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Professional Mac Users' Complaints List Grows After 'Disappointing' Apple Event
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How would offering extra ram as an *Option* BTO hurt you? You'll still have your 16GB....
there are very little options for creative professionals to produce websites, apps etc if you werent going to use a laptop or desktop. You cant practically use an ipad to design a website on. This is a world where speed to production and computer power is more important than thinness for example. Yes, its a niche market, but thats what the 'pro' part of this product is meant to be targeting. We are not living in the dark ages.
While I agree with the sentiment, it is worth noting that 'pro' and 'content-creator' does not mean what it once did. I think 'pro' needs to be divided into two categories for content creators. There are the ones who are high end users like film and music production. And then there are content creators who's system demands are not as high. I would put DJ's, professional YouTubers, and bloggers into this category.
It may be that Apple is abandoning the first category and it is hurtful because these are the passionate people who kept the lights on in Cupertino for a long time, but in order for the Mac line to grow Apple has to look to ALL the 'pros' out there.
On a different note, it's great that this many people are upset. It means they care. When MS releases a underwhelming product, everyone sort of shrugs and accepts it. And because of that, Apple will continue to do well for the foreseeable future.
They probably realise it, but they also know the grim reality of what getting a PC means (Windows, ugh).
The real question is: if you are so "Pro" that your "Workflow" meaningfully depends on 32GB RAM today, why were you hedging your entire existence on the possibility of an unreleased Apple laptop carrying 32GB RAM? I really would like to see a blind test in which "Pros" can demonstrate how 16GB vs. 32 GB RAM machine hamstrings their efforts.
Apple has redefined the word "Pro". The best example is the iPad Pro- what's "pro" about it? It does nothing that the other iPads don't do- it's just bigger. Now compare that to the Surface Pro- full OS, ability to use external drives, increase storage with SD cards, run full-blown programs. An iPad Pro would run OS X and allow us to use Photoshop and every other program that Pros need. Apple is going mainstream for non-professionals. I hate to say it, but the new MS desktop is looking like the my next "Pro" purchase, solely for a lack of trust trust that Pro Apple products are in the future.
Less than a week ago Apple unveiled its new MacBook Pro line-up, with the focus of its "Hello again" event centering on the OLED Touch Bar that replaces the function keys on the company's 13-inch and 15-inch flagship models.
Initial media reaction to Apple's event was positive, and most journalists in attendance were impressed after their limited hands-on time with the new machines. "There's all kinds of love for the new MacBook Pro," reported The Loop the following morning, in a post citing quotes from several leading tech sites.
Over the weekend, however, evidence mounted of a backlash within sections of the online Mac community in response to Apple's latest announcements. In a blog post on his site titled "New MacBook Pros and the State of the Mac", developer Michael Tsai collated and linked to the most commonly aired grievances. The post has since become a common point of reference in the blogosphere for negative sentiment toward Apple following last week's event.
In his original post, Tsai said he was "disappointed" with Apple's announcements for the Mac, which made him feel as if Cupertino had either "lost touch" with what developers and creative professionals want, or Apple "simply doesn't care about those customers".
The subsequent catalog of grievances largely mirror Tsai's own complaints, which include the "premium price" of a "Pro" MacBook limited to 16GB RAM, the prioritization of "thinness and lightness" over CPU and graphics performance, and Apple's "neglect" of other sections of its Mac product line. Tsai concludes: "It has seemed clear for a while that the CEO doesn't really understand the Mac, or simply doesn't like it that much, and that's a problem for those of us who do."
On Monday, both The Loop and Daring Fireball highlighted Tsai's post, noting its growing inventory of criticisms. The Loop said the list contained "a lot of fair complaints" that are "insights... worth paying attention to". Daring Fireball's John Gruber called the extent of the backlash "astounding" and described Tsai's collection of quotes as "must-read stuff".
In another widely shared article titled "How Apple could have avoided much of the controversy", developer Chuq Von Rospach wrote that while much of the criticism ignores "a lot of the positives" in Apple's latest announcements, the company should have at least mentioned upcoming updates to the rest of its product line, which would "have muted a lot of the anger".
Von Rospach goes on to speculate about what those updates might be, broaches some of the issues regarding Apple's new notebooks (the 16GB RAM ceiling, an increase in dongles) and concludes by suggesting that creative professionals need to realize the Mac line has become a "niche product" in a world driven by market forces where Apple technology has gone mainstream. The full article can be read here.
The impassioned online debate comes at an important time for Apple, which hopes to boost interest in a lukewarm computer market this holiday season, following the company's first reported full-year revenue decline since 2001. Its Touch Bar enabled 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro notebooks are expected to ship in late November. Meanwhile, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro sans Touch Bar is already shipping to customers and more comprehensive reviews of Apple's lower-spec notebook are expected this week.
Article Link: Professional Mac Users' Complaints List Grows After 'Disappointing' Apple Event
I think its more than that. For the first time in history the people that I know (which have all been complete Apple fans) are refusing to recommend Apple products. They are tired of Apple's arrogance in trying to make us think that mature products are innovations. Apple needs to understand that they compete in two environments; one that is a commodity environment and the future that requires an innovation environment. Many companies do not make this transition. But if you don't take care of your commodity environment, then people will ignore your innovations unless they are really out of this world innovations.
Apple is in the process of pissing off its long time professional and creative customers and is not really innovating. To me this is the only way for Apple to eventually fail. And we see that in the sales numbers.
I have the impression that the day Apple decided to exit the server business, they internally also gave up on the whole Pro market.
They just kept mumm about this in order to not spook potential clients and kill the whole Mac market altogether.
They still released the Mac Pro, as it might have been late in the design phase, but already decided then that it will not get any upgrades.
The writing has been on the wall for ages.
The Mac is just a consumer machine. And the Pros will move on...
They just kept mumm about this in order to not spook potential clients and kill the whole Mac market altogether.
They still released the Mac Pro, as it might have been late in the design phase, but already decided then that it will not get any upgrades.
The writing has been on the wall for ages.
The Mac is just a consumer machine. And the Pros will move on...
The problem I'm seeing with these updates is they're unstable. The consumer isn't eased into the new port designs and ideas, but instead, bluntly thrown into our faces and told to accept the change, regardless. Now I may be dwelling in the past but when Steve Jobs was running the ship, each new iteration of a Macbook or iMac or anything usually would introduce a new port, right? But they would still keep the old ports. This allowed consumers to feel at ease that they had their USB and Firewire and Thunderbolt and SD card slots and HDMI ports available even though there was a new port design. This happened when Thunderbolt was introduced. Macbook Pros still kept a majority of their existing ports but introduced the new Thunderbolt port to ease in the newest technology without leaving behind old tech. This new update felt extremely off-putting because it was a blatant slap in the face that USB 3.0 and traditional Thunderbolt ports were dead and out the window thus they smother our face with the new USB-C port, pretty much telling us we have to embrace the new change right now. I know they're all about lightness and thinness, but at the same time this is a "Pro" computer. Why else would they call it a MacBook Pro? Prosumers need those existing ports to work with their existing hard drives and peripherals and not needing to spend additional dollars for a dongle. Tech companies need time to adjust to the new change, preparing hard drives and peripherals that can support the new USB-C input method and slowly adapt over the next year or so while still keeping their existing tech. It's just common sense at this point to keep your existing customers/prosumers happy while still introducing a new tech to ease in the next generation of customers/prosumers.
Can you explain without being dramatic why 16 GB of RAM on a Mac is a joke?
Let me save you the time: you can't. You simply don't need more than that. I have 24 GB of RAM in my iMac, and doesn't ever, under any circumstances, exceed 10 GB of usage, unless I spin up Virtual Machines that are being allocated memory. Which is the ONLY reason I have more than 16 GB.
They need to do more than complain in a blog, this feedback has to be aimed at Apple and the higher up and bigger in volume the better.
I still love the Mac , and i do like the new Macbook Pro, but Apple just seem to be a bit of a mess at the moment and its most noticeable in the Mac category. 2013 MacPro not been updated, cannot connect an iPhone with the cables they come with to the new Macbook Pro, removing the things that give Mac's character like the startup chime and glowing logo. Not offering an extreme end model that puts performance at the top to compromise everything else.
I still love the Mac , and i do like the new Macbook Pro, but Apple just seem to be a bit of a mess at the moment and its most noticeable in the Mac category. 2013 MacPro not been updated, cannot connect an iPhone with the cables they come with to the new Macbook Pro, removing the things that give Mac's character like the startup chime and glowing logo. Not offering an extreme end model that puts performance at the top to compromise everything else.
Not for the Kaby Lake at the power level needed to go inside of a mac. I saw the Intel roadmap. They don't exist. I'd prefer Apple didn't put crap into the Mac. The machines that have these things are bulky, hacky and they aren't stable because they are work arounds based on current limitations as it relates to processors. The sheer heft of these machines means they function as desktops and not laptops 90% of the time.
That being said I think maybe apple should consider a work around especially considering the situation they find themselves in. Perhaps a 16GB of ram inside the TouchBar that could also double as additional ram that could power the MacBook Pro as well in the event it is needed.
Just goes to show that the people at the press event were not real Pros. Anyone following any discussion of the event would have known the entire event was a travesty and black eye for Apple. Have fun paying $200-$500 more for a 2.5mm shorter, less capable, laptop. Oh, and dongles, don't forget to buy all the dongles!
Explain exactly why *you* need more than 16. Without bringing up Virtual Machines, which you have no business running on a mobile device.
But in order to make 32 gb of ram available, Apple would have to use ddr4 ram, which is more power hungry. This means that all MacBook pros will have to ship with ddr4 ram, regardless of whether the user needs 8 gb of ram or 32 gb, because Apple is not going to fragment their lineup by offering two different motherboard builds just to make this option viable.
So yes, but being forced to suck up 8 gb of ddr4 ram instead of lpddr3 ram, I am being hurt in the form of lower battery life for a benefit which has zero benefit to me.
They're right. The MacBook Pro, has gradually slid down to where it's just a middle of the road consumer laptop now. Apple has put emphasis on thinness and lightness, over computing power and performance. The should rename it MacBook and come out with a true Pro version...although nobody would be able to afford the Pro version. MacBook Pros are grossly overpriced for what level of performance and power you get.
Yep, we are creating the future (the present as well
) this guy is living in. Its largely for touch devices, but not created using them. I'd agree its a niche market, but only in comparison to a phone.
You're not using the RAM, you're just filling it up. Which is the job of RAM to become filled up. If the MBP had 256GB RAM and 256GB SSD the memory would eventually become a copy of storage within a few days of running. Look for memory pressure in Activity Monitor. If it's a thin green line, you don't need more memory.
Thanks a lot, MacRumors, for this article. Somebody needs to tell Apple that the iOS fanbase is one thing, and the Mac is another. I like the quietness and lightness of the Retina MacBook, but I also need a powerful desktop with VR-class GPUs and desktop-class CPUs.
If Apple believes the future is iOS and just iOS, then we should initiate some petition for open-sourcing MacOS, or at less for getting it supported on generic PCs, like NeXTSTEP and OpenSTEP were (not Hackintosh, but officially supported). I prefer Apple hardware, but if that's not possible, I'd rather prefer MacOS on generic PCs than no MacOS at all.
If Apple believes the future is iOS and just iOS, then we should initiate some petition for open-sourcing MacOS, or at less for getting it supported on generic PCs, like NeXTSTEP and OpenSTEP were (not Hackintosh, but officially supported). I prefer Apple hardware, but if that's not possible, I'd rather prefer MacOS on generic PCs than no MacOS at all.
Can I just say amen to this? I have no problem with the new MBP. As a pro laptop user, it scratches all of the itches I had and looks like the complete package. But a whole event to announce a single updated computer? As a pro desktop user, even if they weren't going to ship the upgraded desktop machines for another six months they could have at least told us they were coming! That would have left me in a perfectly happy place.
Yes... Intel has had some delays in these recent families of processors.
But what about the Mac Mini and Mac Pro? Are you telling me Intel hasn't made suitable processors for those machines in 2-3 years?