2011: The year Apple gave up.

[BluAffiliate]

Seeing the highly anticipated but actually underwhelming and forgettable "upgrade" to the Macbook Pro line signals the end of Apple's innovation and ingenuity. Seems to me like they have given up on building the greatest ever product with every upgrade and are following the usual "incremental" upgrade paths that most other boring computer companies go with.

Really Apple?
We went from:

to

to

to

Have we really run out of ideas to the point that we're just updating token hardware without any real innovation?

Has anything really changed since 2008 beside some hardware upgrades and the occasional modification of the location of some slots.

No, not really. Looks like we're stuck in time.

What's it going to take for Apple before we succumb to hubris entirely?

 

[auero]

If it isn't broken, don't fix it.

 

[PAPO]

if you looked back you'd know that this is normal for apple, they only have a full overhaul every few generations, next year will likely be a major overhaul, inside and out and then it'll be incremental updates for a few years

 

[Surely]

What do you want it to look like, a spaceship?

From what I've read, it seems that a major design change is in the works for 2012.

I'm content with the design progression from Powerbook to the current MBP.

 

[BluAffiliate]

If it isn't broken, don't fix it.

Famous last words for a tech company.

 

[sammich]

If it isn't broken, don't fix it.

Amen.

I think we're spoilt. The PC industry only produce the same rough plastic (occasionally, metal) design that still exude 'cheap' (barring a few notable exceptions, but they're usually the premium PC brands).

If Apple put in all the crap that was rumoured, then about 1 generation later, another thread like this will crop up.

Famous last words for a tech company.

Last I heard, Macs are still flying off the shelf in increasing numbers.

 

[Krafty]

Have we really run out of ideas to the point that we're just updating token hardware without any real innovation?

Can you please remind us what design ideas you've had?

 

[mrsir2009]

if you looked back you'd know that this is normal for apple, they only have a full overhaul every few generations, next year will likely be a major overhaul, inside and out and then it'll be incremental updates for a few years

Which is why I'm waiting for the next refresh before I think about getting a new MBP - Major design overhaul

 

[fr4c]

Your diagram flow of pictures are deceiving. Keep in mind the pre-unibody design pretty much stayed the same from PPC PowerBook through Intel MBP.

 

[Resist]

I tend to believe things have changed more due to the economy, than Apple giving up. I doubt many of us would rather see Apple raise their prices significantly for better upgrades.

Plus when a company starts popping out an ever expanding product line, we can't expect stellar upgrades consistently all the time.

For fan boys I'm sure this is not what they want to hear. But for the rest of us, it keeps money in our pockets longer until a real upgrade is released.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

January 2003:

+

September 2003:

+

+

April 2004:

see September 2003​

January 2005:

see September 2003 and April 2004​

October 2005:

+

January 2006:

April 2006:

October 2006:

+

June 2007:

+

February 2008:

+

 

[acedickson]

Seeing the highly anticipated but actually underwhelming and forgettable "upgrade" to the Macbook Pro line signals the end of Apple's innovation and ingenuity. Seems to me like they have given up on building the greatest ever product with every upgrade and are following the usual "incremental" upgrade paths that most other boring computer companies go with.

Really Apple?
We went from:

to

to

to

Have we really run out of ideas to the point that we're just updating token hardware without any real innovation?

Has anything really changed since 2008 beside some hardware upgrades and the occasional modification of the location of some slots.

No, not really. Looks like we're stuck in time.

What's it going to take for Apple before we succumb to hubris entirely?

Seriously? That's your argument? They stuck with the Aluminum design much longer than we've been on this design.

Do you guys smell that?

 

[tjb1]

Ah its great to see all these morons that were expecting bigger battery, ssd boot drive, liquid metal, etc...have nothing like that and waited for absolutely no reason at all.

 

[GoCubsGo]

What do you want it to look like, a spaceship?

From what I've read, it seems that a major design change is in the works for 2012.

I'm content with the design progression from Powerbook to the current MBP.

This

OP, if you don't like it, buy a Dell.

 

[Blu101]

What do you want it to look like, a spaceship?

From what I've read, it seems that a major design change is in the works for 2012.

I'm content with the design progression from Powerbook to the current MBP.

Same here + they still look gorgeous - how many other laptop designs have withstood the test of time like the mbp?

 

[HBOC]

Seriously OP? The "classic" design, as nicely illustrated by "sims", was around WAAAAAY longer than the unibody design. And like Jessica said, don't like it, go buy an android tablet. I am thrilled with my new quad core i7, and I came from a "classic" early 08'.

 

[Blu101]

Famous last words for a tech company.

PC troll alert.

 

[sigma8]

Have we really run out of ideas to the point that we're just updating token hardware without any real innovation?

Has anything really changed since 2008 beside some hardware upgrades and the occasional modification of the location of some slots.

No, not really. Looks like we're stuck in time.

What's it going to take for Apple before we succumb to hubris entirely?

Jan 2001, Tibooks
Jan 2003, Albooks
Jan 2006, first MacBook Pro (Intel inside, but externally identical to Albook)
Oct 2008, first Unibody MBP
??? 2012, overhaul?

Their laptops looked the same from 2003 until 2008. Over 5 years. And you're complaining that they haven't changed in the last three? If your counterargument is "But the insides changed a lot" well that has happened with this update.

It's the first ever quad core laptop. Anywhere. That's significant. It's also the first appearance of Thunderbolt. Anywhere. That's significant. As far as I can tell, the 15" and 17" models are also sporting the best GPU Apple has ever dared put in a Laptop, compared to what is currently "out" at the time the model is released.

I'm not entirely sure what kind of innovation you are looking for...or perhaps I simply don't know what past innovation you are referring to. They are overhauling the laptop product line at the same, and upgrading internals at a similar pace that they've been following for the past decade. Maybe your accusation stretches back to the 1990's? It looks like they used to release quite a few different kinds of PowerBook G3's at a rapid clip. Of course, they all looked pretty similar, except for the first one.

 

[vistadude]

How about blue ray, wireless display, more usb ports, large internal hard disk, USB 3.0 or a high res screen?

All they did was move to the current processors and video cards, something that all laptop manufacturers will do.

 

[sigma8]

PC troll alert.

I don't think that's trolling. "If it's not broke, don't fix it" is pretty poor wisdom for a business that's concerned about growth, since it implies stagnation. Fortunately for Apple, they've been "breaking" plenty.

 

[adnoh]

Seriously? That's your argument? They stuck with the Aluminum design much longer than we've been on this design.

Do you guys smell that?

I'd smell that

 

[mrsir2009]

more usb ports

Personally I don't see why you'd use more than two USB ports at once on a LAPTOP. Plus the thunderbolt port will be able to connect with some devices later on, meaning you could plug a lot of your USB stuff into it.

 

[cmaier]

Hate to feed the trolls, but how weird that this troll's argument is that Apple "gave up" simply because the exterior of the design is the same for a couple years.

I'm typing this on a santa rosa 17" MBP I bought in late 2007. The early 2011 17" MBP I'm ordering will have at least the following improvements:

1) double the number of CPU cores
2) much higher end graphics
3) around 3x the battery life
4) unibody shell that doesn't creak and bend like my old machine
5) 2 graphics processors that are automatically switched-between based on need, to save power
6) an industry first peripheral interface operating at more than double the speed of USB3
7) multitouch trackpad, huge in size compared to the old one, with no room taken up by a button.
8) much improved camera
9) much improved display screen

That's a lot of change in just a few years, and a lot of features not easy to find in the competition, at least in that combination.

Personally I don't see why you'd use more than two USB ports at once on a LAPTOP. Plus the thunderbolt port will be able to connect with some devices later on, meaning you could plug a lot of your USB stuff into it.

1) ipad
2) iphone
3) time machine drive

 

[appleguy123]

Jan 2001, Tibooks
Jan 2003, Albooks
Jan 2006, first MacBook Pro (Intel inside, but externally identical to Albook)
Oct 2008, first Unibody MBP
??? 2012, overhaul?

Their laptops looked the same from 2003 until 2008. Over 5 years. And you're complaining that they haven't changed in the last three? If your counterargument is "But the insides changed a lot" well that has happened with this update.

It's the first ever quad core laptop. Anywhere. That's significant. It's also the first appearance of Thunderbolt. Anywhere. That's significant. As far as I can tell, the 15" and 17" models are also sporting the best GPU Apple has ever dared put in a Laptop, compared to what is currently "out" at the time the model is released.

I'm not entirely sure what kind of innovation you are looking for...or perhaps I simply don't know what past innovation you are referring to. They are overhauling the laptop product line at the same, and upgrading internals at a similar pace that they've been following for the past decade. Maybe your accusation stretches back to the 1990's? It looks like they used to release quite a few different kinds of PowerBook G3's at a rapid clip. Of course, they all looked pretty similar, except for the first one.

Is this really the first quad core laptop? If so, why didn't Apple say that?

 

[mrsir2009]

1) ipad
2) iphone
3) time machine drive

And how many people would be doing all that at the same time?