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

[simonmet]

Apple sells about 4 million Macs every quarter and they will keep selling 4 million Macs every quarter because they used to be legendary for longevity.

There, I fixed that for you. Guess you didn't hear about the keyboards.

 

[User 6502]

Many, if you can't use THAT old chasis without redesigning cooling system because you have designed it for less heat than the new generation generates.

Except the new generation generates less or the same heat.

 

[AdonisSMU]

I feel like Apple should at least release incremental updates. Sure it doesnt maximize the supply chain. However it sends the right message to developers and people to buy and program the products.

 

[User 6502]

The MacBooks are all still fine except for the MacBook Air. What Apple is lacking is a traditional tower with upgradability for a reasonable price like $2k and $2.5k. The Mac mini should either be updated with Kaby Lake or simply retired from the lineup.

Another valid criticism is the lack of nVidia GPUs but now that OpenGL will be deprecated in favor of Metal it makes sense that they’re sticking with AMD. AMD gives Apple a level of control that nVidia simply refuses to agree to. Their partnership with Intel can be a game changer providing a rather strong GPU in a highly energy efficient package.

It’s now up to devs to fully adopt Metal. It may take a while before every major pro app takes advantage of it.

If Apple doesn’t invest in the Mac why should the pro app developers do it?

 

[Quaking Bog]

Typig this o my 2016 top of the lie fully decked out MacBook Pro I paid about $5,000 for it icludig AppleCare. Also have a 12" MacBook that is also still o AppleCare. As you otice, my N key does't work if I type ormally. If I slam it super hard it will type, sometimes multiple times other times ot at all. NNNnn I just hit it hard 6 times, well it struck 5 times. Oh, ad the J key. That's the first letter of my ame. I'll type my name a few times. (oh look the nn worked that time. Oh this time it hit itself twice.) Jeff Jeff Jeff jeff jeff. Odd the J is workingn nnow but it normally it hits itself multiple times. But now my n is suddely working nbut sometimes hitting itself multiple times or even triggering when not pressed. My space bar works well onnly because I've learned not to hit the right 1/3 of it which usually does't work at all. Much of my writing has random S characters in it because my left command key onnly works in certainn spots so i ofte type S innstead of COMMAND-S. I love Macs. I eve loved this ew keyboard whe I got it because I could type much faster o it. But look at this ow? It is slowig my programming WAY downn, I program websites that iclude the letter N ad eed to be saved frequenntly with the commad key. And also have spaces in the text. Apple refuses to fix it or acknowledge the issue. They have told me to do PRAM resets, and other system level thinngs. Obviously that is NOT the problem as you all know. My MacBook 12" also still on AppleCare I do't use myself. My girlfried does use it, somehow. But almost EVERY key o that oe wo't work unless you slam it HARD! Horrible. They have class action lawsuits nnow, why are they NNOT doingn anythinng about this major issue??? Calls to AppleCare which is normally great are igored. Email follow-ups that I reply to are igored. I corrected actual typos while typign this, the others are the random foibles of this horrible $5,000 MacBook Pro 15" 2016 keyboard. I'm waitinng for the nnext MacBook Pro to come out just so hopefully it will have this fixed. Did I make my poit?

 

[Naimfan]

If Apple doesn’t invest in the Mac why should the pro app developers do it?

An excellent point that the defenders completely miss. And even bigger - if Apple doesn't invest in the Mac, why should anyone buy them?

 

[MandiMac]

Lightroom i have a windows laptop as well slightly better spec and runs 100 times better i wish apple stayed with aputure no photographer uses photos for raw

Lightroom is a basic app then? Okay, my bad.

 

[torana355]

Typig this o my 2016 top of the lie fully decked out MacBook Pro I paid about $5,000 for it icludig AppleCare. Also have a 12" MacBook that is also still o AppleCare. As you otice, my N key does't work if I type ormally. If I slam it super hard it will type, sometimes multiple times other times ot at all. NNNnn I just hit it hard 6 times, well it struck 5 times. Oh, ad the J key. That's the first letter of my ame. I'll type my name a few times. (oh look the nn worked that time. Oh this time it hit itself twice.) Jeff Jeff Jeff jeff jeff. Odd the J is workingn nnow but it normally it hits itself multiple times. But now my n is suddely working nbut sometimes hitting itself multiple times or even triggering when not pressed. My space bar works well onnly because I've learned not to hit the right 1/3 of it which usually does't work at all. Much of my writing has random S characters in it because my left command key onnly works in certainn spots so i ofte type S innstead of COMMAND-S. I love Macs. I eve loved this ew keyboard whe I got it because I could type much faster o it. But look at this ow? It is slowig my programming WAY downn, I program websites that iclude the letter N ad eed to be saved frequenntly with the commad key. And also have spaces in the text. Apple refuses to fix it or acknowledge the issue. They have told me to do PRAM resets, and other system level thinngs. Obviously that is NOT the problem as you all know. My MacBook 12" also still on AppleCare I do't use myself. My girlfried does use it, somehow. But almost EVERY key o that oe wo't work unless you slam it HARD! Horrible. They have class action lawsuits nnow, why are they NNOT doingn anythinng about this major issue??? Calls to AppleCare which is normally great are igored. Email follow-ups that I reply to are igored. I corrected actual typos while typign this, the others are the random foibles of this horrible $5,000 MacBook Pro 15" 2016 keyboard. I'm waitinng for the nnext MacBook Pro to come out just so hopefully it will have this fixed. Did I make my poit?

Im sorry i should not laugh but that post had me in tears.

 

[saudade]

Removing the glowing logo is also frustrating.

Yeah. I used that glowing logo at waffle house 2 impress females and now i can’t so dud i feel ur pain :/

 

[alien3dx]

Typig this o my 2016 top of the lie fully decked out MacBook Pro I paid about $5,000 for it icludig AppleCare. Also have a 12" MacBook that is also still o AppleCare. As you otice, my N key does't work if I type ormally. If I slam it super hard it will type, sometimes multiple times other times ot at all. NNNnn I just hit it hard 6 times, well it struck 5 times. Oh, ad the J key. That's the first letter of my ame. I'll type my name a few times. (oh look the nn worked that time. Oh this time it hit itself twice.) Jeff Jeff Jeff jeff jeff. Odd the J is workingn nnow but it normally it hits itself multiple times. But now my n is suddely working nbut sometimes hitting itself multiple times or even triggering when not pressed. My space bar works well onnly because I've learned not to hit the right 1/3 of it which usually does't work at all. Much of my writing has random S characters in it because my left command key onnly works in certainn spots so i ofte type S innstead of COMMAND-S. I love Macs. I eve loved this ew keyboard whe I got it because I could type much faster o it. But look at this ow? It is slowig my programming WAY downn, I program websites that iclude the letter N ad eed to be saved frequenntly with the commad key. And also have spaces in the text. Apple refuses to fix it or acknowledge the issue. They have told me to do PRAM resets, and other system level thinngs. Obviously that is NOT the problem as you all know. My MacBook 12" also still on AppleCare I do't use myself. My girlfried does use it, somehow. But almost EVERY key o that oe wo't work unless you slam it HARD! Horrible. They have class action lawsuits nnow, why are they NNOT doingn anythinng about this major issue??? Calls to AppleCare which is normally great are igored. Email follow-ups that I reply to are igored. I corrected actual typos while typign this, the others are the random foibles of this horrible $5,000 MacBook Pro 15" 2016 keyboard. I'm waitinng for the nnext MacBook Pro to come out just so hopefully it will have this fixed. Did I make my poit?

sad thing .. we should removed all the chiclet style keyboard. it bad.. mechanical keyboard on laptop anyone..... I have 3 laptop windows keyboard going nuts..

 

[mevans7]

How about some love for iPad mini and iPod? Size choice on iPad and not everyone needs the phone capability.

 

[JGRE]

In 1995, Steve Jobs Explained Exactly How Apple Will Fail

"I have my own theory about why the decline happens at companies like IBM or Microsoft.
The company does a great job, innovates and becomes a monopoly or close to it in some field, and then the quality of the product becomes less important.

The company starts valuing the great salesmen, because they're the ones who can move the needle on revenues, not the product engineers and designers. So the salespeople end up running the company."

Summarized more succinctly...

"Once you have a monopoly, new products don't help you, only better marketing. Soon, marketing people are running the company, and what made them great is gone..."
(Steve Jobs 1995)

 

[kreasonos]

Typig this o my 2016 top of the lie fully decked out MacBook Pro I paid about $5,000 for it icludig AppleCare. Also have a 12" MacBook that is also still o AppleCare. As you otice, my N key does't work if I type ormally. If I slam it super hard it will type, sometimes multiple times other times ot at all. NNNnn I just hit it hard 6 times, well it struck 5 times. Oh, ad the J key. That's the first letter of my ame. I'll type my name a few times. (oh look the nn worked that time. Oh this time it hit itself twice.) Jeff Jeff Jeff jeff jeff. Odd the J is workingn nnow but it normally it hits itself multiple times. But now my n is suddely working nbut sometimes hitting itself multiple times or even triggering when not pressed. My space bar works well onnly because I've learned not to hit the right 1/3 of it which usually does't work at all. Much of my writing has random S characters in it because my left command key onnly works in certainn spots so i ofte type S innstead of COMMAND-S. I love Macs. I eve loved this ew keyboard whe I got it because I could type much faster o it. But look at this ow? It is slowig my programming WAY downn, I program websites that iclude the letter N ad eed to be saved frequenntly with the commad key. And also have spaces in the text. Apple refuses to fix it or acknowledge the issue. They have told me to do PRAM resets, and other system level thinngs. Obviously that is NOT the problem as you all know. My MacBook 12" also still on AppleCare I do't use myself. My girlfried does use it, somehow. But almost EVERY key o that oe wo't work unless you slam it HARD! Horrible. They have class action lawsuits nnow, why are they NNOT doingn anythinng about this major issue??? Calls to AppleCare which is normally great are igored. Email follow-ups that I reply to are igored. I corrected actual typos while typign this, the others are the random foibles of this horrible $5,000 MacBook Pro 15" 2016 keyboard. I'm waitinng for the nnext MacBook Pro to come out just so hopefully it will have this fixed. Did I make my poit?

I find that bizarre because my Macbook's keyboard works perfectly. ::shrugs::

 

[brdeveloper]

Typig this o my 2016 top of the lie fully decked out MacBook Pro I paid about $5,000 for it icludig AppleCare. Also have a 12" MacBook that is also still o AppleCare. As you otice, my N key does't work if I type ormally. If I slam it super hard it will type, sometimes multiple times other times ot at all. NNNnn I just hit it hard 6 times, well it struck 5 times. Oh, ad the J key. That's the first letter of my ame. I'll type my name a few times. (oh look the nn worked that time. Oh this time it hit itself twice.) Jeff Jeff Jeff jeff jeff. Odd the J is workingn nnow but it normally it hits itself multiple times. But now my n is suddely working nbut sometimes hitting itself multiple times or even triggering when not pressed. My space bar works well onnly because I've learned not to hit the right 1/3 of it which usually does't work at all. Much of my writing has random S characters in it because my left command key onnly works in certainn spots so i ofte type S innstead of COMMAND-S. I love Macs. I eve loved this ew keyboard whe I got it because I could type much faster o it. But look at this ow? It is slowig my programming WAY downn, I program websites that iclude the letter N ad eed to be saved frequenntly with the commad key. And also have spaces in the text. Apple refuses to fix it or acknowledge the issue. They have told me to do PRAM resets, and other system level thinngs. Obviously that is NOT the problem as you all know. My MacBook 12" also still on AppleCare I do't use myself. My girlfried does use it, somehow. But almost EVERY key o that oe wo't work unless you slam it HARD! Horrible. They have class action lawsuits nnow, why are they NNOT doingn anythinng about this major issue??? Calls to AppleCare which is normally great are igored. Email follow-ups that I reply to are igored. I corrected actual typos while typign this, the others are the random foibles of this horrible $5,000 MacBook Pro 15" 2016 keyboard. I'm waitinng for the nnext MacBook Pro to come out just so hopefully it will have this fixed. Did I make my poit?

2012-2015 MBPs had a pretty solid design just like the Classic MBP. They could keep the same case for at least until 2022. Laptop users are majorly interested on software (macOS) and performance. There's no need for constant case redesign.

 

[villicodelirant]

This just shows that they want faster horses.

Okay, the joke is no longer funny.
I'll write this here once, and you should take note.

Computers are not "horses".

Computers are computers, phones are phones.

The future of Apple has never been brighter, especially since iOS is the future, not the Mac.

I can't for the life of me understand why to some of you people phones are "the future" and traditional form factor computers are "the past".

You are repeating a senseless marketing mantra with no substance and it baffles me, really. Sounds like "bicycles are the future, tractors are the past".

It's two entirely different and wholly non-competitive product segments.

How do you think engineers, architects, accountants and software developers will work in 2028?
On a friggin' phone?
Sure, if people will be plowing fields with bicycles.

But no one is able to clearly elaborate why.

To have higher ROI and, in the extreme case, not going bankrupt out of sheer uncompetitiveness?

What is it then which drives Mac users to start flaming Apple in completely unrelated threads such as those on Animoji or watchOS, if not hate? To insult and denigrate the efforts of Apple in these fields, and by extension, the users who do look forward to such features?

Hating and denigrating "users" who look forward to "animojis" is entirely reasonable, isn't it?

And Macs do exist, just not in the exact shape and form that some users desire. Or are you telling me that an iMac Pro isn't powerful enough to develop iOS apps?

It's powerful enough to be horrendously unproductive compared to the other guy in your room who runs a 32-core Skylake machine for the Android port and can run the whole unit test suite at thrice the speed, so that while he keeps working, you take loooong coffee breaks and break your concentration.

Which is not that bad if the machine is only sold as a development machine for iOS.
Since it's purportedly a "real" workstation, however, it's kind of an embarassment...

 

[TheShadowKnows!]

The company does a great job, innovates and becomes a monopoly or close to it in some field, and then the quality of the product becomes less important.

The company starts valuing the great salesmen, because they're the ones who can move the needle on revenues, not the product engineers and designers. So the salespeople end up running the company." (Steve Jobs 1995)

Steve Jobs got it almost right:
The company morphs to be lead by salespeople; but second only to beancounters.

 

[alien3dx]

The company does a great job, innovates and becomes a monopoly or close to it in some field, and then the quality of the product becomes less important.

The company starts valuing the great salesmen, because they're the ones who can move the needle on revenues, not the product engineers and designers. So the salespeople end up running the company." (Steve Jobs 1995)

the most fall down of company, upon top. Everybody think he/she is the right path to lead. In the end , new company born from ashes, recycle the the same idea again.. I'm the boss and have the money.. Why should i listen to other people. It's my money.

 

[kevinthebright]

I write this on an iPad which is brilliant, use the Pencil a lot, constantly have the AirPods in, iPhoneX is the best phone ever AFAIK and my 2013 Mac Pro crunches away like a champ but I'll switch to Linux for my primary workstation this fall. Maybe the mythical 2019 Mac Pro unicorn from Apple will appear and be brilliant but from the 2017 mea culap to the 2018 "well, it will be 2019" to the Schiller's stupid "courage," something feels untruthful at Apple and especially how they treat pro users. Its easier to hold them to a consumer level product standard and stop feeling abandoned or frustrated or misled by their incompetent approch to the pro market.

 

[MrBat]

Tim is the new Jon Sculley.

Can't believe how this interview to Steve, decades later, applies so perfectly to nowadays Apple

 

[alien3dx]

Okay, the joke is no longer funny.


It's powerful enough to be horrendously unproductive compared to the other guy in your room who runs a 32-core Skylake machine for the Android port and can run the whole unit test suite at thrice the speed, so that while he keeps working, you take loooong coffee breaks and break your concentration.

Which is not that bad if the machine is only sold as a development machine for iOS.
Since it's purportedly a "real" workstation, however, it's kind of an embarassment...

Is this the glorious java cup.. Yeah, if not development machine for ios, i wouldn't buy it anyway. The osx, is 10 years behinde other operating system. Why does linux 4GB with 5400 rpm not the same with APPLE OS 4GB, 5400 rpm. Tell me why!. the core still the same unix.

 

[iMcLovin]

To summarize it I would just say that

Who said you had to do heavy tasks on a MacBook Air? That's not what I am trying to explain.
To put things simply, let me show you the possible configuration of the current iMac Pro.
Intel Xeon W 18 cores
128 GB of RAM
Is that not sufficient enough? Do you need 256 GB of RAM? Do you need 32 cores?
You guys are all complaining about the Apple computers not being fast enough, but I'm guessing none of you is having this configuration. Apple is still selling the low-key low-resolution MacBook Air that is sufficient enough for like 90% of the population. They also have Pro material that definitely provides enough capabilities to Pro like yourself. But people complain because they don't release right away the latest CPU whatever. Get a life.

No, that machine wouldn't do it for me. And also I would never buy a machine for 15.000$ in which I would have to send in the entire machine if something breaks. And after watching Youtube videos of multiple people that has broken their imac pro and apple cannot fix it or refuse to fix it despite them trying to pay for it - that's regarded a bad investment to me.

Just to be clear, I can tell you I have a machine with better config than this.... 4tb of Samsungs fastest m.2 Pro 960 SSD, 128GB of ram, 16 cores of 4.0 Ghz CPU, 2x GTX 1080Ti, 10 TB of regular HDD, 4K ProArt Display, need I go on ?

But according to hardware specs the iMac Pro machine is good, I'll agree to that. BUT, you still have to choose apples OR apples, you have no personal control....
Yes 128gb ram is almost enough. Though I've been out of ram multiple times with that amount. But what stinks with this machine apart for being too powerful for an All-in-one is that you HAVE to choose Intel Xeon CPUs and you HAVE to choose AMD graphic card. Intel Xeon is great for rendering or FCPX, but its BAD for Adobe programs (all of them), because it has a lot of cores but low clockspeed. If you are not able to overclock, you need better options, so you can get a machine that is more of an all around - for those of us doing both rendering AND Adobe work. You know buying the top of the line 18 core iMac Pro is actually slower in Photoshop than the cheapest one? Also AMD gpu's are overpriced and Nvidia runs circles around them, you should be able to pick Nvidia cards if you want to....very few would choose an AMD graphic card, with the current speed of them if they had the option to get Nvidia.

And this is the ONLY apple machine for a very long time that is powerful. Everything is soldered and you would have to replace the entire entire thing after a couple of years if you want something more powerful...and that is painful when you pay 15.000$ for a machine....for most wallets. Which is why apple should have released a modular Mac Pro for professionals a LONG TIME AGO....a machine you can replace single internals that you can order from apple instantly.... Until they do that I will never consider a Mac for professional work ever again. I would rather pay for a new part, even if it cost 1.000$ and would be under warranty than having downtime at work.

I was completely clouded myself a while back when I didn't understand why people needed more power than what I had in my iMac and I thought apple was the only place you could get a nice looking machine and I loved everything about it. And I tried to argue the opposite all the time to everyone. So you need to understand that people use their machines differently. And for some, modularity, options and downtime is make or break when they buy a computer.

 

[richinaus]

Okay, the joke is no longer funny.
I'll write this here once, and you should take note.

Computers are not "horses".

Computers are computers, phones are phones.


I can't for the life of me understand why to some of you people phones are "the future" and traditional form factor computers are "the past".

You are repeating a senseless marketing mantra with no substance and it baffles me, really. Sounds like "bicycles are the future, tractors are the past".

It's two entirely different and wholly non-competitive product segments.

How do you think engineers, architects, accountants and software developers will work in 2028?
On a friggin' phone?
Sure, if people will be plowing fields with bicycles.



To have higher ROI and, in the extreme case, not going bankrupt out of sheer uncompetitiveness?



Hating and denigrating "users" who look forward to "animojis" is entirely reasonable, isn't it?



It's powerful enough to be horrendously unproductive compared to the other guy in your room who runs a 32-core Skylake machine for the Android port and can run the whole unit test suite at thrice the speed, so that while he keeps working, you take loooong coffee breaks and break your concentration.

Which is not that bad if the machine is only sold as a development machine for iOS.
Since it's purportedly a "real" workstation, however, it's kind of an embarassment...

Sorry but I am an architect and 2028 computers will certainly not be the same as we use now. I have no doubt iOS by then will have some amazing apps on them and the power hungry stuff will be all cloud based. We are heading towards dumb terminals for the hard core stuff already.

There will always be uses for huge multi core desktops but for the vast majority your use cases will be irrelevant.
Why on earth would a business who can make a lot more money developing for the most be interested in a tiny proportion of computers? You make no sense except wanting them to create computers just for you.

 

[Abazigal]

I can't for the life of me understand why to some of you people phones are "the future" and traditional form factor computers are "the past".

You are repeating a senseless marketing mantra with no substance and it baffles me, really. Sounds like "bicycles are the future, tractors are the past".

It's two entirely different and wholly non-competitive product segments.

Look at the products which Apple is working on.

The iPhone and iPad run iOS. The Apple TV and Apple Watch use a modified version of ios. Any future wearable device (such as a pair of AR glasses) will likely utilise a version of ios optimised for that form factor over macOS. A self-driving car will also run a version of iOS as well.

iOS is going to form the foundation of pretty much every new product Apple is working on, while macOS stays relegated to Mac devices.

macOS is not the future of Apple.

How do you think engineers, architects, accountants and software developers will work in 2028?
On a friggin' phone?

I foresee AR glasses making large computer screens obsolete. Will we be doing computing on the move using smart glasses tethered to our phones or tablets or even watches? Who knows. A lot of things can change in 10 years.

Even if we are still using iMacs and Mac pros running triple monitor setups a decade from now, my point still stands. The Mac doesn’t represent the future at Apple, and has little place in this new world order that Apple seeks to usher in, beyond creating apps and content for the platform (assuming by then, we don’t have some form of X-code for iPad or something).

By that point, you don’t need half a dozen different Mac models to get this sort of work done. Just a laptop and desktop form factor and that should pretty much cover the bases of what a developer needs.

A 13” and 15” laptop, iMac and iMac Pro, and ugh, take your Mac Pro while you are at it, whether form it may take.

Hating and denigrating "users" who look forward to "animojis" is entirely reasonable, isn't it?

You said it, not me.

Then you will understand why any sympathy I may have once had for your plight no longer exists.

 

[richinaus]

No, that machine wouldn't do it for me. And also I would never buy a machine for 15.000$ in which I would have to send in the entire machine if something breaks. And after watching Youtube videos of multiple people that has broken their imac pro and apple cannot fix it or refuse to fix it despite them trying to pay for it - that's regarded a bad investment to me.

Just to be clear, I can tell you I have a machine with better config than this.... 4tb of Samsungs fastest m.2 Pro 960 SSD, 128GB of ram, 16 cores of 4.0 Ghz CPU, 2x GTX 1080Ti, 10 TB of regular HDD, 4K ProArt Display, need I go on ?

But according to hardware specs the iMac Pro machine is good, I'll agree to that. BUT, you still have to choose apples OR apples, you have no personal control....
Yes 128gb ram is almost enough. Though I've been out of ram multiple times with that amount. But what stinks with this machine apart for being too powerful for a all-in-one is that you HAVE to choose Intel Xeon CPUs and you HAVE to choose AMD graphic card. Intel Xeon is great for rendering of FCPX, but its BAD for Adobe programs (all of them), because it has a lot of cores but low clockspeed. If you are not able to overclock, you need better options, so you can get a machine that is more of an all around - for those of us doing both rendering AND Adobe work. You know buying the top of the line 18 core iMac Pro is actually slower in Photoshop than the cheapest one? Also AMD gpu's are overpriced and Nvidia runs circles around them, you should be able to pick Nvidia cards if you want to....very few would choose an AMD graphic card, with the current speed of them if they had the option to get Nvidia.

And this is the ONLY apple machine for a very long time that is powerful. Everything is soldered and you would have to replace the entire entire thing after a couple of years if you want something more powerful...and that is painful when you pay 15.000$ for a machine....for most wallets. Which is why apple should have released a modular Mac Pro for professionals a LONG TIME AGO....a machine you can replace single internals that you can order from apple instantly.... Until they do that I will never consider a Mac for professional work ever again. I would rather pay for a new part, even if it cost 1.000$ and would be under warranty than having downtime at work.

I was completely clouded myself a while back when I didn't understand why people needed more power than what I had in my iMac and I thought apple was the only place you could get a nice looking machine and I loved everything about it. And I tried to argue the opposite all the time to everyone. So you need to understand that people use their machines differently. And for some, modularity, options and downtime is make or break when they buy a computer.

This is all true - and I agree totally, but they can’t make machines for everyone. They make machines for the average and are not Dell / Lenovo / HP etc.
Look at the business make up and appreciate what Apple are - not a workstation manufacturer would be one observation.
[doublepost=1529301888][/doublepost]

Look at the products which Apple is working on.

The iPhone and iPad run iOS. The Apple TV and Apple Watch use a modified version of ios. Any future wearable device (such as a pair of AR glasses) will likely utilise a version of ios optimised for that form factor over macOS. A self-driving car will also run a version of iOS as well.

iOS is going to form the foundation of pretty much every new product Apple is working on, while macOS stays relegated to Mac devices.

macOS is not the future of Apple.


I foresee AR glasses making large computer screens obsolete. Will we be doing computing on the move using smart glasses tethered to our phones or tablets or even watches? Who knows. A lot of things can change in 10 years.

Even if we are still using iMacs and Mac pros running triple monitor setups a decade from now, my point still stands. The Mac doesn’t represent the future at Apple, and has little place in this new world order that Apple seeks to usher in, beyond creating apps and content for the platform (assuming by then, we don’t have some form of X-code for iPad or something).

By that point, you don’t need half a dozen different Mac models to get this sort of work done. Just a laptop and desktop form factor and that should pretty much cover the bases of what a developer needs.

A 13” and 15” laptop, iMac and iMac Pro, and ugh, take your Mac Pro while you are at it, whether form it may take.



You said it, not me.

Then you will understand why any sympathy I may have once had for your plight no longer exists.

Spot on mate

 

[wallah]

From Royksöpp said: In the mid 2000s the iPod and Mac shared the spotlight, both were exciting and innovative.

Good point. In reality both Macs and iOS devices could be exciting and innovative, maintaining software feature parity with the right leadership; a company as large as Apple doesn't have to choose one or the other.

At the very least we could have a decent Mac mini by now...

Keywords here are ‘exciting and innovative’ which I think sum up the general sense of anxt from the Mac community.

Truth is that all Apple’s current computers are powerful/capable enough to handle the entire Apple market needs. From mini to Mac Pro/iMac Pro. Short of commercial server grade or bleeding edge heavy gamers. BUT they are Boring. Very reliable and do what you need, like a fridge.

The iMac Pro has plenty of horse, but it’s not ‘innovative’ coming from the regular iMac DNA. That was a design and marketing mistake that failed to emotively hook this core customer base.

I wanted something innovative after my iMac died, but I couldn’t stomach paying for a new iMac with a 5400 spinner sealed inside. So I got a 2010 used Mac Pro, a longstanding dream. For me ‘exciting and innovative’ was installing a SSD and a 6 core chip myself.

Then I bought a 12.9 iPad Pro because I needed a laptop with Retina but not a Pro model with extra cost and un-needed power (sorry MB Air, rMB Pro and rMB). The file system works great for me, and my screen is bigger. I also have a damn good case with a quiet robust keyboard. No, it’s not thin but I don’t care. You know that feeling when you use a high quality tool that feels great and makes the job a breeze? That’s how I feel every day when I use my iPad Pro! It’s flawless and a dream to use. Just like my cMP runs flawlessly.

So that’s how I’ve been getting some ‘exciting and innovative’. Times are changing. I won’t be able to afford or even use 10% of the power in next Mac Pro. But I would agree that the Mac line suffers from (the perception of) an innovation deficit because there isn’t a crazy new box.

But if you squint your eyes a little, and twist your brain a bit, you will find Apple’s ability to make something ‘exciting and innovative’ is right in front of your nose: iPhone X and iPad Pro are truely amazing. It’s not immediately obvious if you come from the mindset of a hardcore user of high-end machines from Apple’s past. User’s that rightfully built Apple’s innovation cred at the time and saw the company through tough times. Sadly, that era is over. Unless you want a gaming rig, a computer is just an appliance now.

A mini or MB with an ARM chip would be fairly exciting and innovative, for a short time. At least they would get a speed/graphics bump. Otherwise no different user experience with a sealed unit. A new modular Mac Pro might bring back that magic from the good old days. But honestly I think that ship has sailed and it is a waste of resources. I need a self-driving car more than I need a smoking hot computer.