Professional Mac Users' Complaints List Grows After 'Disappointing' Apple Event

[Razeus]

It started with their software. I said before, I'll said it again: Apple doesn't care about "pro" users anymore.

Everything they do seems to be "how can we integrate something from iPhone/iOS into this?"

There's no excuse for:

1. Not being able to charge my iPhone without a dongle.
2. No SD Card slot - yet another item I have to carry in my bag that has to be USB-C or attach a dongle
3. Not being able to listen to music through my headphones and immediately attach said headphones to my Mac
4. 16GB RAM limit
5. sub-par dedicated GPU
6. the even more absurd pricing.

All this just reinforces my decision to go with the XPS 15 back in January.

 

[dumastudetto]

Buddy, we don't all use computers as toys. We actually use them to get real work done, including writing the apps that you play with on your iPad/iPhone, and the software that powers the backend, and the graphics that make them look pretty, and the commercials that you see for them.

They want to have laptops that are for people who just want the comfort of a an under-powered laptop then that is fine, that is what the MacBook is for. The MacBook "Pro" is supposed to address the needs of people who need a real computer to do real things.

The latest incarnation of the MBP is NOT going in the right direction for that. Last I checked, Dell, Lenovo, HP and everybody else is making "high-end traditional computers" and it is not a niche.

The new MacBook Pros are incredibly powerful machines. Could they be even more powerful with some compromises on portability and battery life? Yes. But Apple is not willing to make these compromises, and that is nothing new.

You are talking almost as if Apple just released MacBook Pros with the same low watt processors they put in the MacBook one port edition.

 

[peter2]

If I would follow your logic we should still be stuck using 286 x86 processors with 1MB RAM and 40GB Hard drives because "hey, nobody complained then" and "Pro's where able to do their work then". With all do respect btw but that doesn't make a lot of sense.

When I bought my current MBP in 2011 4GB was more than enough... at the time. But as user usage patterns change that 4GB wasn't suffice anymore and I upgraded the amount of RAM, the joy of not having soldered RAM because it made the machine (horror) 2mm thicker...

Today I maxed out my machine at 16GB because of my continuous use of virtualisation but also more heavy stuff including ML. It could be perfectly be that 16GB is enough for a lot of tasks... today but I expect a little bit more from a 2016 machine targeted to professional users.

Exactly the point. Since RAM is not upgradable, imagine yourself in 2020 using this "pro" laptop with at most 16GB RAM. It used to be that the higher price of Macs was well justified by the prolonged time you could use those durable and upgradable computers. Not anymore :-(.

 

[NT1440]

Thank you. I'm a software engineer and I use Xcode, Docker, VMware on my 16GB mac and I am able to do work with out any hiccups at all. I'm not sure where all the hate is coming from.

I think it's because people absurdly expect Apple to simultaneously reinvent entire categories....but have to keep the same paradigm alive. It's an absurd dichotomy that only Apple is held to.

 

[vcboard]

I don't think the current hardware offerings are going to limit the creativity of iOS devs very much. These new MacBook Pros are very powerful machines certainly good enough for almost all kinds of iOS software development.

My current 7 year old MBP can still be used for iOS development, so why bother update then?

 

[k2k koos]

I do like the new touchbar development. I can also understand to a degree the drive to make laptops thinner and lighter, it's a portable afterall. However I personally feel that they are thin and portable enough, and we have now arrived at a point where usability is being sacrificed for portability. I prefer the magsafe, I would have liked to retain some legacy ports such as FW800, which will avoid me having to upgrade all sorts of audio visual peripherals which are still very usable, for example. It is a Mac, so why getting rid of a signature thing such as a startup chime? Yes, it doesn't affect it's operation, but it does 'chime' in that you have something special when switching it on...

Lets hope Apple will take all comments to heart, release a proper pro device, along with new desktops (Mac Pro, iMacs etc).

 

[tallscot]

"16GB should be enough for everyone" - Tim Cook, 2016.

Ha! Yeah. I get that.

 

[ginkobiloba]

You know what would be REALLY "courageous" ?

It's if Apple steps up and just says "Look guys, the pro market is too niche and small for us now, so no more MacPros or high-end pro versions of our macs from now on. Thank you for your understanding"

That way, pro users would :
- Stop waiting endlessly for such machines.
- Stop complaining.
- Start preparing their transition towards a full PC/Windows environment. because such transition is very difficult to manage for a lot of pro users, it's not like you just go buy a PC at the store and start doing your spreadheets on Excell just like before. There is lot of research to do to choose the right PC hardware, with the right drivers for all the audio/video peripherals, getting new licenses for their expensive software , etc..

This can take months for some to accomplish, so the sooner people are fixed on what to expect from Apple, the better.

Now THAT would be courageous and honest from Apple.

 

[pika2000]

Again...BASE!!

The surface pro, as a lineup is MAXED at 16GB, and only has a single USB3 port as its fastest I/O.

 

[Manatlt]

People stuck on complaining about USB-C need to realize that the battle is not worth fighting. This is the future. You're just gonna have to deal with it.

"The future." Hm. Really? If that's the case, how come my brand new iPhone 7+ comes with a Lightning to USB-A cable instead of USB-C? (Which means I can't plug in my Apple iPhone to my Apple Mac WITHOUT a $25 dongle lol)

Same with stupid headphone jack. Double standards from Apple. Pathetic.

 

[Jaekae]

There has always been and always will be dongles in transition phases.. or else there would never be any progress in technology.
And this usb-c/tb3 is probably the best thing technology have transitioned to.. tb1 and 2 was moved away from quickly because it wasnt fast enough, now we will have a new standard for years to come

 

[theluggage]

I agree, but I think that niche market will be served by the Mac Pro, if and when it gets a refresh.

Thing is, the Mac Pro is hyper-niche: more of a Final Cut Pro appliance than a general purpose machine. In its current form, unless you are running an OpenCL workflow that can benefit from twin workstation-class GPUs it just doesn't make sense.

 

[Rogifan]

It's basically the same trend with any Apple product, fueled by the tech "bloggers" wanting page hits.
Just watch on any impending release of new iPhone. Everybody always hated new iPhones, and suddenly everybody is talking about their pre-orders. It's kinda hilarious.

I'll be curious to know how many of the hipster writers at The Verge own a Surface Studio vs. own a new MBP.

 

[NT1440]

Exactly the point. Since RAM is not upgradable, imagine yourself in 2020 using this "pro" laptop with at most 16GB RAM. It used to be that the higher price of Macs was well justified by the prolonged time you could use those durable and upgradable computers. Not anymore :-(.

Is there some sort of paradigm shift you expect in 4 years time that suddenly will require Logic, Photoshop, etc. to have gobs of more RAM?

Is it that you expect developers to just bloat their programs to take up RAM for no reason?

Isn't the minimum specs for most of these programs something like 4GB of RAM?

 

[dumastudetto]

The link in the story shows how many non-Macrumor members are complaining, in years prior we saw some complaints in the blogsphere and other positives

Even Gruber has stated as much




Yeah, I hate it, but maybe because I only tolerate the touch pads in general.


Perhaps and that's been the complaints as well, i.e., Apple is focusing on the iPhone and ignoring the mac.

Regardless, you have a high number of core Mac users upset, do you want to continue to upset your customers, because they won't be your customers very long

The Independent has a nice article with an interview with Phil that I'm sure your editorial team will be covering later:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...rview-phil-iphone-ios-criticism-a7393156.html

I definitely agree that it is not a great thing to have so many loyal Mac users upset. It's not nice to read, and it would hurt me if I was working for the Mac team inside Apple.

 

[8692574]

The surface pro, as a lineup is MAXED at 16GB, and only has a single USB3 port as its fastest I/O.

We were talking about Surface Studio....

But yeah let's change the subject in order to make your argument more valid

EDIT:
the Surface pro 4 is a year old, I am sure it will be up to date in its new release (apparently Jan 2017).

 

[El Burro]

When your computer means your livelihood and you have clients breathing down your neck you don't exactly want to trust a computer that isn't stable. Hackintosh, as the name implies, is a hack. If something like a software update bricks your computer you are dead in the water.

That's an overstatement – tonymacx86.com has build guides for desktops that are confirmed stable. System updates work as well. Frankly, you don't need to update to every new version of the OS or even every update for usually minor/inconsequential/trivial bug fixes. Each OS release has been incremental too. But even then 9/10x it's fine under Hackintosh.

Basically hackintoshes just because they are hacks are not "unreliable" – they are just as stable as their Mac equivalents, and typically far cheaper, faster, and robust.

You can spend $3000+ for an outdated Mac Pro, or spend $1000-$1200 for an equivalently specced Hackintosh running MacOS Sierra with minimal hassle/installation. It's a no brainer really.

 

[bitslap47]

A lot of people are very upset about the longer than usual time between Mac updates. I understand the concern, but I also do think Apple still cares a lot about the Mac, just not all of the Macs. They released the new Macbook Pros, and added a touch bar. They did not however add that touch bar to their line of add-on keyboards. They also have dropped their line of Cinema Displays and stated they are out of the Desktop Monitor business.

My opinion is that it is clear that Apple is focusing on the mobile form factor Macs, and will be phasing out the desktops if at all possible. They already exited the server hardware market years ago.

I really feel based on what I am seeing, and what I am being told, that the plain and simple explanation is that Apple feels the mobile form factor Mac is the horse to ride. Even some of Tim Cook's comments point in that direction.

Given they have significantly reduced bezel size this time around, maybe we will soon see the return of the 17" Macbook Pro

 

[BvizioN]

Boring!! People whining about their expectation not being met? How original!!

 

[AdonisSMU]

I should've known that this was click bait.

Notice how MacRumors has yet to post the latest interview with Schiller but they created a post on some alleged pros who can't get anything done with the current crop of hardware and software.

https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/02/phil...pped-the-sd-card-but-kept-the-headphone-jack/

Rebutting critics, Schiller announces that orders for the new MacBook Pro have set a new online sales record, beating previous sales for ‘pro Apple notebooks’.

 

[bigpoppamac31]

He, we still have new Emojis in IOS 10.2 (JIPPY). /s Apple is really going the wrong way on this.....

Yeah cause those are so necessary right? :/

 

[69650]

Some of you guys need to start being more realistic. Apple focuses on their most POPULAR products first. Are you really surprised that the Mac mini and Mac Pro take longer to receive updates?

iPhones are their most popular iOS devices and MacBooks/MacBook Pros are their most popular computers...

It's unfortunate, but Apple is huge and their focus shifts over time. So is life...

Why can't they do both? Update the iPhone and Mac Pro at the same time. Apple are not exactly short of resources and expertise. They don't have to have such a narrow focus.

 

[tallscot]

But since the Skylake chips only support 16GB LPDDR RAM which is the kind that Apple uses(something that was known before the keynote), what did they really expect?

You can't expect Apple to make a entire separate logic board to support regular DDR Ram )which comes at the expense of battery life) just for the small group that wants 32gb?

Maybe they should have a line of laptops for creative professionals because every film set I've been at has laptops plugged in and our priority is speed and not battery life.

So they'd have a Pro line of laptops and then have a line for people who want a light, thin laptop that has a long battery life. Maybe "Air"?

 

[Abazigal]

So all the other high end laptop makers are using DDR4 because its faster and can address 64GB of ram (lenovo, dell, hp, etc). The processors are there. Feel free to visit other laptop makers websites and build one for yourself. Don;t just take Apple's word for it.

I would say that power consumption is a lesser priority for a PRO laptop. That's why people are mad. So why did APPLE do it then? If not for profit, pride in releasing the most powerful machine possible, or to merely just compete spec wise with other companies?

Just because Apple said so... That coupled with neglecting the rest of their "computer" lines hasn't helped.

The dell xps 15 with 32 gb of ram lists 5 hours of battery life even with a larger battery, half that of what the MacBooks offer (in theory, windows laptops are notorious for overstating their battery life). So there is certainly a price to pay for such raw performance.

So yes, the processors are technically there, but the use of ddr4 ram comes with enough drawbacks that Apple feels it is not an acceptable tradeoff for their user base.

 

[duffman9000]

So....with Phil Schiller stating Apple has gotten their highest number of pre-orders ever for Macbook Pros....can we admit that most of the outrage is from nerd rage forum dwellers? Seems like the "Pros" who aren't tech enthusiasts (and instead....just do their work) aren't all that discouraged. Or, perhaps, the MBP's main user base is consumers who aren't bothered either?

I think the Pros that need as much RAM and CPU as possible have already left the station. I don't think Apple cares to cater to that crowd anymore.