Anyone else abandoning ship?

[BluefinTuna]

lack of Ports are the biggest problem for most people i met. and lacking of physical Function keys are another major problem. Devs i know destroyed touch bar with their general use in 6 months and they went back to 2015 version.

it has been more than 2 yrs since apple removed ports in expectation of main stream adoption of USB C. but it is not happening...i consider this as epic fail.

I won't buy any Apple laptop with a Touch Bar. Tried it out for a week and decided that I would rather switch to Windows, which is not ideal for me. Removing the USB and HDMI ports was also insane. I can kind of live with fewer ports but add in all the other issues (crappy keyboard, increasing prices, etc.) and I'm no longer interested in their mobile devices. Same can be said for the iPhone with the headphone jack and touch id being removed in exchange for face id. Apple seems to love to get rid of features that people love and replace them with useless "innovation". All while increasing prices across the board.

That's why I just bought a late 2015 21.5" iMac that's fully spec'd out and will wait for the dust to settle. If Apple does not reverse course on these issues, my next laptop with be a Lenovo or Dell XPS and phone with be a Samsung Galaxy Note 9/10. Let's see if Apple is willing to shoot themselves in the foot. My guess is that heads will roll as the stock price continues to drop. We're starting to see the beginning of it with retail chief, Angela Ahrendts, leaving in April. In addition, Bill Stasior, who was head of Siri has been fired. I wonder how many more executives need to go before Apple realizes that their main selling points were quality, innovation, and customer service.

 

[maflynn]

That's why I just bought a late 2015 21.5" iMac that's fully spec'd out and will wait for the dust to settle.

The iMac is a fine machine, I also have the 2015 model, and I think that's the sweet spot on form and function. I'm not really using it anymore (family is) but I found it to be a great desktop

 

[SDColorado]

The iMac is a fine machine, I also have the 2015 model, and I think that's the sweet spot on form and function. I'm not really using it anymore (family is) but I found it to be a great desktop

I have a 2015 iMac as well. It most times works as it should. Generally speaking I really like it. Does what I need it to. Probably time to replace it soon though. Perhaps there will be an update this fall that will prompt a replacement.

 

[maflynn]

I have a 2015 iMac as well. It most times works as it should. Generally speaking I really like it. Does what I need it to. Probably time to replace it soon though. Perhaps there will be an update this fall that will prompt a replacement.

For me, its a superfluous machine and If it lasts through 2019, I'd say it doesn't owe me anything. I might be tempted to sell it if I could find a local buyer just to free up the space.

 

[tomscott1988]

+1 i managed to get a 2017 27" 3.4 1tb 8gb base model on Facebook For Sale this weekend for £1000 and it has warranty until April.... its 10 months old... and it came with the trackpad too. They currently retail for £1750 so think it was a decent buy.

The spec isnt ideal but with TB3 I have added a raid 0 SSD enclosure for a twin 512gb ssd set up for 1tb boot drive at 1000mb/s and 32gbs of ram have just arrived. Should tide me over for a while!

If it doesn't do what I need then I will move it on and probably make a few £. The screen is lovely and so nice to not have a big desktop and screen with wires everywhere.

So far it feels far snappier than my Mac Pro in the sig, benchmarks tell a different story. Probably the difference between 10 year old CPUs and more modern.

Geekbench:

Mac pro
Single 3000
Multi 15,000
Open CL 150,000

iMac
Single 5000
Multi 15000
Open CL 90,000

 

[_Kiki_]

I current state I prefer Windows over MacOS. In Safari I can't turn off stupid notification on the top of the screen during watching on-line videos. Looks like compatibility and optimisation to network content is less every year. I noticed some problem with fonts when I tried print shipping label (Mojave). Also I had problem with booking carrier because website doesn't work properly on Safari. After installation some update to High Sierra my iMac Retina randomly crashed and I have to do full reinstallation of OS (first issue I had the mouse click stopped working and after restart OS stopped loading). Safari and OSX were nice few years ago, but in current state it's a big letdown. I have a less problems with Windows which is more polished every year.

 

[windowstomac]

Angered even further today by this situation. Over the weekend and today I got everything up and running on an old machine and the MBP wiped ready for replacement. Executive Liaison gave me instructions for arranging pickup with DHL, which was an asolute farce involving several emails and a call to their call centre that took 20 mins and I now realise was to a premium rate number which cost me £9.50 ($12).

It's bad enough that the reward for buying a more expensive "custom spec" machine is a two week wait for a replacement, but the sheer time, stress and business interruption involved is considerably worse than that inconvenience.

I'm not entirely happy with my Surface and Windows either, so I feel caught between a rock and a hard place.

 

[seeforyourself]

As I type this on my company issued 2017 MBP 15... I backspace to fix the double strikes. I bang harder on the keyboard to get some to type. I constantly have to deal with dongle hell just to do my daily job functions. I don't have the physical keys I need to touch type my way through my job.

I am a HUGE Apple fan. I have been an all in guy for a decade plus. But this is just getting ridiculous. I'm serious considering bouncing off to Linux because M$ is just not an option in my mind. I'm not going back to virus hell. I'm just wondering if I'm alone? Is this part of the plan? Is Apple pushing us to iPad Pros? It just feels like I got a "MacBook Plus" not a "Pro" machine. By that I mean it seems like somebody let a marketing person convince them that they could up sell people out of MacBook with bells and whistles and didn't bother giving a Pro line machine features and function I needed.

Again, I'm not some Windows or Android zealot here to start a flame war. Just a hardcore Apple guy wondering what Apple is thinking these days and if they just aren't that "into" the laptop market anymore?

I’ve been having a horrible experience with my 2017 15inch as well. The keyboard is atrocious. Mine has been in the repair shop for 4 times with the last one being defective right out of the factory of the last replacement keyboard! They also messed up the display and didn’t fix the USB C ports from the other repair. So they had to replace 3 things yesterday and I hopefully get my laptop back soon. I’ve been without my laptop for about 3 weeks total with all these repairs.

 

[BluefinTuna]

Why are so many people saying that the 2015 iMac is great but that they don't use it anymore or want to upgrade?

 

[Howard2k]

Why are so many people saying that the 2015 iMac is great but that they don't use it anymore or want to upgrade?

Only posting for myself - I have a 13" 2015 MBPro and it's awesome. Best computer I've owned. No issues with it, expect for a brief dark period with High Sierra and then following the initial installation of Mojave (and further sleep functionality issues (now resolved)). It runs exceptionally well. I've been using computers for >30 years and it's the pinnacle in my experience. If I could have the same stability and reliability but with twice the performance (2018 13" vs 2015 13") would I be interested? Hell yeah. Take my money. But since it doesn't really (and/or financially) matter to me whether my audio encode takes 6 minutes or 3 minutes; or whether an HDR process takes 40 seconds or 20 seconds, then the performance improvement doesn't justify the apparent decrease in reliability.

The new 13" looks amazing, and I'm jealous of those who have a good working laptop. But given all the apparent issues, as much as I want to upgrade to the 2018 13" (and it's a hell of an upgrade on paper), I won't.

 

[windowstomac]

Only posting for myself - I have a 13" 2015 MBPro and it's awesome. Best computer I've owned. No issues with it, expect for a brief dark period with High Sierra and then following the initial installation of Mojave (and further sleep functionality issues (now resolved)). It runs exceptionally well. I've been using computers for >30 years and it's the pinnacle in my experience. If I could have the same stability and reliability but with twice the performance (2018 13" vs 2015 13") would I be interested? Hell yeah. Take my money. But since it doesn't really (and/or financially) matter to me whether my audio encode takes 6 minutes or 3 minutes; or whether an HDR process takes 40 seconds or 20 seconds, then the performance improvement doesn't justify the apparent decrease in reliability.

The new 13" looks amazing, and I'm jealous of those who have a good working laptop. But given all the apparent issues, as much as I want to upgrade to the 2018 13" (and it's a hell of an upgrade on paper), I won't.

Sounds wise to me. I had a mid 2015 top spec 15" MacBook Pro and was completely happy with it apart from the fact the battery was worn out and I was finding it big and bulky, only really switched to the 2018 because I wanted to swap for something smaller. I frequently find myself wishing I'd just had the battery replaced and hung onto it.

 

[spacebro]

Why can't they make a magnetic usb-c power connector? I've been trying for years to understand why they took away MagSafe. Still trying.

 

[Nugget]

Why can't they make a magnetic usb-c power connector? I've been trying for years to understand why they took away MagSafe. Still trying.

The current hardware is too thin to fit a MagSafe 2 connector, so they'd have had to move to an even slimmer MagSafe 3. MagSafe 2 was already noticeably less effective than the original (smaller meant that is has too little "Mag" and too much "Safe") and I have a tough time seeing how they could make a smaller form factor without ending up with an even worse user experience. I imagine they tried in the lab and came to exactly that conclusion.

I loved the original MagSafe and found MagSafe 2 to be more of an annoyance than a help. I miss the original, but that was a long time ago.

 

[spacebro]

The current hardware is too thin to fit a MagSafe 2 connector, so they'd have had to move to an even slimmer MagSafe 3. MagSafe 2 was already noticeably less effective than the original (smaller meant that is has too little "Mag" and too much "Safe") and I have a tough time seeing how they could make a smaller form factor without ending up with an even worse user experience.

I loved the original MagSafe and found MagSafe 2 to be more of an annoyance than a help. I miss the original, but that was a long time ago.

That just isn't true. The width of the MagSafe is not thicker than the bottom half of a MacBook.

 

[Falhófnir]

The current hardware is too thin to fit a MagSafe 2 connector, so they'd have had to move to an even slimmer MagSafe 3. MagSafe 2 was already noticeably less effective than the original (smaller meant that is has too little "Mag" and too much "Safe") and I have a tough time seeing how they could make a smaller form factor without ending up with an even worse user experience. I imagine they tried in the lab and came to exactly that conclusion.

I loved the original MagSafe and found MagSafe 2 to be more of an annoyance than a help. I miss the original, but that was a long time ago.

I thought they made the magnetic connection weaker because the machines it was being used on got lighter?

 

[Nugget]

A MagSafe 2 socket is 5mm tall. That's nearly 1mm taller than the widest edge of a MacBook Air. It's taller than the edge of a MacBook at the location of the USB-C socket. Its exactly the height of a MacBook Pro not accounting for whatever supporting shroud is needed on the top and bottom for structure.

The connector would need to be reduced in height to fit a MacBook Pro, and it's not even close to fitting on an Air or regular MacBook.

 

[rayriceroni00]

Why can't they make a magnetic usb-c power connector? I've been trying for years to understand why they took away MagSafe. Still trying.

Because then you'd be down to only 3 USB-c ports. Their thinking is have 4 ports and your charging occurs anywhere and you then have 4 ports for other things when not charging.

I liked the magnetic connector a lot in my 2013, but now I don't care. I have like a foot of slack on my laptop. It's not going to be kicked off the desk, and I never had the mag safe save my old laptop.

 

[Howard2k]

I can leave MagSafe. I like it but it’s never been called into action and I wouldn’t miss it.

 

[alphaod]

I am not abandoning ship because I enjoy Mac OS, plus I already use a Surface Pro day in day out; I wish Apple would introduce something cooler other just pushing out the same boring laptop every year when Intel releases an updated processor.

I don't miss MagSafe at all. Honestly USB-C is actually pretty convenient. I only need charger for my Mac and my other USB devices.

 

[Painter2002]

Only posting for myself - I have a 13" 2015 MBPro and it's awesome. Best computer I've owned. No issues with it, expect for a brief dark period with High Sierra and then following the initial installation of Mojave (and further sleep functionality issues (now resolved)). It runs exceptionally well. I've been using computers for >30 years and it's the pinnacle in my experience. If I could have the same stability and reliability but with twice the performance (2018 13" vs 2015 13") would I be interested? Hell yeah. Take my money. But since it doesn't really (and/or financially) matter to me whether my audio encode takes 6 minutes or 3 minutes; or whether an HDR process takes 40 seconds or 20 seconds, then the performance improvement doesn't justify the apparent decrease in reliability.

The new 13" looks amazing, and I'm jealous of those who have a good working laptop. But given all the apparent issues, as much as I want to upgrade to the 2018 13" (and it's a hell of an upgrade on paper), I won't.

I’m going to chime in and say that I’m another happy owner of a 2017 MBP. I know there are risks with these machines, but I’m ok with that and have been plenty happy with my machine and it has had no hardware issues to date (knock on wood).

I understand why some people have abandoned ship, but those who have a good machine know that these are actually quite good running machines if they work as they were designed to.

 

[4ktitanx]

I am thinking about leaving . Apple just replace my 2017 MBP Pro 15 with 2018 Version i7 16gig with VEGA for $750 its on its way from China I am thinking about just selling it. I don't think i want to deal with the keyboard issues again

 

[Cashmonee]

I can leave MagSafe. I like it but it’s never been called into action and I wouldn’t miss it.

I agree. I mean MagSafe was fine, but ultimately one of those things that I just didn't find a use for. I am much happier not having a proprietary charger and now being able to use an external battery for charging. Honestly, I find the whole I/O dongle argument to be overblown. I am much happier having 4 ports than can be anything they need to be. I have always had to carry dongles (everyone has if they are honest about it), now is no different except that I have more flexibility on what my 4 ports can do.

 

[Painter2002]

I agree. I mean MagSafe was fine, but ultimately one of those things that I just didn't find a use for. I am much happier not having a proprietary charger and now being able to use an external battery for charging. Honestly, I find the whole I/O dongle argument to be overblown. I am much happier having 4 ports than can be anything they need to be. I have always had to carry dongles (everyone has if they are honest about it), now is no different except that I have more flexibility on what my 4 ports can do.

Finally someone else who sees it the way I do! Lol. The majority of pro users who used USB-A had a USB hub so they could plug in multiple USB-A peripherals with only cord. How is it any different buying and using a USB-C hub? Sure a quality USB-C hub might cost you $50-75, but as I recall good USB-A hubs in the day weren’t that much cheaper.

Personally USB-C has been much more convenient to me than any of the ports I had before on old gen computers. And if a port goes bad on the USB-C hub, I can just buy a new hub rather than spending $200+ for a repair. And before you ask, yes I had ports go bad on a MacBook Pro, specifically the SD card slot on a 2014 13” MBP.

 

[doitdada]

I bought a 10 dollar USB-C to USB-A hub. No worries since late 2017. Works as advertised

 

[sg9]

If Apple made a Macbook having no ports, the most uncomfortable keyboard in history, highest price ever, I'd say ok, it's their choice, and buy something else. Some people may actually like it. But making profit out of expensive repairs on integrated unreliable parts is simply wrong. Unreliable compared to 2015 and earlier models.