If I am not mistaking, those premium SSDs are Samsung, as well as the displays, so I would assume you'd be able to find those parts in other laptops as well.
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Mac Sales Remain Flat in July, 5% Year Over Year Drop Expected for September Quarter
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If I am not mistaking, those premium SSDs are Samsung, as well as the displays, so I would assume you'd be able to find those parts in other laptops as well.
I work in IT (I do applications support for a worldwide bank) and frankly am shocked by how not up to speed with technology my colleagues are. They know their jobs, but I wouldn't ask them about a home network or windows issue.
I see that most of your examples are older. My point was that Mac reliability may not be what it once was today.
The issues I've encountered have been with 2010 models and newer. My first Mac, a PB G4 17in, lasted me for 8 years, until I sold it (in working order).
I don't abuse my laptops; their use has been identical to the PB I mention, but the issues have become more common. I would fix them, then sell, at a rate that I actually bought a new Mac every year (thank you, resale value).
The iMac was the biggest disappointment, and despite loving the concept of it (beautiful machine), I'll never buy one again. I am 2 for 2 with those (I sold the first right after getting it fixed under warranty);I really wanted to keep the last. But that sucker gets WAY HOT.
Graphics cards and CPUs are far more powerful today and generate a LOT of heat; combine it with HDD and screen heat and you got a furnance in there. I even found an incident online where the screen simply fell off one of the new ones (while the owner was using it). This is easy to believe, given the heat the machine can produce combined with the fact that the screen is glued on.
So, right now, I'm stuck with purchasing an under-powered Mac mini or an over-powered (and likely EXPENSIVE) Mac pro...
Fedora is looking better by the minute... (I saw a mod that made it very OSX-like)
But I really don't want to leave...
I still think that Mac laptops are the best in the business though, as is OSX. Apple is just not giving me the hardware I want (took away the 17 in MBP too). Bummer.
So bottom line, temper expectations (and get Apple Care).
Most of my examples are older because I don't have anything newer! But your experience does give me pause to think.
I had a 17 inch HP laptop in the mid 2005 or so. Sure big screen but it was too big to easily carry around. My next laptop will be a 15 inch and, because I do image work, I'll have a large monitor as a second screen when at a work area and just live with it when traveling.
Edit: If the new Mac Pro desktop I less than $3000, I mar just get it for my business.
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Apple needs a 21 inch iMac at 999 for all buyers. They should have non-Retina Mac Book Pros at the same price point, Airs should be lower as well. The Mini, get it to 499 for all buyers.
They need to make it so that when people see the Apple computers in Best Buy near other brands that the price isn't the sticking point. Granted Windows users will still be stuck, but even then Apple could show how easy it is to boot into Windows perhaps by even cutting a deal with Microsoft.
For the Mac faithful, I think publishing a schedule of planned updates would go far to encourage people to buy and not just wait out in hopes of updates.
As for the new Mac Pro "Dyson edition", better get a model at 1999 to start if not lower.
They need to make it so that when people see the Apple computers in Best Buy near other brands that the price isn't the sticking point. Granted Windows users will still be stuck, but even then Apple could show how easy it is to boot into Windows perhaps by even cutting a deal with Microsoft.
For the Mac faithful, I think publishing a schedule of planned updates would go far to encourage people to buy and not just wait out in hopes of updates.
As for the new Mac Pro "Dyson edition", better get a model at 1999 to start if not lower.
It is not cannibalization. It is the internet that is making all the older computers still relevant. Result is lots of folk have no need to update. And this has nothing to do with if they have a nice tablet or smartphone. In fact, I know very few families who own a tablet who don't also own two computers, plus a computer at work. It isn't the still fairly early adopters of tablets who aren't buying tablets instead of computers. They are just getting a couple of extra years out of their current computer set up.
Didn't read entire thread.
I think Apple needs to do a better job with Marketing these things. Give people a reason why they still need an iMac in addition to their iPhone/iPad..
I think Apple needs to do a better job with Marketing these things. Give people a reason why they still need an iMac in addition to their iPhone/iPad..
This post reminds me of an article I read a couple years ago. The article was about how Apple should lead the move to touchscreen laptops. It went on to describe the ergonomic issues inherent in a touchscreen laptop. The author then dismissed these issues by claiming that Apple should be able to find an innovative solution to these issues because they are Apple.My first thought was, "They already did."
The multi-touch trackpad is their solution.Exactly. The iPhone introduced many to Mac systems and sales increased. The 08 crisis hit, expensive Mac desktops and high end notebooks sales dropped and less expensive iPads, entry level notebooks and non-Mac systems slightly increased. I remember iPhone Windows owners were wow'ed w/ "all-in-one" 24" iMac's instead of thinner iMacs w/ [some] notebook components w/o ODDs many still use (less parts, thinner yet more expensive?). More expensive Intel Xeon Mac Pro's replaced reasonable PowerMac's (inflation has been debunked, not an excuse), Steve Jobs wanted to kill the pro segment altogether. Now, it's biting the apple in the a$$.
Improve Mac sales, reinstate the retail "business specialists", hire more engineers instead of straining engineers bet iOS/OS X that delay OS X releases (ex. 10.5 and 10.6), focus on reasonable desktop systems iPads are good for consumer entertainment (most iPhone/iPad app sales - games, media players, games). Yet businesses use them in addition to desktop systems, not in lieu of.
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Fine with me. The guy is holding them back at this point, IMO.
The hardware has gone backwards if anything
The previous Mini had dedicated graphics in the top configuration. I have one, I actually would have upgraded to a new Mini with a SSD but without the graphics card I passed.
Apple hasn't retina 15" in over an year and 13" in almost an year
Sales are flat
Rocket science it is not
Sales are flat
Rocket science it is not
I remember that, but I think it may be a bit of anomaly. Especially as Intel's on-chip GPU improves.
Or the direction he is being pushed in is wrong? To my my mind, instead of trying to make anything other than the Air thinner, they should have used the extra space to pack more features or capability in.
Remember, Tim is Mr. Supply Chain. So a move to limit BTO options, minimal configurations, and forced obsolescence is the trifecta for someone focused on the supply chain and it's inherent, bottom line, effects on Apple.
The only problem is that this sole line of thinking is alienating those folks who prefer options and like to self upgrade over time versus initially at purchase time.
Short term gain versus long term loss of a user base.
but they'll definitely significantly increase after the mac pro launches, and if it launches in the Sep quarter dont expect any year over year drop.
You mean like a Mini Mac Pro (aka Trashcan) with:
- quad core i7 CPU (or hex or octo)
- single GTX or Radeon video card
- BTO option for additional PCIe SSDs (in the 2nd graphics slot)
- 2 T-Bolt ports and 6 USB 3.0 ports
for $899....
Reasons to keep disc drives:
1. Easy to purchase from the store
2. GBs of internet bandwidth is very expensive
3. Internet download speeds can be very slow. Having to wait 12+ hours for a few GBs to download is never fun. Much quicker to install from disc.
The world is not ready to ditch physical media yet. When ISP prices and speeds are reasonable all over the world then it'll be time.
say what?!! where the hell did you get that info?! I'm calling total bull on that one. there is no way in the world Intel will sell Apple a processor with the list price of $2500+ for $500, bulk sales or not. I can possibly see Intel doing this with the 6 core Xeon E5-2630L v2 (probably the cheapest of the Mac Pro bound Xeons) which has the list price of $701 but not with the 12 core one. And a processor is not going to be the only expensive part of the new MP. Apple also said that dual AMD FirePro GPUs will be included in all base models. Those won't be cheap either. Same should go for the new flash storage. Lastly, let's not forget Apple's obligatory healthy profit margin on top of BOM and labor ( I seriously doubt they will sell these things at cost) and we are likely looking at something quite expensive even for the most basic version (which likely won't be worth buying anyway).
Marco Arment pegs the starting price at 3500$ . It might be a few ticks cheaper if Apple gimps the lowest level version but I don't see even that being any cheaper than the current entry level $2500 MP.
For the most part optical media is really only dead to Apple. I still find it odd for a company that wants to live so far in the feature that it does not live in the present and still uses 5400 hard drives.
Multiple sources for both the SSDs and the displays, but you did get the basic point -- none of the parts are produced by Apple. So, sure, you might get a similar package from another manufacturer as well. However, with these configuration, the price will no longer be $1250, but much more similar to Apple's offering.
My real point is, if I have to state it clear as pure water to have you understand, although Apple products are much more expensive than similar offerings from other manufacturers, it's not the case for these rMBPs, or the MacBook Airs. It's the conventional MacBook Pros and iMacs that really carry a big Apple premium.
Tipster: If you've already decided to go with the cutting edge configurations, Apple's offerings are often better than other manufacturers. But, if you only wanted to go with the more mature (main stream) configurations, skipping Apple might be what you want to do.
I tend to buy at Apple's high-end not only because I need to for work but also because the premium I pay for the hardware extends my upgrade cycle. My MacPro is over 5 years old but I'm still using an 8 core machine with 12GB of RAM. In 2008 that was bleeding edge and in 2013 it's still on the high end and well above any iMac or other Apple offering. From a capability standpoint, it could continue for at least 2-4 more years and be well above average. As for my 2011 MBP, it's a quad core machine with 8GB of RAM and still kicks butt.
For the average home user, I would think an 11" or 13" MBA would be fine just because the average home user probably has modest content creation needs and having the power of a full-on operating system combined with a machine with USB, thunderbolt and a SDXC card slot is necessary.