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I'm pretty much done with Apple at this point. Frankly, the best news I could hear would be Tim Cook taking his $85 million in bonuses, retiring early and handing the reins to someone who give a **** about the company, its products and its user base – not just the level of stock, profit margins and shareholders' returns. He talks good talk, but I've seen nothing of real interest from the company that wasn't on Jobs' to-do list. Now that list has run out, it seems no-one at Apple has any good ideas any more, except bigger emojis and this touch-bar thing.

No new iMac, no new Mac pro, no new Mac mini, no new monitors (ever), no new Airport, no new accessories... what do the thousands of people at Apple actually do!? Just count the money?

It's Count de Monet, de Monet! Sorry, trying to bring some levity to an otherwise abysmal situation.
 
I honestly don't get the bellyaching. People are buying Macs for macOS, not the hardware so much. Do any of you plan to use Windows 10?
 
My solution is that Apple ships a phone that can be charged with its own laptop. Not too much to ask I hope?

Lack of HDMI and TB ports isn't making anybody's life better and they're not legacy ports by any stretch of the imagination. Funny you mention the iMac. How long has Apple kept USB-A ports and how long TB ports? There is progress and there is too much progress and then there is arrogance.

You should probably put this into perspective:

The iPhone 7 is going to sell over 200 million units, not to mention the over half-a-billion Lightning devices already out there the same cable can be used with.

Apple will likely sell around 20 million Macs, all together, this year -- not just the new USB-C models. Compared to the installed base of maybe 100 million, maybe 10% of all Macs sold by the end of the year will have USB-C only ports. So that works out to be something like 2% of all iOS users may be using a USB-C Mac by the time the next iPhone comes out.

So instead of giving the vast majority of customers a cable that will be most useful in all of the environments they may encounter throughout their day, you'd have Apple supply them with a cable on the less than 2% chance they will buy a new Mac?

Add to that HDMI is a native output from USB-C, so look for TVs and video devices to start switching to USB-C which is a much more practical connector. And who uses Thunderbolt? I only own one Thunderbolt drive which I bought before I realized my Mac was incapable of better speeds through Thunderbolt than USB 3. I'll just buy an adapter and get on with it.
 
I know this is unlikely to be the case, but it seems more and more like Apple is trying to help out their competition. Probably just a side effect of their greed and being a margin monster, pushing people who were already on the fence lately when it came to upgrading to another Mac into the loving arms of their hardware and price superior competitors. I guess 2017 may be a "price that the market is willing to bare" corrective year for Apple and we'll see the MBP with touch bar get a Kaby Lake update, along with a price reduction to the $1,499 non-touch bar MBP price or lower. So probably by the summer of 2017, we'll get a more reasonable price. Maybe a non-touch bar Kaby Lake MBP at a price of $1,299.
 
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Yes. Right. That's why the iPhone 7 uses USB-C as the only interface. Wait…
How would that work? The iPhone 7 hit shelves 2 months before the new MBPs and it has USB-C instead of USB-A so that only the 12" MB and Chromebook could use it for charging? Do you not realize how few devices use that port right now? Do you also not understand how few devices will use that port next month when the new MBPs arrive?

The ONLY solution was to use USB-A on the iPhone 7 and to think anything different is stupid. Please try to use some critical thinking before replying. It's really not that tough to figure out that the iPhone 7 shipped in September.

Also, it would have been way more clever to use 2 USB-C and 2 normal USB Slots. Usability. Because that's why.
They could have, and that would have been a decent, short term solution, but I guess you're not familiar with the company called Apple or why they feel it's best to go all-in on certain solutions. Hint: It involves pulling the rest of the industry into the modern age faster. Just imagine if Apple simply kept adding new ports an never getting rid of old ports. You don't realize it, but you're computing experience is better because of hard choices Apple has made, like going all-in with USB-A which forced the hands of all the other OEMs.

The most ridiculous thing is that you're complaining about a port on a machine that you have no intention of buying. I know this because if you were actually willing to spend money on a new MacBook Pro you'd be fine with spending $5 for acable from Monoprice to make your connectivity needs easier. For example, in the past I've either bought extra chargers for my MBPs to keep in different places or carried them with me, and they are pricey—now it's a universal standard I can buy from any vendor and will soon enough be used by every other PC vendor. That's brilliant. That's the future I've been waiting for.
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I honestly don't get the bellyaching. People are buying Macs for macOS, not the hardware so much. Do any of you plan to use Windows 10?
I buy Macs for the HW. The materials, the build quality, the display, the feel of the keyboard (although I haven't tried the Gen 2 butterfly keys), and now the Touch Bar with Apple Pay and Touch ID. No Windows OEM has any of that.
 
I've been quietly observing these threads for some time now, getting some enjoyment out of them.

I find it particularly funny how many people in this thread, for example, are complaining about the negative things about the new Macbook Pros yet they'll buy one anyway.

Please keep going. I find it very entertaining.

Exactly. Ultimately the only thing Apple will understand is declining Mac sales. Until that happens, they will gladly keep prioritizing form over function.
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I buy Macs for the HW. The materials, the build quality, the display, the feel of the keyboard (although I haven't tried the Gen 2 butterfly keys), and now the Touch Bar with Apple Pay and Touch ID. No Windows OEM has any of that.

How did I manage online shopping all these years with Touch ID on my keyboard? Also 90% of people on the r/apple talk about macOS or death.
 
You took issue with charging in a car (which applies to a train and planes, too) and tried to condemn me for not doing all my charging at home. I simply asked if you ever charged your phone in your car, because I'm sure you have.

I then tried to lead you into the light by noting it'll now be easy to do with USB-C as you no longer need an inverter to do the job for those that have a computer for work, their children, or other people whilst driving. Your inability to see the benefit of charging via USB is your inability to reason, not mine.

I took issue with charging a laptop in car whose power requirement is vastly different from a smartphone. If only you can comprehend this minor detail, you'd save yourself a lot of time typing and perhaps have some time left to answer the really important question ("And how does being able to charge your laptop in your car (having USB-C ports) conflict with keeping a few "legacy" ports?). ;)
 
You should probably put this into perspective:

The iPhone 7 is going to sell over 200 million units, not to mention the over half-a-billion Lightning devices already out there the same cable can be used with.

Apple will likely sell around 20 million Macs, all together, this year -- not just the new USB-C models. Compared to the installed base of maybe 100 million, maybe 10% of all Macs sold by the end of the year will have USB-C only ports. So that works out to be something like 2% of all iOS users may be using a USB-C Mac by the time the next iPhone comes out.

Apple is mainly an iPhone company now. But 20 million Macs/year is still huge profits for them. Windows OEMs have not been able to take that away. In fact Mac sales keep growing.
[doublepost=1477764314][/doublepost]Honestly 90% of the 20 million Mac buyers/year are not thinking about ports/adapters or GPUs. They are mainly motivated by 2 things:

- it's not Windows
- it's sexy looking

that's it.
 
If I have a niggle about 2 of the 4 USB ports being able to drive a 5K display, it's that you have to use the left side, instead of being able to use either the left or right side from a single port. That said, it's probably easier to train people to use one side or the other instead of having them use the closer or farther away port.
I think any of the 4 ports will drive a 5K display. But if you get a display with an external GPU use the ports on the left.
 
Yep, you right, but life is not only about improvement it's als about smooth harmless transition and usability.
Making those two slower ports (or maybe just one) a USB 3 type A ports would allow still use all older USB stuff without dongles, on the same time Apple would send a message to the world "we are moving forward".
No, it would be like the VGA port on Windows notebooks. It's 2016 and I still see them occasionally. If you leave a legacy port in, there is less incentive for accessory makers to support the modern port. Apple didn't leave any legacy ports on the iMac in 1998 when they adopted USB-A.
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I took issue with charging a laptop in car whose power requirement is vastly different from a smartphone. If only you can comprehend this minor detail, you'd save yourself a lot of time typing and perhaps have some time left to answer the really important question ("And how does being able to charge your laptop in your car (having USB-C ports) conflict with keeping a few "legacy" ports?). ;)
Because it's easy to add legacy ports to a MacBook Pro. Just get any of dozens of hubs out on the market, from Apple or other cheaper vendors. Apple's Thunderbolt 2 adapter is actually one of the lowest priced.
 
I used Apple displays and systems throughout my business as they disappeared or blended in with the desks and interior aesthetics, not because of the brand. Clients were greeted at the front desk to the back of house editing studio's with Apple systems. They sat in front of my setup of 4 mounted 30" displays that fit perfectly together with then current tech, aluminum enclosures, bright and consistent panels, and hidden wires. It was a statement, not of grandiosity or snobbery, but that I take my work seriously. Clients felt more at ease in a professional yet simple environment without inconsistent plastic displays, cables everywhere, drives and systems thrown about. There was a reason professionals such as Annie Leibovitz and editing studio's used Apple systems - they were designed to work together.

As a professional or everyday consumer, anyone could walk into an Apple Store and find everything they need right there. Displays, Mac's, AppleCare - even .Mac when it was an annual service that synced more than Contacts and Emails. The displays sold Mac's, Mac's sold displays, neither ate into iMac's as they weren't marketed for professionals using a workstation Power Mac or Mac Pro. PowerBooks were perfect for the mobile professional. Now the stores are crowded, Mac's are outdated and overpriced, customers will have to find displays elsewhere, and most floor specialists don't know the difference between integrated and dedicated graphics, RAM, HDD vs SSD.

The stores reflected Apple's doctrine - the harmony of form and function. Now they reflect the discord within the company itself. Apple doesn't know what it wants to be, the focus that brought it back to life is gone and it shows.
 
Yes. Right. That's why the iPhone 7 uses USB-C as the only interface. Wait...
Also, it would have been way more clever to use 2 USB-C and 2 normal USB Slots. Usability. Because that's why.
EDIT: One more thing: at least a microSD Slot wouldn't have been asked too much. Can't argue with thickness.
I can see your point but I believe the reason iPhone 7 didn't ship with a lightning to USB C charger is because too many machines and sockets are still USB A. Apple's flagship laptop is at the cutting edge with the new USB C/TB3 ports. Apple's vision is that this port is the future and will be the norm in a few years and then we will see phone charges shipping with them cables. It's like the Mercedes S-Class. They are always at the cutting edge with safety features and a few years down the line other car companies adopt the features and they become standard.
 
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How would that work? The iPhone 7 hit shelves 2 months before the new MBPs and it has USB-C instead of USB-A so that only the 12" MB and Chromebook could use it for charging?

It's you who needs critical thinking. USB-C to Lightning Cable should've been included with the iPhone 7, especially after MBP 2016 starts shipping. But will Apple do it? Most likely not.
 
I know this is unlikely to be the case, but it seems more and more like Apple is trying to help out their competition. Probably just a side effect of their greed and being a margin monster, pushing people who were already on the fence lately when it came to upgrading to another Mac into the loving arms of their hardware and price superior competitors. I guess 2017 may be a "price that the market is willing to bare" corrective year for Apple and we'll see the MBP with touch bar get a Kaby Lake update, along with a price reduction to the $1,499 non-touch bar MBP price or lower. So probably by the summer of 2017, we'll get a more reasonable price. Maybe a non-touch bar Kaby Lake MBP at a price of $1,299.
Obviously I'd prefer if the MacBook Pros were $200 cheaper, but let's not pretend that Macs were ever cheap. Steve Jobs did introduce the Mac Mini and priced the MacBook Air at reasonably competitive prices during the "switcher" era but they were still sold at premium prices.
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It's you who needs critical thinking. USB-C to Lightning Cable should've been included with the iPhone 7, especially after MBP 2016 starts shipping. But will Apple do it? Most likely not.
Most iPhones are sold to Windows users, so until USB-C becomes ubiquitous I expect Apple will keep shipping it with a USB-A cable. They sell a USB-C to Lightning cable for $25 and I see third party versions for about $10.
 
The 15" can hook to two 5K displays, the 13" can handle one 5K or two 4K displays. And that's likely a limitation of Iris graphics and not TB ports.

That's actually pretty impressive for integrated graphics
 
Ok, this is just getting to be too much. Are they trying to torpedo Macs and force everyone to iDevices? I have been a Mac user since 1989 and have NEVER seen so many lame decisions in such a short time. Who the bleep is making all these bad design decisions?
 
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I honestly don't get the bellyaching. People are buying Macs for macOS, not the hardware so much. Do any of you plan to use Windows 10?
Except it has now become very expensive to get a decent machine, and to make it usable from day one you still have to spend more money.

Whatever happened to gradually removing things so that you transitioned with your new laptop? Not a single USB-A port? i use an external mouse, so immediately the usability is out the window and i have to buy a friggin cable for a wireless mouse?!
 
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Obviously I'd prefer if the MacBook Pros were $200 cheaper, but let's not pretend that Macs were ever cheap. Steve Jobs did introduce the Mac Mini and priced the MacBook Air at reasonably competitive prices during the "switcher" era but they were still sold at premium prices.

Power Mac's started at $1499, Mac Pro's ~$2499. They were then current and powerful tech at a reasonable price. Top of the line PowerBook G4's ran about $2499.

Here's a site that lists all of Apple's products and costs at time of release:

http://www.everymac.com
 
As a professional or everyday consumer, anyone could walk into an Apple Store and find everything they need right there. Displays, Mac's, AppleCare - even .Mac when it was an annual service that synced more than Contacts and Emails. The displays sold Mac's, Mac's sold displays, neither ate into iMac's as they weren't marketed for professionals using a workstation Power Mac or Mac Pro. PowerBooks were perfect for the mobile professional. Now the stores are crowded, Mac's are outdated and overpriced, customers will have to find displays elsewhere, and most floor specialists don't know the difference between integrated and dedicated graphics, RAM, HDD vs SSD.

The stores reflected Apple's doctrine - the harmony of form and function. Now they reflect the discord within the company itself. Apple doesn't know what it wants to be, the focus that brought it back to life is gone and it shows.

Priorities have changed and so has the marketplace. Most of Apple's revenue comes from iPhone, and the MacBook line has long outsold the desktop lines. Apple won't ever be able to compete with the Chromebook on price, so they are concentrating on the MacBook and MacBook Pro where they are looking to compete on style and cutting-edge technology.

My guess is that Apple Displays didn't sell in large enough volume to justify the development costs. Few companies stepped up to the plate with Thunderbolt 2 displays, but now that Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C 3.1 Displayport use the same port, there are more options now for those looking for a decent display. To me, Apple's market is basically this, in order of priority:
  1. iPhone
  2. Services
  3. iPad/Apple Watch
  4. MacBook/MacBook Pro
  5. Accessories
  6. All other Macs
 
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Power Mac's started at $1499, Mac Pro's ~$2499. They were then current and powerful tech at a reasonable price. Top of the line PowerBook G4's ran about $2499.

Here's a site that lists all of Apple's products and costs at time of release:

http://www.everymac.com
Inflation. A $2499 PowerBook G4 would be about $3100 in today's dollars.

Apple upgrades are pricey. But for most people today the base models have more than enough power.
 
No, it would be like the VGA port on Windows notebooks. It's 2016 and I still see them occasionally. If you leave a legacy port in, there is less incentive for accessory makers to support the modern port. Apple didn't leave any legacy ports on the iMac in 1998 when they adopted USB-A.
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Because it's easy to add legacy ports to a MacBook Pro. Just get any of dozens of hubs out on the market, from Apple or other cheaper vendors. Apple's Thunderbolt 2 adapter is actually one of the lowest priced.

Docking solutions are far from ideal and you're essentially asking people to carry around a dock to access their mobile hard drive and to charge their iPhone. Yeah, I get it. You can get the adapter for cheap on Amazon. Except people would have already paid good money for the Pro machine. Contrary to the iMac, which is aimed at the masses, the MBP is aimed at the professionals, who want functionality right out of the box.
 
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