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

[paross]

It's pretty clear Apple has been iOS-centric under Cook.

Cook is a businessman, he's not passionate about these products. He's passionate about bottom lines, marketing, and his bonuses tied to stock performance.

Apple culture died with Steve Jobs. We need a creative visionary at the helm, not someone who is more interested in influencing politics and culture.

 

[mkeeley]

A vocal minority is whining on the internet like they do after every Apple release. Yawn.

Seemed like a vocal majority to me and quite a sizable one.

 

[Rogifan]

What makes these new machines less "Pro" than the ones that came before them? Has Apple ever had a MBP with 32GB RAM option?

 

[Northgrove]

I'm sad to agree on that it does seem liked Apple has treaded close to this line for years now, and this time they finally crossed it, that they have ended up on the wrong side of the Professional <-> Fashion line. Apple is a company that tries to tread right on top of that line, but this time the constant attraction of the fashion made them fall off of it.

Here's hoping they can get back to it again.

It seems to be all about one, admittedly difficult thing:

Offer a Pro device that is indeed oriented towards professional users, and make that feature set still remain beautiful and offer a unique experience to use.

Here's hoping Apple can realize the path to beauty is not solely about thickness, so that they can remain on the path towards their (in this case professional) user base. That they'll discover other means to achieve beauty. This can't go on forever anyway, and this latest iteration of MacBook Pro is getting close to not even be able to contain usb-c ports. This trend will inevitably need to end, and soon. Perhaps we already are at the end station? But why not end it at a point where connectivity is vastly improved instead?

 

[SuprUsrStan]

I think Apple has to share at least some of the blame here. They kept Mac users waiting for so long (partly compounded by Intel's continued delays), that there was really no way they could live up to all that hype and pent up anticipation. Especially when you are dealing with people who depend on Macs for their living.

The iMac and Mac Pro are still MIA. We might see a refresh early next year hopefully. I don't think Apple will ever give up on the Mac, but their silence in this area has been both frustrating and alarming.

That said, I don't think that Apple was wrong to give equal attention to battery life and portability. The number of people who truly need 32 gb of ram is probably over-represented here, and not indicative of Apple's overall user base. I dare say most people will benefit equally from 16 gb ram, long battery life and a thin and light form factor.

I am not sad to see MagSafe go. With longer battery life, we aren't plugging in our laptops as often as before and accidents should become less common. Same with USB C. I will give up 6-7 single-purpose ports for 4 multi-purpose ports any time of the day.

Throw in the fast SSD and it's a solid update however I look at it, albeit one that seems half a year late. The touchbar probably kept it from the rumored wwdc event.

The 2012 retina macbook pro maxed out at 16gb of ram. Four years later, we're still at 16GB. I thought I was going to be buying an upgrade this year. With the CPU only a few percent better than even the 2012 version, memory capacity is actually an area that could improve performance.

Magsafe was amazing. There's still really not many good implementations of magsafe on the market. It has saved my laptop from being thrown across the room, smashed on the floor countless of times. Give us the magsafe AND the ability to charge with USB-C if that's such a big deal.

 

[newyorksole]

The MacBook Pro is just too expensive for what you get from a "Pro"-perspective...

"Pro" is marketing. "Air" is marketing etc. It's always been that way. There was one point in time where Pro actually meant Pro, but it's different now (just based off of ports and speed/power versus other Macs).

The new MBP is still a professional computer, it just depends on what your definition of "Pro" is.

 

[MacknTosh]

I'm not surprised. When I look at Apple prices in the U.K. and how even 2 year old tech gets a price hike, it is making Apple less attractive. I know that the pound has taken a hammering, but in my view that doesn't justify increasing the price of, say, the 2 year old Mac Mini by almost £100.

 

[kk1ro]

A vocal minority is whining on the internet like they do after every Apple release. Yawn.

From what we've witnessed in these past few days, it's clearly not a minority. We're seeing die-hard Apple customers refusing to upgrade their machines, because they don't see any value in these new MBPs (at least, at their current price-point).

Sure, Apple can dismiss this as "whining", but I'm pretty sure the outrage we're seeing is going to be perfectly represented in the lackluster sales of these new models.

 

[SuprUsrStan]

What makes these new machines less "Pro" than the ones that came before them? Has Apple ever had a MBP with 32GB RAM option?

Can you honestly call it a pro machine when the ram capacity is the same as the laptop from 6 years ago?

 

[err404]

you can't be serious

View attachment 669845
+Titan Black

Your sample size of 1 does nothing to prove your point. That machine is either a mainstream load out or it is niche. Where do you feel it falls?

 

[Woyzeck]

This sums up Apple's current state quite nice: https://steveblank.com/2016/10/24/w...allmer-and-why-he-still-has-his-job-at-apple/

 

[chasonstone]

I'm not really a "pro" in any sense. I do, however, like the Apple ecosystem and still need a traditional computer. The problem is there's nothing targeted at me now in terms of the computer lineup. The regular MacBook edges on being ever so slightly too small for my tastes with a high price tag, now the pros sit in preferred sizes but have "high-end" price tags without actually being all that high end. I don't *need* for my computer to be high-end, but if it's going to carry the price tag it does it would really have to wow me. But even the entry level pro that they're trying to position as the option for people who don't need all the specs or the touch bar is still more expensive than the previous model which was already honestly pricier than it needed to be. I was willing to pay up to 1800 for the new pro with 1TB in it (thinking this model would slide into new storage tiers at the old prices) But they start near that range for 256GB. It's just crazy. They need to shed 400-500 bucks before they're in reasonable territory for me. Until then I'm using my aging MacBook Air, I truly hope it's not my last mac. I like the quality and ecosystem of Apple products and I'm willing to pay the "Apple Tax" for it. But not THIS much Apple Tax.

 

[Rogifan]

Seemed like a vocal majority to me and quite a sizable one.

Based on what? The tech nerds that listen to ATP? That's not a majority of anything.

 

[Matrix9180]

I wanted to get a new Mac. I've been stuck using a '07 MBP (pre-unibody) that had to have it's logic board baked at least once a month to keep the graphics working. I waited for Apple to announce it's new laptops. I saw "touch bar" rumors and thought it might be cool. Then Apple made their announcement. *yawn*. It's "thinner and lighter" yet again. It's a keyboard with keys that cause my fingers to hurt from bottoming out. It's a $400 price bump over last year's model for a "touch bar". I ended up buying a 2015 MBP instead. Only reason I didn't end up with a machine from sytem76 or even Dell is I like macOS, it's easy for me to do development work on, and easier to set up & maintain than some Linux based OS. I could have gone Hackintosh, but then you're back in Linux-land of random hardware issues and 0 support. I like this '15 MBP, but it will likely be my last Mac, unless and until Apple realizes anorexia is bad, even in laptops. They could have kept the same thickness and touted 24 hour battery life. They could have kept the same thickness and supported 64GB of memory. They could have kept the same thickness and had at least ONE USB-A port so I could use existing peripherals without some expensive adapter. They could have kept the MagSafe port or altered the design to work with the newfound thinness. They did none of these things. They sacrificed everything the Macintosh has become known for, just to make it a little bit thinner and a little bit lighter.

 

[needfx]

Your sample size of 1 does nothing to prove your point. That machine is either a mainstream load out or it is niche. Where do you feel it falls?

I am barely a professional, and I need this horsepower for PS, AE, PR, 3DS among others.
I can't imagine what other people might need like say, pro animators, colorists, scientists, software/app/game developers etc etc

apparently you are the sample size of 1 who doesn't produce anything on a computer other than spreadsheets, which in your case, you could do that with a chromebook, or an ipad pro...

 

[Abazigal]

The 2012 retina macbook pro maxed out at 16gb of ram. Four years later, we're still at 16GB. I thought I was going to be buying an upgrade this year. With the CPU only a few percent better than even the 2012 version, memory capacity is actually an area that could improve performance.

Magsafe was amazing. There's still really not many good implementations of magsafe on the market. It has saved my laptop from being thrown across the room, smashed on the floor countless of times. Give us the magsafe AND the ability to charge with USB-C if that's such a big deal.

For the ram issue, it's becoming increasingly clear that intel has to share some of the blame. The processors that will allow for 32 gb of lpddr4 ram simply aren't available yet, and Apple made a conscious decision to limit us to lpddr3 ram instead of the more power-hungry ddr4 ram. Not everyone is going to agree with the choices that Apple has made here, but at least it's clear this wasn't done to cut costs or some other cynical reason. After all, if Apple was as mercenary as people made it out to be, why would Apple pass up the chance to charge people for more ram?

MagSafe is amazing, I agree. But all other things equal, you are looking at dedicated a slot to either MagSafe or another USB C port. When I am not charging my laptop, it's not like I can retroactively turn that MagSafe charging port into a USB or display port. I am stuck with MagSafe whether I need it or not. USB C is more versatile and given a choice, I would be willing to give up MagSafe for USB C.

But that's just me.

 

[Kangastu]

After 4 years with the first gen retina MacBook Pro I'm ready and actually excited for this upgrade and can't wait to get my new mbp in a couple of weeks. Dongles are annoying yes - but the more manufacturers that "can" old tech the faster USB-C will become adopted and mainstream.

 

[Firebrand]

Big part of it, IMHO, is communication. E.g. explaining decisions, giving more context...

(Don't laugh please but I kinda like Nintendo's Direct approach.)

 

[Goatllama]

I agree with the sentiment that Apple should have given us something more to go on. Just showing the new Macbooks and not even remotely alluding to the rest of the line (after no updates for so long) really makes it seem kinda final. Hopefully that's not what they were going for. I'm sure there was some tidbit they could've thrown to us to inspire some confidence in the "Macs are very important to us" line!

 

[aplnub]

We watched the Keynote and then ordered a 15" maxed out to replace a seven year old MBP. It was a no brainer for us but at the same time we didn't feel overwhelmed about being limited to 16GB of RAM. Weird. What was more weird was Tim Cook looking almost giddy about what they were going to announce. I get the touch bar is a great step forward and the right thing to do because the function row could be better utilized and Apple has shown us what may be the best way to do that.

But I go back to Tim's expression and excitement on stage. I really thought there must be a lot of stuff coming during the event because he looked genuinely about to bust with excitement. Either they have lost touch, over estimate the new MBP perception to use the consumers, or a bit of both.

We were ready to purchase at least one new iMac and MacMini, but nothing. A MacPro may have been purchased if it had come with some updates. I guess they are waiting to trigger those updates after Christmas to prop up first and/or second quarter Mac sales?? Who knows at this point why they do what they do.

There is really no excuse for the Mini or MacPro going this long without an update. Just update the existing stuff, update the website, and roll on. Automatic sales/$$$$. I am really starting to wonder what is coming and what is dying. I believe we are going to go back to 5k iMacs for our typical office computer. How disappointing to know Apple is out of the monitor business? Selling the LG so hard was weird. Will be nice to have a cheaper monitor solution, if it works!

We just are not going to buy anymore Macs until TB3 is the port of choice. No since in purchasing USB-A anything at this point.

 

[BornAgainMac]

What makes these new machines less "Pro" than the ones that came before them? Has Apple ever had a MBP with 32GB RAM option?

Its 2016. People edit in 4K now. A pro laptop should be upgradable to 64 GB. In reality that price for 64 GB is less than an iPad Pro.

 

[CJozef]

LETS BRING OUR APPLE BACK!!! TIM COOK STOP DESTROYING OUR APPLE !!! TIM COOK LEAVE!!!

 

[newyorksole]

It's pretty clear Apple has been iOS-centric under Cook.

Cook is a businessman, he's not passionate about these products. He's passionate about bottom lines, marketing, and his bonuses tied to stock performance.

Apple culture died with Steve Jobs. We need a creative visionary at the helm, not someone who is more interested in influencing politics and culture.

This logic doesn't make any sense to me. Everyone keeps fantasizing about what it would be like if Steve was alive and how he would NEVER do some/all of the things that Cook is doing.

NewsFlash: Steve wasn't perfect. He always talked of a Post-PC Era. Steve was also a businessman (as evidenced by the price of Apple products and adapters). Thunderbolt 3/USB-C is just where the tech industry is headed. When Steve was a live the MBA was released. Several ports were removed to make way for a thinner computer.

Same thing is happening now. New ports and technology mean thinner computers for Apple. There's no way you can say that Steve WOULDN'T have done the same thing...

 

[SuprUsrStan]

For the ram issue, it's becoming increasingly clear that intel has to share some of the blame. The processors that will allow for 32 gb of lpddr4 ram simply aren't available yet, and Apple made a conscious decision to limit us to lpddr3 ram instead of the more power-hungry ddr4 ram. Not everyone is going to agree with the choices that Apple has made here, but at least it's clear this wasn't done to cut costs or some other cynical reason. After all, if Apple was as mercenary as people made it out to be, why would Apple pass up the chance to charge people for more ram?

No one is saying apple is doing it just to be cynical.

We are calling out Apple for being out of touch with our NEEDS. Their decision to slim down the laptop even more, take out battery capacity, and then claim 32GB uses too much battery power just shows how out of touch they are with the needs of the power user.

Don't get me started about the removal of the SD, HDMI, USB-A and MagSafe.

 

[BarredOwl]

A lot of these people are living in the past. We are where Steve Jobs predicted we'd be, living in a post-PC era where the market for high-end traditional computer products is a niche within an already tiny niche.

What Tim and Apple are doing is absolutely right for the company. Those complaining and hating on Apple and Tim are broadly speaking living in the dark ages.

Remember "trucks?"...

We need capable "trucks" to produce quality content for the consuming masses to enjoy on their glowing oracles.

Dark ages... hardly.