I think the upcoming price reductions will help this, as well as the due improvements. Although ports is the main weak spot for people when choosing a laptop... even if they don't really use them they like to have them there. Meanwhile the iPad is declining. But I think Apple have got their priorities straight now... kind of.
I like that your post was first because it highlights something that Apple itself doesn't get, ports are important which is likely a big factor in MBA sales. I see these references to the great sales figures of MBA and the rumored shock at Apple HQ and have to wonder if the management team at Apple actually uses their hardware in a non executive role. The reality is one port doesn't do it for most people.
On the other hand we might be seeing TB in a Mac Book. That would make for a very interesting netbook but even somas users can not get buy with such a limited platform. So I'm still hoping the MBA rumors are true, that the machine gets a significant upgrade with decent ports, a bit more performance and maybe even a high resolution screen.
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After almost 2 years of no Macbook Pro update, I would have expected much higher sales. Seems like the new Macbook Pro isn't the huge success this article claims. I'm curious to see what Apple does to appease the Pro demographic.
That is because those of us that needed a MacBook Pro bought one when needed and didn't worry about what the nut cases on the internet thought. Seriously guy the hardware Intel had to offer as an ""upgrade"" had almost zero performance improvement capability. There was little incentive for Apple to put new chips in the MacBook Pro for two years.
Now we have a MBP with a new generation of technology that has made an impressive step forward with respect to performance. It isn't even obvious that Kaby Lake will offer a huge improvement in performance but I'm expecting we will see higher integration and maybe a new GPU.
GPU's are interesting in that the rumors of Apple designed GPU's for the ARM chips could also mean Apple designed GPU's for the Macs. That would be one interesting development, this especially if the Apple GPU was developed in partnership with AMD. Ultimately I see Apple having no choice here even if we don't see an Apple GPU this year in Macs. The problem is being able to steer the direction of development especially in the area of AI processing which will become huge in the near future.
To put it another way if Apple isn't working on their own AI processing architecture, likely integrated in to the GPU, they will quickly find themselves at a disadvantage with the rest of the industry. There is a limited time frame here for them to get this into the mainstream. Done right they can lead, done wrong they will forever be trying to catch up.
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I don't think it's "surprisingly" strong.
The problem is people at Apple are surprised. This in and of itself is shocking and is a strong indicator that the engineering team and management teams at Apple just don't get customer needs.
The MBA is the last portable that out of the box can charge an iPhone without adapters.
The MB and MBP have become what the Air used to be in terms of eschewing "legacy" technology.
The MBA is the most conventional notebook Apple makes.
It is more of a legacy machine as I really don't think "conventional" fits the bill here. You see I don't disagree with Apple move to USB-C for most ports on the MBP's. It is a forward looking move and works to the advantage for anyone that maintains their machines for more that two years.
Note I used the phrase "most ports", I'm not completely happy with everything they did to the machines. The lack of an SD port me is sinful, again indicating that they don't understand user needs. So I'd rather see the new hardware referred to as forward looking but still a conventional laptop.
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I'd love your input on why the new MBP was junk. I'm considering purchasing one this fall for research computing but if you're happier with your two year old MBP, I'd like to know why. I'd love to save some money and just buy an older MBP.
Realize that you are just receiving opinions and as such you can't put too much focus on anyone. That is unless you are trying to justify a position you already have.
As for buying used, that is a smart move in many cases. I know a guy that ran a machine shop that had a phrase he used often: "buy used buy more". It applies to just about everything in life these days. If you let somebody else take the depreciation you end up saving a lot of money and usually don't lose much in performance.
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Or MBAs.
The tbMBPs must be selling below expectations for Apple to be constantly trying to lift them up in its sales reports.
Apple needs to be honest in their sales reports or else risking share holder backlash and possible criminal investigation. Beyond that I don't see where they are trying to lift anything in their quarterly reports.
My local Apple Store told me the MBA is its best-selling laptop.
That has been the case for over five years now, almost a decade.
Part of the reason I chose an SE over a 7 was because the latter lacked a headphone jack.
Well that actually makes sense.
