But don't tell people not to voice their complaints either. Wall of text, sort of, incoming, but I'll highlight the main points:
1) People have criticisms about the single USB-C port and the price because it's viewed as planned obsolescence.
2) People think that this is a step backwards because it has a Core M processor but is being priced the same as a Retina Pro 13".
3) People feel that it was being speculated to be a Retina MacBook Air, which they were willing to pay for and actually wanted, but it's not.
The most common counter argument I see from Retina Macbook apologists seems to be, "If you don't like it, you don't have to buy it."
That's a good point! But you also cannot tell those same people, not to comment in threads discussing its shortcomings or tell them that the machine isn't meant to replace *insert full time machine*.
What you need to understand is, US, the people complaining, are doing YOU a favor. Forcing Apple to implement more USB ports or cheapen the USB-C adapters or add a Thunderbolt port does NOT hurt you in any way. In fact, it helps you. Because despite the fact that you're playing devil's advocate just for the sake of defending Apple, none of you can say with a straight face that you PREFER to have a bunch of adapters versus having an extra port.
What we worry about is the fact that Apple ALWAYS trickles down their design decisions to their other laptops, thereby forcing these "innovations" onto people who wanted no part of them.
Let's look at history, and for the sake of argument, let's focus on the DVD drive:
1) First non-DVD Mac of relevance (please read the part "of relevance" like 100 times or however many necessary for you to realize I'm not saying the first, period, but the first, "of relevance") was the MacBook Air. People cried bloody murder at it not having a DVD drive and the common argument was, "It's not a Pro, if you don't like it, just buy the Pro". I recall even Apple saying it. Now, how many models have a DVD drive? Oh, just the Classic.
2) Soldered memory - Again, implemented on the Air and people commonly argued "Well, it's to save space and if you don't like it, it's not a Pro, you can just buy the Pro." That argument held a lot of salt, I guess. I'll tell you this- I would personally prefer upgradeable ram on my 13" Pro at the cost of an hour or two of battery use, which is literally all it would take. They're not FORCED to add more battery life at the expense of expansion, they're ACTIVELY CHOOSING it. They literally walk into a meeting and say, "Add as much battery volume as you can, and make the logic board as small as possible." It's gotten to the point where the battery makes up most of the mass underneath the keyboard.
3) Proprietary SSD's - AGAIN, implemented on the Air and people, AGAIN, argued that you could just buy the Pro and to not buy it if you don't like it.
Now, we don't have a MacBook model that does NOT have proprietary SSD's and OFC cannot produce/manufacture their aftermarket solutions fast enough to beat Apple on refreshes. They're literally changing the form factor and port EVERY year despite the shell and board staying almost exactly the same.
4) Lack of discrete graphics - First, they had a "non Pro" MacBook back in the day that came with integrated graphics. People constantly asked for discrete graphics and the common argument was, "Well it's not a Pro. If you want discrete graphics you can buy the Pro..." And then Apple decided to fit the 13" with a Unibody aluminum shell and call it a "Pro". People's argument to the complaints about the 13" being called a Pro without discrete graphics? "The real pro is the 15" and that always has discrete graphics". Does it, now? Thanks to manipulation of media from sponsorships and advertising power, no one gives bad reviews anymore so people blatantly ignored the fact that the 15" Pro with Iris Pro, despite having better processing power and battery life, was about 20~30% slower in GPU power than the previous generation. Some reviewers even blatantly IGNORED a GPU test and focused only on the CPU test, or compared the GPU power to the HD4000 or only compared it to other laptops using integrated graphics. And everyone just "accepted" it. I even bought a 15" 650M specifically because the new 15" Pro was no longer a "Pro".
Apple used to design from the top. Design implementations used to trickle "down", and now they're trickling up. And if we don't universally voice our concerns, it WILL trickle up. What does this mean? One USB-C port or rather, a complete lack of ports on the higher end "Pro" models. Why? So they can be thinner, have more battery life, be sleeker. Apple has gotten accustomed to throwing words at us that don't mean as much to us as other words.
Apple chooses "We've managed to make it our thinnest... yet." Why? Why does thin always matter? Why does battery life always matter?
A 15" MacBook is not supposed to be the thinnest, lightest notebook ever. That's what the Air is. But they developed this "good product" matrix and they apply it to EVERY PRODUCT on their shelf. Power users mean nothing anymore and apologists and blind loyalists are just sitting at the dinner table swallowing it all. I'll say it:
The 15" MacBook Pro is inferior to its prior revisions. If they built a 15" Classic, with the same components as the 15" Retina, but chose to make it slightly thicker and heavier, but also able to be upgraded and with a 750m standard (it should have an 860M at this point. Past 15" MacBook's had a 6 series GPU and in early 2012 they switched to 5 series which is literally high low-range or bottom mid-range), it wouldn't affect them negatively. No one would complain that it's too heavy or that it's not light because power users don't give a crap about that. And it would sell.
But they won't... Because the community, rather than holding them accountable, universally stands by their side. Literally a community of Stockholm Syndrome.
1) People have criticisms about the single USB-C port and the price because it's viewed as planned obsolescence.
2) People think that this is a step backwards because it has a Core M processor but is being priced the same as a Retina Pro 13".
3) People feel that it was being speculated to be a Retina MacBook Air, which they were willing to pay for and actually wanted, but it's not.
The most common counter argument I see from Retina Macbook apologists seems to be, "If you don't like it, you don't have to buy it."
That's a good point! But you also cannot tell those same people, not to comment in threads discussing its shortcomings or tell them that the machine isn't meant to replace *insert full time machine*.
What you need to understand is, US, the people complaining, are doing YOU a favor. Forcing Apple to implement more USB ports or cheapen the USB-C adapters or add a Thunderbolt port does NOT hurt you in any way. In fact, it helps you. Because despite the fact that you're playing devil's advocate just for the sake of defending Apple, none of you can say with a straight face that you PREFER to have a bunch of adapters versus having an extra port.
What we worry about is the fact that Apple ALWAYS trickles down their design decisions to their other laptops, thereby forcing these "innovations" onto people who wanted no part of them.
Let's look at history, and for the sake of argument, let's focus on the DVD drive:
1) First non-DVD Mac of relevance (please read the part "of relevance" like 100 times or however many necessary for you to realize I'm not saying the first, period, but the first, "of relevance") was the MacBook Air. People cried bloody murder at it not having a DVD drive and the common argument was, "It's not a Pro, if you don't like it, just buy the Pro". I recall even Apple saying it. Now, how many models have a DVD drive? Oh, just the Classic.
2) Soldered memory - Again, implemented on the Air and people commonly argued "Well, it's to save space and if you don't like it, it's not a Pro, you can just buy the Pro." That argument held a lot of salt, I guess. I'll tell you this- I would personally prefer upgradeable ram on my 13" Pro at the cost of an hour or two of battery use, which is literally all it would take. They're not FORCED to add more battery life at the expense of expansion, they're ACTIVELY CHOOSING it. They literally walk into a meeting and say, "Add as much battery volume as you can, and make the logic board as small as possible." It's gotten to the point where the battery makes up most of the mass underneath the keyboard.
3) Proprietary SSD's - AGAIN, implemented on the Air and people, AGAIN, argued that you could just buy the Pro and to not buy it if you don't like it.
Now, we don't have a MacBook model that does NOT have proprietary SSD's and OFC cannot produce/manufacture their aftermarket solutions fast enough to beat Apple on refreshes. They're literally changing the form factor and port EVERY year despite the shell and board staying almost exactly the same.
4) Lack of discrete graphics - First, they had a "non Pro" MacBook back in the day that came with integrated graphics. People constantly asked for discrete graphics and the common argument was, "Well it's not a Pro. If you want discrete graphics you can buy the Pro..." And then Apple decided to fit the 13" with a Unibody aluminum shell and call it a "Pro". People's argument to the complaints about the 13" being called a Pro without discrete graphics? "The real pro is the 15" and that always has discrete graphics". Does it, now? Thanks to manipulation of media from sponsorships and advertising power, no one gives bad reviews anymore so people blatantly ignored the fact that the 15" Pro with Iris Pro, despite having better processing power and battery life, was about 20~30% slower in GPU power than the previous generation. Some reviewers even blatantly IGNORED a GPU test and focused only on the CPU test, or compared the GPU power to the HD4000 or only compared it to other laptops using integrated graphics. And everyone just "accepted" it. I even bought a 15" 650M specifically because the new 15" Pro was no longer a "Pro".
Apple used to design from the top. Design implementations used to trickle "down", and now they're trickling up. And if we don't universally voice our concerns, it WILL trickle up. What does this mean? One USB-C port or rather, a complete lack of ports on the higher end "Pro" models. Why? So they can be thinner, have more battery life, be sleeker. Apple has gotten accustomed to throwing words at us that don't mean as much to us as other words.
Apple chooses "We've managed to make it our thinnest... yet." Why? Why does thin always matter? Why does battery life always matter?
A 15" MacBook is not supposed to be the thinnest, lightest notebook ever. That's what the Air is. But they developed this "good product" matrix and they apply it to EVERY PRODUCT on their shelf. Power users mean nothing anymore and apologists and blind loyalists are just sitting at the dinner table swallowing it all. I'll say it:
The 15" MacBook Pro is inferior to its prior revisions. If they built a 15" Classic, with the same components as the 15" Retina, but chose to make it slightly thicker and heavier, but also able to be upgraded and with a 750m standard (it should have an 860M at this point. Past 15" MacBook's had a 6 series GPU and in early 2012 they switched to 5 series which is literally high low-range or bottom mid-range), it wouldn't affect them negatively. No one would complain that it's too heavy or that it's not light because power users don't give a crap about that. And it would sell.
But they won't... Because the community, rather than holding them accountable, universally stands by their side. Literally a community of Stockholm Syndrome.
