Having an existential crisis

[dyn]

Once again I'm not implying the switch is inherently wrong, but I am left to wonder if Apple means the "Pro" in MacBook Pro. Maybe this should have been a MacBook, more oriented to the enthusiast and not the professional..? Just thinking out loud here.

You are implying that there is only 1 definition of what is "pro". The thing I find the saddest is the part that you don't even know that you are falling completely and utterly for all this marketing crap that is the device's name. It's just a name, no more, no less. Stop looking at the name and start looking at what you can do with it.

This IS a "pro" notebook. Apple never said it was YOUR "pro" notebook. People really need to start realising that. I as a professional can do my work just fine on the new MBP, just as I can do it just fine on an MBA and to some extend even on a MacBook. In my case I only need a machine that can run an office suite, UNIX tools (incl. my own scripts) and some basic stuff like a web browser and e-mail and I need to be able to connect a few USB devices on occasion. Any Mac can do that and thus any Mac is a "pro" device because the "pro" part is what I do with it, not how it is named. It's really just that simple.

Nothing!! However when you need to replace it a Tb3 connected SSD will be a massive upgrade that would be useless to you if you were running on USB A ports.

There are other reasons for going with an SSD besides sequential read/writes (which is the only reason why you'd need the faster interface). The lower random read/write speeds do not require this fast interface (they are not that high), the latency doesn't benefit from it (it will when you go from USB to TB) and you don't really need it when the sole purpose of the SSD is to use it on the go as it is far more robust (HDDs don't like to be dropped, SSDs don't care but having a fast interface is just a nice thing to have).

 

[technosinner]

You are implying that there is only 1 definition of what is "pro". The thing I find the saddest is the part that you don't even know that you are falling completely and utterly for all this marketing crap that is the device's name. It's just a name, no more, no less. Stop looking at the name and start looking at what you can do with it.

I'm a bit late on the reply, was out of town, but you read too much into my statement friend I am fully aware the name is on that: a name. I was using it as an allegory of how Apple markets their products to certain crowds vs. the product that is actually put out.

I mean, the more I think about the less I'm "offended" by their move, but at the same time, I'm thankful Apple isn't in charge of distributing power outlets because my house would have more dongles than a male stripper club!

I think a lot of people dislike adapters when the solution could have been simpler, and without making a judgement call, Apple does seem to care far more about the object than the it's use, i.e. has to be beautiful, thin, light etc and that's great, but there is some balance to be had. Even if I personally don't care, I think this is the main (and only valid) argument against dropping the 3.5 jack on the iPhone; yes you get a few millimetres but is it really worth it?

Anyways, old news by now. We'll see where this takes us!

 

[lauramayer]

for gods sake just pay $19 for a little hub and move on with your life

the whine factor on these forums is astonishing

He has no money after spending 3000 bucks for a new twitter and surfing maxed out MacBook Pro.

 

[therealseebs]

To use a modern laptop you need modern devices.

That seems a bit drastic. Usually, I assume some amount of backwards compatibility.

I had a G3 Pismo powerbook. I got some devices to use with it. Every Mac laptop made since then has been able to use those devices. And I can see not wanting to do the full 16 years of backwards compatibility, but right now, I can't actually buy replacements for most of these, at all. There's no USB-C equivalent of logitech's "unifying" gizmos, and I might prefer Bluetooth, except that there are specific mice and trackballs they make that have never gotten bluetooth equivalents. The card reader I need now because the Mac doesn't have one anymore? USB. I haven't yet seen a type C equivalent, although some type C hubs do that.

But there's a reason that most of the USB type-C hub/dock type things out there provide USB type A ports, which is that in practice, that's what all the devices still are. I haven't actually seen anyone announcing any intent to switch to USB Type C for their keyboard or mouse plugs yet, although presumably it'll eventually happen. But right now? If you buy the most modern devices you can, they will generally need a dongle to talk to the Mac.