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Waiting for the 2018 MBP
- Thread starter benface
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I don't think so.
I don't really know what plans Apple has... IF they have figured it out themselves. The situation they find themselves in is rather... strange.
More and more people move to mobile devices and don't need real computers anymore. Talking about kids and typical late 50s early 60s Moms and Dads. (Think of what Steve said concerning the trucks.)
At the same time... there are still A LOT of power users... who will NEVER be Apple to use mobile devices to get their jobs done. Period. I'm not talking about photographers or designers... these might get there eventually if I look at iPad Pro and Affinity's products. But other users with 10+ Applications running that have to constantly switch and move between them all. Work that is barely manageable on a notebook screen.
Now... how does Microsoft try to solve it? Surface Book and Pro. And honstly... I think they are GREAT machines. Until you really use them that is. You'd think you get the best of both worlds... but in reality the Surface Pro is an okayish tablet... and an okayish notebook. The Surface Book fares not much better... it just is a better notebook. As a tablet? Not so much.
So what should Apple do? I honestly don't know. It seems like it's true what they said... that you cannot really merge these two categories too well. The result just doesn't work on a high enough level. Keeping them separate forever though... is also not desirable. More SKUs. More dev costs on both hardware and software. Paired with people that want to DECLUTTER... and NOT carry 3-5 devices... but rather only 1 or 2.
My idea (and I am pretty sure that it is not a good one or even feasible) to have something similar to the Surface Book. Where the top part (aka the notebook display) is actually an iPad Pro with iOS, an A-class APU, and SHARED STORAGE !!!
The bottom part (with keyboard and trackpad etc.) runs macOS, has an x86 CPU/APU, main RAM, all the ports, a big battery, etc.. It does not have storage of it's own... but rather uses the storage in the iPad part.
If the iPad is docked... it acts as a normal MBP. If you take it out it acts as a normal iPad. The interesting part is the shared memory... so you only have ONE real file system... and preferably also only on Applications folder with both versions of an app (if there are versions for both, like now with an App for say... iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV). If the apps are still separate... they should be hidden/invisible when using the 'other' mode/OS.
I know... this sounds (from a technical perspective) pretty complicated... and I bet it is. But if there is one company that can figure this out... it is Apple. I still strongly believe this.
Because what are the other options?
a) Keep iOS and macOS completely separate on OS and Hardware level
b) keep either iOS or macOS and throw away the other... while either making iOS MORE powerful (I'm afraid Apple is considering this long term), or by making macOS touch friendly (which I am not sure is such a good idea either... but at least it's a USABLE OS)
c) Hybrid Device as outlined above...
Well, great gestures by you but here we discuss the things and share some knowledge to others whatever (third person require or want to know) and even we get a new ideas and knowledge tooIn my view you won't see any new MacBooks (excluding spec bumps) before Q4 2018 (if not 2019). Things like FaceID to be implemented will take time, as would improvements to the keyboard, touch bar, port availability (?) and battery life.
I don't think we'll see OLED for a while, it's rare as it is in the Windows market, with only a few models out there with the OLED options relatively speaking (not even Samsung has released an OLED laptop!).
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I don't know, we might actually get a web camera that doesn't suck.
Damn, waiting gets tiresome slowly but surely ... My 2009 MBP, with it's dying screen, now also starts to have some apps crashing without any obvious reason. It even struggles to reach 30 fps in some 2D pixel art games. It becomes more and more clear that this machine is very close to the end of its life. Maybe I should just have bought the 2016 one when it launched - but the € price increase was pretty stiff, and I thought I could wait another year. With quad-core 28W chips on the horizon, there's no way I'm buying a 2017 one. Please, Apple, hurry up.
I do sort of wonder if mobile Apple computing will end up being iOS only (phones and tablets) and the power users and macOS will continue longer term on desktop only.
It would make more and more sense over time as power users who prefer macOS also tend to prefer desktops, larger screens, peripherals, etc (not everybody, I realize that, as I also enjoy a MBP and am a power user).
It would make more and more sense over time as power users who prefer macOS also tend to prefer desktops, larger screens, peripherals, etc (not everybody, I realize that, as I also enjoy a MBP and am a power user).
Since the MacBook Pro is by far the best selling Mac model, I bet they'll continue to build notebooks for the foreseeable future. Sometimes you just have to get work done on the go, and an iPad Pro is not a solution for that (I recently tried to do a relatively simple layout on my iPad Pro - it took me hours, while I could have done the same job in about 15 minutes on a Mac ...).
Also, some users just prefer to use notebooks. I, for example, work 40+ hours a week on an iMac, that's enough - I hate sitting on a table in front of a computer in my free time too. Just being able to sit on a couch, watching a movie, while getting some work done is amazing.
Oh I agree with the preference for the MacBook and macOS, but I'm not convinced Apple agrees with us, are you?
I'm convinced Apple agrees to its sales numbers, it won't pull the plug on the best selling Mac product. Going iOS only would make them even more dependent on the iPhone, which has to be the opposite anyone with common sense at Apple wants.
Yeah, but compare Mac to iOS device sales numbers..
And they've pulled the plug on super successful things before (See original iPod Mini)
I hope you're right, but I'm not convinced Apple is betting the future on much of anything involving the Mac and/or macOS.
I've worked for companies which were super dependent on a single product line or customer. In every single case, the business people were super nervous about this situation. When they pulled the plug for the iPod Mini, Apple wasn't in such a situation - but certainly, they are now. I'd bet they will try anything to grow the Mac business instead of canning it. No one wants to be dependent solely on a single product line, so even if the Mac makes just a fraction of the money the iPhone makes, it is still super valuable to Apple.
I'm not sure that's argument an for Macs/MacOS
iPads & iPhones are different lines from each other
Services are another different business (that's doing very well for them)
Then there are wearables and things like the Home Pod
I agree with you about wanting multiple lines, but I'm not sure why one of them necessarily will always be the Mac.
BTW: I'm on your side about wanting the Mac and loving it. I'm just trying to see the other side here as Apple has been trending in a direction I don't love and I'm trying to understand where their thinking is at. I find it helps me to argue the other side to better understand the entire picture.
iPods are such a small business now, and they're essentially replaced by the iPhone, so there's not really any future potential to grow this business. Wearables are, at least currently, also dependent on the iPhone, so they're not actually a separate business yet. The HomePod isn't even on sale yet. And as for services - who would pay for iCloud storage or Apple Music if there was no iPhone? Not a lot of people. All of these revenue streams are kinda dependent on the iPhone.
The Mac, on the other hand, is a completely different business. Sure, it works in the same ecosystem, but it would work just as well without the iPhone.
I'm not saying that this will always be the case, but it will be the case for the foreseeable future, so I don't see a reason to worry now.
All I ask is that they fix the F*(%# butterfly keyboards. I replaced a 2013 MPB with a late 2016 Touchbar and I have to say it was the worst purchase I've ever made.
I know it probably won't happen but I am crossing my fingers that Apple will use Max-Q based GPU's in their next MBP's.
Don’t bother crossing them the tdp is still way too high for those to be implemented.
PLEASE PLEASE put a screen on it that photographers can use. My matte anti-glare screen on my soon to die again 2011 MBP is the best screen on a laptop I have ever had. The replacement screens on the 2014 MBP after Staingate are/were appalling. Now I have a 2017 TB and terrible colour uniformity. Here is what I would like from Apple. Honesty. Make it perfectly clear that all future MacBook Pro's will never have a workable screen if that is going to be the case. Or bring back an optional lower resolution (than current Retina's) matte anti-glare screen where whites are white and grey's are grey.
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When in 2018 do you think it will get released? I have plans on purchasing a MBPtb 15" on 12/21/17.
If "a workable screen" means matte anti-glare, then it's already perfectly clear. Apple hasn't produced such an option in many years.
I wanted to wait for 2018 MBP but my 2012 MBP are getting very slow. So I purchased a new MBP 13 2017 touch bar yesterday. I don’t know if it’s a right decision or not.