Amusing idea. Kindly point to where I wrote that? Correct - I did not. The 15" MBs are overpriced, absurdly in my opinion, for the performance and quality they offer.
Direct quote: "Apple has moved to a regressive, but highly profitable, cycle - they introduced Skylake models right before Kaby Lake came out; so you're purchasing older technology at an inflated price". I understand this as in "by selling you older technology, they get higher profits". Which again seems to suggest that they get the technology at a discounted rate.
Sigh. Apple should have updated the prior design to Skylake when Skylake became available a year ago, and then released the redesign with Kaby Lake when available.
Yes, they should have. But between waiting for availability of Iris Pro enabled Skylake and new AMD GPU, they missed that chance. The 2016 model is certainly a compromise in this regard, as its Apple's attempt to deliver the best using the cards available to them. And from business perspective, the decision to get a new model in time for holiday sale was certainly a correct one.
Instead, it waited over a year, and then released a product that has alienated a significant number of Mac users, for reasons ranging from poor quality control to absurdities like the touchbar, the atrocious keyboard, the absurdly large trackpad, and the ridiculous pricing.
Complete nonsense. In matters relative performance, build quality and features this laptop is an substantial improvement versus its predecessors. And of course some people were upset — some people are always upset. Its because people get upset I am still a strong supporter of Apple. They see themselves as a visionary company, leading change and modernisation, rather then attempting to maintain the status quo by keeping their users pacified within their comfort zone.
Imagine what Apple could have done by using the same chassis, with a 99.5 w/h battery.
What is the practical benefit of having 12 hours of battery instead of 9 hours of battery? The 9-10 hours is a sweet spot, because its basically a full business day. Any increase over it is a welcome emergency buffer, but not enough to make a difference under regular usage. You still need to charge the computer every day. In contrast, reduction of laptop volume is something that directly benefits any user on the go.