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Ok guys. Let's do a little mental experiment

cyb3rdud3 said:
I have no issues with the spec at all, to me it is just a mental barrier to get over the 2K mark when in my mind I thought I could stay under it. In reality I use mine professionally and the difference is only a couple of hours of work, but for some reason it is a real mental barrier to me.

I'm sure that once I see them, and they become general available and I can clear make up my mind between the 13 and 15 all issues regarding pricing will be forgotten.
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I'd say that over $2k I'd at least expect it to do everything I need it to do straight away.

Instead, you have to figure out how to connect to everything you use. Mouse, keyboard, monitors, SD cards, hard drives/thumb drives, printers, audio interfaces, etc etc.

So now you have all these problems to sort out with adapters and cables. Most products aren't even available in USB-C so you can't just go out and buy the new version of all your stuff. You also have no control over what other people will give you and expect you to be able to use (especially true for work purposes). Even if you get all the adapters and such, you have to make sure you always have the right stuff with you.

For north of $2k, it's an expensive mess. Apple's mantra was that stuff just worked, but that couldn't be further from the truth in this case. Buy a new MBP and a new iPhone and you immediately have to solve the connection with another adapter/cable.
 
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Altis said:
I'd say that over $2k I'd at least expect it to do everything I need it to do straight away.

Instead, you have to figure out how to connect to everything you use. Mouse, keyboard, monitors, SD cards, hard drives/thumb drives, printers, audio interfaces, etc etc.

So now you have all these problems to sort out with adapters and cables. Most products aren't even available in USB-C so you can't just go out and buy the new version of all your stuff. You also have no control over what other people will give you and expect you to be able to use (especially true for work purposes). Even if you get all the adapters and such, you have to make sure you always have the right stuff with you.

For north of $2k, it's an expensive mess. Apple's mantra was that stuff just worked, but that couldn't be further from the truth in this case. Buy a new MBP and a new iPhone and you immediately have to solve the connection with another adapter/cable.
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This is one of my issues; if you work or use your MBP in a controlled environment you can alway`s use a dock, however if your not in that comfortable situation, things gets far more complicated fast. Right now very few are using USB C, personally I have not seen a single peripheral that my rMB or TabPro S can connect natively in over a year. Damming no, illustrative yes, 2016 MBP does nothing to improve the situation;

Apple has opted for all ports being USB C solely for their own purposes;
  • Aesthetics - form over function
  • Reduced tooling over time - 4 year cycle (min)
  • Scale of economy - higher volumes, cheaper prices over longterm contracts
  • Increased revenue from peripherals - now virtually mandatory
Without any doubts USB C is a significant leap forward, equally it will take several years to be fully adopted. For many customers a USB A & USB C solution would have made for a far superior solution, especially given TB-3`s bandwidth. I don't see too many maxing out all four ports, inversely I do see many being unhappy about having to deal with numerous dongles & adaptors etc. depending on their workflow/location. Not the end of the earth, equally a royal PIA.


Q-6
 
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Altis said:
I'd say that over $2k I'd at least expect it to do everything I need it to do straight away.

Instead, you have to figure out how to connect to everything you use. Mouse, keyboard, monitors, SD cards, hard drives/thumb drives, printers, audio interfaces, etc etc.

So now you have all these problems to sort out with adapters and cables. Most products aren't even available in USB-C so you can't just go out and buy the new version of all your stuff. You also have no control over what other people will give you and expect you to be able to use (especially true for work purposes). Even if you get all the adapters and such, you have to make sure you always have the right stuff with you.

For north of $2k, it's an expensive mess. Apple's mantra was that stuff just worked, but that couldn't be further from the truth in this case. Buy a new MBP and a new iPhone and you immediately have to solve the connection with another adapter/cable.
Click to expand...
I just don't get this as an issue; well not for me at least. I hate having multiple cables hanging off my device, a dock is the key solution to me. I already carry a dongle with me for client video systems as mostly the projectors or big screens do not have display port so it breaks out to vga, dvi, hdmi. Cost $12 on amazon. Likewise I carry always a multi card reader in USB3 format another $12 or so. And then finally I also carry a usb3 hub with gigabit ethernet port for those where there is no wifi. Is that really such a big deal to replace it? I think it isn't, it is purely psychological, just like my 2K barrier.

I wonder how many of you are old enough to remember when Apple changed everything by just providing USB and no floppy disc ;) They were absolutely right, and it didn't make any difference to us users.
 
cyb3rdud3 said:
I wonder how many of you are old enough to remember when Apple changed everything by just providing USB and no floppy disc ;) They were absolutely right, and it didn't make any difference to us users.
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The difference is they didn't get rid of the floppy, Ethernet, or Firewire before those items were replaced/obsolete.

Very few things are available in USB-C, meaning you can't natively plug in much of anything even if you were okay with going out and buying new stuff.

That just doesn't make sense in a "Pro" machine -- it's forgivable in the 12" rMB. There needs to be a transition period where you have the latest/future and enough of the current to get by.
 
Altis said:
That just doesn't make sense in a "Pro" machine -- it's forgivable in the 12" rMB. There needs to be a transition period where you have the latest/future and enough of the current to get by.
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Yeah. Like maybe just having it in the cheaper more portable retina macbook for a couple years while USB C catches up and then when at least a moderate amount of devices support the standard...not even ALOT or most or anything... just a DECENT amount...then go USB C.

People are totally right in their frustration that if you bought an iphone and a macbook pro today you couldn't even connect them. That is beyond absurd
 
Ghost31 said:
Yeah. Like maybe just having it in the cheaper more portable retina macbook for a couple years while USB C catches up and then when at least a moderate amount of devices support the standard...not even ALOT or most or anything... just a DECENT amount...then go USB C.

People are totally right in their frustration that if you bought an iphone and a macbook pro today you couldn't even connect them. That is beyond absurd
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I develop and do forensics on phones, can't think of the last time I connected one directly. I use a hub, I change one cable and live goes on ;)
 
cyb3rdud3 said:
I develop and do forensics on phones, can't think of the last time I connected one directly. I use a hub, I change one cable and live goes on ;)
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That sounds a really interesting job. Sorry to be off topic but that stood out to me
 
I'm going to wait until Apple put the Touch bar on all Macs. I can already see how it will help me save screen space from static menu bars etc.
Personally, I'm looking for a lighter laptop. I will be waiting for a 13" retina Macbook that is lighter than the current Macbook Pro, has Touch bar, and have 12 hours of battery life (the record hold by the 13" Macbook Air). The current retina Macbook is not good enough for me in terms of battery life to sacrifice all the ports.
 
leman said:
I really don't understand why so many people say that Apple puts profit over everything else. Ok, to put it differently, Apple does put profit over everything else, its well known and has always been like that. But what you get here is not some sort of bland computer who's only job is to sell enough units (I'm looking at you Dell XPS 13"). They give you a visionary machine that packs insane performance into a very compact chasis, without sacrificing battery. They make a number of unpopular moves (like going next-gen connectivity), perfectly knowing that it would piss off some users. They also attempt to add a new element of man-machine interaction. Sure, its expensive. But honestly, I would be very surprised if Apple earns more on these computers than on any Mac before that.

Do you remember first unibody models? Where a 15" MBP with mediocre specs started at $1999, an insane money for those times? That was dropped $300 next year. This launch pricing follows exactly the same pattern. Cutting edge tech costs money, because its more difficult to make. Look at the MS surface with performance base — same prices.
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Pretty sure I could argue that a 15" laptop at 1999 or even 1699 is still a lot of money.
 
pika2000 said:
I'm going to wait until Apple put the Touch bar on all Macs. I can already see how it will help me save screen space from static menu bars etc.
Personally, I'm looking for a lighter laptop. I will be waiting for a 13" retina Macbook that is lighter than the current Macbook Pro, has Touch bar, and have 12 hours of battery life (the record hold by the 13" Macbook Air). The current retina Macbook is not good enough for me in terms of battery life to sacrifice all the ports.
Click to expand...

Will we then have to buy $400 replacement keyboards? :-/

Jus to call out - $8 for 2 USB-C -> USB-A adapters, cheap enough to throw in your bag for 'oops!' moments or travel:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EL4PVFE
 
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