Agree, MacOS is awful, hope that the issues will be resolved after the transition from Intel to M1 is over. I have 13" Intel MBP maxed out specs.
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Five Years Ago Today, Apple's Uncharacteristic Apology Set the Stage for the Mac's Renaissance
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Apple has WAAYY less products than samsung or Dell. Not even close.
Huh? This is objectively untrue. There are two laptop lines (three sizes + one size = four total products there), three headless desktops and an all-in-one. Eight products, all with clearly delineated functionality and features.
then I'm typing this on a MacBook Air from 2010 are the ssd drive is upgradable, but nothing else and it works.
the RAM is perfect, the battery does not need to be replaced and the screen is impressive.
therefore maybe a soldered logic board might be the future designed in the past?
In 2017 I talked myself into buying the last pre-TouchBar/butterfly MacBook Pro they sold, because it seemed to me like it might be half a decade before they made another laptop worth buying. Well, finally, they do.
The point of repairability is to be able to fix things when they break.
RAM is usually good for a lifetime, but it does fail. On a computer with slotted RAM, it’s simple to repair. On a laptop with soldered RAM, it’s basically impossible.
The Mac is definitely back — with a vengeance. Love my M1 Air and M1 Pro 16. They are about as close to perfection in my mind.
Improvements? I wish Apple had used this opportunity to get rid of the camera on the laptops, and instead offered a separate portable unit. They would have gotten hell for it, but this would have made the display cleaner. I have never used my MacBook camera. Maybe I’m different, but I don’t need to see the person I’m speaking to on my laptop, and they don’t need to see me.
Improvements? I wish Apple had used this opportunity to get rid of the camera on the laptops, and instead offered a separate portable unit. They would have gotten hell for it, but this would have made the display cleaner. I have never used my MacBook camera. Maybe I’m different, but I don’t need to see the person I’m speaking to on my laptop, and they don’t need to see me.
I picked a 2010 Mac Pro for a song. It's the one with the Westmere 6 core processor. It's still a great machine. Mine is stopped at High Sierra due to lack of a Metal compatible video card. Really that's all it would need. Apple wrote a Metal Driver for a 2012 Mac mini with Intel Gutless Graphics, but not for that big Radeon? Really?
I added a USB 3 card and an SSD to it. Not much else it needs. They should have kept that design.
I added a USB 3 card and an SSD to it. Not much else it needs. They should have kept that design.
It doesn't always have to be thinner / smaller. I thought Apple was learning that, with the 2019 Mac Pro, but the new iMac makes me question what they've learned.
Not to be negative, but I agree. The Hot Wheels iMacs with the small 24" screen and huge bezels/chin is a non-starter. That leaves the M1 Mini with it's 16GB RAM limit (same as 10 years ago) and as you said, the Air.
The iMac should have been in silver or space gray and all screen with no bezels (27" at least.)
No, Mac Pro 2013 was innovative at the time, it was all they had to work with (or was ready) in their attempt to progress. Hot Intel chips and graphic cards killed it, but if their silicon all in one concept was ready then…Mac Pro 2013 would have been the most innovative “anything” at the time and everyone would have been kissing Schiller’s a** as he said instead of all of the tomatoes in the face that he (and Joni) got. It should have been “The Studio Pro” instead of replacing the modular Mac Pro.
So at least have a little pride in the can Apple and fix the firmware issue before Mac Pro 2013 goes out to the pasture and or the coffin.
The Mac may be in a better state than it was 5 years ago, but there is still nothing that looks attractive to me in their lineup. The Studio in particular is so disappointing: not expandable (modular, my ass!), not service-friendly, way overpriced. MacBook Pro is the only remaining Mac worth buying, but again it's too expensive and not expandable.
Then there's macOS. It's in a truly sad state. More and more walled garden. No real improvement in the last 5 years (yeah, dark mode isn't an improvement). My next computer is going to run Linux.
Then there's macOS. It's in a truly sad state. More and more walled garden. No real improvement in the last 5 years (yeah, dark mode isn't an improvement). My next computer is going to run Linux.
Five years ago, the Mac lineup was in a bad state. Over three years had passed since Apple redesigned the Mac Pro with a sleek but constrained "trash can" enclosure, while the iMac, MacBook Air, and Mac mini had also gone years without updates.
A snapshot of the MacRumors Buyer's Guide from April 4, 2017:
At the time, some users began to question whether Apple was still committed to the Mac, especially at the high end of the market.
The criticism ultimately led Apple to hold a meeting with a small group of reporters, where it apologized to pro Mac users and ensured that it remained committed to the Mac. In a rare and surprising move, Apple also pre-announced it was working on a "completely rethought" Mac Pro with a modular design, a new pro-level iMac, and a new pro display.
The meeting, which was disclosed to the public five years ago today, involved Apple's former marketing chief Phil Schiller, software engineering chief Craig Federighi, and then-VP, now-SVP of hardware engineering John Ternus. One of the reporters in the room was John Gruber, and the quotes that follow are from his Daring Fireball coverage.
Schiller's apology to Mac Pro users:Federighi's admission that Apple had designed itself into a "thermal corner":Schiller ensuring that Apple remains committed to the Mac:To say that Apple delivered on its promise is an understatement. Not only did Apple release the modular Mac Pro and the since-discontinued iMac Pro, but it also finally ditched the problematic butterfly keyboard on MacBooks, announced its game-changing transition to Apple silicon, brought back a wide array of ports on the latest MacBook Pro models, gave customers an entirely new option in the Mac Studio, and more.
Apple's roundtable discussion with reporters will forever be a turning point in the Mac's history.
Article Link: Five Years Ago Today, Apple's Uncharacteristic Apology Set the Stage for the Mac's Renaissance
The State of Mac hardware is better compared to 5 years ago, sure. But the State of Mac Software sucks balls more than ever.
There are less and less software for MacOSX. Most devs are just sticking to Windows, that's it. And Mac gaming software, not that it was ever "robust", is literally dead. The last remaining Mac porting powerhouses (Aspyr and Feral) have pretty much given up on Macs. If you looked at Aspyr and Feral 4 years ago, almost all their attention was devoted to porting AAA PC games to OSX. These days, they instead focus on Android, iOS, and even Linux gaming ports.
It's also getting buggier. And would something suck balls more than ever or suck more balls than ever?
THAT is the reason for Apple's lack of high-end Macs. People only buy the Mac because of the software that only runs on Macs. Now that the mac-only software is second rate, few people buy the high end macs.
I was one of those who used Aperure. It only ran on Mac soI used the Mac. But now the Aperture is gone, way not move to Linux?
If I want to edit video today I can run Devinci Resolve on Windows, Mac or Linux. Why would I choose Mac? Back when I used Final Cut there was an obvious reason to choose Mac. But the Apple software is no longer leading.
It also used to be the Final Cut Pro was a leading video editor and even Aple' office suite was great. But others caught up and passed Apple
I think what they learned is there are millions of people still that have never bought a Mac. As a result, they don’t have to JUST make computers for folks that last bought a computer in 2012, they can make them for folks that have never even owned a computer!
Apple, since its inception, was beholden to its CPU makers (originally Motorola, then IBM and finally Intel) to drive the brains of their machines. And this was always a problematic relationship with chip vendors failing to meet performance standards. FINALLY, Apple is answering to no one and is putting the industry on notice. Not only are these SoCs charging from the Gen One gate, but they are optimized for MacOS and its most critical functions. No screwdriver PC will ever be able to match this going forward without sucking buckets of electricity, kicking out buckets of heat, wind and fan noise. There's a place for efficiency and elegance (unlike the thin, Jonny Ive, dongley design of the past) that positions these new machines in a desirable and dominating space.
But, Especially when it comes to Apple, upgradability never equaled longevity.
Take your 2012 MacBook Pro for example.
No matter how much RAM or storage you stuff in it post purchase, Apple is still not going to let you upgrade it past Catalina.
You’re eventually going to have to upgrade it to a new model if you want to continue to have current software support from developers, web browsers and Apple.
I mean, just look at the power Macintosh G5.
You could do all sorts of upgrades to that machine but no matter what you did, you could never get it to officially run Snow leopard.
Point being, upgradable or non-upgradable, you’re going to eventually have to purchase a new computer. The ability to shove more storage and more ram into it doesn’t really change the fact that eventually, probably after 5 to 10 years or so, you’re gonna have to get a new computer.
Apple chose the all-in-one system on chip package because it helped increase performance, and because they knew that the majority of customers don’t upgrade their storage and ram, and those that do still have to purchase new computers in the end eventually.
If upgradability was really as important as everyone says it is, you would still see 2006 Mac Pros being used in the wild. But you don’t.
I’ll take incredibly fast, cool and efficient over a small, small minority who have constant complaints that they can’t tinker, thank you very much.
They learned that they can make the small and thin products for everyday consumers, and they can still be fast and run cool with their own processors - hence the iMac. They also learned not to compromise the Pro-level products to achieve that same level of smallness and thinness, which allows them to achieve even more power and capability, hence the new MacBook Pros.
Oh That new MacBook Air is coming, and white bezels Will probably be included.
The real question is… how much will it weigh?
If they can get it right around the 12 inch MacBook level of lightness, it will be a perfect machine.
More important question, what’s wrong with the Mac mini?
Interesting that every recent review of MacBook Pro and Mac Studio I have read comments on the "welcome return" of multiple ports. Yet, at the time of the ill-fated transition away from the legacy ports years ago, the Apple cheerleading crowd (both in these forums and professional reviewers) celebrated the loss of the ports and, in fact, ridiculed those of us who lamented their loss. We were told that "this is the future," "no serious Mac user needs/wants those ports," etc. Now that Apple has deemed it prudent to return them, these same people are saying "Finally! All the ports we want have returned!"
I told you so, I guess 🤔
I told you so, I guess 🤔
Everything cannot be blamed on him, it's Apple Silicon that makes these Computers Performance better
Why would you need an expandable computer? The Studio can easily be configured to serve you well for years. By the time you need to upgrade/expand, it will be time to replace. I mean, PC users are always tinkering inside their computers and adding chips and cards, but Mac has never really been aimed at that kind of user.
I wonder if the Apple silicon development took longer than expected. They probably needed lots of pieces to come together for it to work throughout their product line.
I was on the fence about switching to windows at this time, I didn't need a new Mac at the time... but the future just didn't look great. The 13" Pro was pushing upwards in price with not really having the performance to justify it, and the touch bar wasn't great... it's flashy but never really seemed like a "pro" feature. And the retina Air had anemic performance, it was barely any faster than my 2015 Air.
It seemed like the criticisms of Macs being overpriced shiny gadgets was taken to heart by Apple. They weren't about what a computer does best anymore, they were up market computers to sell to their iOS customers.
Whatever happened, it now seems like they have a much clearer understanding of what a Mac is and who buys and uses Macs and what they want from them.
I like the parity in the lineup now. Every Mac they make now has the same fast single core performance, so all Macs from now on should be extremely fast at all the basic day to day computer stuff no matter what. And all Macs have fairly advanced graphics, close to dedicated graphics for a PC. Then the higher Pro/Max Macs get more cores for extreme parallel performance, and better GPUs and RAM that more advanced users would want. The distinction between desktop and laptop is gone... and there's no low end old products just to reach a price point...
I was on the fence about switching to windows at this time, I didn't need a new Mac at the time... but the future just didn't look great. The 13" Pro was pushing upwards in price with not really having the performance to justify it, and the touch bar wasn't great... it's flashy but never really seemed like a "pro" feature. And the retina Air had anemic performance, it was barely any faster than my 2015 Air.
It seemed like the criticisms of Macs being overpriced shiny gadgets was taken to heart by Apple. They weren't about what a computer does best anymore, they were up market computers to sell to their iOS customers.
Whatever happened, it now seems like they have a much clearer understanding of what a Mac is and who buys and uses Macs and what they want from them.
I like the parity in the lineup now. Every Mac they make now has the same fast single core performance, so all Macs from now on should be extremely fast at all the basic day to day computer stuff no matter what. And all Macs have fairly advanced graphics, close to dedicated graphics for a PC. Then the higher Pro/Max Macs get more cores for extreme parallel performance, and better GPUs and RAM that more advanced users would want. The distinction between desktop and laptop is gone... and there's no low end old products just to reach a price point...