Apple has always had excessive margins on in house upgrades. Now they are mandatory if you need more than the base models. Clearly Apple feel that they have a monopoly and continue to charge ridiculous price points for basic upgrades, equally Mac`s sales are declining rapidly, nor do I foresee a paradigm shift on Apple`s behalf. So to me the outlook for the Mac is bleak at best.
The passion that brought the Mac into existence has been replaced with corporate greed and general indifference, led by a CEO who openly denounces the personal computer in favour of the iPad. Under the current management team we can only expect to pay more for less, with the Mac playing very much "second fiddle" to iToys.
I seriously question when the sole defining factor is thinner & lighter. One rather expects a Professional/Prosumer notebook to offer the very best in performance & utility. As a result I find it difficult to get exited about the upcoming 2016 models, the less is more paradigm is getting old, I want the MBP to be an effective mobile workstation, meeting my needs & expectations, not a tricked up Air in pink. As time passes Apple is becoming less relevant in the PC space.
Ultimately I find it difficult to support a vendor who does not equally prioritise it`s PC business, with Apple the results are clear; a subpar hardware lineup combined with rushed buggy OS releases, add in Apple`s amusing pricing strategy no surprises here that Mac sales are dropping Q on Q. Certainly for me from a business owners perspective Apple is firmly "out the door"...
Q-6
