The keyboard on the 12" MacBook does take getting used too. Took me about a week, but loved it once I got used to it. My only "complaint" is how noisy it is. When I'm typing fast in a meeting, it's quite noticeable to others.
Agreed on all counts. There are two other things I dislike about typing on my 2016 12" rMB: 1) if I have to make transient use of arrow keys I always mess it up and 2) over long periods of time my hands start hurting from always being pushed up against the sharp edges whereas on my 15" rMBP there are a few inches on each side of my hands.
For the most part though I love that rMB. I wouldn't want to code on it several hours a day but for my general home computing and relatively light coding it is fantastic.
I think it's the best laptop for a management level person in engineering running from meeting to meeting who occasionally sits down to write some light code / test code that they are reviewing from others. Great screen, decentish (but not great) memory, and great battery life, all with the simplicity of a single cable connection for power/monitor/accessories. Best of all, it's fantastic traveling as it can be easily charged from a USB-C battery pack that doubles as a phone charger.
If I was writing code all day, then yes, a 15" rMBP would clearly be superior, but as I don't currently the 12" makes a perfect work laptop.
I could see that. My work machine is a 15" rMBP which is mainly used hooked to a keyboard and monitor. Even when not plugged in I enjoy coding on it. Thing was, it was just big enough that I disliked lugging it around everywhere, back & forth to home, when traveling, etc.
For me my rMB is more for personal and light remote work purposes but that winds up being not dissimilar to your engineering mgmt persona you describe and I find it great for all of those reasons.
> Thing was, it was just big enough that I disliked lugging it around everywhere, back & forth to home, when traveling, etc.
Exactly! I've had dozens of coworkers over the years who don't take their laptop home (much to my dismay, especially as some were on-call) due to the weight and size of the 15". They also barely would take them to meetings, so I don't get why they just didn't request an iMac.
When I still used the rMBP for daily work, I got mine down to two cables (Thunderbolt / Power) despite having two near 4K displays (LG 34" TB2 monitors) and a bunch of accessories plugged in, but the hassle just wasn't worth it. So when I switched jobs, I finally owned up that my needs had changed and decided to try the rMB with a single 4K display (27" LG USB-C w/ PD). Honestly best decision I'd made in a long time for hardware. Takes getting used too, but for anyone else in a similar position (aka director/VP/CTO roles), I highly recommend it.
