Well, some people seem to come here because they hate Apple, though not the majority.
But my point is that Mac sales will still represent a small fraction of revenue when Apple releases updates.
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Hardware-Free WWDC Sets Stage for Busy Second Half of 2016
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Well, some people seem to come here because they hate Apple, though not the majority.
But my point is that Mac sales will still represent a small fraction of revenue when Apple releases updates.As an Apple pro user and fan for many years, I can totally understand the frustration felt by many who have expressed their opinions in this forum - I find myself feeling the same way, especially after the last WWDC. For many years, Apple seemed to be ahead of, or at least comparable with, the PC market in computer hardware performance. It certainly feels like it is becoming less of a priority for the company in recent years.
As Apple shifts more and more to a consumer electronics company and away from focus on the core users that supported them in earlier years, I hear of more high end users considering a switch to a PC. I am actually considering it for the first time in over 20 years. Not an option I am too thrilled about or one I thought I would ever consider, but, second-rate OS aside, the PC market dominates with high-end hardware at a lower cost, especially video cards, and the ability to customize after purchase.
I'll be honest, I REALLY don't like the idea of switching to Windows at all, so here's a thought: IF Apple is not dedicated to new hardware, why not allow easy and legal licensing of the MacOS to third party manufacturers and leave the hardware to them - a fully supported hackintosh? Not my first choice, but better than getting left behind in a world where the latest and best technology can make a huge difference to a business's productivity and bottom line. Throwing it out there for any comments...
As Apple shifts more and more to a consumer electronics company and away from focus on the core users that supported them in earlier years, I hear of more high end users considering a switch to a PC. I am actually considering it for the first time in over 20 years. Not an option I am too thrilled about or one I thought I would ever consider, but, second-rate OS aside, the PC market dominates with high-end hardware at a lower cost, especially video cards, and the ability to customize after purchase.
I'll be honest, I REALLY don't like the idea of switching to Windows at all, so here's a thought: IF Apple is not dedicated to new hardware, why not allow easy and legal licensing of the MacOS to third party manufacturers and leave the hardware to them - a fully supported hackintosh? Not my first choice, but better than getting left behind in a world where the latest and best technology can make a huge difference to a business's productivity and bottom line. Throwing it out there for any comments...
Then Apple didn't have a choice (except to redesign the body to make room for a discrete GPU). This time, Apple just has to extend the cycle from something like 12 month to 15 month.
Intel integrated GPUs have been increasing in performance more than the CPUs, but not at a huge rate either. I thus would doubt that.
But look at how half the internet is getting their panties into a bunch over something of a 15-month cycle instead of a 12-month cycle. This all sounds much more like the behaviour of a petulant child.
True - there's a lot of over-reacting.
I think the problem is that people are looking for a "must-have" update that provides an excuse to upgrade their 3-year-old laptops. Last year's processor and trackpad updates were worthwhile, but really didn't scratch that itch.
...and the Retina Macbook (unsurprisingly) doesn't seem to appeal to the MacRumors crowd, either.
Yeah I agree, but people with 3 year old laptops really don't need upgrades unless they are total professionals. I'm still using my 2010 MacBook, which runs like a veritable snail, and have been waiting for a new MBP since October, so I'm getting quite impatient
So why not get a 2015 13" rMBP? It will be a great upgrade. Retina display, smaller, lighter & faster... The "new shiny" of any 2016 rMBP is likely to be USB-C/TB3 and that's going to be an "adventure" for early adopters.
Or give up and get a PC - but while that thought has been crossing my mind, the closer you look at the alternatives, the more the gloss seems to wear off. The Dell XPS 13/15 are certainly viable rMBP competitors & cheaper - except the battery life and the graphics are ~meh (non-Iris on the 13", the discrete GPU on the 15" far cheaper than on the 15" rMBP, but not one of the sexy new chipsets that people are hoping to see in future rMBPs).
When my 2011 iMac died I switched to my backup 2010 MacBook and found it slow too. So I boosted the RAM from 4 to 16 GB and replaced the 5400 spinner with an SSD. MUCH zipper now. Hoping it holds until end of the tear when hopefully the new hardware will be out, and hoping the new hardware will be worth the wait and affordable.
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I've been trying to sort out whether USB-C will be mature enough by the fall. I would pref to go C but will need to run my legacy USB and minidisplay port gear. I keep computers a long time and replacing my broken iMac with a 2015 model means no USB-C.
As to getting a 2015 13" rMBP, it's almost totally out of the question for me to go out and spend $1299 on over a year-old tech when the new one could come in a few more months. I have checked on PCs, it's just that most of them in my needed-spec range have pretty sucky trackpads and (most importantly) I couldn't run Xcode anymore.
Why?
That was the reasoning a decade or two ago when specs were doubling every 18 months and a 3-year-old computer was a doorstop. That's the reasoning that's stopped you upgrading since October - you could have had 9 months of a much better computer.
If Apple release a new MacBook Pro tomorrow then, well, in 6 months there will still be a new Intel chipset coming out with better 4k/5k and USB 3.1 support, there's Optane/X-Point memory that could be used as non-volatile cache to dramatically speed up SSD access, the future of displays is surely OLED and I'm sure Thunderbolt 4 will be announced soon... Oh, and you'll be the first in line for any design/manufacture glitches in the brand new hardware.
Basically, buy what's available when you need to buy - when you don't need to buy, wait.
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There's still a ton of brand new computers being sold every day without USB-C and/or Thunderbolt 3. Only a couple of USB-C displays have been announced (none with TB3) and they're not in the shops yet. There are only a few USB-C/TB3 computers on sale and most of those (except the Chromebook Pixel) have a variety of other ports. The top-of the range PC graphics cards still offer a mixture of DisplayPort, HDMI and DVI.
I wouldn't worry over-much about USB-A, DisplayPort and friends going away soon. Heck, lots of new computers and displays still have VGA, and there's still FireWire stuff on sale.
Nice example how it's mostly in the people's minds, only.
For all we know, Apple's gonna increase the price on those new models and then people would complain, again.
Apple's expertise of late, is the ability to procrastinate, pushing anything new out a year or more. Their brilliant manipulation and control over their users allows the company to operate without any protests from customers.
The two year delay, before catching up to Samsung and other handset makers in offering large screen smartphones is a stellar example of Apple's blatant profit taking. By recycling and selling the same old design year after year, Apple's risen to heights of profitability others haven't achieved.
MacBook Pros still being sold with a very old design, is further proof that Apple is laughing all the way to the bank. It's an amazing phenomenon.
From my observations USB C is not gaining much traction outside of tech forums and a few more recent hardware releases. I travel globally as a function of work and after over a year I have yet to see one device that can natively utilise my Retina MacBook`s USB C port, without the use of a dongle or an adaptor.
As some have already stated USB A, HDMI, DP etc are not going away anytime soon. USB C offers tremendous benefit, more so when combined with TB-3, equally there has to be a need across the general user base and more importantly industry. Right now full USB C implementation is still relatively expensive, with very few capable of power passthrough for charging.
If I had to categorise - USB C is stil in it`s infancy and will continue to be for 2-3 year more...
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As my father would have said "Fool`s and their money, are easily parted" Personally I don't buy into Apple`s BS I only purchase what works for me, which has steadily reduced over time to just one, maybe two devices, potentially nil, Apple serves a different market these days, mostly itself...
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Apple is riding it's wave of success to the point of taking the p*** with thier customers. They know many of its users have bought so far into the walled garden, that they have no choice but to wait and buy whatever apple serves up and whenever it decides to serve it up. Also they have realised that there is much bigger profit in idevices, and want you to buy an iPad Pro instead of a laptop, not based on what is better for their customers, but what is more profitable for apple .
On a bright side there are very good OS and hardware alternatives out there, it's just not easy breaking out of the walled garden. I'm investing in a egpu solution to get more time out of my apple devices that I own, and I don't see myself buying any more glued hardware in the future, it's sad, apple used to have the best compromise between solid software and upgradability, now the software is buggy like old windows and there is zero upgradability only due to greed.
There is a huge vacuum for a company to come in and start making really great quality computer hardware, while apple moves into consumer electronics.
Very much agree, I look at Apple`s designs and actions, to me the entire effort now is to get the customer to pay as much as possible, with the least investment on Apple`s behalf, even then there is deliberate intention to force the customer to purchase evermore Apple hardware & services, by employing an ever constricting interlocking web.
I have always been more of an OS X user than an Apple fan, equally OS X is now waining to the point that each release is ridden with bugs taking a full cycle to remedy if at all, before another underdeveloped OS is unleashed on the public, wash, rinse & repeat. Either Apple does not have the resources or knowhow to manage the current 12 month desktop OS development cycle or 80% is just good enough. Personally I suspect the latter as Apple`s current target audience is easily pleased, with lower demands.
OEM`s are now producing very good systems, that are thin & light, offering a decent array of ports and in some cases upgrade paths to extend the useful life of the system, while Apple is busy extending it`s monopoly solely for Apple`s own benefit.
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Who would have thought a time would come when Microsoft had a more stable OS than apple. Shows what a 12 month release cycle does for OS quality. My best summary is that OS X is becoming OS X home edition with integration with iDevics , so you buy those also, which means gimmicks every 12 months, followed by constant patches, eventually it will jsut become an extension of iOS .
Why change what is already perfect just for the sake of changing things? I'm tired of that constant demand for new designs...is it those fast times we're living in that people are never satisfied and all too soon bored of what they have, asking others to 'entertain' them by making new design?
Far from perfect.
Who said bored, or looking for entertainment, perhaps you're confused.
Since when is 10% considered "not good enough to pursue?" The other 90% ain't doing too well these days. Really, Siri is getting worse and Apple has no really new ideas in the smartphone or tablet space, save for a larger iPad.
I say WHY NOT make a killer laptop? How hard could it be, since after all, you just need i7 processors, a motherboard, memory, MASSIVE SSD options, connectivity and ports galore, some hot new battery technology. That stuff should fit nicely into a 17 inch form factor, don't you think?
If MSI, Asus, and others can make awesome laptops that are UPGRADABLE, then why can't Apple? Is apple losing its mojo?
With an excellent high-powered laptop, I'll say that that "mere" 10% might be coaxed higher, and that could take up the slack while the other products are revamped, wouldn't it?
As much as I want to agree with you, there's a reason for everything. That's basically asking "Why can't everything be premium?" or "Why can't we have a perfect laptop?". Sure, Asus and other manufacturers are offering top notch specs in their electronics, but your talking about a Windows ecosystem in which many Windows laptops are not as optimized as Macs and eventually become buggy. I'm sure Apple can and eventually will possibly do the same in terms of opting for the highest, but they would have to be able to find a way to do that AND be able to maintain the quality of their OS that everyone loves. Apple opts for parts that outperform the parts used by other competitors today. For example, the Broadwell chip that Apple still uses in the MBPr 13 today still easily beats the SkylAke chip found in similarly priced Dell XPS 13.
However, in terms of being able to customize and upgrade as easily as Windows, I am with you on that.
Obviously you got bored, since you were the one complaining about Apple selling the 'same old design' for years.
I agree. Here's something that I still consider perfect:
/s because I just KNOW some people will take it seriously.
5-6 years ago when our kids went to higher education I recommended they go Apple Mac. It worked well for us then, but I don't think I'd do that now. I wonder how many other dads are thinking the same? I went Apple at the time out of sheer frustration with the Windows mess and for five years it was fine. Now I wonder what I've done. The limited choices for replacing my broken 2011 iMac are giving me much pause. The hardware announcements this fall will be crucial: specs and price.
True, if a machine has PCIe SSD, between that and the video support, it's not hard to not have much left for the thunderbolt ports.
Is it possible that Apple has been on a long and steady path toward getting out of the "PC" (notebooks/desktop) business? There are actions (and lack of actions) by Apple in the realm of hardware and software over the last 4 years that could lead one to draw that conclusion.
I'll pose this question, "If Apple wanted to gradually get out of the PC business, what would they do differently than they are currently doing?"
I'll pose this question, "If Apple wanted to gradually get out of the PC business, what would they do differently than they are currently doing?"