Or it could be the case that soldered ssds primarily have not so much to do with design choices, and instead with something else?
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Base 2019 13-Inch MacBook Pro Teardown Reveals Larger Battery, Soldered-Down SSD, and Updated Keyboard Material
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Apple Store: The problem probably is water damage, repair would cost you more than 1000$.
Rossmann: I just bend this pin on the display connector back...
Mackbook Pro repaired in 2 minutes (for free).
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Apple is becoming increasingly anti-consumer. Obscenely priced, disposable, underpowered integrated garbage, numerous design faults, Poor I/O, form over function, increasingly incompatible software, and no expandability. Other than the nostalgia of hoping for Apple to return to form I really don't know why I am in this eco-system any more.
I remember by 2007 MBP, reasonably priced, top of the line Nvidia graphics card, expandability, good I/O, new intel chipset with bootcamp compatibility, and great design innovations like magsafe. It truely was a great machine that smoked similar spec PCs.
Now with intel on the way out, I have no reason to stay with Apple.
I remember by 2007 MBP, reasonably priced, top of the line Nvidia graphics card, expandability, good I/O, new intel chipset with bootcamp compatibility, and great design innovations like magsafe. It truely was a great machine that smoked similar spec PCs.
Now with intel on the way out, I have no reason to stay with Apple.
Problem is it's not really saving them money (well, compared to other Mac's it is, but....)
the pricing that Apple is expecting for the 128gb is higher than the actual retail procing of such storage by a long shot. Especially the upgrades.
if you're paying nearly $2000 for a computer, it really should have more than 128gb of storage (128gb NVME drives are like $60 retail)
I could not agree more. Basically, you can't upgrade anything on this machine. Eventually, they are going to have to start making machines that can be fixed/upgraded by a normal person.
I agree completely...which is why people should vote with their wallets and refuse to buy one until Apple changes
Oh, that thing with the price/component again. You're paying 1300$, not 2000, and people that just use the machines aren't looking for value/components. And that's ok if it suits their needs.
Sorry, using Canadian $ as that's where I am.
base MBPro, with Care and tax comes to $1950.
and yes, it's OK if it suits their needs. I never said otherwise. Doesn't change whether or not the pricing is in line or competitive or not.
You might be perfectly OK with not caring about price to performance ratio, or price to what you get. But as someone responsible to answering to accounting for budgetary constraints, in addition to CTO on ensuring that there are enough devices in peoples hands who need them. If I Blow through my budget paying 2x for devices that do the same thing for our users as the $1000 devices, than it's ME who has failed in my duty and job.
Money talks!
Professionals voted with their wallets against the "trash can" Mac Pro. And this is why Apple is giving customers modern version of the "cheese grater" Mac Pro.
You do what any sensible person with a warranty would do... take it to the Apple store for repair or replacement. It also helps if you've been regularly backing up your files.
Obscenely priced? The Late 2007 15" MacBook Pro retailed for $1,999 (2.2GHz) and $2,499 (2.4GHz), which is $2,470 and $3,087 in 2019 dollars.
Underpowered, integrated garbage? 13" and 15" MacBook Pros uses the latest shipping CPUs from Intel up to 8 cores/16 threads, some of the fastest NVMe speeds in the industry, the highest bandwidth I/O ports available in a consumer laptop and the latest in Wireless I/O.
Numerous design faults? You mean the keyboard right? Well, it certainly hasn't been a shining moment for Apple, that's for sure. I don't care for it myself, but I have already written volumes about my experience using the keyboard. The battery life is nothing to write home about, for sure. The size, shape and weight are incredible, but make too many compromises, which is unfortunate, as I don't really look forward to getting something bigger, thicker and heavier in the future.
Poor I/O? We're 3 years into USB-C and Thunderbolt 3...get over it. You can remake the MacBook Pro into whatever you want it to be, depending on your needs. I have a 2012 and a 2015 15" MacBook Pro and I have used the SD Card about 6 times and the HDMI port maybe two or three times. I don't need them and there are a lot of others who don't need them either. If you do, buy the appropriate cable or Card Reader. The benefits of the numerous ways the MBP can be customized to the individual outweigh the drawbacks of simply copying the 2015 MacBook Pro's I/O.
Form over function? Yes, I love the thin form and it is very functional...however, the downsides of this constant keyboard battle, no matter what the reality actually is, and the overall lack of great battery life mean that the form is going to have to change.
Incompatible software? You mean 32-bit support going away? If so, Apple has been telling us all for years this was going to happen. Upgrade! Or stick with a version of macOS that has backwards compatibility.
No expandability? I think what you mean is your pissed Apple makes you cough up the money in advance instead of you buying the cheapest thing they make, then upgrading it later when Black Friday rolls around. Yeah...that's called smart business, instead of leaving money on the table. Otherwise, the 2016-2019 MacBook Pros are infinitely more expandable than the 2007 MBP. eGPUs, PCIe Storage, PCIe expansion slots, just about any card reader under the sun, HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort, USB-A 2 and 3, 1GbE or 10GbE, etc etc.
That 2007 MacBook Pro that you are crowing about:
Top of the line NVIDIA GPU? You mean the infamous GeForce 8600M GT, for which sins have been documented ad nauseam and for whom not only Apple got burned?
Expandability? You mean adding DRAM or changing out the HDD, because that's about it...sure it had an Express Card/34 slot, which got used about zero times by the majority of the computing public, at least on the Mac side.
Good I/O...good for the day, yes. The current MacBook Pro has superior and more flexible I/O in Thunderbolt 3.
The current MacBook Pros have the newest Intel chipset and the newest available CPUs. Pretty sure you can install BootCamp on it.
MagSafe had its day, now it doesn't...USB-C PD is way more flexible and useful.
Nostalgia is great until it clouds your ability to embrace the future.
Who knows if Apple is going to leave Intel or not...what it sounds like is that you use your MacBook Pro more as a Windows replacement than a Mac, because the MacBook Pro is a still a better PC than the dreck from Acer, Dell, HP and Lenovo, which I find ironic, to say the least.
I totally get your sentiment. I'm not sure if I would call Thinkpads (especially P series), Precisions, Latitudes, or XPSs "dreck" though.
I think one issue is that we in the Mac world haven't spent much time looking at how far the PC laptop world has advanced over the past few years. That's unfortunate, because it doesn't give us a recent point of comparison.
People using the Cheesegrater Mac Pro prove the bolded to be incorrect.
So, if you're using a MBP with USB-C power and it's plugged in and someone trips on the cord, making your MBP fly across the room and become DOA, you'll be happy that Apple got rid of Magsafe, which would have prevented this from happening??
I don't know if I am asking for too much but soldered down SSD... how is this even an option? Not only soldered down SSD but I could bet the capacity is awfully low. This is just my own opinion or may be I am just a storage freak. I think the average computer back in 2015 should offer at least 1TB of storage space, be it hdd or ssd. Apple at this point and time I hope they offer storage options no lower than 1TB be it hdd (which I don't think so) or ssd.
it's a bit of a "bait and switch" upsell.
the biggest margins for Apple are in the upgrades and Build your own specs. not the base models. they know 128gb is "low" and just base usage (though many users can be fine with this)
the goal is for you to upgrade and pay the high margin prices for those upgrades. Since you can't do it post-hoc due to the soldering, you are "stuck" paying those prices.
as a comparison (Sorry for Using Canadian pricing just easier for me, plus MBA pricing sinc ethe Apple.com store is "be right back" for macbook pro purchasing):
2019 13" MacBook Pro w/TouchBar: 1,699.00
to go from 128GB to 256GB +250: retail pricing of 250gb NVME storage, $115
from 128 -> 512GB: +$500. Retail price of 500gB NVME: $160
From 128 -> 1TB: +$750. Retail price of 1TB NVME: $329
Simply put. Apple's soldered storage is primarily driven by captive upselling and margin padding and NOTHING to do with actual costs of the chips involved in the implementation. By soldering in, they are guaranteeing that they are the only ones to profit from you requiring more internal storage and no 3rd parties.
Okay, dreck is too strong for Dell and Lenovo, but I stand by it for HP's consumer line of computers. Worst crap I have ever had the misfortune of trying to fix...talk about disposable. All PC OEMs design aesthetics are a bit dicy and uneven. It's like the old construction axiom - You can have it good, you can have it fast, you have it cheap...pick two. Mostly because it is difficult to raise the prices that these companies need to to have sufficient profit for anything resembling more than basic engineering.
Microsoft tries, but they just don't have the right mix on most of their products.
Surface Laptop 2 - Glued together so much so that they get a 0/10 repairability score from iFixit. ONE USB 3.0 port...really. Full disclosure - I think the 12" MacBook is/was a complete **** show. It was a lesson in how NOT to create, market and sell an overpriced MacBook Air replacement that had crap functionality compared to both the 11" and 13" MBAs that Apple was currently selling and had to CONTINUE to sell because people kept buying them over the 12" MacBook, all day and twice on Tuesday. It is/was anemic, it had ONE USB-C port, when it should have had another one on the opposite side. Jeebus, Tim, don't let GOOGLE beat you on that (Chromebook Pixel 2). It was USB 3.1 Gen1 at that...it had a display so low in resolution that Apple HAD to set it higher than the ideal @2x Retina display, as it was LESS than the resolution of the 11" MacBook Air when set to true Retina (1152x720@2x versus 1366x768). MS copying Apple on this was a horrible idea and the Surface Laptop 1 and 2 show it.
Surface Book 2 - Starts cheap, ends expensive ($3K)! In desperate need of an update. That hinge, makes me cringe.
Surface Studio 2 - Absolutely gorgeous, but absolutely crap inside, especially for the cost. A 45w TDP 7th Gen CPU (i7-7820HQ) at introduction. Who the hell thought that was a good idea? Should have been at least a 45w TDP i7-8850H or better yet a Core i7-8500B. MS had to know Intel was prepping a BGA variant for that CPU. Four TB3 ports would have made up for a lot, even if they dedicated x8 PCIe slots to the GTX1060/1080 (ample lanes for the intended use), two Titan Ridge controllers and run the SSD through the PCH. But...no high speed Thunderbolt 3 connections. The GTX 1070 is only attainable at a minimum cost of $4,199! Holy crap I can get a 9th Gen Core i9 w /8c/16t, 32GB DRAM, 2TB SSD and Vega 48 for $4449 or $3849 and install my own DRAM. It's just a horrible value, yet people try to pummel the current iMac because it has big bezels and hold up the SS2 as something for Apple to admire. I'd wager to say the SS2 is more Apple than even Apple would ever release. The real poster child for underpowered and overpriced.
Surface Pro 6 - I would consider one of these, but it needs updated specs. That Core i5 1.4GHz in the new 13" MacBook Pro would be an ideal candidate. Faster Iris Plus 645 GPU, same 15w TDP, built on the same foundation of the 8250U and 8650U in the current SP6. Needs 802.11 AX, Bluetooth 5 and at least one USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 port in it and that would be my PC. My mom has a Surface Pro and it works wonderfully, especially the Pen. I have a Surface RT (refurb) and it is hard to believe the same company made both of these units. The RT is solidly built, but my dog can compute faster than that thing. I bought it knowing MS would abandon it as soon as Intel said jump. Dear MS, tell Intel to eat it, just once...please. At least MS hasn't been dumb enough to use the 7w TDP Y-Series ULV CPUs that Apple used in the 12" MacBook and 2018 13" MacBook Air.
Surface Go - Just not my jam...I would rather use my 2015 iPad Pro 12.9" or ANY OTHER iPad on the planet that Apple currently sells than that thing. But not a Google tablet...if my choice is an Android tablet or a Surface Go, wrap up the Go as quickly as possible, so I can GO. Dear Google, you suck at advancing your own mobile OS, wake up.
Back on topic, I know that PC OEMs have come a long way on a lot of their equipment, but I still have yet to find anything that I would really want to carry in my messenger bag other than possibly the Surface Pro 6. I realize I don't speak for everyone, so I should be more open-minded. It just gets hard to do when you see a sweet motherboard or laptop and you go "ooh" and "ahh" up until the point you see a D-SUB (VGA) port and you realize most PC OEMs have zero balls to finally bury the old standards and drag people kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. And you start wondering just what else they compromise when they build the thing. Just my 2¢.
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Go here - https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder - you will find your peeps there. Thank you, that is all.
In my experience (yes, I have experience with this), the USB-C cable end plugged into the power brick pulls out first...it did move the MacBook Pro a few inches, but that was it. Thank God the follow through did not entangle or else the outcome may have been less happy.
Also, believe it or not, you can achieve terminal velocity with a MagSafe powered MacBook Pro given a quick enough and large enough teenage child with size 13 feet and a penchant for destruction, the ill-advised placement just a little too close to the edge on the dining room table and a more powerful Magsafe magnet than you had initially thought Apple was using. Ask me how I know!
To be fair, Microsoft's Surface team does not want to step on the OEMs' toes. Therefore, Surface products are almost like proofs of concept, to show the OEMs what could be done and what there might be a market for. It's up to the OEMs like Lenovo to do it right. That's why, for example, the Thinkpad version of the Surface Pro is more repairable than the actual Surface Pro.
By the way, I humbly suggest you give the new XPS 13 (9380) a try if you are looking for something fairly small but powerful. And it is USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 only.
Well, to be 100% honest, and again, this just what I prefer, I carry 2 laptops in my backpack. One is my macbook pro that I use for my full time job as a system's admin and CMS freelancing. I carry all my important stuff in it. I also carry an Alienware 15 R2 which is where I do everything I can't do on the mac. I have 32GB of ram installed on the Alienware, 1 full size 1TB ssd and 2x 1TB NVMEs. That computer is what I use to game and also post process anything I do with my drone photography hobby. I just wish I could do the same with a macbook pro (Be able to purchase the base price model (because honestly it is hard to be able to afford the newer model every year) and upgrade it along the way.)
The Surface Pro and Surface Studio should be built to the hilt and MS needs to stop worrying about stepping on the OEMs toes...where are they gonna go? Linux? Google has nothing, Apple is in its own world. OEMs need to be put on notice to up their game.
Again, the Surface Studio 2 is beautiful, but simply too expensive given the guts and the lack of any sort of high speed interconnect. This has been my problem with PC OEMs from the get go.
For me the Surface Studio 3 should be the following:
- Core i7-9600, Core i7-9700 or Core i9-9900
- 16GB DDR4 upgradeable to 128GB DDR4 - 4 SO-DIMM slots
- 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB NVMe SSD
- NVIDIA 1660Ti 6GB Base, upgradeable to a NIVIDA RTX 2080 8GB
- 802.11 AC(AX if possible)/Bluetooth 5.0
- 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports, 2 Titan Ridge controllers.
- 4 USB 3.0 ports
- Audio In/Out
- 1GbE, 10GbE in the Core i9 model
- Same 3:2 display...not sure HDR is feasible at this point.
- Surface Dial
- SDXC slot
Revised base chassis to keep it cool, would have to be bigger than the current SS2 base.
Starting at $3,299.00 for a i5-9600/16GB/512/GTX 1660Ti. Honestly, I think they lose money on every one of them that they sell, so I am being unrealistic, most likely.
Not really in the market for a Windows laptop...I would get something akin to a Surface Pro 6 if I was really serious. I prefer macOS and I can boot into Windows 10 on my 2012 15" Retina. I still prefer Apple's industrial design, although I would like to see a new iMac soon. If I get something small and light, it will be a 13" MacBook Pro 1.4Ghz/16GB/512GB or 1TB.
But you're not paying $2000. We're talking about the Air in this thread, right?
For that model, you're paying $1099 retail, $999 education for 8 GB/128 GB SSD.
Nah, the Air has been mentioned - as well as the Mac Pro, as an example of people wanting “upgradeability”
- but the thread is really about the new base 13” MacBook Pro ...which I think is very much “the new _old_ MacBook Air”, in all aspects except price.
Of course companies will want to retain existing users but that’s their choice. Users are not entitled to anything they don’t pay for.