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For me, the Mac range is too fragmented and confusing. I'm a fairly basic Mac user but there isn't a Mac that suits me.

MacBook Pro - I'm not a pro. I just need it for surfing the web, email and some word processing.
MacBook - Very expensive for what I understand to be an underpowered computer. Concerned about the lack of ports, the fact it's USB-C (not seen on any other Apple product), the need for adaptors, no SD card slot etc.
MacBook Air - I thought the MacBook was going to replace this? Don't want to buy an 'old' Mac. Lower res screen (I think?). Silver bezel is different to all other Macs which again suggests is going to be discontinued.

I suspect I'm a fairly typical customer who is actually just quite confused as to which Mac to buy and ultimately comes to the conclusion that none are suitable/worth the money.

If your only needs are email, web, and word processing, an iPad Pro is the way to go. You're right, the MBA does have a non-retina screen. Since the MacBook didn't receive a price cut just recently, it's not clear what the plan is with the MBA. The MacBook will definitely drop in price over time, but it's clear Apple wants the MBA demographic to use iPads.
 
For me, the Mac range is too fragmented and confusing. I'm a fairly basic Mac user but there isn't a Mac that suits me.

MacBook Pro - I'm not a pro. I just need it for surfing the web, email and some word processing.
MacBook - Very expensive for what I understand to be an underpowered computer. Concerned about the lack of ports, the fact it's USB-C (not seen on any other Apple product), the need for adaptors, no SD card slot etc.
MacBook Air - I thought the MacBook was going to replace this? Don't want to buy an 'old' Mac. Lower res screen (I think?). Silver bezel is different to all other Macs which again suggests is going to be discontinued.

I suspect I'm a fairly typical customer who is actually just quite confused as to which Mac to buy and ultimately comes to the conclusion that none are suitable/worth the money.


This is an interesting post. Even as a person who follows Mac news, the current Apple computer lineup is becoming confusing for me - and worryingly, despite all the options, none of them now fit what I need either. TBH, a Skylake 13" Macbook Air with retina screen, costing under £1000 would be very welcome but I'm a user survey of just 1!

My wife has similar needs as you (ie low cpu power required), but her word processing demand is more significant. She doesn't want to type long documents using a tablet so would like a portable computer with a nice screen and keyboard + mouse.
 
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So then why has every PC manufacturer had them out for six months now?

That is not entirely correct.

The CPUs suitable for the Macbook Lineup were released later than a lot of the processors used in machines used by some of the competitors.

for the 13" Macbook Pro
announced in September 2015 / Q1-16 availability
Intel® Core™ i5-6267U
Intel® Core™ i5-6287U
Intel® Core™ i7-6567U

for the 15" Macbook Pro
announced in January 2016 / Q2-16 availability
Intel® Core™ i7-6770HQ
Intel® Core™ i7-6870HQ
Intel® Core™ i7-6970HQ

Since AMD will announce their Polaris generation later this month, nobody knows if there is a suitable SKU for the 15" Macbook and when it will be available.
 
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For me, the Mac range is too fragmented and confusing. I'm a fairly basic Mac user but there isn't a Mac that suits me.

MacBook Pro - I'm not a pro. I just need it for surfing the web, email and some word processing.
MacBook - Very expensive for what I understand to be an underpowered computer. Concerned about the lack of ports, the fact it's USB-C (not seen on any other Apple product), the need for adaptors, no SD card slot etc.
MacBook Air - I thought the MacBook was going to replace this? Don't want to buy an 'old' Mac. Lower res screen (I think?). Silver bezel is different to all other Macs which again suggests is going to be discontinued.

I suspect I'm a fairly typical customer who is actually just quite confused as to which Mac to buy and ultimately comes to the conclusion that none are suitable/worth the money.

I was basically in the same boat, and I couldn't justify spending 2k on a MBP
 
If the HD is your bottleneck, an SSD DIY upgrade is much cheaper, and you can keep your good imac.

Even easier, plug in some extra RAM, and a TB external drive loaded with the OS of your choice, and you'll be hard-pressed to find a reason to buy a new one.

Worked for me. :D

I've got the RAM upgraded. Did that years ago. But I've been nervous to do the SSD DIY. I know that would be a huge upgrade and I've looked at iFixit and a video on the swap. Very doable. But still if something goes wrong I've probably killed the computer entirely. I'm not much of a DIY guy though I have opened up iPhones and iPods for battery swaps. I killed touchID functionality on a 5s once doing that. So I haven't had complete success there.
 
In case Apple is reading this, all I want for Christmas is a new Macbook Pro... I am still using my Mac Mini Late 2012. The biggest reason I have not purchased a Mac in years is the hardware changes have been mostly small. If Apple decides to go with Skylake Processors, thinner case, and better battery life I would purchase a Macbook Pro in a heartbeat. Add M.2 drives and wait a few weeks for the about to be released Radeon Polaris GPUs and I will be slobbering to get one!
 
I replaced the hard disk with SSD in my Macbook Pro 2011, and it gave it new life. The performance is night and day.

The actual replacement isn't that difficult. You actually have to try hard to break the machine.. If you do decide to do it yourself, just take your time - there's no rush! Just remember you need a Torx screw driver.

I've got the RAM upgraded. Did that years ago. But I've been nervous to do the SSD DIY. I know that would be a huge upgrade and I've looked at iFixit and a video on the swap. Very doable. But still if something goes wrong I've probably killed the computer entirely. I'm not much of a DIY guy though I have opened up iPhones and iPods for battery swaps. I killed touchID functionality on a 5s once doing that. So I haven't had complete success there.
 
Recently I have been totally onboard with being critical of Apple's slow refresh rate, "meh" updates and the nickel and dime approach to features.
I think this contributes to slowing sales. However, don't fool yourself. Apple is doing fine with their MacBook products. I would venture that many of their recents sales increases were to first time Mac users (iPhone halo effect) and young people, particularly students. There was a time when you walked into a Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, Campus gathering places and would only see a few Mac. Now, when you see many more MacBooks of all flavors.
Also Apple has never chased specs so it's not surprising that others products "out spec" them.
The products themselves (even with the current machines) offer more than enough power for a typical user.
I would buy a new iMac today if the 21" base quad core model had a 256 gb SSD instead of 5400 RPM hard drive and 16 gb RAM or if it wasn't a premium of $400 to have those options.
Frankly, when people tout Dell etc I am still unimpressed at how cheap many of them feel.
I will update when Apple gives me a little more value for my premium dollars. My 2011 MBA and late 2010 iMac 27" still work fine.
I agree with many before in this thread that Apple has lost some focus and attention to detail.
 
are you sure you really want me to go ahead and do that? its not going to end well for you.
It surely looks like you are the one who is shying away of putting your money where your mouth is.

i dont need to back up a statement every time i make one, i dont need to prove anything to anyone.
No, you don't have to prove anything to anyone. Not if you don't mind being perceived as a big mouth who's only answer when being called out as being wrong is to turn sullen and cry out 'how dare you suggest I am wrong'.

If you doubt what i say, you are more than welcome to look into it yourself before opening your mouth telling me im righteous and dishonest and then trying to get me to do all the work just because you havent been paying attention and following along the last ten years.
I did look into it. It produced the list I posted. The problem is, I cannot prove the absence of the speed bump updates you claim exist. Even if I posted screenshots of searching MacRumors for MBP updates, you could claim I did not use the right search terms or that I doctored the screenshots. Proving that such updates exist should be much easier since proving the existence of something is much easier than proving the absence of something.
[doublepost=1463063591][/doublepost]
So then why has every PC manufacturer had them out for six months now?
Show me a 28-W TDP w/Iris 550 Skylake chip (those that would go into the 13" MBP) in a PC from 2015. Ditto for the 15-W TDP w/Iris 540 (MBA). Wikipedia still lists about a third of the mobile Skylake processors with a ship date of 'TBD', among those exactly the ones l just mentioned.
 
2010 iMac 27" still work fine.

I've been burnt by the iMac - quite literally in my case.
Bought a maxed out 27" before they became super thin. For a while it was my dream machine. Then it started to get warm. Hot. Hotter.
One morning I turned it on and, nothing. Tried again and green bars.

So, that was 2k sitting on my desk as a giant black screen and it's not the kinda thing you can just pop down to the Apple store - if you can actually get a reservation for anything other than iPhone.

It may be a thing of beauty but it's a nightmare if something goes wrong. Sadly in my case it went wrong.
 
I replaced the hard disk with SSD in my Macbook Pro 2011, and it gave it new life. The performance is night and day.

The actual replacement isn't that difficult. You actually have to try hard to break the machine.. If you do decide to do it yourself, just take your time - there's no rush! Just remember you need a Torx screw driver.
My 2012 MBP didn't need Torx screw drivers.
 
i don't want an apple car, don't want an iPhone, i want a new Macbook P !
[doublepost=1463064397][/doublepost]
If your only needs are email, web, and word processing, an iPad Pro is the way to go. You're right, the MBA does have a non-retina screen. Since the MacBook didn't receive a price cut just recently, it's not clear what the plan is with the MBA. The MacBook will definitely drop in price over time, but it's clear Apple wants the MBA demographic to use iPads.
i will not carve to using an ipad, i am old school nd i want my MBP
 
I've been burnt by the iMac - quite literally in my case.
Bought a maxed out 27" before they became super thin. For a while it was my dream machine. Then it started to get warm. Hot. Hotter.
One morning I turned it on and, nothing. Tried again and green bars.

So, that was 2k sitting on my desk as a giant black screen and it's not the kinda thing you can just pop down to the Apple store - if you can actually get a reservation for anything other than iPhone.

It may be a thing of beauty but it's a nightmare if something goes wrong. Sadly in my case it went wrong.

I've owned three iMacs since 2005 (the first was a G5). The second I handed down to my daughter. My third and current one is pretty darn good for 6 year old tech. Oh yeah, the G5 is in my garage (but still works). Every model of every brand could be a lemon. There is no such thing as zero fail rate in mass production. Prior to becoming a Mac user, I had two Dell pc's and bought my daughter a Dell for college. Each one was a total POS that didn't last more than 3 years before they began to fail or were obsoleted. My daughter's didn't make it past her junior year. With all the glowing Dell remarks I take it that they stopped sourcing components from Chicago Bathtub Inc.
 
People are claiming doom and gloom wake up, Apple's laptops today still are better than any windows laptops, god awful gordy HP Spectres and terrible dell's will never compete.

Most people don't need what a Mac offers, which is why Dell, HP, Lenovo etc sell a lot more computers than Apple so they are more than competing.

I agree that it's very hard to match a Mac for quality, but when you pay what we do for Macs, I'd damn well expect them to look like a premium machine.

Most people simply need something that gives them access to the web which is why budget PC's remain the biggest sellers.
 
I replaced the hard disk with SSD in my Macbook Pro 2011, and it gave it new life. The performance is night and day.

The actual replacement isn't that difficult. You actually have to try hard to break the machine.. If you do decide to do it yourself, just take your time - there's no rush! Just remember you need a Torx screw driver.

Thanks for the encouragement. Yeah, I've got a complete set of screw drivers with an attachment set.
 
I've owned three iMacs since 2005 (the first was a G5). The second I handed down to my daughter. My third and current one is pretty darn good for 6 year old tech. Oh yeah, the G5 is in my garage (but still works). Every model of every brand could be a lemon. There is no such thing as zero fail rate in mass production. Prior to becoming a Mac user, I had two Dell pc's and bought my daughter a Dell for college. Each one was a total POS that didn't last more than 3 years before they began to fail or were obsoleted. My daughter's didn't make it past her junior year. With all the glowing Dell remarks I take it that they stopped sourcing components from Chicago Bathtub Inc.

I don't doubt.
Mine was fine for almost 4 years then crumpled in less than a month. I no longer know what sort of time frame to expect from Apple products - well any products for that matter. I dread to think where that heat goes on the thinner models if your running processor intensive apps for any length of time.

Anyhow, my iMac is still sitting in storage and I'm sure I'll get it fixed at some point but it's been replaced by a 4k Benq and a Surface Pro 4 for around the same price.
 
When Apple doesn't provide a MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, or Mac Pro worth buying, I'm sure it isn't a surprise to them that we're not buying them.

You'd have to be desperate to buy something from most of Apple's computer lineup right now. My 2011 MacBook Pro is limping along but I'll just keep reformatting/restoring rather than buy what they're selling at the moment.

Give me something I actually want to buy, Apple.

Agreed! I have the early 2011 model. and it is, sort of limping along. I upgraded the RAM and HDD and it is run great. I tried buying the 2015 MBP model, I returned it a couple days later. I liked the force touch, but that seemed like the only new feature... so I returned it to see what the 2016 model is going to have. in the meantime I decided to try one of the latest windows models.

I'm going to see what the MBP 2016 has to offer.

This is a real problem, I'm not alone in thinking Windows 10 is a viable alternative.

Don't get the ASUS Zenbook. I tried it as a MBP alternative. just sent it back.
[doublepost=1463072422][/doublepost][/QUOTE]
Don't get me wrong - I want Apple to create awesome products again. I b*tch because I still care and hope. I'm willing to pay more, but I WANT THE BEST. Currently we pay more and get less. My patience is running out - everything Apple offers Mac related leaves a bad aftertaste. At the same time I look at the innovative Surfaces, Dell XPS laptops, Nvidia graphics, exciting VR innovations. Even Windows (10) in many aspects feels more innovative now. I'm disillusioned and tired. If after WWDC there are no radical improvements across all the aspects of Mac, I'm done. Probably with iOS toys as well, if the rumors about the pathetic rehashed iPhone 6"SS" will turn out to be true.

The issue is that Steve Jobs died. the same thing happened to Apple after he was fired back in the 90s or whatever. I'm afraid that from that point forward, Apple is in decline and will go under eventually. At least until someone who will push innovation like Jobs did buys the company.
 
I honestly don't even want the macbook pro now, on principle.

Apple is disrespecting their pro market - unless they're taking a really long time to perfect the next MBP....

However, they've been making a ****** watch for the last few years so who knows what they're up to
 
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It surely looks like you are the one who is shying away of putting your money where your mouth is.


No, you don't have to prove anything to anyone. Not if you don't mind being perceived as a big mouth who's only answer when being called out as being wrong is to turn sullen and cry out 'how dare you suggest I am wrong'.


I did look into it. It produced the list I posted. The problem is, I cannot prove the absence of the speed bump updates you claim exist. Even if I posted screenshots of searching MacRumors for MBP updates, you could claim I did not use the right search terms or that I doctored the screenshots. Proving that such updates exist should be much easier since proving the existence of something is much easier than proving the absence of something.
[doublepost=1463063591][/doublepost]
Show me a 28-W TDP w/Iris 550 Skylake chip (those that would go into the 13" MBP) in a PC from 2015. Ditto for the 15-W TDP w/Iris 540 (MBA). Wikipedia still lists about a third of the mobile Skylake processors with a ship date of 'TBD', among those exactly the ones l just mentioned.

What is wrong with you, seriously? Do you think I just make crap up for no reason? Why on earth would anyone make up random 4 month little speed bumps? You're right, I don't owe you anything when your first post was calling me righteous and dishonest.

Get a grip and get off my back, satiating you just because you can't search and haven't paid attention for the last decade isn't my job, nor problem. If you don't believe me, that's something you're going to have to resolve with yourself. How ludicrous does someone's thought process have to be to think that someone would go online and post about made-up product updates? I mean really, do you think anyone would do that? Christ. Get off your high horse and get out of this thread.

Lastly, considering 40+ people liked my post, I think you are the only one who perceives me as a "big mouth" and I'm pretty sure the 40+ likes are confirmation that I am correct, you are the one who is wrong. Accept it rather than act like a complete knob about it - the only one crying here is you, who can't accept you're the one who is actually wrong. You're so accusatory, when you're the one who isn't correct and are actually in no position to be accusatory.

It would've been one thing if you had just asked nicely about the 4 month speed bumps in your first post - at which point I might've offered up some examples, but you acted completely out of line about it, making outlandish holier-than-thou accusations right off the bat, so I don't owe you jack, kid.
 
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Remember when Apple used to make great upgrades to their computer line moving from stuff like this:

apple_powerbook_g3_fw.jpg

into this

tibook-view-320.jpg
 
So many others have said it better than me: so I agree with most posters here. A beautiful outside only goes so darn far. The internals must once again match the external for these to be even worth buying. Ditto for the software. Get the OS up to snuff and make Apple machines worth their price.
 
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I think the new Macbook, is probably were Apple went wrong. When I went to the store, I was kind intrigued, first thing when I touched the keyboard, the new keyboard, just felt different. I seen the video, which it stated that it was whole new keyboard and all, so I figured it was probably better. But I didn't like it. I have read that after using a little bit you will get accustomed it an all.

Then I just can't get around the fact it has only USB-C port.

I have multiple external hard drives, an no, I am not going to buy the adapter, carry it around, pay extra.
So I do want to be able to input data, while charging.

At the beginning I was like maybe this computer might be something I might get.

I had Macbook Air before, and it was a great computer.

I think if Apple will have renovated the Macbook Air, with retina, gave it all of the technologies of the Macbook, I think it would have been a success. An of course with the USB ports, that are very necessary.

Apple tried to be trend setters too soon, but I think they probably just got burned trying force the customer too much into the way we should use computers, by limiting some features, because they believed customers will buy anything that carries the apple logo.
 
What is wrong with you, seriously?

Do you think I just make crap up for no reason? Why on earth would anyone make up random 4 month little speed bumps? You're right, I don't owe you anything when your first post was calling me righteous and dishonest.

Get a grip and get off my back, satiating you just because you can't search and haven't paid attention for the last decade isn't my job, nor problem. If you don't believe me, that's something you're going to have to resolve with yourself. How ludicrous does someone's thought process have to be to think that someone would go online and post about made-up product updates? I mean really, do you think anyone would do that? Christ. Get off your high horse and get out of this thread.

Lastly, considering 40+ people liked my post, I think you are the only one who perceives me as a "big mouth" and I'm pretty sure the 40+ likes are confirmation that I am correct, you are the one who is wrong. Accept it rather than act like a complete knob about it - the only one crying here is you, who can't accept you're the one who is actually wrong. You're so accusatory, when you're the one who isn't correct and are actually in no position to be accusatory.

It would've been one thing if you had just asked nicely about the 4 month speed bumps in your first post - at which point I might've offered up some examples, but you acted completely out of line about it, making outlandish holier-than-thou accusations right off the bat, so I don't owe you jack, kid.

If there is something wrong with somebody, it's with you. You could easily prove me wrong by posting a single link to an article. But instead you just get worked up because somebody dares to question your recollection. Does this happen a lot in your life? Do you always go through the roof when somebody questions your authority?
 
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