Popular Mac Developer Slams Apple for 'Sad State of Macintosh Hardware'

[Geardo_Ranger]

How can you charge the same full MSRP on a device the is over a year old in components and not offer a discount now? These computers now have aged components. The same can even be said for the Mac Pro. Why in the world is it still the same MSRP when it was brand new and yet it is still so old with the same configuration?

 

[richinaus]

I honestly simply cannot understand most people on here.

Saying Tim Cook is a poor CEO when he has increased the value of the business immensely. That’s his job btw.

Saying Apple are greedy. No they are not - you have a choice to what you buy. They can set their own prices and you buy it, or not.

Thinking Apple should be all over and priotising 5% of their business. I certainly wouldn’t be too worried if I was the CEO.

This forum gives everyone on here a warped sense of what Apple is these days. They are not a computer business.

 

[Col4bin]

It's really sad. I wish apple would realize that, while the profits come from iGadgets, it's the technologies from the Mac that makes iOS possible, not the other way around.

I don’t think Tim Cook got the memo.

 

[Winni]

Agree or disagree, Mac value holds up extremely well and lifespan are increasingly pushing the boundaries...Look at MacBook Air from 10 years ago still fetching over $100 dollars on eBay. People are keeping their devices longer and longer no need for product refreshes every year. IMO.

Says the guy who does not use compilers or other advanced tools to make a living...

 

[Miha_v]

And can you name a year that hasn't happened for the MBP? Or a processor generation the iMac skipped over?

MBP is just one product, one of many. iMac is generally refreshed more frequently now, that wasn't always the case. Fact, that they are stil selling Mac mini (last updated 4 years ago!) for virtually the same price (!) is a disgrace.

 

[FromJamRock]

It's really sad. I wish apple would realize that, while the profits come from iGadgets, it's the technologies from the Mac that makes iOS possible, not the other way around.

You said it yourself, the iPhone, etc. are the profit drivers. I’m seeing a time when there are no desktops or laptops. Apple and the rest aren’t doing a good job of setting the stage for this, but it’s coming. Think about how powerful your phone is. It’s only going to get more and more powerful. Do you need all of that processing power in your hand? No, but you do need it when you sit down to work. Take a look at the Samsung Dex. That’s the future. You’re going to be carrying around all your computing in your pocket. No more laptops. You’ll sit down, dock your phone and it will connect to your corporate network, keyboard, peripherals, and your three monitors. Mac will go the way of the iPod.

 

[john123]

I learned to write software on an Apple IIe in about 1985 and later bought an Apple IIgs.

I moved to the Mac platform in 1989 on a Mac IIcx with System 6.0.3, MPW Pascal with loose-leaf documentation, 5 volumes of Inside Macintosh and Scott Knaster's "How to Write Macintosh Software". In those days the only online resource for developers was the Apple section on CompuServe, reached via a 1200bps modem.

Later, I migrated to a Mac IIfx, Quadra 800 and countless more. I've been through the days of ResEdit, Resourcerer, THINK C, Symantec compilers, CodeWarrior, the 24 to 32 bit transition, the transition to System 7, PowerPC, Intel, OS X, Carbon, Cocoa and probably more transitions I can't remember.

Almost 30 years later I am using a 2014 MacBook Pro as my main development machine. This machine is by far the oldest Mac I have ever used on a day-to-day basis. I fear that Apple has lost its direction, having been so focused on iOS, they seem to have forgotten that every iOS app was developed on a Mac.

Unfortunately, I don't see this changing anytime soon. In a few more years, I'll be able to retire and then my life will not be bound to an increasingly aimless Apple. I have spent my whole professional career writing Mac software and Apple used to have focus. I never expected it to turn out this way.

Very sad indeed.

Trygve Inda
President
Xeric Design, Ltd.

Thank you for the trip down memory lane. (And your use of the ResEdit user icon makes me wish I’d thought to do that!) We used a lot of the same machines it sounds like. I started with a IIe by day and a IIc by night, thought the IIgs was amazing after using those two, and marveled at the Quadras (and occasionally got to use a 950). I had all the catalogs come to my house and would spend hours looking through them. I even got Apple to send me sales literature every few months. It made me so excited.

Starting in the early 2000s, I upgraded either every generation or every other generation. And now, like you, a 2014 machine is my every day go-to. I’d happily spend the money if there were something that gave me even a quarter of the “wow” factor I used to get. I have a 2017 15” rMBP that sits in a bag or on a shelf most of the time. It’s a little Postgres machine.

Times change, and people have to change with those times. I accept that. What’s sad is that it didn’t “have” to be this way. Apple has too much cash (yes, in business, that really is a thing), and they easily could dedicate the resources to innovating. They simply choose not to. I’m sure it’s a business decision and that the bean counters have crunched the numbers. Some of my classmates from my MBA program years ago work in finance at Apple. I’m sure their analyses were just fine. But sometimes, running a company is about vision and inputs that just don’t fit into even the most elaborate forecasting models.

Alas.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Best thread in months. I know that once I make the decision to switch to Linux and or Windows that I may likely also switch to Android. I normally upgrade my Macs in 3 years and my Macs are from 2015. I can't see myself staying with Apple longer than 2020 if they don't update their Macs with better replacements than what I currently have now.

 

[Brien]

Part of me thinks that at some point in the near future when the iPad Pro/iOS has matured to the point where they have Xcode and Photoshop up and running (likely with keyboard and Pencil support) Apple finally kills the Mac.

 

[nwcs]

And literally all Mac OS and iOS developers, since I don’t think you can run Xcode on anything but a Mac.

That is the case today but I suspect that won’t be the case long term. Who knows? But in any case that doesn’t impact the consumer to whom I was referring.

 

[Arran]

Follow the money. Prioritize on what makes you rich.

View attachment 766370

Yeah, but a monoculture does not make a healthy ecosystem.

Your chart shows over-dependence on one product line. Not good. Particularly since it’s a consumer item and subject to the whims and caprices of consumer spending habits.

Remember Motorola’s Razr? Hottest phone in town - Until it wasn't.

 

[johnrlaporta]

This sort of stuff happens when the company focuses only on it's iPhone/iPad/HomePod line. You can't tell me it's because of "lack of resources" - look at the massive strokes of genius that Jobs inspired with in the iMac, iPod, OS X, etc., when the company was in the toilet with far fewer workers and resources.

The real store is that the Mac is a nuisance to them: an appendage that they no longer want, but cannot get rid of because it is still necessary for the functioning of the entire Apple body. Once (or, if) they crack development of iOS applications on an iPad, watch the Mac start to spiral into a slow grave.

 

[nwcs]

These aren't home computers, except maybe the Mini for some. They're used in business applications. I understand your comment about the home computer going away, but we're not paying $1,500 with a pro name on the chassis to use it for light email and solitare.

Well, yes and no. We both know apple sells plenty of the MacBook Pros to students and consumers. I’d venture to guess that the vast majority of MBPs are sold to people who aren’t using it in business applications. But we can’t know that for sure. Even still, plenty of people pay $1500 for light application usage.

 

[smokesletsgo]

I honestly simply cannot understand most people on here.

Saying Tim Cook is a poor CEO when he has increased the value of the business immensely. That’s his job btw.

Saying Apple are greedy. No they are not - you have a choice to what you buy. They can set their own prices and you buy it, or not.

Thinking Apple should be all over and priotising 5% of their business. I certainly wouldn’t be too worried if I was the CEO.

This forum gives everyone on here a warped sense of what Apple is these days. They are not a computer business.

The company which sells computers since 1980s isn't a computer business, ok.

Nobody cares how much money Apple is making, except Apple and it's share holders. Why would a product consumer care how well a company rakes money? Do you go to a store to buy a smartphone or a computer and do a business analysis on a company that sells the device before making a decision? A consumer cares about product, how it works and how it might be useful for them and their work, not about how well a company can pull it's propaganda on zombies and rake cash. Today's Apple doesn't offer the same top user experience oriented Macs as they used to. Even Windows have caught up with macOS. Not talking about iOS but Mac computers and macOS are obviously abandoned.

 

[Lioness~]

Apple is like a partner you still share household with, but none is there a whole lot. And you’re certainly not sleeping with each other anymore. The love is gone, but some practicalities are shared.
None have moved on, and none are not really there anymore, either.

That’s Apple to me today.
The relationship works on practical terms, but I’m too busy with other things to really care a whole lot, or break up either.

 

[Arran]

Thank you for posting this chart. Because some people will not be able to get it without a picture. But for you that can:
Services (10%) are mostly driven by iOS device sales
Other (6%) Mostly Watches and Apple Tv's Which are in reality iOS devices along with iPhone\iPad accessories.
So that makes the total iOS driven revenues 92% vs 8%.
What would you do?

What would I do?

Diversify. Rebalance the revenue streams. Urgently.

 

[amegicfox]

Tim's job is a full time wanna be politician and Ive wants to be awarded by architecture digest, design and luxury fashion magazines for his "art"

These two guys have no clue about technology, yet they sadly manage a tech company.

They unfortunately hijacked apple at it's peak when Steve was alive and turned it into a frivolous fanboy emoji company

 

[Greenmeenie]

Part of the issue is the state of the industry. People aren’t buying home computers at the rate they previously did. It’s now possible to live entirely with your mobile devices. In some ways the Mac (and PC) are relics in the consumer world. The situation will look more dire in 10 years. Only dinosaurs like me will probably be buying another Mac.

I agree this is the trend at large. More and more computers are becoming a tool mainly for artists, while ios devices are for the masses. The funny thing is that Apple started out catering mainly to the artists. I mean 5 yrs since the last mac pro update would have been unthinkable back when Apple’s primary users were artists. Hopefully they’ll shift some of their focus & energy back to their macs again.

 

[amin]

Most people probably buy Macs without any awareness that the tech is old. I'm decently knowledgeable about this stuff, having researched components and built my kids' gaming PCs not long ago, but when I went to buy a Mac mini a few weeks ago, I just assumed the processor was Intel's latest generation or something close to that.

Unlike most PC manufacturers, Apple doesn't state which generation they are offering:



Thank goodness for the MacRumors buying guide. Saved me from a bad purchase. But most people won't check that, and Apple will continue to sell plenty of Mac Minis with old processors.

 

[manu chao]

MBP is just one product, one of many. iMac is generally refreshed more frequently now, that wasn't always the case. Fact, that they are stil selling Mac mini (last updated 4 years ago!) for virtually the same price (!) is a disgrace.

Apple's best selling Mac product lines were for many years in this order:

1. MBA
2. MBP
3. iMac
4. Mac Mini
5. Mac Pro

Now, the introduction of the MB and the deprecation of the MBA will probably have changed things somewhat at the top. But all laptops + iMac probably account for about 90% of all Macs sold. With the exception of the MBA which didn't get a (real) update in 2017, that would mean that 90% of all Macs sold come from product lines that get yearly updates.

 

[gnipgnop]

So MacRumors puts "don't buy" ratings on the products supposedly because an update is imminent, but then runs an article claiming that people are frustrated that the products aren't updated fast enough? Doesn't really make any sense. MacRumors obviously thinks the products WILL be updated soon enough to tell people not to buy them.

What a joke...

 

[redfirebird08]

I can’t complain. Bought a mid-2017 iMac about a year ago and it has been a great machine. Hoping it will last a very long time.

 

[manu chao]

This sort of stuff happens when the company focuses only on it's iPhone/iPad/HomePod line.

Apparently all that focus doesn't really produce much since the iPhone also only gets one update per year as do MBPs and iMacs. And the iPad release date is also all over the place in terms of in which month in occurs and how many month the iPad is out-of-date after a new A-series chip is released.

 

[lbalk]

Apple has already lost me and they'll keep losing more and more customers as their Mac hardware gets worse and worse. The choice of hardware is already too bad for me to keep using Macs, as much as I love macOS as an operating system (but even that is getting worse).

They are getting close to loosing us, bad hardware and unreliable software, it is getting annoying.

 

[zoozx]

Apple needs to look back, THINK DIFFERENT!

They have lost their way.
No Longer the innovator, now the expensive copier.

Place stupid crying emoji here.