Apple Expected to Ramp Up Production of Haswell-Based Notebooks Next Month

[2IS]

A simple adapter is tiny and if you plug in all the time to ethernet, as I do where I work, the time and frustration to use the adapter is far too minimal to be much of an inconvenience unless you forget to bring it or break it. It's really not a step backward....it's a step forward while giving you more choices in how you use the machine.

One would think it's National Oxy Moron day by reading this part of your post.

If you forget to bring it when you need it, it's a little more than a minimal inconvenience. Giving you more choices by providing you with less functionality? How does that work exactly? I for one would love to know what additional choices I have without an Ethernet port that I wouldn't have with one. Enlighten me.

 

[tokyojerry]

One would think it's National Oxy Moron day by reading this part of your post.

If you forget to bring it when you need it, it's a little more than a minimal inconvenience. Giving you more choices by providing you with less functionality? How does that work exactly? I for one would love to know what additional choices I have without an Ethernet port that I wouldn't have with one. Enlighten me.

What if you forget to bring your ethernet cable? (or, lose it?) Seems like an issue of personal administration.

 

[2IS]

What if you forget to bring your ethernet cable? (or, lose it?) Seems like an issue of personal administration.

Most office/corporate environments will have a closet with an abundance of Ethernet cables. Good luck finding a USB > Ethernet adapter. So if I forget my cable, I'll use one of plenty that are available. Next stupid question?

 

[cppguy]

Some do, most don't. If you NEED that much storage in flash form, a portable is probably not your solution. If spinning storage will do, a USB3-connected portable drive will likely do.

As a developer, I run over a dozen virtual machines for work. Not all of them at once, but I need them on a daily basis. The reason I like the old MBP is because I can take the DVD drive out and use a combination of 256GB SSD + 1GB HDD, all built in a portable package. The Fusion Drive isn't usable at all, because I want my main VM to be fully on the SSD. Yeah I realize I'm not the average user.

Ironically as much as I hate optical drives and don't want one in my MacBook, yet it's still the one thing that allows me to configure a dual drive system for my special needs. Since I can't justify the cost of a 768MB SSD yet, and Fusion Drive is way too dumb for me, I need to be able to tell what to put on which drive. In a couple of years we can go all out on SSD, no question.

At the same time, I don't even need a display. I always use my MacBook closed down with an external 24" - 27" display. In fact, a MacMini would do, if it had a proper video card. But there's always that rare occasion when I do need a laptop.

 

[SMDBill]

One would think it's National Oxy Moron day by reading this part of your post.

If you forget to bring it when you need it, it's a little more than a minimal inconvenience. Giving you more choices by providing you with less functionality? How does that work exactly? I for one would love to know what additional choices I have without an Ethernet port that I wouldn't have with one. Enlighten me.

So based on the way you snip at everyone in your responses, the logical answer is you don't forget it. You keep it in the very same bag where you transport your Macbook that is lacking the most critical port known to man. And if you're so careless that you'd take it out of your bag at home or elsewhere, you tie a string around your finger and dangle the adapter from the other end of the string so you're sure to not forget. Apple can't also be your mother/caretaker so it's expected you have some degree of responsibility for taking what you need with you to work, much like you put on both shoes, not just one. At some point common sense has to intervene and assist you with your preparations for dealing with such a life shattering oversight on the part of Apple to disregard your most important need in their engineering designs. If it were so mission critical, you wouldn't forget it. If you did....well, that would explain why your posts are so rude as well.

 

[tokyojerry]

Most office/corporate environments will have a closet with an abundance of Ethernet cables. Good luck finding a USB > Ethernet adapter. So if I forget my cable, I'll use one of plenty that are available. Next stupid question?

You are on a trip. You forget your ethernet cable. Hotel does not have one for you. What do you do?

Anyway, does not matter how many so-called 'stupid' questions are presented to you. Bottom line is, you are anti-adapter. So be it. World moves forward. Connectivity problems all have resolutions.

----------

So based on the way you snip at everyone in your responses, the logical answer is you don't forget it. You keep it in the very same bag where you transport your Macbook that is lacking the most critical port known to man. And if you're so careless that you'd take it out of your bag at home or elsewhere, you tie a string around your finger and dangle the adapter from the other end of the string so you're sure to not forget. Apple can't also be your mother/caretaker so it's expected you have some degree of responsibility for taking what you need with you to work, much like you put on both shoes, not just one. At some point common sense has to intervene and assist you with your preparations for dealing with such a life shattering oversight on the part of Apple to disregard your most important need in their engineering designs. If it were so mission critical, you wouldn't forget it. If you did....well, that would explain why your posts are so rude as well.

Amen!!

 

[vpro]

You...and 6 other people. Which is why it doesn't exist anymore.



Oh yeah...for all of those 300Mbps+ networks people subscribe to.



Ethernet ports are a tradeoff, and on portable devices, a good trade off. Plus, you have an adapter. You also have Thunderbolt, and if your laptop sits on desk, you are BETTER off having a Thunderbolt hub to connect desk peripherals including ethernet.



Not much. But what different does it make? Notebooks are useful because of portability...not because of battery. I rarely if ever use my MBP without it plugged in, because its a work machine. Do real work on any Apple laptop and try to make it last more than an hour.



Considering they wouldn't sell any, I don't think you're correct.

Broken record here...

This is apple we're talking about, they don't care about CONSumers, they just want 'your' money from all the trendy gadgets and IOS devices, so they can pile up their funds / resources for innovating bigger better truly PROSumer tools for those 'few' of us who are 'loyal' and use our machines, the 17"MBP, for great productive use that changes the world.

Period.

 

[Macboy Pro]

Just bought a 960gb from Crucial for $600. It's getting cheaper.

That will fit in the proprietary slot in a Macbook Pro Retina? If it is a standard 9.5mm or 7mm SSD, the rMBP doesnt support that.

 

[Woodcrest64]

Is Intel calling Haswell an i7 when its released or is it going to be something else?

 

[Slackula]

Is there a reason why a certain percentage of people on these forums rather than just purchase the Apple product that best suits their needs feel the urge to bitch to others about why those others should need the same features in the Apple products the others buy? Sorry for the world's longest sentence there.

 

[itsamacthing]

Ir

Will Apple include the Image Retention Feature? Clearly you should live with this because Apple says it's normal ... please drink more Kool Aide and just enjoy the view, even if it's ghosted

 

[hogprint]

yessssss, finally.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/697510/

 

[twoodcc]

retina air? that would get my attention. that is, if it works well

 

[2IS]

So based on the way you snip at everyone in your responses, the logical answer is you don't forget it. You keep it in the very same bag where you transport your Macbook that is lacking the most critical port known to man. And if you're so careless that you'd take it out of your bag at home or elsewhere, you tie a string around your finger and dangle the adapter from the other end of the string so you're sure to not forget. Apple can't also be your mother/caretaker so it's expected you have some degree of responsibility for taking what you need with you to work, much like you put on both shoes, not just one. At some point common sense has to intervene and assist you with your preparations for dealing with such a life shattering oversight on the part of Apple to disregard your most important need in their engineering designs. If it were so mission critical, you wouldn't forget it. If you did....well, that would explain why your posts are so rude as well.

In other words, you can't explain how a feature that's lacking is somehow giving you more options like you claimed. I didn't think you'd be able to explain it either. Next time just call it what it is instead of sensationalizing an omitted feature as an addition.

----------

You are on a trip. You forget your ethernet cable. Hotel does not have one for you. What do you do?

What do I do? I connect via wifi that every single hotel I've been to for the better part of a decade has. We are talking about situations where wifi isn't an option. Try and keep up. And for a change of pace... Any intelligent questions?

 

[makaveli559m]

I find it really annoying when people try to justify a missing port or drive saying oh you can always use a dongle or external media player :| People please don't reply back with these redundant answers. When you pay for something that has the name Pro on it, you should get everything that would make that machine a Pro and not be half baked and be forced to put out more money than you already have wasted to begin with.

 

[gregornz]

yessssss, finally.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/697510/

ha ha, nicely done I imagine your yes to sound like napoleon dynamite! Be better if only ever posted on the forums twice though!

Now to start waiting for skylake Should be sweet!

 

[shaunp]

Fact of the matter is, Apple is obviously doing something right. They are proving it in their global performance, whether some like it or not. You can please the majority of the people, the majority of the time. But, you will never please 100% of the people 100% of the time. (Ask the politicians!) So, some will just have to bite the bullet and find alternative solutions. For myself, I came from a Windows world and really thought Apple was for tutty fruity types. Not any longer. They obviously have revolutionized technology in the world of smart phones and it's also happening in the world of computing too. Intel catalytic to giving rise to Ultrabooks in the PC world (= Windows) was catalytic and a result of the onslaught and sudden rise in popularity of the Macbook Airs, for example. For PCs to be competitive, the Ultrabook concept was born.

Personally I have no remorse over the demise of the ethernet (happening on Ultrabooks too.) Firewire ports, etc. Eventually wireless even eliminate dongles (hopefully) with GigaWiFi and beyond.

And they are also doing a lot wrong too! I have no disagreement that the Apple ecosystem is the best, but the choices are becoming more and more limited with regards to hardware. For me the lack of matt screen options and a physical ethernet port is a deal breaker. I work in multiple locations, not all of them have wifi, and often I don't have a desk I am at the back of a rack with crossover cable plugged into whatever it is I'm configuring. In that situation, adaptors get in the way.

 

[shaunp]

Rather than throwing names at someone who disagrees, maybe consider that you are getting a multi-functional port rather than just ethernet. You can connect it to many different devices for different purposes. That makes the adapters necessary rather than filling the laptop with various sized ports for everyone's specific needs. You mentioned earlier that it was "ugly" to have the adapter plugged in, but that suggests that just an ethernet cord plugged in is somehow not ugly?

I'll take the smaller form factor and multi-purpose and faster port over an ethernet port any day. A simple adapter is tiny and if you plug in all the time to ethernet, as I do where I work, the time and frustration to use the adapter is far too minimal to be much of an inconvenience unless you forget to bring it or break it. It's really not a step backward....it's a step forward while giving you more choices in how you use the machine.

I'll agree with the screen being reflective. That's a huge pain and should at least have options to buy a matte or similar low-reflectivity screen.

Nope, my requirements are RJ45 not a multi-function port. Simple as that. I don't always have access to wifi, and often don't have access to a desk - working in a data centre configuring new kit with a crossover cable before it can be managed from elsewhere. Not all customers have a build area so you have to spend some time in there. In this situation adaptors are just awkward.

If I was buying an Air I'd agree that lack of ports is the price to pay for portability, but a pro laptop should have RJ45. It's inexcusable. Dell, Lenovo and HP all have RJ45 on pretty much everything that isn't an ultrabook. Apple are steadily reducing my buying options. No laptop with RJ45, no matt screen option except for the old MBP, no tower-based desktop. I don't want to move to Windows, but when my current Apple kit needs replacing I dread to think what will be available given the current trends.

 

[K42]

go and buy a 1TB 2.5inch thunderbolt (oh, USB3.0 is OK too) extern hard drive

The retina display is more useful for professionals

I you are using the machine for programming (like I do), retina is a gimmick that does not add any real value.

A big internal drive though, would.

 

[gnasher729]

I you are using the machine for programming (like I do), retina is a gimmick that does not add any real value.

A big internal drive though, would.

If you are using the machine for making your living writing software (like I do), retina is such an improvement in readability, I would hate to live without it. And you can have a 1920 x 1200 monitor if you like.

Big internal drive doesn't bother me. I wouldn't be restricted by a 128 GB drive.

 

[shaunp]

I find it really annoying when people try to justify a missing port or drive saying oh you can always use a dongle or external media player :| People please don't reply back with these redundant answers. When you pay for something that has the name Pro on it, you should get everything that would make that machine a Pro and not be half baked and be forced to put out more money than you already have wasted to begin with.

Exactly! If the competition are doing it Apple need to do it too because 'being cool' doesn't always cut it when you have to get work done.

 

[shaunp]

So based on the way you snip at everyone in your responses, the logical answer is you don't forget it. You keep it in the very same bag where you transport your Macbook that is lacking the most critical port known to man. And if you're so careless that you'd take it out of your bag at home or elsewhere, you tie a string around your finger and dangle the adapter from the other end of the string so you're sure to not forget. Apple can't also be your mother/caretaker so it's expected you have some degree of responsibility for taking what you need with you to work, much like you put on both shoes, not just one. At some point common sense has to intervene and assist you with your preparations for dealing with such a life shattering oversight on the part of Apple to disregard your most important need in their engineering designs. If it were so mission critical, you wouldn't forget it. If you did....well, that would explain why your posts are so rude as well.

What happens if you just don't want an adaptor? There are only 2 USB ports on Macs and there are times when I'm using both USB ports and the thunderbolt port for an external display. I don't sit at the same desk every day so I can't get a docking station to provide ethernet and I don't always have wireless.

Not everybody's needs are the same and I know a lot of techies that simply wouldn't buy a laptop without an RJ45 port. Stuck at the arse end of some broken equipment at 2 in the morning trust me you just want to be able to plug the cable in and get on with it. And if your adaptor failed for whatever reason you'd look a fool in front of the customer because you can't plug in an patch cable on your £2k laptop!

 

[Lightyearz]

So I am buying a new macbook next weekend in the states as its cheaper than hear in england though I hear about these new ones I don't know what to do. Are these chips ground breaking or just slightly faster, does anyone know?

 

[Freida]

Nope, my requirements are RJ45 not a multi-function port. Simple as that. I don't always have access to wifi, and often don't have access to a desk - working in a data centre configuring new kit with a crossover cable before it can be managed from elsewhere. Not all customers have a build area so you have to spend some time in there. In this situation adaptors are just awkward.

If I was buying an Air I'd agree that lack of ports is the price to pay for portability, but a pro laptop should have RJ45. It's inexcusable. Dell, Lenovo and HP all have RJ45 on pretty much everything that isn't an ultrabook. Apple are steadily reducing my buying options. No laptop with RJ45, no matt screen option except for the old MBP, no tower-based desktop. I don't want to move to Windows, but when my current Apple kit needs replacing I dread to think what will be available given the current trends.

Although I agree with you regardign the matte option I still have to ask you this. (and others)

What and how long would you keep something in a laptop? The longer you keep old technology the more limited you become for the future technology (as something old takes space instead of something "better" & "new")
You see, if we take your approach then we would have to also keep Floppy discs or CD drives because some people "might" need them. That mentality or approach limits you in terms of progress.
The term "PRO" doesn't mean all the thing in one package. In fact, some people's expectations about "PRO" means : The LATEST & FASTEST. Which obviously your approach won't.
I'm not dissing you and your needs but I am dissing the way you think about things. What Apple simply does is to put the things they "believe" is the "PRO" label worth it. I hate that they killed 17" and I hate that they can't offer matte option and it bugs me but I can't say the same about ethernet etc. The reason is that if one needs it then the option to use it is there which is something you can't say about matte or 17" option as you simply don't have a solution there. (none!! - unless you switch platform but this is not about that)
I can't remember the last time I needed DVD drive or ethernet. Everywhere I go there is wifi and if that wouldn't be the case I would get the adapter but WIFI si the future (or actually present at this point). Its ok for you to need the port and its fine as we all have different requirements. What is not ok for you is to request that Apple keeps the technology for small amount of people. If every company was thinking the same then there would be no progress or if there was there would be always price for it (ie, when floppy was replaced by cd, if they kept them both in a laptop it would mean a lot of sacrifices. either thicker, or heavier or just everything that "PRO" does NOT deserve.)

Its ok that you need it but please, you have the option to get it. I dont' think its fair that you complain about a little square that has dimensions of 2x3cms (max)

Think ahead and what it means for future. OR think about this. IF Apple and other companies will do what you suggest then who WILL make progress in technology?

AS Bill Gates said: "640k memory will be enough"

And again, I'm not dissing you or your need. Just asking simply to consider the bigger picture rather than yours.

 

[SMDBill]

In other words, you can't explain how a feature that's lacking is somehow giving you more options like you claimed. I didn't think you'd be able to explain it either. Next time just call it what it is instead of sensationalizing an omitted feature as an addition.

Have you seen all the Thunderbolt to xxx adapters available? That's a multipurpose port, much like USB but with huge speed and capability differences. So Thunderbolt to RJ45 for $29.99. No brainer. And if you need to connect an external hard drive or other device, Thunderbolt to that device with great speed.

That was my point. Instead of believing a missing port is a mistake, they give you one that can fill multiple needs for those of us tolerant enough to not mind an extra 6" added to the length of the already cumbersome and ugly ethernet cord for the adapter. If your tolerance level is different within a corporate environment, then the decision to go to a Windows machine has been made for you by Apple's engineers, but I suspect they anticipated/assumed most users would be tolerant, at least to some degree, to the idea of an adapter. They surely don't want to drive people away from the machines, but if they did they need to know about it (whether they care or not is a separate topic). If the adapter is intolerable for your requirements, perhaps a formal acknowledgement to Apple would at least let them know there are some users who need better capabilities from their machines. They sure won't listen to just one voice, but if enough people did the same perhaps it would make a difference.

I do believe if it were truly an omitted feature, Thunderbolt to ethernet would not be possible.