Does anybody have or did anybody ever post a link to the survey? I'd like to participate in it even though I don't personally own a MacBook Pro (yet) if it hasn't expired.
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Apple Surveying MacBook Pro Users About Headphone Jack and Other Ports
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they sent out the same survey for imac owners. it looks like apple intends to go to war with the headphone jack across the board. Also, there is nothing "pro" about apple products anymore. that definitely died for the last time when they named the new 9.7" ipad the ipad pro, right after releasing the 12" ipad pro. Pro is no longer "professional". it simply stands for another "product"
No offense taken, and you are probably in your 20 somethings. Apple has always used the Pro moniker for the Professional industry. Entree Mac Pro, still in production and still aimed at who? You do have one thing right, Apple doesn't care about the Pro markets anymore, and should aptly name their equipment accordingly. How about MetroBook.
What do these surveys mean for those of us who are waiting for the new MacBook Pro to be released? I would think that if they are planning a release in October that it's too late to be making any major changes. Would it not already need to be in production??? THOUGHTS ANYONE??? I'm barely hanging on with my current laptop but I don't want to buy a new one only to find out its outdated two weeks later.
I saw the question about the headphone jack on Twitter -- not the entire survey, though -- and responded with "yes," I DO use the headphone jack on my rMBP and on my rMB. Why? I live in a condo and sometimes at night I like to listen to music or watch a video late at night while I'm on the computer. I have wireless headphones but at times they run out of "juice" inconveniently. I need to then be able to plug in a pair of wired headphones so that I can continue watching the video and hearing the dialogue or continue listening to the music I've been enjoying.
I'm surprised that as an owner of two rMBPs and one rMB that I haven't been tapped for the survey yet.
The rumor about the new possible rMBP having 4 USB-C ports and no other kinds of ports I find very disconcerting. Most people getting the new machine will have Thunderbolt or USB-3 peripheral devices that they use. When I bought my rMB I wasn't worried about the one USB-C port because I already had and am keeping my rMBP machines as well, so that all of my current peripherals with USB-3 work just fine. I bought the USB-C to USB-A adapter and the adapter which has both USB-C and USB-A ports, have used these as needed with the rMB but the majority of my file/folder transfers to the new machine have been with a Samsung T3 SSD external drive using the USB-C cable that came with my rMB. The T3 comes with a USB-C port but the cable provided by them is a USB-C on one end with USB-3 on the other end so that it works with the rMBPs. I have the feeling that most people buying a new rMBP will not want to have to lay out a lot of extra money to purchase adapters or extra USB-C to USB-C cables or peripherals which have USB-C ports. "Future-proofing" is fine, but IMHO Apple really should provide at least ONE USB-A port and ONE Thunderbolt port!
I'm surprised that as an owner of two rMBPs and one rMB that I haven't been tapped for the survey yet.
The rumor about the new possible rMBP having 4 USB-C ports and no other kinds of ports I find very disconcerting. Most people getting the new machine will have Thunderbolt or USB-3 peripheral devices that they use. When I bought my rMB I wasn't worried about the one USB-C port because I already had and am keeping my rMBP machines as well, so that all of my current peripherals with USB-3 work just fine. I bought the USB-C to USB-A adapter and the adapter which has both USB-C and USB-A ports, have used these as needed with the rMB but the majority of my file/folder transfers to the new machine have been with a Samsung T3 SSD external drive using the USB-C cable that came with my rMB. The T3 comes with a USB-C port but the cable provided by them is a USB-C on one end with USB-3 on the other end so that it works with the rMBPs. I have the feeling that most people buying a new rMBP will not want to have to lay out a lot of extra money to purchase adapters or extra USB-C to USB-C cables or peripherals which have USB-C ports. "Future-proofing" is fine, but IMHO Apple really should provide at least ONE USB-A port and ONE Thunderbolt port!
Agreed. I'm hoping that USB-C becomes truly universal, in that I never have to worry about the physical connection between devices again regardless of whether I need data, video, or digital or analog audio. One standard physical port that's smart enough to know what I just plugged in and it instantly connects the right pins with the right and the right signal; done.
Why USB-C in particular? Isn't it just another method of moving a digital audio stream to an external DAC? USB 2, 3, Lightning and Thunderbold could do that, hell even HDMI and Displayport can...
The good thing about no headphone jack is that someone somewhere should be able to provide a better sounding DAC, the ones in Apples devices are ****.
The bad thing is that this shining "wireless world" is held together by 8.000 dongles.
But again, making a machine labeled "Pro" less versatile sound like the dumbest thing you could do.
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I speculate this is all Tim's strategy to force the PC market to die early while pushing his lemmings(us, myself included) to iOS for all of our computing needs.
Tim Cook's Apple will continue to focus on shrink and thinness.
Why?
I believe Cook's ultimate goal is a "PC" inside an iPad/iPhone and majority share of the entire consumer computing market.
While I definitely foresee a similar future of small computing devices replacing the bulky boxes we cart around now, I feel it is negligent and greedy to force this change as fast as Cook is attempting to.
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Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
So, yea you ARE damned. And you are playing right into their hands.
That's... actually too logical. Painfully logical.
Note that the "adapter" should be for all intents and purposes be called a DAC, not a simple passive "adapter".
Through the use of dongles....
That's a good point. They're failing so far at pushing wireless charging forward.
*raises hand*
Okay, who does Apple market its $2000+ machines to, if not people who enjoy the financial stability that just doesn't come before your late 20s?
I think it's going to end by Android holding onto the 3.5mm jack for a couple of years, as they deride Apple for removing it in an effort to increase market share, and then Apple's going to remove the Lightning port from the iPhone completely when they introduce contactless wireless charging. And then Android and every other manufacturer is going to rush to copy Apple and remove all ports from all of their devices too. USB-C will never become a mainstream audio standard. There's a possibility it might become the mainstream digital connector, replacing and consolidating HDMI, Ethernet, et al., in which case it might absorb digital audio, but wireless is likely to supplant it first, and professionals are likely to continue using TRS connections.
Lightning port on the MacBook Pro next?
Yes. They will most likely add a Lightning port on all Macs to complete the unification of Apple products. Mac peripherals already use the Lightning port.
I take issue with that whole "Apple IS the PC industry" argument - MacOS/MACs accounts for what... 4-5% of the Personal Computers out there while Windows 7, 8 & 10 has about 80% of that market. I'm not saying that Windows is better, because Microsoft certainly also try to make the experience worse one update at a time, and Apple have had impact, that, when you look at their market share is way above what other companies could hope for. I'm just saying: Apple and Tim (alone) won't kill the "Personal Computer"...
No they haven't. They used to have the "Powermac" and "PowerBook" before the Pro moniker. You think the power macs weren't for professional markets cause there is no Pro in the name?
Pro is just a marketing term.
The Mac Pro is less of a serious attempt at penetrating the "Professional market" as it is a testament to Apple's continued technological process. To be honest, the Mac Pro, realistically, accounts for what percentage of all traditional computer sales at Apple? To put things into perspective, it isn't even mass produced. It isn't being churned out at Foxconn/Pegatron etc. at thousands a day. It's built in an expensive factory in the U.S. It's a PR stunt to show Apple "can still innovate". Realistically, the price to performance ratio of the Mac Pro isn't even in-line with that offered by other true workstations.
Now yes, I am in my twenties. I'm graduating college in a semester. Yet around me in college in NYC, what do I see? I see a plethora of college students using Macbook Pros. Linguistics majors, psych majors, english majors, womens-gender studies majors, you name it. They don't need the computational power of the Macbook Pro, and won't use it more than opening a few programs, annotating notes, messaging friends, watch some youtube videos, blah blah. Yet want to know something real funny? In my computer science classes, a majority of them use windows. Yes, they're nerds. The classes, I **** you not, are 90%+ men, and they're quite nerdy, not that it's a bad thing. I'm in compsci too. Looks like the Mac vs. PC ads really do show Apple's message of young, non-tech savvy but edgy and cool users using macs, while the traditional tech nerds use WINDOWS. **** if I had a dollar for every time I heard the nerds in engineering or compsci talking about building a windows computer. The former is the demographic Apple's even made clear it aims for, not the "nerdy" PC professional.
Now, let's face facts. The "traditional professional" market isn't even one Apple realistically aims for. Not the consumer, but the PROSUMER is what Apple aims for with the Macbook Pro. Specifically, 20-somethings that are cool and are walking advertisements for Apple. Ones that delve into a little bit of editing, opening a few programs, and need a little extra power over the web-browsing comsumer. Now, which of Apple's last Macbook Pro ads really dead-aim at you traditional professionals? No. They tout the features of video editing and photoshop, their latest emoji collection, their "easy to use and non-tech saavy user interface as well as Aqua theme", the thin and light form factor, the retina display. That's why I say you traditional professionals are like an unwanted dog that keeps barking and sitting in front Apple's doorsteps and won't freakin' move on when Apple doesn't even want you guys anymore.
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As to answer your question, a majority of students all around NYC here use Macbook Pros. As to where they get them, Parents. Not every parent, but judging by the glowing Apples I see in lecture halls, it's not a bad investment for one's beloved son or daughter for 4-8 years of higher education. It's not like they have top of the line 15" 512GB-1TB models that have a dGPU and cost $2000+ either. Lol. Most if not all the "glowing apples" around campus here are 13" models that are 128GB or 256GB most. Oh, and not to be sexist, just stating observations i've made, practically every female with a laptop in NYU is a rMBP. Guys tend to have more windows machines. Just an interesting observance.
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They already have. Witness the Macbook with ONE lousy USB-C port that has to be used for power as well as all connections. ONE port without a hub = disaster. But they claim in order to make that thin, they can't fit another port on there. Why include a headphone jack either? Just pretend you have sound or listen to tinny crap speakers that it comes with....
And what they call a "headphone" jack is also really the "line out" for most computer speakers. In other words, if you're going to "dock" with actual decent speakers, you need some kind of line connection. You can either buy a hub that comes with one or buy a professional audio output interface (although those were easier to connect in the days of having actual Firewire ports; now you need either a standard USB jack or adapter for USB-C or a Thunderbolt jack (not sure if USB3.x is low enough latency for a pro port or not. It's why I used Firewire on my MBP when I wrote songs).
Bluetooth is unacceptable for live connections. You need low latency. Even my Mac Mini is connected to my Klipsch 2.1 computer speakers via the so-called "headphone" jack.
Apple would really like you to buy some Beats headphones instead, though.... Maybe their sales aren't what they expected them to be. Some of us know quality headphones and they aren't them.
The next survey will be, "Do you ever use Finder?"
We all know Apple would like "macOS" to become more and more like iOS. It's the only "ideas" they have left in their stupid brains. Let's REMOVE features and call it an "upgrade." They've moved one step closer already by making Gatekeeper mandatory ON (it already resets back to ON in El Capitain every single time they do a point update here. I have to keep shutting it off to install 3rd party software that isn't on their pay to develop list).
Of course, if this was Microsoft, they would already KNOW whether you use your headphone jack or anything else as Windows 10 reports all such data to them whether you want it to or not.
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