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laptops

The New MacBook Pro’s Pros and Cons

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The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro is a gorgeous device and has already won ear-splitting applause from users. Nevertheless, there are hitches and for a laptop costing as much as this does, you could not be blamed for being disappointed with technical problems.

Potential MacBook Issues

As great of a device as Apple has developed with its latest MacBook Pro, it seems almost inevitable that some glitches should accompany such a product.

Note: For those that may have more severe issues than a mere glitch and may require actual MacBook repair, seeking out experts such as iFixYouri is always a sound decision.

So without any further ado, let’s take a look some of the issues:

Usage

The Retina screen is gorgeous. You cannot help but fall in love with it. However, there aren’t many websites that take advantage of Retina at this point.

Graphic Performance

Testing the graphic performance of four different laptops with a heavy effect video file uncovered that the 15-inch Pro takes an average 20 seconds less than the 13-inch to render the file, whereas the 13-inch Air takes an average 10 seconds more than the 13-inch Pro to render the same file. Now when we consider that the Retina 13 costs $850 more than the 13-inch Air and around $200 less than the Pro 15, it does raise a few uneasy questions about the wisdom of investing in a Retina 13.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro does come with a wonderful visual design, awesome trackpad and keyboard, a compressed unibody design, and yet its graphic performance is not too superior to the MacBook Air. You also experience a minor slowdown when you use a hi-res setting.

The laptop is a bit smaller than the 15-inch Pro and way thicker than the 13-inch Air.

Battery Life and Sound

The battery life, which is around 3 hrs 15 mins, is good enough and the sound is excellent, too. However, there seems to be a soft echo to the sound, especially when you are listening to dialogue. The keyboard and the trackpad are still the best you are going to find in a laptop.

Should One Buy the New MacBook Pro?

Clearly, it’s hard to say that the new MacBook Pro is not a good investment. The laptop is still so much better that other laptops, performance-wise. And since it costs only fractionally more than its 13-inch counterpart, it is hard to see why you would not invest in the 15-inch if you are comfortable with its slightly-bigger size.

laptops

Mac Keyboard Shortcuts Made Easy

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Some people may not be on intimate terms with their Mac keyboard. The buttons do a lot more than simply type letters and numbers onto the screen, or move the cursor around.  With certain key combinations, there are many opportunities to perform steps that would otherwise have to be accessed from a menu.

Special Keys of a Mac Keyboard

Whether it is built-in like on a laptop or arrives with a desktop, Mac always uses a traditional QWERTY keyboard layout in the United States. The function keys or F keys make the Mac perform tricks. They can make the Mac screen brighter and the sound louder. Near the bottom of the keyboard, next to the space bar, are modifier keys.  When pressed, the modifier keys change the behavior of other keys that are pressed at the same time. When using one modifier key with another key, you can issue a keyboard shortcut.

Classic Layout

On the Macbook Pro of today, the FN key is on the bottom row. On older keyboards it may not be present. When pressing the FN key and pushing one of the top keys on the board, specific operations can be achieved by default. If you press the F12 key by itself, audio volume amplifies. Press FN together with F12 on a Mac with Mountain Lion and the display shifts to the Dashboard environment.

The Versitility of a Command Key

Appearing to the right and left of the space bar is the Command key. If used frequently, it can save the user lots of time.  For instance, when saving a document, instead of going to the File menu, you can just press Command+S.  Or, when quitting the document, you can press Command+Q.

The Control key is mainly used to call up contextual menus. Windows users recognize these as menus that appear when you right-click. On a Mac, nothing happens with the right-click, you must hold down the Control key and right-click to get the menu commands. To get rid of it, click outside of it and do not hold down the Control key.

Option Keys

An Option key is to the right of the Control key. Pressing the Option key causes optional or alternative actions to happen. These common key commands are used with most all applications.

Like all great products, the reality of repair and sometimes replacement is inevitable. If your Mac keyboard ever experiences problems with its functionality and is in need of computer repair services, pros at iFixYouri can help restore your Mac back to its former glory.