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Rant: 30-year Mac fanatic finally buys Windows
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There should have been a further string of text added to each 'don't buy' R.I.P. ............
There's been an article on Bloomberg (reported here) which went into some reasons. It does seem a bit soon but here's my reasons why we might see something newer sooner than October this year are thus:
1. Sales figures may be lower than projected. This could be due in part to a price increase (especially in Europe due to exchange rates). Prices won't drop without some event or more likely a refresh to Kaby Lake CPUs which are now starting to become available. The 2012 Ivy Bridge Retina models upon original introduction were pricier too and a price drop helped the 2013 Haswell models take off.
2. Kaby Lake natively supports Thunderbolt 3. The Skylake CPUs require Alpine Ridge controllers which requires space on the motherboard and presumably draw additional power. So there's a technical reason to make the shift to Kaby Lake unless Intel were offering better discounts for using Skylake.
3. It's been well reported due to problems with the terraced battery issue (they failed a "key test" resulting in Apple reverting to an older design with less capacity) that battery life would be challenging. A new model might have these battery issues resolved and therefore we may see a straight-up increase in battery capacity. This would not be connected to availability of Kaby Lake but since Kaby Lake chips would be available by summer it might be economically wise to update.
So the short version:
1. A chance to re-align prices.
2. Availability of suitable Kaby Lake CPUs which would secondarily offer more room for battery.
3. Fix battery life issues with delayed terraced battery.
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As said previously though - Kaby Lake is nothing more than an interim CPU until Intel get their 'proper' next generation CPUs on stream starting with Coffee Lake and the rumoured 10 core models.
I certainly would not be looking to upgrade to Kaby Lake when I know much better is almost with us. Many reviews I have read state that they don't see much of a jump between Skylake and Kaby Lake so advise would be buyers to get Skylake if the deals are good.
I certainly would not be looking to upgrade to Kaby Lake when I know much better is almost with us. Many reviews I have read state that they don't see much of a jump between Skylake and Kaby Lake so advise would be buyers to get Skylake if the deals are good.
Ah, that's interesting! I actually thought MR went simply by average update frequency. Very curious if the update will actually happen soon (as in before the fall).
In 2001 Steve Jobs convinced me to switch to Apple Computers.
In 2017 Tim Cook convinced me to switch to Windows Computers.
Tim Cook is the best thing to of happened for Apples competition.
In 2017 Tim Cook convinced me to switch to Windows Computers.
Tim Cook is the best thing to of happened for Apples competition.
Here's the thing ... I've never owned a Windows machine that I've purchased ... a whole new realm ... but i need Apple to pronounce the desktop as "dead' then I can enter the niche category with a new emphasis and single direction which will take time to build out but I'll be damned if I do all that and Apple resurfaces with a respectable offering ... so the waiting game continues and since any direction away from Apple will be a sizable investment I have no choice.
i've recently started using OSX having bought an aluminium 2008 MacBook which is running El Capitan and also a late 2012 Mac Mini that is running Sierra. I upgraded both machines to SSD drives for hardly any money and I find the performance of both machines absolutely fine.
Why then does nearly every post I read from existing Apple users go on about what the latest hardware Apple will come out with that they can't seem to wait to buy so that they can continue to use OSX.
It an obsession that I've never heard of whilst being a pc user for that last 30 years.
Why then does nearly every post I read from existing Apple users go on about what the latest hardware Apple will come out with that they can't seem to wait to buy so that they can continue to use OSX.
It an obsession that I've never heard of whilst being a pc user for that last 30 years.
Because they are holding onto the past.
If you didn't do your computing in the age of when everything made by apple "just worked", you probably don't understand why folks are upset. If we wanted to deal with the crap Windows users dealt with in the past, we'd use Windows.
We are pissed because Timmy & Sir Idiot Boy are taking Apple down the same road Scully took Apple. The problem is that there won't be anyone from the professional class to save Apple from it's own stupidity. Timmy views a "Power User" today as someone that has Facebook and Twitter open at the same time.
If you do work that actually needs a computer, you need to start planning your exit strategy.
Very well, thank you for asking.
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Well, today I'll be building my first PC since the late 90's. It's amazing how much things have changed. This should be fun!
Ah, now I understand. You're "ranting" because Apple might not make a computer you like when the ones you're happy with "eventually age out".
I think the point here is Apple no longer make a computer that appeals to the typical Mac Pro customer. If you bought a Mac Pro (the old one, not the cylinder) there is no viable upgrade path. Actually if you bought the new Mac Pro there's no upgrade path either. If you had a Mac Pro that had now served its usefulness and you wanted an upgrade, what would you get? An iMac? The performance is throttled back when you drive them hard and they become noisy. They simply aren't designed for the same type of workload. Apple isn't providing an upgrade path to it's high-end users and this is turning people away to other platforms.
Please intel has so messed up in recent years with bug ridden, mediocre performance updates that the future is unknown. Waiting for imaginary upgrades just means you really are just buying toys.
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I love the smell of rosin core solder in the morning.
Have you got one of those modern microprocessor controlled soldering irons yet? Lots of wattage, temperature settable.
Hakko beats the pants off my old plug and melt Weller. I don't now how I did it back then.
#Resistance is futile. Apple's technological distinctiveness will be added to Microsoft's own.
[MOD NOTE]
Lets keep the politics out of this thread. Some content was removed as it was crossing the line.
Lets keep the politics out of this thread. Some content was removed as it was crossing the line.
A little further musing.
Under Jobs, yes, the secrecy and opacity regarding future plans was always frustrating. But that frustration was ameliorated by the knowledge that whatever was coming was almost certainly going to be better than what we have now, and that took some of the sting out of waiting.
But then Apple took an effin' chainsaw to the mac mini and tried to sell us the mangled remains. And it started telling Mac owners that no, they couldn't add more memory later. And it started telling them that no, they couldn't upgrade their hard drives later. And it started telling them that form was *much* more important than function. And that left us where we are now: an aged line-up, a possibly dead-ended Mac Pro, a possibly dead-ended mac mini, and a laptop with a whammy bar you can play frickin' Pacman on (the MacBook Pro, where "Pro" stands for "prohibitively expensive."
So the wait isn't a when-will-Christmas-get-here kind of wait, but a holy-crap-that-meteor-is-headed-in-our-direction what-the-eff-are-those-dopes-going-to-do-next have-they-finally-killed-the-cat kind of wait.
Under Jobs, yes, the secrecy and opacity regarding future plans was always frustrating. But that frustration was ameliorated by the knowledge that whatever was coming was almost certainly going to be better than what we have now, and that took some of the sting out of waiting.
But then Apple took an effin' chainsaw to the mac mini and tried to sell us the mangled remains. And it started telling Mac owners that no, they couldn't add more memory later. And it started telling them that no, they couldn't upgrade their hard drives later. And it started telling them that form was *much* more important than function. And that left us where we are now: an aged line-up, a possibly dead-ended Mac Pro, a possibly dead-ended mac mini, and a laptop with a whammy bar you can play frickin' Pacman on (the MacBook Pro, where "Pro" stands for "prohibitively expensive."
So the wait isn't a when-will-Christmas-get-here kind of wait, but a holy-crap-that-meteor-is-headed-in-our-direction what-the-eff-are-those-dopes-going-to-do-next have-they-finally-killed-the-cat kind of wait.
Well said.
It's becoming clear that Apple products are engineered to become obsolete sooner rather than later and the value equation is evaporating. Apple used to have a distinct advantage with OS X being vastly superior to Windows. It was easy to justify spending more for less because it was the only way to run OS X legitimately. The operating system allowed Apple to make the case that less is more. Plus, Apple hardware was always of much better quality. Elegant, thin and sexy. A big draw for many.
Today we are approaching OS parity where Windows is just as reliable and functionally just as useful. All the important software works across platforms. PC makers are putting out premium hardware that rivals and in some cases surpasses Apple, so that advantage does't exist anymore either. It's getting harder and harder to justify buying Apple computers and it doesn't help that Apple has seemingly lost interest in making them. It seems like Apple is stuck in the past where thinner = better. It seems like an unhealthy obsession for them.
I jumped ship. I am happy I did it.
Doesn't this kind of get to the heart of the issue? macOS used to be years ahead, now it's similar/on par with a Windows experience. Apple knows that for every dollar invested into iOS, the returns are far greater than macOS. A smart CEO would follow the money trail, and a market where innovation is still happening quite often. Smart devices, wearables, AR/VR all seem more interesting than a spec-bumped Mac that will sell far fewer units than the iPhone.
Let me argue the counterpoint: Apple is trying to be a company that is always on the leading edge; however, by simply abandoning every product that was ever a success in the past, Apple places itself in the position of always being in danger of not finding that next hit product, and having nothing to fall back upon. Moreover, Apple also garners a reputation of not supporting the products it does create; people who buy an Apple device today will start to be aware that Apple might not be providing an upgrade path for it in the future, and have to factor that into their purchase decisions.
In short, there are consequences to simply abandoning the products that you yourself made popular. People use the Windows operating system today mainly because it has a 30-year history of providing decent support for legacy applications and a wide range of hardware. In short, Microsoft backs up its products.
The classic Mac OS had roughly a 17-year run, and was pretty much made obsolete by OS X (now macOS). OS X itself has now been around for about the same time period, and Apple certainly doesn't seem to be giving it the kind of love that Microsoft gives Windows. A prospective computer purchaser has to wonder whether the applications they invest their money and time into on the Mac platform will provide the kind of return as the same investment into the Windows platform would...