Apple's Renewed Focus on iPad Left the Mac Behind This Year

[RuffyYoshi]

I recently built a hackintosh using only 600 Euros and got the same, if not better performance than any hardware from them for 1600 or more. Sure I had to jump few hoops to get OSX working properly but that's getting easier and easier.

 

[bladerunner2000]

I recently built a hackintosh using only 600 Euros and got the same, if not better performance than any hardware from them for 1600 or more. Sure I had to jump few hoops to get OSX working properly but that's getting easier and easier.

Plus you're not given the finger by Apple by not being able to upgrade your components.. especially considering how god damn terrible their GPUs are.

 

[Ankou_Sabat]

Yeah that "renewed focus on iPad" really paid off didn't it. The iPad Pro is now the complete replacement for laptops and desktops right?

They're painting themselves into a corner. The whole reason that iOS is light in the first place is because of the apps, cloud applications, building and horsepower that comes from the "Pro" devices building the software and doing the heavy lifting. At some point they're going to run out of that. Do they expect all that to come from 3rd party OS's and hardware or donated from the community? I guess they expect people to transcode on an iPad or stick an iPad in a server rack for an office. Its no wonder their cloud apps are so terrible and lacking compared to Google et all.

 

[imronburgundy]

I've said it from day one, and got blasted for it. Tim Cook is an awful CEO. His ass should have been canned by now. Better yet, never hired for the position.

Sadly, as long as the $$$ keeps rolling in from that disgusting markup and people consistently needing the newest products, investors will say that Cook is doing a fine job.

 

[brentsg]

My wife and I have now had our iPhones for longer than we've kept any generation. I'll definitely be waiting to see what they do with the Mac lineup before I invest further in the ecosystem. If they aren't going to continue to develop the Mac products that I use, I'll be looking to move away completely.

I'm disgusted with myself that I bought a Series 2 watch. I definitely wish I had held off on that purchase. It'll be scrap if I move away with the phones.

 

[Icaras]

You think that matters to apple loyalists?
If Apple releases junk and charges more money, it doesn't matter!
If Apple locks down their hardware with proprietary parts, it doesn't matter!
If Apple makes their internals soldered effectively making it a disposable product, it doesn't matter!
Or if Apple makes their devices needlessly thinner at the cost of battery life, performance, upgradeability, or locks down the OS, chooses inferior GPUs, tosses out standard ports like the 3.5mm or USB-A, refuses to use USB-C on iPhones and release one that you can't connect to your laptop without yet another DONGLE...

IT DOES NOT MATTER!

None of that matters AT ALL apparently! Despite what the consumers have been BITCHING about for years, all the comments here in the forums, social media, blogs and tech sites like Engadget, Gizmodo and elsewhere, you STILL have some guy like Icaras that's going to completely LIE to your face and tell you 'Yeah, YOU the consumer asked for it' when in reality you and everyone else KNOWS they did not. Nobody asked Apple to completely disrespect the consumer by releasing absolute PIG SCHLOCK GARBAGE. The Mac Pro still sells for $2,999 to start with a GPU based on a chipset from 2012!

God DAMN it I'm sick of guys like Icaras completely spreading bull**** like this. Why is this kind of garbage being tolerated for so many years... release after release of products continually going downhill and still we have guys saying 'No! The products are great, just look at the numbers and you consumers drove that market!'

Seriously, chill out. I don't even own a MBP.

And I never once said any numbers. I said it was outselling other laptops, which LordVic seemed to put things into perspective. But did I ever lie? The MBP is selling well enough to stay in the market. It's certainly not a flop. Overtime, like all "overpriced" new Mac hardware, the price tag will go down, and once again, people will be chill and happy, and at that time it should sell like hot cakes, but not right now, which I also never said it was selling like hot cakes. That's how Apple business plays out. Sorry if that upsets you, but I'm just reiterating history. Nothing more.

But for now, why don't we just wait and see how the market plays out in the long term for the MBP.

Can we just leave it at that?

 

[lcseds]

For Apple to go backward in design, like upgradeable memory, storage, and adding ports would mean they would admit an error in design. Since they will never do this, I fail to see what might be in the pipeline that is of interest to anyone here. They will always have the non techies as customers, so there's not much worry in appeasing the the type that stroll these forums.

I love my 2013 rMBP 15" to death. But I am really liking my new Dell XPS 8910 VR ready desktop also. Slamming Windows 10 over MacOS may mean that insufficient time was invested before declaring Win 10 as junk, or has a lousy UI.

As Tim has begun to dismantle the ecosystem Apple was renowned for (hardware stagnant, airport gone, displays gone), one has to wonder what the 5 year plan is in Cupertino.

 

[robeddie]

Sure, we'll see. If you're implying that the choices they made with the MBP are killing the business, then I don't agree with that. Both it and the new MacBook are hot machines and will lead Apple's Mac business.

Completely dismissing their desktop lineup however is detrimental however.

It looks like we're approaching Steve Job's prediction that Apple will one day sell 90% laptops.

If the new mbps are selling well its because there was a huge pent up demand for ANY new mac, and this is the only thing apple gave us. And of course laptops will dominate their business if laptops are the only things that get updated.

No neither of your points are indicative of the market as much as its indicative of apple pinning the market into a very narrow corner of the room

 

[Deemr]

Well, i really want to see what kind of wnd-ti-end solution they want to sell when they have pissed off their loyal customer base.

The competition with iPhone es getting stronger, the iPad probably will never become a real alternative to their notebooks. Do they think the customers will continue to buy theur dongles when they get their computing devices elsewhere.

Tim might be a goid guy for the shareholders but he is no product guy. It is time for him to leave and burn the assets

 

[LordVic]

Regardless if it was or was not the best selling laptop, would you call the MBP a flop?

me?

no I would not. I believe from a functional standpoint, minus a few of the teething pains, that the new Mac Book Pro is a good quality laptop. why it doesn't get my purchase / Seal of approval is the compromise to price which makes it not worth the Value to me.

if this laptop was the same price as the previous MacBook pro's, it would be a recommended update. But in it's current price / configuration Apple has reduced too much and raised the price too much, all at the same time, which is (in my opinion) the biggest failing.

I've got no issue with the touch bar, and think it a novel inclusion.
I'm all aboard the USB-C as the future train. But 1 USB-A port would have been nice as a stop gap for the odd device you have to use.
I understand the GPU restraints, and also understand that these are not gaming laptops but OpenCL laptops. We need to stop comparing gaming performance of GPU's in these laptops but look at OpenCL and compute. when you do this, you realize that it made a lot more sense.
Apple's trackpads are great. Making it bigger and more space? No complaint here

what stops me up? Keyboard. I would have liked to see the F keys remain AND add the OLED bar. I think it's entirely possible. But I NEED in my day to day usage a physical ESC key. I can't pass judgement on the rest of the keyboard since I haven't used it, But I hated the MacBook's keyboard. But at the end of the day, it still comes down to price for what you get. It's also further exasperated due to the high price, that is also even higher in foreign markets.

At the end of the day, Apple could have forgone the "3mm" it made it thicker by, and not raised the price, but done everything else and it' would have been one of the best laptops. But as is, it's an average competing laptop with some trade offs, that commanding a $2,999 (CAD) price for the base model 15" and thats where it just is not good value compared to a lot of the competition.

But as always "Value" is going to be up to the user. There are many who would think that OSx alone is worth it. And many who think otherwise. Not going to argue over stuff like that. As it's almost all opinion based. My commentary before was just analysing numbers and the statement made and wasn't intended to include any real biases for or against the device.

 

[Marx55]

Apple should update Macs every year at least, as with iOS devices.

Bring the brand new Mac Pro. With brand new Apple Thunderbolt Display. All with Thunderbolt 3.

 

[peter2]

LMAO! You should apply "OVERPRICED" to just about everything Apple sells. A standard $1000 macbook has the same internals as a $400 PC.
I do give credit to apple for their build quality though. Surface Book is the the only contender build quality
wise.

It used to be the case that, while more expensive, macs provided much better value anyway (much longer life of hardware, less problems with software) -- see, e.g., the IBM statement about cost of ownership of laptops used by their employees. However, both of those advantages are increasingly diminishing (non-upgradable/crippled/non-repairable hardware, more buggy software).

 

[bladerunner2000]

Seriously, chill out. I don't even own a MBP.

And I never once said any numbers. I said it was outselling other laptops, which LordVic seemed to put things into perspective. But did I ever lie? The MBP is selling well enough to stay in the market. It's certainly not a flop. Overtime, like all "overpriced" new Mac hardware, the price tag will go down, and once again, people will be chill and happy, and at that time it should sell like hot cakes, but not right now, which I also never said it was selling like hot cakes. That's how Apple business plays out. Sorry if that upsets you, but I'm just reiterating history. Nothing more.

But for now, why don't we just wait and see how the market plays out in the long term for the MBP.

Can we just leave it at that?

No, you don't get to spread crap on the forums, blame the consumer (forum members!), say things are going great, conveniently ignore facts, etc. and then say 'let's leave it that'.

I'm not letting this go, you've made it perfectly clear that the demands and criticisms from THIS community are to be undermined, ignored and skewed to meet YOUR agenda which again IS A LIE.

You're a terrible poster on this forum. You've contributed nothing but a dishonest pro-apple sentiment at all costs to this forum as if you've had secured stocks in Apple that would only benefit you financially with no regard for the integrity of the company and especially the forum members and the millions of Apple consumers that been given the SHAFT through all the disgusting things that Apple has done in recent years.

 

[Naraxus]

I will say I do like my iPad and the iPad Mini is pretty cool looking but for hard computing my soon-to-be-obsolete 2011 iMac & 2013 Mac Book Air still scream. The 11 iMac has all the ports I need, I could do with updating some things in it but on the whole it's fine.

I'm going to need to hold onto them as long as I can. It's clear Cook & Apple don't think much of Macs these days

 

[c3pa]

Very much looking forward to 2017 for updates!

 

[Pootmatoot]

Never said I had numbers.

Edit: https://www.macrumors.com/2016/11/09/new-macbook-pro-has-outsold-all-competitors/

Slice Intelligence says the new MacBook Pro accumulated more revenue from online orders during its first five days of availability than the Microsoft Surface Book, ASUS Chromebook Flip, Dell Inspiron 2-in-1, and Lenovo Yoga 900, based on e-receipt data from 12,979 online shoppers in the United States.


What a weird collection of products... almost like they're trying to create a story by selectively manipulating the numbers? And revenue is not unit sales... you could argue that's a lot to do with the MBPs inflated price...

 

[bladerunner2000]

me?

no I would not. I believe from a functional standpoint, minus a few of the teething pains, that the new Mac Book Pro is a good quality laptop. why it doesn't get my purchase / Seal of approval is the compromise to price which makes it not worth the Value to me.

if this laptop was the same price as the previous MacBook pro's, it would be a recommended update. But in it's current price / configuration Apple has reduced too much and raised the price too much, all at the same time, which is (in my opinion) the biggest failing.

I've got no issue with the touch bar, and think it a novel inclusion.
I'm all aboard the USB-C as the future train. But 1 USB-A port would have been nice as a stop gap for the odd device you have to use.
I understand the GPU restraints, and also understand that these are not gaming laptops but OpenCL laptops. We need to stop comparing gaming performance of GPU's in these laptops but look at OpenCL and compute. when you do this, you realize that it made a lot more sense.
Apple's trackpads are great. Making it bigger and more space? No complaint here

what stops me up? Keyboard. I would have liked to see the F keys remain AND add the OLED bar. I think it's entirely possible. But I NEED in my day to day usage a physical ESC key. I can't pass judgement on the rest of the keyboard since I haven't used it, But I hated the MacBook's keyboard. But at the end of the day, it still comes down to price for what you get. It's also further exasperated due to the high price, that is also even higher in foreign markets.

At the end of the day, Apple could have forgone the "3mm" it made it thicker by, and not raised the price, but done everything else and it' would have been one of the best laptops. But as is, it's an average competing laptop with some trade offs, that commanding a $2,999 (CAD) price for the base model 15" and thats where it just is not good value compared to a lot of the competition.

But as always "Value" is going to be up to the user. There are many who would think that OSx alone is worth it. And many who think otherwise. Not going to argue over stuff like that. As it's almost all opinion based. My commentary before was just analysing numbers and the statement made and wasn't intended to include any real biases for or against the device.

It's a flop no matter how you slice it, even if the price were cut back to the previous MBP's price, it's a miserable failure and it's all pointed out brilliantly and bluntly in THIS video below:

 

[LordVic]

It's a flop no matter how you slice it, even if the price were cut back to the previous MBP's price, it's a miserable failure and it's all pointed out brilliantly and bluntly in THIS video below:

I'm not sure you're using the term "flop" correctly.

The term Flop, when used ni regards to something that fails. means Complete and utter failure. You can point out the technical limitations, and failings, and yes, those are bad, and have probably hurt Apple, But they themselves aren't the reason for something being a "flop".

For something in tech to be a flop, it means it didn't sell, or at least failed to meet sales expectations. And right now, we have ZERO way of knowing whether this is true or not. we do not know what the market's expectations for sales are. We do not know the volume of sales that have happened. Just like Icarus was incorrect with "best selling" ever, You're also wrong for saying it's a "Flop". Why? Because both of these statements are trying to paint absolute truths with zero factual information backing them.

Apple might have only predicted selling 500 of these laptops, And sold 1000 of them. You might consider that a flop because it didn't sell millions, but if the market only planned to sell 500 and you sold more, than it was by that very measurement as success, and not a flop. (again, this is all hypothetical, as none of us know what the budgetted forecast for Apple has for sales expectations, or actual sales)

 

[BigZ243]

It's a flop no matter how you slice it, even if the price were cut back to the previous MBP's price, it's a miserable failure and it's all pointed out brilliantly and bluntly in THIS video below:

Snazzy Labs did a great job and is spot on, but there are some positives it seems too?

 

[Lesser Evets]

Too bad they are a small company and cannot focus on more than one product line.

It's difficult to get around those piles of cash in order to work on other technology, after dancing with Ellen and swanning around Europe, India, and China, and writing "buck up" letters after the election.

 

[peter2]

Very much looking forward to 2017 for updates!

😀
But both the mac mini and pro pictured are way too big, you know size is the most important factor for both the pro and home user! I get so frustrated every time I put some expansion cards in my two Mac Pros... would be so much more fun with a few dongles!

And, please, remove the IR sensor on the mini. It's totally non-brave, useless and only reminds old-enough customers of the Front Row software which was physically holding people from their inner need to purchase an Apple TV for the same purpose.

 

[godrifle]

Better Headline - Tim Cook Left Apple Behind This Year.

1. Removed 3.5mm headphone jack from iPhone
2. Made the Macbook Pro less pro
3. Neglected iMac
4. Ditched Display Business
5. Has made a loyal Apple customer not find any interest in any product in the Apple store

Get that man out of there. Please. Seriously.

-Signed Mac Pro Tower 2012 / 15 inch Macbook Pro 2011 / iPhone 6 user

Sometimes I feel like Apple, in order to eliminate the differentiation between Mac and iPad, has simply chosen to elminate the ports on the former.

Time to Fire Tim Cook. http://facebook.com/firetimcook

 

[cube]

Apple's Obsession with Thinness Has Left the Mac Behind For Years

 

[BigZ243]

Apple's Obsession with Thinness Has Left the Mac Behind For Years

There is thin and then there is anorexic. At some point it starts to get the best of you.

 

[bladerunner2000]

Snazzy Labs did a great job and is spot on, but there are some positives it seems too?

Snazzy Labs already touched on the positives, but there's a ton of cons which heavily outweigh the pros.