Yes, and true "power users" don't value lighter/thinner as much as performance/expandability. Apple is building products it is marketing as targeting power users, but the design is really focused on the consumer segment.
I can't argue with that.
Though I would add that by doing so, Apple could be trying to "enable" the consumer segment by offering them access to "pro hardware" without the usual shortcomings.
For example, I might want a 15" MBP for the horsepower, but be discouraged by the bulk and the weight, and this in turn causes me to compromise by getting a MBA or 13" MBP. It's not that I don't want / need better specs, but that there are also other features which I deem equally important, such as portability.
I have lifted the 2016 15" MBP in person and the weight is noticeably lighter than the 2015 version. Enough that I personally wouldn't mind carrying the former around on a daily basis.
Not at all unlike how the Apple Pencil allows iPad Pro users to perform tasks previously limited to those with specialised hardware like the Wacom tablet.
What Apple is doing here is democratising technology and making more readily accessible to the masses, and I think this is something that isn't being acknowledged enough.
No. The point is that there need to have different models with a variety of characteristics that fit different users. There is no "one size fits all if we just have the right balance" here. There are users that need very high performance laptops and there are users that only need a device that has a little more performance than a top iPad, but want a keyboard, trackpad, etc. The super-thin design does not work for the high performance market segment because cooling needs to the hardware prevent a thin design. Durability also suffers from thinness and material choice/finish. That's physics -- and Apple is not above the laws of science (even if they are treated like Gods by some people).
I agree with you. It's impossible to have a 1-size-fits-all model which meets the needs of every customer out there.
But the downside to having so many different laptop offerings is that you then spread yourselves too thinly maintaining so many different devices, as well as taxing your supply chain and making it more challenging to accurately forecast demand and allocate resources effectively.
Neither extreme is desirable, and again, the challenge is in finding an acceptable middle ground.
As a publically traded company, they are actually supposed to be creating products that people want, to grow as a business. Alienating users is going to reduce the company's value.
There is also a saying - you fire your worst customers, because the money they bring in may not be worth the effort it takes to serve them.
The resources involved in creating a custom MacBook Pro rig specifically targeted at "pro" consumers simply might not be worth the sales it generates. Just look at the Mac Pro. At the end of the day, Apple might be better off channeling these resources into other departments which show promise of better growth and profits.
No one was complaining the previous MacBook Pro was too thick. In fact, there were complaining about it being too thin in the old version, too. The thinner, lighter design does not perceptibly add to customer value, but the loss of upgradable RAM has a very clear downside for the consumer. Considering the very high prices Apple charges for extra RAM on configurations, you're really naive to think this does not have a financial motivation.
Maybe there is a financial motivation here. I don't think it's Apple primary motivation either way.
I didn't think the 4s was too thick and heavy either. But spend a few days with the 5s and the 4s suddenly feels so much bulkier and heavier. I am used to the weight of my 6S+, but then I pick up my 5s on occasion and go "Whoa. It barely weighs a thing." It's all about expectations and redefining the new normal.
So you're agreeing that Apple is ignoring what their customers want and letting their fortunes fall where they will.
And look where that has gotten Apple so far.
Every product release has always been marred with self-styled Apple loyalists criticising Apple for apparently forgetting their roots and ignoring their user base.
People vilified the iPod for being another MP3 player. The iPhone for not having a keyboard. The iPad for running iOS instead of macOS. The MBA for ditching the cd drive.
People adapted. The market adapted. Product improvements were made as and when the technology became feasible. Apple prospered while making the competition look like utter morons in the process.
And maybe this time will be the same and maybe it will be different. But Apple evidently has history on its side.
It's not possible to meet the needs to the entire customer base in a single machine, period. At this point, Apple's lineup lacks the diversity needed to meet all these segments' needs. If Apple doesn't want to produce machines with the variety needed to do so, they need to allow people to run OSX on hardware by companies who will.
"Need" is a pretty strong word here. There is nothing Apple "needs" to do here. That is the power, and the curse of being in the Apple ecosystem.
