fail completely.
02:59Now, Apple supposedly fixed this, or attempted to fix this, on the 2018 models, where they extended the cable a little bit, as iFixit uncovered.
03:08But they wouldn't have had to do this in the first place if they had gone with a thicker chassis.
03:12They made it super thin, so they had to run this super thin cable to make this whole thing as thin as possible.
03:17The fourth problem that came from Apple using such a thin chassis were thermal issues.
03:21And this is something that only affects people that use their devices really aggressively,
03:25but on the 15-inch MacBook Pro, like I demonstrated earlier this year, or in 2018, it just can't cool the really powerful CPUs.
03:33And this is literally the thinnest laptop in the world that has a Core i9.
03:37It's super thin, but, like, again, for what, right?
03:41We're saving millimeters here, and we have a heavily crippled device.
03:45So, my overall take on their devices, from 2016, 2017, 2018, it's, like, been three years now,
03:53these are made way too thin.
03:55There's a lot of compromises people have had to make just so they can have such an aesthetically pleasing device.
04:00And I actually think it's one of the best, if not the best-looking laptops on the market right now,
04:04but at what cost, right?
04:06You're having issues with thermals, with the keyboard, with the screen, and potentially the price because it's so thin.
04:11So, I think, going forward, Apple needs to make these things thicker.
04:15Not to the degree of this video's thumbnail, that's obviously a bit of an exaggeration,
04:18but in its current state, these are too thin.
04:21The issues that we've had with these devices over the past three years
04:24is clearly an indication that they made something that was a little bit too thin.
04:29But, knowing Apple, I don't think that they're gonna, kind of, retract on this and make them thinner.
04:34I feel like they really should, and I feel like a lot of people that use their devices
04:38would want something that's a little more, kind of, practical.
04:41But, what do you guys think?
04:43Should Apple keep their devices thin for the aesthetic,
04:45or should they make them thicker to fix the issues that they've had plaguing these devices over the past few years?