New MBP price = *speechless*

[deadlystriker]

Neglected desktop line up:

Mac Pro - no longer a tower, form over function, 3 years without refresh, left to rot.

Mac mini - crippled to dual core and left to die a slow death as well.

iMac - form over function, throttled down to prevent overheating. If it's gonna be on a desktop and remain stationary, why make it so thin that it compromises performance?

Note book line up:

MacBook Air- only 13" model remains with 2015 specs, probably be cancelled in the near future.

MacBook Pro - no ability to upgrade ram yourself yet capped at 16GB ram (for a "pro" machine?!), USB C only aka dongle station, unjustifiable apple tax.

MacBook - 1 USB c port, slow, but it comes in colours to match your iPhone!

Last straw? You decide.

 

[DMoggo]

The one thing we are missing in all of this is that we are assuming Apple have the control. They are not selling oxygen, we don't have a life threatening need to buy their products.

We have the control, we don't buy, they don't exist, end of story. Billions in the bank don't last long with their overheads if you sell nothing.

 

[Starfyre]

Desktops are so overrated, notebooks are the future.

 

[mbp17xxx]

My hopes of buying another mbp is gone forever. Well... no choice have to start liking windows10 in my asus g, i will miss u osx

 

[AdamA9]

The biggest issue for me is....

I waited patiently for 3 1/2 years to earn the money to get a new laptop. I ignored all of 2013/4/5...kept calm and earned my budget.

The laptops come out...
FAR too expensive. Shame...but ok. I'll buy a 2015 one.
ER WHAT!? they've jumped 20% so I cant afford/justify those either.

New products. Expensive? Fine. Old products. More expensive?!!? NOT fine... I was hoping a 20% drop on the 2015 tech...NOT LEAP!

It's gutting. I've been punished for waiting and being frugal. They opened the talk with...Accessible for all...? As long as you're extremely wealthy, then you're in the 'all'

John Lewis and Currys still have it at the pre-Brexit increased price. If you are quick you'll be able to get one at the cheaper price.

 

[0388631]

Double the RAM would not mean double the chips. Just take chips with a higher capacity, they have exactly the same physical size and the extra cost would probably something like $50-100. I bet if you had a reflowing table, you could upgrade the RAM without problem - maybe even to 64Gig.

The reason is simple: our oh-so green and eco-friendly Apple wants to sell you laptops that you feel you need to sell for a new one 3 years down the road. Other manufacturers selling computers around the thickness of the MBP even let you upgrade the RAM yourself.

You're right. In a way. Even with onboard RAM, you still have to distribute it evenly. With DDR2, you wanted lower and more. With DDR3 and DDR4, that isn't really true anymore but you'll still want it evenly distributed. 4 banks of 8 GB of chips is smart than two banks of 16 GB of chips. Another issue is making sure the logic chipset is capable of addressing those extra chips you plan on putting on if you had a reflow table. Most importantly, you'd have to get the exact same chips. It's easier said than done. Another issue is that it won't be plausible if the chips were high binned for higher speeds. Placing more chips evenly places more stress on the integrated memory controller, as does higher memory speeds. Last generation ran 1,600 mhz, and the new one runs 2133 mhz. That's a performance grade memory spec. I don't think anyone but Apple is trying it out as an OEM. Who knows how reliable it'll be.

 

[jerry16]

Neglected desktop line up:

Mac Pro - no longer a tower, form over function, 3 years without refresh, left to rot.

Mac mini - crippled to dual core and left to die a slow death as well.

iMac - form over function, throttled down to prevent overheating. If it's gonna be on a desktop and remain stationary, why make it so thin that it compromises performance?

Note book line up:

MacBook Air- only 13" model remains with 2015 specs, probably be cancelled in the near future.

MacBook Pro - no ability to upgrade ram yourself yet capped at 16GB ram (for a "pro" machine?!), USB C only aka dongle station, unjustifiable apple tax.

MacBook - 1 USB c port, slow, but it comes in colours to match your iPhone!

Last straw? You decide.

It really makes one ask, what the hell are they doing in Cupertino in all this time?

 

[0388631]

It really makes one ask, what the hell are they doing in Cupertino in all this time?

It involves white powder.

 

[PhoneI]

I feel like the days of college or university lecture rooms filled with MacBooks is going to be over. What student is going to spend this much money on a laptop? Well, maybe exclude the US where people seem to voluntarily go into debt to buy things.

Well since the Mac market is almost entirely in the US, apple probably wont care.
[doublepost=1477667461][/doublepost]

It really makes one ask, what the hell are they doing in Cupertino in all this time?

Oh, I dont know, maybe building one of the most profitable companies that has ever existed in human history.

 

[techiebug]

How does everyone think they're gonna make up for their recent quarters of low revenue margin. People will buy and Apple will be at the top of the hill.

Yeah they are a bit pricey but chances are if you have $2000 laying around you have $2400. If you're scrounging to buy a MB Pro then you're buying the wrong machine.

Most people has $2000 in their accounts. Technically everyone can "afford" buying one. The problem is it's harder to justify the purchase. Now you mentioned low revenue...Lower the price so more people will buy or raise the price yet less people will buy?

 

[jerry16]

Oh, I dont know, maybe building one of the most profitable companies that has ever existed in human history.

How's that quote go? Oh yeah - Yesterday's home runs don't win today's games.

They are letting their product line stagnate and rot - and guess what - their revenue is starting to show it. They may have had wild success and they won't be out of business tomorrow - but they certainly have been on cruise control for a while now.

One word - complacency.

 

[Barrierfreeman]

Most people has $2000 in their accounts. Technically everyone can "afford" buying one. The problem is it's harder to justify the purchase. Now you mentioned low revenue...Lower the price so more people will buy or raise the price yet less people will buy?

They do? Awesome!

*runs to ATM*

 

[BenTrovato]

Most people has $2000 in their accounts. Technically everyone can "afford" buying one. The problem is it's harder to justify the purchase. Now you mentioned low revenue...Lower the price so more people will buy or raise the price yet less people will buy?

Well technically, over 60% of Americans have less than $1000 in their bank accounts. Feel free to google for the official numbers. Times are tough for a lot of people out there but at the same time more people have money. Apple is taking advantage of the disparity. Good for shareholders but bad for consumers at large.

 

[Workerbee Redux]

Last generation ran 1,600 mhz, and the new one runs 2133 mhz. That's a performance grade memory spec. I don't think anyone but Apple is trying it out as an OEM. Who knows how reliable it'll be.

Probably I am wrong or I misunderstand you, but the Dell XPS 15 runs PC-19000 DDR4. Unless they underclock it, this should run at 2400 Mhz. So, I don't think Apple is at the bleeding edge

 

[Ghost31]

It involves white powder.

If the engineers at Apple were on drugs, we would actually have some of the COOLEST MOST CREATIVE computers on the market. No....

These guys took too much NyQuil and fell asleep on the job

 

[tubeexperience]

In my experience (in IT support for 10 years, etc. etc.) if you want the equivalent user experience out of a Windows-based laptop, you cannot match specs 1 for 1. Windows software (OS and apps) is historically crap by comparison to what gets released optimized for Mac. I can give you a hundred anecdotes, but you get the point. I am willing to bet that side-by-side, these laptops would yield similar performance for me. Note: I'll be using mine for video editing and Logic, not CAD workstation or anything cutting edge in its demands.

Does this sound crazy? It makes sense in my own experience but I'm not sure what others have found in their IT life.

Sorry to pop your bubble, but Windows is a far more efficient OS than macOS.

You can run Windows 10 on Pentium 4 and 1 GB of memory.

macOS cannot do that.

 

[wallysb01]

Most people has $2000 in their accounts. Technically everyone can "afford" buying one. The problem is it's harder to justify the purchase. Now you mentioned low revenue...Lower the price so more people will buy or raise the price yet less people will buy?

I'm gonna risk veering off topic, but no, most people actually don't have $2000 in the bank. Sad, but true. Reports have shown that most people would fund a sudden $500 expense with taking on more debt...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiem...avings-to-cover-a-500-emergency/#632af7a66dde

Its in this world that Apple just upped the price of their laptops by 20%.

 

[CE3]

I think many major retailers will be having sales and slashing prices for these new models relatively quickly (within the next 3-6 months).

 

[dlimes13]

I really don't have a problem with the pricing, except for one key item:

RAM. DDR3 and 16 GB max.

For a Skylake platform when DDR4 is available, and at this premium price that is totally unacceptable. DDR4 would have given a 32 GB option, as the soldered RAM would be (2) 16 GB modules. Can't do that with DDR3, which is why it's 16 GB max. Everything else is acceptable, except for this. I understand people are complaining about year-old Skylake chips, but quad-core variants are simply just not available for Kaby Lake, and they had to get this thing out now. Come Kaby Lake time, put a 32 GB option and maybe lower it by $100, it's a very viable option. RAM is the key thing here.

I haven't used a Mac full-time in over a year, mainly because I'm in Windows 95% of the time. Couldn't justify the usage. I was fully ready to jump back into an all-Apple ecosystem. I don't mind paying a premium for a notebook like this, but have some common sense.

 

[wallysb01]

Well technically, over 60% of Americans have less than $1000 in their bank accounts. Feel free to google for the official numbers. Times are tough for a lot of people out there but at the same time more people have money. Apple is taking advantage of the disparity. Good for shareholders but bad for consumers at large.

Oops, beat me to it. I wonder, what percent of people have $2000 to spend? And I don't just mean cash on hand, I mean cash that shouldn't actually be going to retirement/education savings. Meaning that even if you have this $2000 today, what you're really doing is adding to your future debt liabilities. I bet its actually a very small number, probably 10% or less.

 

[macgeek18]

Most people has $2000 in their accounts. Technically everyone can "afford" buying one. The problem is it's harder to justify the purchase. Now you mentioned low revenue...Lower the price so more people will buy or raise the price yet less people will buy?

I sure don't. Our life savings is $1500. And that's for medical emergencies and cars breaking down. Our checking account is pathetic. I couldn't afford an Apple USB-C dongle out of checking.

 

[wallysb01]

I really don't have a problem with the pricing, except for one key item:

RAM. DDR3 and 16 GB max. For a Skylake platform when DDR4 is available, and at this premium price that is totally unacceptable. DDR4 would have given a 32 GB option, as the soldered RAM would be (2) 16 GB modules. Can't do that with DDR3, which is why it's 16 GB max. Everything else is acceptable, except for this. I understand people are complaining about year-old Skylake chips, but quad-core variants are simply just not available for Kaby Lake, and they had to get this thing out now. Come Kaby Lake time, put a 32 GB option and maybe lower it by $100, it's a very viable option. RAM is the key thing here.

I think this is where I'm at now, waiting for Kaby Lake, 32GB of RAM and maybe a small price drop.

I was desperate for a new laptop, as my 2011 MBP was showing its age, but I recently transitioned to a slightly different job and got a nearly maxed out mid-2014 model. Now its a work computer and not my personal machine, but its more or less mine to use as I want, so I can wait for now.

 

[QCassidy352]

Actually what was even decent was when they had a slide of the newest MacBooks up.

12" MacBook
13" MacBook Pro
13" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar
15" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Just cut out the rest already.

Agreed, but there need to be $300-400 price cuts to the MacBook for that to happen. The entry level can't be $1299.

 

[dlimes13]

I think this is where I'm at now, waiting for Kaby Lake, 32GB of RAM and maybe a small price drop.

I was desperate for a new laptop, as my 2011 MBP was showing its age, but I recently transitioned to a slightly different job and got a nearly maxed out mid-2014 model. Now its a work computer and not my personal machine, but its more or less mine to use as I want, so I can wait for now.

As far as pricing, the previous model maxed out with the education discount was $3201 w/ tax (6% here). Now it's $3422 with the same 1 TB SSD (there was no 2 TB SSD like there is now). Pricing is perfectly fine as is, if it wasn't the RAM, I would have a maxed out one w/ 2 TB on the way.

 

[wallysb01]

As far as pricing, the previous model maxed out with the education discount was $3201 w/ tax (6% here). Now it's $3422 with the same 1 TB SSD (there was no 2 TB SSD like there is now). Pricing is perfectly fine as is, if it wasn't the RAM, I would have a maxed out one w/ 2 TB on the way.

Yes, the pricing alone isn't the problem. Its the price for what you're getting. The screen is a bit better than the previous model, the CPU and GPU are too, but the SSD/RAM are effectively the same. So 2 years have passed, arguably more like 3 in tech-time, and while you've basically just moved with the whole industry to the faster CPU/GPU (which are at the same prices as the previous ones), but the price of the whole machine climbed? That's not typically what happens in the tech industry, at least not once beyond the "early adopter" tax. The CPU/GPU costs should be flat vs the old model, the SSD/RAM should actually be cheaper, the screen should be about the same. See where I'm going?

That's why I'm holding my breath and hoping this is just the early adopter issue.