This fanboi is starting to migrate away from Apple

[maflynn]

Why worry about a commercial company?

That's me for the most part. I've moved on from any emotional attachment. I do like apple still and they do produce great things, but I think for myself. I look to see what tool best fits my needs. If its an iMac great, if its a Surface Book, fine.

 

[dollystereo]

Apple is just another multinational only seeking profits. Evading taxes all over the world, and just making the world a worst place every day. They still produce nice computer, but very overpriced. I have been an apple user for a long time, but I am tired of this practices. My 2011 macbook pro still does the job, and if I have to stay with apple, I will probably just by a used 2014 or refurb machine. I have even considered hackintosh an XPS. I left the iPhone game some time ago, and I don't regret it, paying almost 1000 for a phone is ridiculous.

 

[nickditoro]

I resisted Apple for a long time, even preferring a Zune to an iPod some years back. Once I subsequently switched to the Apple way, I have rarely looked back. I bought a quad-core Mac Pro in 2008 and a 17" Macbook Pro in 2009, and both are still chugging along for Lightroom, Photoshop, FCPX, etc. Meantime, my job requires me to use Windows laptops (I'm currently on my 6th machine since 2009). I can't imagine what it would be like to have to rely on the one I was given in 2009 as I do my MBP.

I prefer to think of what I pay for Apple hardware as a matter of value over time. My Mac Pro cost $2,575 in 2008, which is just under $300 per annum; the MBP was $2,861 in 2009, which is a bit more by year. I have no doubt that, had I purchased similarly equipped Windows machines instead of Macs, my upfront costs would have been less, but each would have been replaced at least twice apiece to enable me to maintain the same level of functionality. For example, the HP Elite notebook I was issued in 2014 has already been replaced as it wouldn't run Windows 10 without struggle.

To be sure, I will replace the Macbook Pro with the new 15" MBP this year, and a new Mac Pro as soon as Apple refreshes the late 2013 model. I expect the value of each will continue to prove out the wisdom of my switching to Apple after I junked the Zune.

 

[derekamoss]

Fact is innovation in the industry is slowing rapidly. Intel are not churning out chip's like they used to, DDR4 has little to no benefit in a laptop, fact is the CPU's / RAM from 2013/2014 are more than capable for most demanding tasks. The only area the new laptop is lacking is in graphics performance, would have been great to see them put Nvidia's chips in.

The only "innovation" is Microsoft making a bifurcated and disjointed attempt at the surface, which isn't really a workhorse, you cannot compare a dual core cpu with the quad of the 15" MacBook Pro. Windows 10 is turning into pretty much a car crash as much as Microsoft can make.

Adverts, Broken DHCP, Broken Webcam's, Bad batteries in Surface, BSOD on Surfacebook, No thunderbolt or SSD in the new surface canvas thing..... the list goes on.

Back to Apple:
It's disappointing to see them drop the Esc key, as a hardened coder in Vi it'll kill me.

The only place I think Apple dropped the ball is on Price, they have alienated a lot of potential upgraders who will stick to their kit.

People are bitching about USB-C, fact is it's becoming the industry standard like USB was on the first iMac, apple bets on a roadmap and it's all USB-C in 2 / 3 years no one will be blinking at all USB-C Machines. Where I do think they messed up with not moving to USB-C on the iPhone, having headphones with lightning connectors means you can't plug them into the laptops which is very wrong.

You need to take them Apple shades off bro... As u stated most low end stuff is capable for majority of consumers. Where Apple has messed up is in the design of the products. Surface, a tablet with a full desktop operating system, not a mobile one. Surface book, a laptop that can detach the screen as a tablet. And then lets not mention every other computer hardware manufacturer with their 2in1 hybrids. what did Apple do? A touch bar. Want to know the one thing Apple has yet to use even though they made it mainstream and ingrained in our minds? Touch screens! They commercialized it and made everyone thing that was the new future for input and yet don't include it on there laptops.

 

[Tech198]

I wish I didn't have to type this, since I own 10 Apple products (iPhones, iPad Air, Macs, MacBook Air, Airport Extremes and Expresses, etc.) I hate the fact that I just bought an ASUS 802.11ac router and repeater. I hate the fact that I have posted numerous pans of the 2016 MacBook Pro online. I hate the fact that I am migrating to Alexa for home automation. I hate this. But it's happening.

if you hate migrating to Alexa, what do you actually 'like' ? I do like the feeling of being in the Apple eco system, but it's my choice if i go elsewhere and like it or not...


It's up to "you" not Apple to force u into stuff, or any company,.

 

[bryan.cfii]

Apple is doing things, but not anything of any real use in my opinion. There are plenty of kids at my university buying macs... that's not the issue. The issue is, the ones that know what they are actually buying know they are buying less hardware spec for the money. Apple is not keeping up in any way or offering the design student, or engineering student anything that logically makes sense money wise. Sure, the thin stuff is cool and all, and you could argue about that and Apple's other innovations all day long, but in the end they just aren't keeping up in some areas and hyper focusing on other areas. It feels awfully myopic. I've been on the mac platform for 15+ years and I can't justify the spending what I would have to spend for the hardware offered at the moment. The other companies can keep refreshes happening, or at the very least give choice. The choices Apple are offering and the prices just blow me away.

 

[v0lume4]

If you ask me, sticking with one company for most of your electronics can get a bit boring, no? It's fun to shop around. 🙂 What's even better is that the competition doesn't suck anymore, so you really can't go wrong whether you go with Apple or not.

If you had only bought Toyotas your entire life, the idea of buying a Honda or Nissan or even a BMW would probably be incredibly exciting. Same for electronics. I see some folks so hesitant to switch electronics manufacturers and I think "it's just a device manufacturer. There are plenty of others."

I feel that I went off on a small tangent there. Apologies. But to get back on point -- shop around. Have fun. You're only here once. What's the fun in buying from just one manufacturer?
[doublepost=1483335651][/doublepost]

In the long run, I think the biggest thing Apple has done for us as consumers is forced their competition to be better. Years ago I convinced one of my friends to buy a Mini (NOT a 2014 lol) and his first remark was about the "Apple Experience". Right from the packaging, everything was better. Now, everyone packages things nicely and the tech experience in general is just better. The whole industry has been forced to rise to competition with Apple products (and other great innovators). Sonos, Nest, Android, Windows, a whole myriad of very cool networking and IoT products with great interfaces and innovative features.

So, don't bemoan the end of "the Apple days". They aren't over, it's just that all of those great products that make your tech life better aren't all made by one company any more.

I do wish they would just give up and open up macOS for general install. I know they never will, total pipe dream, but as decent as Windows is, I still strongly dislike it.

Well. Said. I entirely agree about the bit regarding Apple pushing the competition to be better. There was a time when if you wanted the best experience, from unboxing to user experience, you'd buy Apple. Now, you can buy Apple, Google, Microsoft, and many other OEM's. And who is that good for? You and me. The consumer. Cheers to that.

 

[campyguy]

Plenty of smart comments here, I'm not going to knock anyone here for writing what's on their mind. I'm bummed that the OP pretty much disappeared after the first post. I still don't get why people are ranking on Apple at this point in time - we all know that Intel's holding up workflows for every PC manufacturer but that'll change as early as later this week when the CES extravaganza takes place and in about 6-8 weeks when the next iteration of chips hits the streets, wrapped in new computer skins. My vendors for my SMB keep telling me that a lot of new and revised hardware will be out soon, and they've stopped bugging me to order products - unusual for vendors IMHO…

About Alexa, I won't buy one but I'm happy it's out/popular/useful - Amazon sells stuff, and they're pushed the line of what's capable much farther than Apple has. My GF has one and she loves it, and her two martial arts black belts hanging on her door keep me from putting Alexa down 😱. IMHO Alexa is just a voice-activated version of their product Buttons, where I can order Tide or Ziploc Bags or Puffs or Red Bull - for Amazon, all one needs is an Alexa instead of 16 or 22 of those Buttons all over the frickin' house, this coming from a Prime member. At least with Alexa, I'm not broadcasting to my friends that I use Pure Leaf Iced Tea (I don't) or drink Dasani Water (not that one either...) - giving up ones privacy profile for avoiding being ribbed by my friends for my product choices. If there was a button for KerryGold Butter, I would get one of those… 😛

A comparison to Eastman Kodak in the OP's second post, however, is not IMHO even close to being a good comparison to Apple's business model. Kodak's failure is well-documented and case study material - their missteps including missing current trends, ignoring evolving trends, not choosing the path that consumers were leaning toward - how many tech startups made that mistake (lots of them), and not paying attention to market buyers. That last one includes a failure of Facebook to do a better job of spending their acquisition capital - FB paid a cool $1B for Instagram when they could have paid a lot less for Kodak Gallery (nee Ofoto), which Shutterstock snapped up for less than $25M in a stalking horse offer for Kodak Gallery's IP/assets. Kodak's missteps have nothing to do with what Apple is doing right now IMHO - Kodak missed the transition to mobile and Apple didn't. 🙄 Kodak invested in and diversified in markets for years that provided no return, and they had to sue, sue, sue to beat down patent infringers (like LG) to get pennies on the dollar - I'd cast an evil eye to the Federal Courts for taking frickin' years for this bit, even if Kodak recouped over $800M in patent litigation…

IMHO the ones who are making the "error" are buyers who did not take time to inform themselves that new chipsets are going to be available in just a few weeks. Also, IMHO, the continual lamenting by the coulda-woulda-shouda has really gotten old - new chipsets are going to be available in just a few weeks. Wait, watch football or hang out the with SO…

I bought a Canadian-made BB Storm - BB's dead. I bought a Finnish-made Nokia S63 - Nokia's dead. I bought an Amazon Fire Phone - the Fire Mobile OS is dead (but I did get it dirt cheap, and a year of Prime was included). I bought a Lumia 640 - and MS's Lumia platform is dead and buried (although I did intend to use it only for O365 notifications and it has been updated regularly by MS.

The point I have here is that none of those manufacturers charged enough money to maintain a sustainable business model. Last Friday, I walked by a MS Store on my way to the Apple Store to check out the new MBP. There were 3 customers in the MS Store and maybe 150 in the Apple Store (I'm 6'7" - it's easy for me to count heads…). The Surface Pro will be updated in a few weeks, and I'm pretty sure Apple will be pushing updated product shortly thereafter. I see the OP's first post as whining prematurely. I've been using Macs since 1989, and Apple computers since 1987 - now is not the time IMHO that their company is "on the edge"; I recall the time where Steve got kicked out and the Mac clones were rising up (sorry for Terminator allusion), and those times were much darker for Apple users. Lastly, if you want cheap, get a Windows box - I bought a $2700 rMBP about 3 years ago, and I've billed out over $300k from work I've done on this machine so I'm looking for my next Mac.

Happy New Year, and don't buy a Rev 0 Mac! 😀 Gotta go, the GF is here and it's time for me to cook!

 

[kohlson]

As several have stated, plenty of well thought out comments here. Like many others, I've been part of the Apple ecosystem for decades. Made some forays into Windows during that time. Our family owns a little of everything Mac, from 2008 MBP (getting its hinge fixed but otherwise going strong), 2009 MP to a 2016 model 13-in MBP to replace a broken 2012 MBA for my daughter. We use these things for professional coding (MBA), prosumer video (MBP and MP), and general purposes (iMac, MBAs). I buy Macs because they last a long time, are seemingly more secure, and take waay less of my time to administer/troubleshoot for the 11 mac os and 7 iPhones in our extended family. I work for a company that has 10s of thousands deployed. You get a choice of either MBA-13 or MBP-15. Of course, you can choose a Windows system - about 1/2 do so. The Mac choices are all universally higher list prices than than the Lenovos, but the TCO is somewhat less overall. In my experience that works on my somewhat smaller scale.

 

[wirefire]

The OP is stating that Apple's unwillingness and inability to recognize the direction of the market has left him no viable Apple product choices that perform functions he wants. Like for example HomeKit was introduced in iOS 8, so it has been around for 2+ years. Many of the devices for HomeKit are now compatible with Alexa, Google home, and HomeKit. Apple had at least. a year head start but no one made the hardware (economically) to support their software. The reason for this is simple, small target audience. Only recently, cultivated by Amazon's advertising of the Echo has home automation taken off in the consumer arena. Amazon had the devices, then the marketing. Apple had minimal marketing and no devices. The strange part is the development of Homekit itself without any complete vision on its implementation. No Apple branded devices to support the HomeKit infrastructure.

That leads us to today. Apple's lack of vision 2-3 years ago has left them behind the 8 ball today. And that is the Tim Cook era. Some of the parts are there but the whole machine is lacking. That was Steve Jobs greatest gift. He saw the entire machine, not just the parts. he saw elegant pieces that together made a "magical" union of elegance and performance. Now there is no unified result. Perfect example is my MacBook can't turn on my HomeKit lights. My iPhone, Ipad, and Apple TV can. anything iOS can but nothing using OS X can.... and that is a problem that never should have occurred. The data is stored in iCloud to access the devices so it shouldn't be a big deal to access the data.

Someone mentioned that Apple is a consumer electronics company. and that is very true but being a year behind everyone else is not OK in consumer electronics, you are either cutting edge or second rate and right now outside of a few select markets they are second rate. Even the iPhone is marginal when compared to the pixel and galaxy. You need a product that compels people to use it, not just say "meh it is ok" or else they will find something better.

 

[lobo1978]

Plenty of smart comments here, I'm not going to knock anyone here for writing what's on their mind.

I really enjoyed reading your comment. You are very knowledgeable, funny and relaxed person.

Macrumors admins should copy-paste it in every (so) similar thread.

This is striking how balanced it is, in contrast to many threads and answers I have read @ Macrumors Forum.

Happy New Year!

 

[JPamplin]

I haven't disappeared - I've been reading everyone's comments pretty regularly. It's not that I "hate" my product choices - it's that Apple has taken their eye off the ball in recent years and not giving us the magic they used to.

THAT's what I'm bemoaning. Steve Jobs might have been hell to work for, but the man knew how to make great products.

When the iPhone came out, people were in awe (yes, despite its short-term feature problems which were quickly resolved). Nobody had an App Store of any size for phones before iPhone. Nobody had a decent tablet before iPad. Heck, nobody had backlit keyboards or MagSafe chargers before the MacBooks brought those things out - now, those innovations seem few and far between at Apple.

 

[campyguy]

I really enjoyed reading your comment. You are very knowledgeable, funny and relaxed person.

Macrumors admins should copy-paste it in every (so) similar thread.

This is striking how balanced it is, in contrast to many threads and answers I have read @ Macrumors Forum.

Happy New Year!

And Happy New Year to you as well! Thank you for your kind words, I appreciate them, more than I can express here. Cheers!
[doublepost=1483570487][/doublepost]

It's not that I "hate" my product choices - it's that Apple has taken their eye off the ball in recent years and not giving us the magic they used to.

Nice to see that you're back! I'm a nuts-and-bolts person, I'm seeing things in a different light despite using mostly-older Macs so far, given that I'm aware of the foot-dragging that Intel seems to be prone to - there may not be really new, nifty stuff to buy but they're doing a great job of evolving their products. For instance:

I use a Magic Trackpad 2 - there's nothing like it, there's no peripheral with its flexibility except for the Intuos Pro tablet with touch (I own a Medium). Apple's SSD controllers are the fastest in the business - in my SMB, I've got 30+ PCs with 32-64GB of RAM and they're still slower than my optimized rMBPs and Mac Pros (and, I know how to make a PC scream for CAD/CAM/rendering…). The iPad Pro is a pretty sweet tool - yes, others have tablets and Apple wasn't the first - but I'm still finding ways to make this tablet work for me - and I don't need to worry about Google all up in my business everywhere I go.

I don't see you hating anything that Apple's doing - even though you did write "hate" at least a few times in your OP (I did read it…) - the business environment is different now. With Samesung, Xiaomi-something-that-Apple-created-so-I-can-unapologetically-copy-it, and ASUS's and HP's Macbook divisions cranking out clones maybe Tim does need to channel his inner Steve - when Apple puts something out there, minutes later a company clones the product.

Heck, check out the AirPod clone that BGR was linking to on Amazon just yesterday (I stripped out BGR's promo link): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9JOUDP - a knockoff about as good as those $5 Rolex watches I could buy in the '70s.

I'd counter that Apple can, and wants to innovate - it's just they'll be knocked off in a day or 10 from all angles, and that would wear me out…

 

[lcseds]

When your MOST loyal, LONGEST standing users are saying that they have had enough.... you should listen instead of mocking them. There are plenty of people young enough to have never experienced Apple when "it just works!". If you actually, factually lived with the Apple experience when it was truly Magical.... then you are very very unhappy with the clowns running something you used to cherish into the ground while claiming false "Courage" and "Magic".

Most annoying.... Apple could still totally own the Computer and OS market. But like FCPX, they seem to be intentionally sabotaging it so they can finally exit the market altogether. Windows is a little bit better, MacOS is WAY worse than 10 years ago. Spin the Mac division into it's own company with it's own employees... win win. That is... if they WANT to win ( hint.... they don't. They just want to make phones and wireless headphones and they want Mac to die )

+1. Look at some of the join dates on MR of disgruntled Mac users. Most of us didn't come here yesterday. It's a lot of loyal customers that are now moving on. Once you start stepping out of the ecosystem, it doesn't take long to go full out. It should be alarming for a company to see this. Those leaving are also taking product recommendations with them. It's understood chip advancements are slower but that doesn't stop the companies on the Windows side from introducing freshened products with new features. Apple is thumbing it's nose at some very loyal users. Shame on them.

 

[campyguy]

I was in Portland a couple of times last week to meet with my attorney and business partner, near the downtown Apple Store - it was packed, and many of them were toting boxes with the new rMBP or waiting in line for AirPods. There were 2 or 3 people in the MS Store just two blocks away. I've got Mini Servers and Dell Servers in each of my offices - I'm OS agnostic, but every time I see the hoards in an Apple Store outnumbering the disgruntled Mac haters I'd offer that Apple's doing just fine.

I had lunch with some of my peers today, all of us griped about the gimped Xeons not being any better than what's already in our servers and having to wait for a couple of years or waiting to see what AMD comes up with soon - sound a bit familiar? Six of my employees are ditching Dell laptops and buying the new rMBPs, so it looks to me that I'll be referring some new MR Forums members to replace a few who depart… 🙄

 

[Drisin]

Ever since I started using the Mac Plus in 1986, I've been a diehard "fanboi" of Apple products. They have defined their products as cutting-edge and consumer-friendly. Having now used them for 30 years, I'm starting to see some chinks in the armor.

The core market that brought them to this point has been the Mac market - but that's not how they've made most of their money for about a decade. That is definitely phones. So it's understandable that they are not focusing on Macs as much as they used to, but EVEN PHONES have seen a reduction in innovation.

iPhone was a quantum leap in smartphones in 2007 - now many of the features in the iPhone 7 just play catch-up. MacBook Pros were the sexiest laptop a decade ago - now the latest model is broadly panned. The new wireless mouse has the charging port ON THE BOTTOM. MacOS Sierra is glitchy and I'm leaving many of my friend's Macs on El Cap. They're not even making their great AirPort wifi access points anymore. The differences in ease-of-use and "just works" that led a new user to an ecosystem of products is rapidly turning into "just buy our phone."

I wish I didn't have to type this, since I own 10 Apple products (iPhones, iPad Air, Macs, MacBook Air, Airport Extremes and Expresses, etc.) I hate the fact that I just bought an ASUS 802.11ac router and repeater. I hate the fact that I have posted numerous pans of the 2016 MacBook Pro online. I hate the fact that I am migrating to Alexa for home automation. I hate this. But it's happening.

[doublepost=1483588364][/doublepost]Thank God! You posted this! I have saying that Apple has dropped the ball for the last 3 years! No innovation, relatively speaking. The billions that they wasted in the Apple car, the billions wasted on stringing out the iPhone market rather than leading the phones, the fact that there is no competition to Amazon or Google or now LG for the in home central computer, the fact that Samsung bought the best AI company in the Valley which was light years ahead of Siri. The fact that Siri still can't text my son when I say "text my son"!

It's time for change and I have a feeling that this quarter of loss profit is a critical sign that innovation is DEAD at Apple! I have history with Apple, Lisa computer, Mac 128K, 512K, Se, SE30, first iMac, MBPros too much to talk about. I suppose that this rant just represents how I feel about Apple and it's current leadership! While it may be socially beneficial to be politically correct it doesn't help innovation! Apple has to ask the hard questions and look at what needs to be done!! The biggest frontier in my opinion is the huge disarray I look at when it comes to my photos, stereo, TV, old apple files that are no longer readable on the current system, and the poor quality in music output! My i-tunes software is a Frikkin mess and has way too much crap on it! Time to blow it up and start over!

Single interface, single OS, that integrates, Holographic desktops, improved email, improved spreadsheet with video tutorials again! Apple is simply reaping the benefits of going around the monopoly board and collecting the money. But it's missed it's mark for planning the next Generation! I honestly don't give a crap about the future campus nor do the stock holders! The people who have invested in apple want a product that they can use or one that they suddenly realize that they need. All the current products.... Yawn... are.. zzzz ... And Now Consumer Reports doesn't recommend the rates MBPro due to battery testing.... Perhaps it is Time for Tim to go and to look for a new leader! Tim is a good COO but a terrible CEO!

I do not want the demise of Apple, I am loyal to the initial development but what upsets me is the lack of direction that exists and how they could be leading the industry!

 

[capathy21]

I understand where the OP is coming from. Although I have not been an Apple fan near as long as many of you, I have seen the shift in the last few years. When the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were released, they were already a dated design compared to the competition. Huge bezels and lower resolution displays than the competition mainly. Here we are, two iPhones later and they are still pumping out the same design, same huge bezels, and same 750p screen on the ip7, in 2017. It just screams laziness and lack of even attempting to innovate or be ahead of the game.

The marketing of the iPad Pro as a laptop replacement from a company that sells laptops was another head scratcher. The 12.9 pro was a decent idea on paper, but once you try to use it for productivity, you begin to experience shortfalls that scream lack of detail.

The MacBook Air is another example. My favorite MacBook by far, except for that TN display. Did Apple update the display to IPS? Nope. How about add a Retina display to the most popular laptop on every college campus, even if it meant less battery life or a couple hundred more dollars? Nope. They create an entirely new, less powerful, port challenged retina MacBook. And they sell it for $300 more than the 13 inch MacBook Air that was a better performer, with ports. They could have redesigned the MB Air and reduced the bezels, but it was THIN ENOUGH. As someone else in this thread stated, the obsession with thin has gotten out of hand.

Apple products have always been expensive, but they've been well made and have generally held their value better than their counterparts. That is no longer the case. They are still expensive, and the "Apple Tax" has always been there, but the strong resale value has dwindled away. Why would I pay $1799 for a 2016 tMBP when I can buy a 2015 13" retina MBP for $600-$700 second hand? Some people may pay an extra $1,200 for a touch bar, but I'm not one of them.

Their pricing is out of hand on certain items too. i.e.$799 32gb iPad Pro + Apple Smart Keyboard for $169.99 and Pencil for $99. Not to mention the Smart Cover and Silicone case being sold SEPARATELY. I never thought the old iPad smart cases were a value at $79.99 until the iPad Pro accessories were introduced. Profits have always been a priority, but they used to make you feel like it was somehow justified by an experience. That experience is dwindling.

Apple knows they have the best ecosystem on the planet, and they know that many of us will stay because of it. As someone who has had countless Android phones, Android tablets, and windows machines, there isn't a multi device ecosystem that can compete with Notes, iMessage, iBooks, Safari, Calendar, Siri, etc.

So after all of my b****ing, I am not going anywhere. I love Apple products for the ecosystem, the ease of use, the battery life, and the ability to go to an Apple Store, anywhere, anytime. But they are clearly floundering in certain areas, and like someone else said, they are no longer a computer company, they are an iOS company.

 

[tentales]

I was in Portland a couple of times last week to meet with my attorney and business partner, near the downtown Apple Store - it was packed, and many of them were toting boxes with the new rMBP or waiting in line for AirPods. There were 2 or 3 people in the MS Store just two blocks away. I've got Mini Servers and Dell Servers in each of my offices - I'm OS agnostic, but every time I see the hoards in an Apple Store outnumbering the disgruntled Mac haters I'd offer that Apple's doing just fine.

I had lunch with some of my peers today, all of us griped about the gimped Xeons not being any better than what's already in our servers and having to wait for a couple of years or waiting to see what AMD comes up with soon - sound a bit familiar? Six of my employees are ditching Dell laptops and buying the new rMBPs, so it looks to me that I'll be referring some new MR Forums members to replace a few who depart… 🙄

The hoards in the Apple store aren't buying MBPs, at least not the majority of them. A good chunk of them are lining up for the G.Bar to resolve issues. Most others are there for iDevices.

Like the OP I'm an 80s Apple starter/fan and have stood with them thru the dark years of the mid-90s, but I fully concur with the OP on Apple having dropped the ball in the past 2-3 years.

You're still making excuses for them and it seems your pink-shades are still firmly in place. That's ok. No skin of my wart.
For every fanboi these days I know at least 3 others that are leaving, have left or are in the process of migrating away slowly from Apple. I'm in the latter camp.

Still have a Mac Mini, a MBA, iPhone SE, and iPad Air2 cellular. I also have a few vintage Macs dating back to 1989.
But, there are more exciting products to be found elsewhere. Apple's iCloud, like all their previous attempts MobileMe & .Mac are still hampered by limitations and problems. The fiasco that is Apple IDs and the lack of merging, migrating and frequently getting "security locked" is just the beginning of my issues with Apple in recent years.

I'm an IT guy, UNIX geek all the way back to original BSD in the 80s. I was delighted when Apple developed a viable GUI on top of a solid server OS back in 2001 and despite my current MR join date, I was with MR under a different login since that time.

Yes, Dell laptops & co are not there yet in hardware quality or customer service, but the tide is shifting. Satya Nadella is turning around Microsoft and Samsung, Google, etc. are all thinking outside-the-box these days, whereas Apple is producing rhymes on a theme of Mac & iPhone and resting on their laurels.

Besides, feet in stores means little these days. I do 90% of my shopping online and have started testing machines from microsoftstore.com Easy buy & returns. But I'm most likely to build a hackintosh-mini next, seeing that Apple has most likely abandoned the Mac Mini.

 

[macs4nw]

Ever since I started using the Mac Plus in 1986, I've been a diehard "fanboi" of Apple products. They have defined their products as cutting-edge and consumer-friendly. Having now used them for 30 years, I'm starting to see some chinks in the armor.

The core market that brought them to this point has been the Mac market - but that's not how they've made most of their money for about a decade. That is definitely phones. So it's understandable that they are not focusing on Macs as much as they used to, but EVEN PHONES have seen a reduction in innovation.

iPhone was a quantum leap in smartphones in 2007 - now many of the features in the iPhone 7 just play catch-up. MacBook Pros were the sexiest laptop a decade ago - now the latest model is broadly panned. The new wireless mouse has the charging port ON THE BOTTOM. MacOS Sierra is glitchy and I'm leaving many of my friend's Macs on El Cap. They're not even making their great AirPort wifi access points anymore. The differences in ease-of-use and "just works" that led a new user to an ecosystem of products is rapidly turning into "just buy our phone."

I wish I didn't have to type this, since I own 10 Apple products (iPhones, iPad Air, Macs, MacBook Air, Airport Extremes and Expresses, etc.) I hate the fact that I just bought an ASUS 802.11ac router and repeater. I hate the fact that I have posted numerous pans of the 2016 MacBook Pro online. I hate the fact that I am migrating to Alexa for home automation. I hate this. But it's happening.

To me it seems like a lot of indecision, and a lack of laser-focus. You are definitely not alone in your observations. As things stand at the moment, top talent could slowly be leaving, and that initial trickle might turn into a torrent, with the unavoidable accompanying negative publicity feeding a cycle of hastening demise.

A new visionary is desperately needed to prevent this company from slowly but surely fading into oblivion.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

I've been there about two years ago, I went away, but got tired of battling against battery life, software updates, intrusive anti-virus, lack of integration, and even simple things like a decent unified inbox 😉. Even went for a Windows Phone, and an Android, and came back to Apple. Yes the grass does look greener at times, until you really inspect it. I like how it all works and is integrated.

 

[dotnet]

The fact that Siri still can't text my son when I say "text my son"!

Come on, now you're making **** up. This has worked ever since Siri came out.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Come on, now you're making **** up. This has worked ever since Siri came out.

Exactly, and it can change the temperature on my thermostat and the lighting levels etc. Don't understand the comments regarding home automation either.

 

[macsmurf]

I've been there about two years ago, I went away, but got tired of battling against battery life, software updates, intrusive anti-virus, lack of integration, and even simple things like a decent unified inbox 😉. Even went for a Windows Phone, and an Android, and came back to Apple. Yes the grass does look greener at times, until you really inspect it. I like how it all works and is integrated.

I just bought a Google Pixel instead of an iPhone 7. I'm quite impressed. It's a great phone.

The reason I bought it is that I needed a new phone, I use the mini jack, and I dislike gimmicks. Apply seem to be going through a gimmicky phase (various phone "innovations", Apple Watch, MBP emoji bar, etc.) of late.

After I bought my first Apple laptop in 2008 I pretty much decided to always buy Apple products from there on out because the quality and the attention to detail was so superior to other product I've tried. This is no longer the case. Other companies have evolved and Apple has devolved. Since I don't have much of an emotional attachment to Apple I'm totally fine with that. I'm not loyal to the brand just as Apple is not loyal to me.

Maybe Apple just found a new market of people that have different expectations of their products than I do and actually like the stuff that I find gimmicky. There is nothing wrong with that.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

I just bought a Google Pixel instead of an iPhone 7. I'm quite impressed. It's a great phone.

The reason I bought it is that I needed a new phone, I use the mini jack, and I dislike gimmicks. Apply seem to be going through a gimmicky phase (various phone "innovations", Apple Watch, MBP emoji bar, etc.) of late.

After I bought my first Apple laptop in 2008 I pretty much decided to always buy Apple products from there on out because the quality and the attention to detail was so superior to other product I've tried. This is no longer the case. Other companies have evolved and Apple has devolved. Since I don't have much of an emotional attachment to Apple I'm totally fine with that. I'm not loyal to the brand just as Apple is not loyal to me.

Maybe Apple just found a new market of people that have different expectations of their products than I do and actually like the stuff that I find gimmicky. There is nothing wrong with that.

Absolutely nothing wrong with it at all. Mine was a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge back in Augustus but moved back to an iPhone 7 Plus in October. Little things like being able to send text message from the desktop, accept and continue phone calls, copy and paste data, continue browsing on desktop or phone , photos reliably and instantly synchronising and so on made a real difference to me.

 

[campyguy]

The hoards in the Apple store aren't buying MBPs, at least not the majority of them. A good chunk of them are lining up for the G.Bar to resolve issues. Most others are there for iDevices.

Like the OP I'm an 80s Apple starter/fan and have stood with them thru the dark years of the mid-90s, but I fully concur with the OP on Apple having dropped the ball in the past 2-3 years.

You're still making excuses for them and it seems your pink-shades are still firmly in place. That's ok. No skin of my wart.
For every fanboi these days I know at least 3 others that are leaving, have left or are in the process of migrating away slowly from Apple. I'm in the latter camp.

Pink? Making excuses? My turn… You're an IT guy, I hire and fire guys with that "title" after finding all of them are pretty useless and don't get out of mom's basement too often. It's nice to be the owner. Ahh, much better now… Keep your thinly-veiled and demeaning personal attacks to yourself, and I'll do the same.

As to the Store experience, I watched a sales person hand-deliver 6 new rMBPs with AS bags in the 13-15 minutes I was in the Store. Yes, there were a lot of people in that Store, likely lining up for AirPods or whatever. I was there, and you weren't. I own more Dell PCs than Macs in my 3 offices, and one of them is running Server 2012R2 - it's a piece of cake to run, no IT guy needed. I use Macs mainly because of the software, having written here many times that a computer is a host for an OS and I want that OS out of my way - and I don't need an IT person for that - Merlin costs me $300, Project costs me $995 per CAL, and my Macs cost me less to administer than my PCs - and that kind of math adds up. I'm in Win 10 more on my rMBP than the macOS.

As to the feet in stores aspect, I'm pretty sure you don't see that whole picture. Two of my friends have storefronts near the downtown Apple Store - one of them told me just before Christmas that his year-on-year foot traffic and receipts tripled after that Store went in, and he's happy. I'd take that over the zero foot traffic near the MS Store, any day. This bit is done, leave me alone and I'll just ignore you.