Forget Tablets!
The MBPr pricing is too high and makes no sense..
By nonsense I mean the following....the $2200 for entry level MBP15r is honestly...Absurd! I would get an MBA but I need a 15". So I am going to lug my brick around hoping that I will always be near some power source for now. Let me add that my maxed out i7 was $2200 out the door in 2010, and you couldn't get it better unless u put a 256GB SSD for another $600 or so. If you want a maxed machine you are look north of 3k...
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If you're a professional and 'make money' with your gear...this pricing is of no consequence. If you're a power user that enjoys the latest technology, incredible resolution/color gamut/screen technology...screaming fast NAND storage, excellent form factor and build quality. The best I/O selection on the market with twin TB ports, twin USB 3, HDMI, SD...it's definitely NOT overpriced. It's a genuine bargain IMHO...and easily the best computer I've ever owned. Fast at everything. Gorgeous looking...the screen and aesthetically. I own two. A 2.3/512/16 and a 2.7/768/16. I'll write them off and I'll be enjoying them for years to come.
Productivity on a tablet is limited. That's why i started the thread with "forget tablets!" I can see the value in such ideas, but it will have to develop strictly out of tablet instead of replicating or chasing the laptop model. Splitting issues are keyboards, connectivity, and multitasking and more importantly, speedy interaction with the machine. Nothing is going to really replace the need of a keyboard to control and dictate your work.
Think about it a little, few years ago your entry level MB was about $700. now that's gone. and is replaced by iPads for that price. If you are a light user, I can totally see the selling point. I cannot use the iPad for anything productive...
...I'd like to focus the conversation however on the current lines of notebooks development and pricing. if we can all agree that the hybrid or tablet limits productivity. What the consumer is offered in terms of laptop choices is starting to be confusing a little.
Again, you're totally wrong. I know photographers that shoot events that charge well into the high four figure/low five and use iPads for off load, preview, and distribution. Not post production yet...but the immediacy of in site distribution is awesome. I know several bands that use iPads on stage for guitar/bass effects...also to augment percussion with beat pads...synths for the keyboardist...and recording of the show itself. We own an audio and video production company and I could talk for three days about ALL the iPad has replaced in our inventory. From billing and selling/contracts to effects live during show time to DMX lighting control...we use the iPad the produce. Money that is! There are bands that have recorded entire records...on the original iPad!
?.......These same Mac evangelists are the ones that lose sleep over products that lack innovation in substance, but certainly dont lack it in terms of marketing and branding...which when you look at it deeply...(acknowledging the quality and the thought process in the resurgence of Apple)...how much is this company now coasting on marketing their past achievement vs. true current innovation? the cMBP line reminds me of the never changing form factor of the dell latitude line of the 90's. Apple is able to get away with it...due to the lack of critical thinking on the consumer side.
Really makes me wonder if you've every actually owned an Apple product...much less a recent Mac. The cMBP is a classic and excellent design. They've continuously updated, refined, and innovated their product line. You're blind not to see it. It's A. Obvious and B. Market Leading
I could be missing something here...but show me who's really using these hybrids or tablets for full productivity? don't get me wrong, i know there is a minority of super nerds that find means of being productive with these things by adapting to cumbersome methods. for example, using the ipad to take notes in class is just not right. You either add a keyboard...where you are a better off with a full word processor on a laptop. Or you use one of those note taking where when your stroke doesn't pick up you need some serious caffein in concentration to stay in par with the pace of the lecture...
But if we leave the tablet/hybrid aside for a second and focus on full laptops. Honestly, the Air 13" profile is perfect for portability.
I've addressed your 'productivity' concerns with the iPad. Again though you're wrong. I'm not so sure there's been a better more suitable college piece of kit than the iPad. Are we there yet when it comes to typing 120wpm to keep up with a lecture? No! But we never were with laptops. That is what pencil and paper is for. Or a stylus. However with the 'apps' one can purchase for said iPad come with all sorts of goodies. The ability to record the lecture. Make notes with stylus, voice, BT keyboard or virtual KB...transfer and manipulate PDFs, create, calculate...spread sheets and word docs, presentations and email. Facebook and twitter...even cool games to enjoy at the keggar! A camera to record memories, video, music, podcasts, LTE and high speed surfing, down/uploading...cloud storage. Man brotha...you. Just. Don't. Get. It!
As for that last part of the quote, why haven't you sold your 'slow, aging, hot plate 2010 MBP' and bought the 13" Air? Seems like a perfect for for ya??
"After owning and selling the Air 13" (need the view space of at least 15"). My MBP 15" is no longer a "portable" item. It's too heavy...so if portability isn't defined by size much more then by weight. I say a 17" in around 2kg or less...otherwise it's no bueno!"
Never mind. I see I answered my own question. Hard to keep up with ya
. It's perfect for portability but you need 15" real estate...that doesn't weigh much. Seriously? You don't find the 15" portable? Wow! Truly my friend, getting healthy...a trip to the gym, use the stairs instead of the elevator...carry your 15 with ya, you'll be alright! Man...up until I got our first rMBP, my 17" and my 11" Air went with me everywhere. As well, I've always got my iPad handy. Again, I'm a business owner and my job is always 'on the run' meeting with clients...but one of the reasons I switched to Mac about a decade back. They're weight in comparison to like spec'ed Windows machines...yet the significantly better battery life. The power in these latest portables I'd awesome...especially if you're choosing the 15/17" models with their twin GPUs and the graphic switching technology.
The cMBP line is kept to to cover the gap in price created by the retina line i think. All things equal, the retina model costs $300-400 more + the cost of the DVD-RW drive.
So essentially for $400 more you get a thinner laptop with a better screen. In a vacuum, this would be a no brainer and fully justifiable. We don't live in a vacuum however. the legacy line is old and has become no different than the thinkpad or lattitude corporate lines that change guts but don't change form for years. I have one and I like it. It does what it's supposed to do and does it well (robust). However, 5 yrs later...this is hardly innovation in the tech world. And if you hit the market for current high end (as mine was when i got it) the retina models along with particular lines from Dell, Samsung, and Sony, etc are it.
Give it a little thought though, for example when you do the side by side comparison. The retina might have the better screen vs. a series 9 (which has quite the bright HD screen itself) but it's also almost 1lb heavier...which is very significant for portability but itsn't translating into a higher price. (there is also a little more than that in difference between the legacy and retina MBP).
And you are right, Apple is for profit. They are banking of consumer blind loyalty on this one. I understand that they spent time building the consumer trust...but it seems that they are milking a little too much at this point. are we staring downhill from this point on? it can't go on forever right?
No comparison between rMBP and series 9. None. Zero. Zilch. I actually considered a series 9 as we need a Windows machine for one of our sound processors.
The cMBP to this day blows the design of those Dells and whatever other cheap, plastic manufacturers you mentioned. It's a timeless design that isn't in need of a re design. The guts are continuously updated. Twice last year with proc speed bumps, now sporting USB 3 as it's finally 'built in' to SB, twin TB ports, excellent GPU, easily one of the best and brightest screens on the market...and as the fella that I agree with in this thread stated...there is absolutely NO alternative in the Window's world to the Apple trackpad. Period. Regardless of your subjective opinions, nothing compares.
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How many times do you work on your laptop from a different angle? None!
It's twice the amount of details that the eye may or may not pickup when it's already that high of a resolution and you are sitting at a close distance from the laptop. Besides, all of this can be filed under "retina is better" wich is not a disagreement point or made for a "skewered comparison" as you call it. I mentioned it in raising an argument about the difference in weight that I think is legitimate and prised for portability and price...something which you did not address of course. the rMBP is still not all that portable in my opinion.
You are assuming that I cannot afford a rMBP and that your likes are the chosen target consumer for the rMBP line because you have jobs with needs and will elect to get it because you can afford it. You are not the only working forum dweller here...yet unlike you, I can afford an rMBP (maybe with a little more ease) but Apple isn't my religion and rMBP isn't in my wishful thinking. ...and I feel Apple is banking on me being loyal like you.
So what's up with the current line and where are we heading?
You're obviously not the target audience for the rMBP. You don't understand screens, off axis viewing, color gamut and accuracy, contrast ratios, et al. It's too heavy for you, too expensive for you...even though you can possibly afford it 'easier' than a fella you don't know on this thread that actually owns one. Un. Real.
If you were serious about your original query...about where Apple is headed in the portable sector...why so defensive?
It's an excellent subject...but your subjective bias to incredible innovation and technology...your argumentative tone and behavior in this entire thread. Your total lack of the ability to listen to folks that don't agree with your ludicrous beliefs/desires for the perfect computer...makes this a really lame thread that, because of your irrationality in the subject..went absolutely no where!