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Popular Mac Developer Slams Apple for 'Sad State of Macintosh Hardware'
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They are only interested in thinner and lighter. Everything else is irrelevant - just check their offerings the past few years, have they ever released anything thicker than the year before it? (I am not talking about the difference of 1-2mm thickness difference between iphones/ipads by the way). Simple answer is NO!
Of course the advantage of this is pushing the limits of design and component production, which is a plus for the average users, but not for pros it seems...
Either way, it seems we are heading into a thinner and lighter future of computers and other gadgets from other companies as well . Apple just sets the tone and standard in terms of hardware design, not in terms of hardware components.
I need both worlds (ultralight and high performance), which obviously cannot happen in the same machine, so I'm currently requiring ultralight for the laptop I use while travelling (an iPad cannot replace it: I need UNIX terminals and development tools), and high performance for my desktops (one of them is already a Hackintosh, which is a shame because I had the money for buying a Mac Pro -and it had been saved for buying a Mac Pro- but finally the only way of having a current Intel CPU and a Nvidia Pascal Titan in MacOS was to build a Hackintosh... it was a sad experience, the money was saved for buying a Mac Pro, and had to go to a PC).
My laptop is still a (top configured) late 2010 MacBook Air. Runs great (because I'm keeping it at SnowLeopard, so it boots faster than any current MacBook, and all apps I need run blazingly fast). But of course, it needs a replacement (new apps cannot be installed anymore on SnowLeopard), and it deserves the retirement after 7 years running great as my everyday laptop.
But... will the replacement be a Mac? I'm doubting it more and more as months go by:
- I need that it weighs equal or less than the MBA.
- I prefer a bigger than 13inch display (I'm getting older, and I notice my eyes are not as fresh as when I was 20).
- I need standards for development (Vulkan, OpenGL, OpenCL, with CUDA a bonus but eGPU would suffice).
- I need to run virtual machines through VirtualBox (so, an Intel CPU is a must).
And, if you mix of all that, and look in perspective the current Mac product line, and the current Apple strategies, I hear a voice telling "Linux on LG Gram 15inch or on new Acer Swift5 15.6inch".
So, the situation is quite sad:
If you want lightness: Go LG, Acer, etc...
If you want high performance: Go Hackintosh.
Sadly, you ended up violating your own rule of not getty pissy with others on the board. I know you’ve got cold, hard supercomputer logic in there, but it comes across as arrogant instead.
I don’t think the other people in you meetings for the next few days will be having much fun with you either
Oh we are enjoying ourselves very much. Had a great lunch, and we just finished building a bridge of straws as part of a team bonding activity.
I am not a hard person to understand or work with. Cause and effect. Don’t give me a reason to come after you, and I won’t. And we will all be happy.
I can leave this thread well alone, but I wonder if the other posters here know how to reciprocate and how to toe the line when posting in other non-Mac related threads.
I guess only time will tell.
Interesting, I've not dealt with Hackintosh setups. What's the best site to check out for a guide. I'd love to buy a 2nd hand PC and attempt to build one for the heck of it. Do you experience many kernel errors?
I think, well guess, their internal research shows a larger movement towards mobile devices (wearables, phones, ipads) than traditional desktops. Personally I cannot live without all of them lol.
Hmm.. Acer swift still using ddr3l ,for latest proc ? LG Gram is overprice..
If there was mac mini , it is the best compiling machine while you using hankintosh.. ** if APPLE detect ilegal upon updating the apple store. But but mac mini is dead.
I'm assume you're something like gammer or creative people .. by all those Open CL,Open GL.
A lot of people suggestion dell xps, but for me i'm using acer long time..
I think apple would stuck to current DDR3L if acer also sale the same thing even if new proc 8..
My real suggestion : Acer Nitro not Acer S..
max up ram 32 GB RAM .All your vm hail sirEhm NO!! Because even if Apple failed to deliver a new smartphone, they would still continue to sell their older models. I highly doubt the average consumer is disillusioned with the shiny new features of phones - they are way more interested in PRICE. Once again, I am talking about the AVERAGE consumer, not fanboys/techies/enthusiasts waiting in line on first day to get the new model(s)...
I said this before, Apple has managed what other companies only dream of: to have their products DESIRED by the average people. No other company has succeeded in achieving this! Are their products targetted to a limited number of consumers nowadays? Of course not, they have become way more commercialized, than even they could have ever planned - but, that’s how they will become a trillion dollar company. Apple products are still considered “premium”, no matter if they include the latests components or not - you know why is that?
It’s called MARKETING! To be exact marketing since day 1 of Apple. Apple has invested a lot f time and money to create this “illusion” if you will. And that’s how you grow a brand and make it like Apple. You don’t need the latest and greatest, you only need good marketing and branding and that’s what Apple is enjoying currently and that’s why Apple can/will still offer subpar computers (in terms of hardware components), and that’s why consumers will continue to buy Apple products, even if they release a pile of poop with their logo on it. The rest is fantasy!
Money doesn't matter: I make my computers last, so the higher price is actually the most economical option in the end. I always buy the top configuration in the Macs I purchase.
Nope. Science area. Multiplatform development of scientific apps, where standards are a must. The idea that OpenGL/OpenCL are for "gamers" is just nonsense (and one of the worst mistakes MacRumours did when posting an article stating that dropping OpenGL/CL was bad for games, while it's bad for everything except for iOS propaganda).
Just assumption don't be mad on me.You maybe those fella using "R" or any tools. That the reason i said it was "CREATIVE PEOPLE".
If would said top of the mac, IMAC PRO is nice, but i think it would much better you buy real server ibm power pc/ standard xeon. Xeon proc is great but itanium is the worst of century.
I'm myself rarely max up proc to 100%, i never see even in server environment more proc also don't max. But if you spam infinity calculation, it should be easily.
If money wouldn't be an issue.. LG is nice, but it never state it was DDR3L or DDR4. Current standard is DDR4. But i rarely see people using LG laptop.That's scare me a lot. Just find a proper vendor like ACER / IBM LENOVO Thinkpad.
As for last, as i mention before. We need a GUI SERVICE. At least we can prioritise resources. NO SWAP NO COMPRESS NO CACHE unless APPLE provided fast cache like intel optane in IMAC/IMAC PRO ..
I think you have missed the point. The macbook is a very useful machine it is faster than the MBA there is almost 0 penalty to take it with you because it is so small and you get a retina display.
It has its drawbacks with the single port and the fact its fanless so extended high end use will make it throttle but other that that it is a really great machine. I am a power user being a graphic and motion designer and also a photographer and videographer and had my 11" MBA stolen it was fully loaded 2013 17 512gb ssd and the macbook has filled its shoes nicely. I miss the ports but its not the end of the world.
The main downside to me is that the port cant sustain more than one accessory at a time for example an external HDD and an SD card reader on a dongle. Unless you use pass through which is a ball ache but the only negative i have found.
I have always had an ultra portable as I already carry 15-20kg of production gear with me and use it in the field for data transfer, file organisation and quick edits when I need to get something to a client. When I get home all is transferred to my mac pro where I do all of my real work.
Its a perfect companion. In addition to that its an excellent for content consumption and it has a real keyboard so you can be productive away from the desk unlike the ipad.
The main reason I bought it was because the 13" macbook pro increased in price by £400 in 2016 yet brought no speed increases just a TB. It has no dedicated graphics and the integrated isnt much quicker than the macbook. The 2017 isnt much better.
Really unless you use it as a main machine for export and rendering... imo non of the macbook pros apart from the 15 are worth using for that, even the 15" pails compared to even a boggo imac. There is no real day to day operational difference from a user experience stand point. The machines perform so similar that the benefit of the size and weight far outweighs the price, size and weight increase of the 13" macbook pro.
I would buy a 15" but I dont want the bulk and dont need the power in the field but I would love the bigger screen so I can check for critical focus etc a lot easier.
If you look at the line up the base 13" macbook pro is no faster. Even the highest off the shelf 13" touchbar macbook pro is only 10% faster than the mid range macbook. Yes it has more ports and will be faster for sustained workflow but for what I do the 13 is significantly more expensive and you dont really get much more but ports and a heavier machine.
The whole macbook line is a joke. The 13" macbook pro is a hole in the range the integrated graphics are shocking and the dual core slightly higher watt CPUs dont really produce enough of an upgrade for the price. Yet others in the same space are making 13" laptops with 1050s and 1060 GPUs which are roughly 250% faster than the integrated intel offering. If it was a quad then it may restore some faith in the line but you cnat get away from the lack of graphics performance and theres not really a compelling reason to pick over the macbook in my opinion.
If you actually use it its amazing how small portable light and usable it is.
I would never use a laptop as a main machine and I dont know how people manage. A laptop is always a portable machine that I "could" get work done in a pinch not as a full time machine. As a light portable there isnt anything that comes close with a full OS experience that you can run full fat apps on.
Especially apps that are specifically optimized. Unless your rendering the user experience in final cut is exactly the same.
So edgy and studied. Knowing the ways of the universe.
You do understand you are contradicting yourself? You’re saying Apple doesn’t want to make desktop replacements but at the same time they have extremely fast SSD storage on their MBP’s. You think you need fast transfers to Facebook? Or, could it be that having fast transfers are awesome for editing etc. Ability to edit ProRes RAW or other heavy stuff like ProRes 4:4:4:4? Then again GPU (even with possibility of having external GPU) and processor cloud be faster by today’s standards. Also many pro users would prefer more key travel, more robust keyboard, better thermal design etc.
Anyway, when Apple released 17” MBP they were all about FCP editing with laptop. Even now the ability to have multiple 4K displays is one of the selling points. So, you’re not seeing the desktop replacement vibe or you think these are the features that run of mill web browsing requires?
Can I just say, have a look at the reply count on this thread its nearly 2000 replies! Thats nuts. If anybody from Apple visits this website that should send alarm bells they have dropped the ball with the Mac.
They need to sreamline thier Laptop lineup, and commit to updating every computer line once a year. Like they used too when they were a tenth of the size.
They need to sreamline thier Laptop lineup, and commit to updating every computer line once a year. Like they used too when they were a tenth of the size.
So any question that does not come with a label 'This is a rhetorical question' cannot be a rhetorical question according to your definition?
My original post in this sub-thread was a riposte to somebody saying that the keyboard of the current MBP is clearly not good because there are lawsuits against Apple about it (I'm paraphrasing). The point of my post was to say that Apple has been sued over so many product issues covering many, many of their products such that the fact that one of their products has been the subject of a lawsuit doesn't necessarily mean that this particular product is a lemon (because otherwise a very large number of their products would have to be lemons). I expressed this point by provocatively asking the rhetorical question whether there is any product that Apple has not been sued over.
I cannot prove that this was the intention behind my post, and you cannot prove that is wasn't. But any reasonable person would give somebody else the benefit of the doubt over the intention behind a statement if a reasonable case can be made that the claimed intent could have led to the statement. But we all know what you did instead: You accused me of lying about my intent.
I have a late 2013 MBP and unless the hardware gives out, I have no plans to upgrade for several years to come.
Sure, I bet the latest models are slightly smaller, slightly faster for the average user and look all shiny new but its just not worth the upgrade for me personally.
Perhaps if I were at the limit of the hardware in terms of gaming etc then maybe but I am not a gamer so its plenty fast enough for me.
If you have a retina i5 with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, the average MBP user would largely be upgrading for the nothing more than the 'brand new' placebo effect.
Sure, I bet the latest models are slightly smaller, slightly faster for the average user and look all shiny new but its just not worth the upgrade for me personally.
Perhaps if I were at the limit of the hardware in terms of gaming etc then maybe but I am not a gamer so its plenty fast enough for me.
If you have a retina i5 with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, the average MBP user would largely be upgrading for the nothing more than the 'brand new' placebo effect.
Please take the time to tweet to Tim and co about this thread. Someone may read it.
https://twitter.com/tim_cook
https://twitter.com/cue
https://twitter.com/pschiller
https://twitter.com/tim_cook
https://twitter.com/cue
https://twitter.com/pschiller
Apple doesn't want to make a laptop whose only purpose is to be a desktop replacement. They want to make a laptop that can serve as many people as possible. Those that want an ultraportable 15" laptop as well as those that want a very powerful laptop (quad-core, fast SSD, very fast I/O). The current 15" MBP is the result of trying to put such a laptop together.
What Apple does not want is to develop a laptop that can 'only' be used as a desktop replacement.
They don't just need to put new CPUs in them. They need to actually build something i can use.
For the longest time, Apple notebooks were the bastion of great keyboards, durable enclosures and great trackpads with decent spec.
Now? I feel legitimately concerned about buying anything in the current line up because I'm not sure it is going to actually continue working for more than a few months.
Having machines break inside of 3-6 months, that cost more than 1500 dollars is just unacceptable. I really don't know what I'm going to do when my 2015 retina gives up.
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Maybe if apple built some mac hardware worth purchasing, their sales would be higher.
Between 2007 and 2015 i recommended a macbook air or macbook pro as the default "go to" machine for people who wanted a device that just got out of the way and let them work.
Now? I can not in good conscience recommend any computer that Apple produces.
For the longest time, Apple notebooks were the bastion of great keyboards, durable enclosures and great trackpads with decent spec.
Now? I feel legitimately concerned about buying anything in the current line up because I'm not sure it is going to actually continue working for more than a few months.
Having machines break inside of 3-6 months, that cost more than 1500 dollars is just unacceptable. I really don't know what I'm going to do when my 2015 retina gives up.
[doublepost=1529403393][/doublepost]
Maybe if apple built some mac hardware worth purchasing, their sales would be higher.
Between 2007 and 2015 i recommended a macbook air or macbook pro as the default "go to" machine for people who wanted a device that just got out of the way and let them work.
Now? I can not in good conscience recommend any computer that Apple produces.
Oh we are enjoying ourselves very much. Had a great lunch, and we just finished building a bridge of straws as part of a team bonding activity.
I am not a hard person to understand or work with. Cause and effect. Don’t give me a reason to come after you, and I won’t. And we will all be happy.
I can leave this thread well alone, but I wonder if the other posters here know how to reciprocate and how to toe the line when posting in other non-Mac related threads.
I guess only time will tell.
Apple is a company that makes different products...As you pointed out they use a functional organizational model (I'm glad you mentioned it, because I read about it)...This means that they have limited ability to focus on a particular product or task at a time. This means that any thread on a product or service might be a Mac related thread. Just like it was okay that you brought up watch OS and animoji in this thread (like you brought up self-driving cars, AR, health initiatives, watch bands, etc. etc.). So...I think your point about "I can leave this thread well alone" 1600 comments in, after you participated quite a bit (I'm not complaining that you did...just that you now are saying people should ONLY post in certain ways regarding certain topics at certain times and that you can "leave this thread well alone"). This kind of forum policing related to posts and subject matter, I think, is what is making those other people think you are arrogant...Personally, I thought you wanted to engage in conversation related to these topics, but you ignored a bunch of stuff people actually wrote to you regarding ideas and points...it seems to me that you are trolling. Especially with this last comment.
Look at other manufactures. They separate the logic board into a few components. The power circuit is separate from the main board, the usb connectors are, memory and SSD are removable, only a few screws and a cable or 2.
Memory goes bad, as do SSD's. The fuse on the power circuit could blow. Why do you need to essentially replace hundreds / thousands of pounds of working components because of a fuse?
Fraud. That is what they are committing. When one of their 'Geniuses' who has no training and no idea about electrical engineering tells you with all confidence that your laptop needs replacing because their software gave him a code, thats fraud.
The problem is that consumer protection has not caught up with Apple over this yet. If a car garage charges you for parts you do not need, or to repair a manufacturing defect they can be done by trading standards, if Apple do it you defend it as the company trying to save a bit of money.
I appreciate you taking the time and effort to reach out in a civil manner. I really do.
I am not saying you cannot talk about the Mac in say, a thread about the Apple Watch. However, there needs to be an obvious link, and related to the topic at hand, rather than just a retread of the numerous “Apple sucks” or “Fire Tim Cook!” or some other zero-effort comment which adds absolutely nothing of value to the discussion and serves only to annoy everyone else trying to have a civilised conversation.
Which was what has been happening for as long as I can remember. And it’s frankly gotten to the point where I am like “is this going to be the future of every subsequent new thread here?”
Maybe others are okay with it, but I am not, and if the haters can’t seem to get the message in the other threads, then I have no choice but to come here and deliver the message loud and clear.
Did I succeed in getting my point across? Who knows, but I just can’t take it lying down any more. Does that make me a horrible person? Maybe, and I apologise to anyone I have offended. Starting with @Nieval.
Likewise, see my response above. This thread is just one massive outlet for people to vent their frustrations over Apple’s neglect of the Mac. There’s really very little constructive discussion that’s going on here, despite it clocking in at almost 2000 replies.
I may still reply if I see something relevant, and it’s pretty much just the same old people recycling the same old comments. Spin off the Mac. Fire Tim Cook. Steve Jobs would never have done this. Bring back Scott Forstall. Jump ship to windows. Yada yada yada.
The reality is that while I tried to prepare myself mentally for it, I found I simply wasn’t able to devote enough time to respond to every single response that came my way. It’s not that I am deliberately trying to ignore certain “hard to answer” questions. Some simply slipped through my notice or I simply have not been able to get down and formulate a response to it yet (and truth be told, I might never get round to tackling them now that the school term is resuming soon and the time I can spend here will be significantly less).
I am genuine about engaging the posters here in honest conversation, but I find that I have also pretty much said everything that I came here to say. I don’t think there is much more I can meaningfully add to this thread without repeating what I have already said, and I think I have made my point.
I do also admit that I came here with a secondary agenda - to let the posters here know in no uncertain terms that the way they were screwing up any attempt at holding a meaningful discussion in the other threads was most certainly not appreciated. Especially when a couple of them flat out admitted (in the AR thread) to knowing full well what they were doing and the problems they were causing, and they still did it anyways.
That was the final straw.
Does that make me arrogant? Perhaps. Probably. I make no excuses for what I did. It is what it is.
I beg to differ. People do. It's people who don't use computers, don't. Those who rely solely on mobile devices don't do a whole lot on them, but there are loads of professionals and students out there who do and it's exactly the state of the industry that dictates the need for it, because more and more jobs become computer-based and require people to know how to code - something you won't learn and do well on a phone or iPad. Don't get me wrong. I am not stating we should keep using desktops and laptops. The Surface Pro is a great example of how a powerful machine can be packaged in a portable and versatile form-factor while keeping the desktop OS. The bottom line here is, the workforce, research and higher education needs powerful devices. Simple as that.