I don't think that our opinions have to be contradictory. The thing about about Apple is that they don't offer options for everyone. They offer a small selection of "curated" options that they believe to be "best" (whatever it means). So if you need a powerful laptop — Apple has nothing for you.
I think its quite the opposite — Apple is in their current position precisely because they are opinionated. Of course it makes some users unhappy, but so far it seems to be working out well for Apple. I also don't believe that increasing the Mac market share is a primary goal for Apple. They are quite comfortable with their 10%. They don't target the "normal" customer — they target the premium end of the market. And there Macs are quite strong.
They sure are, but that is not the market Apple is targeting.
They have increased the thickness by whopping 0.7mm... mainly to accommodate for a bigger battery. I think you are reading too much into this. The 16" is not any different from the 15" it replaces. Spiritually, they are still the same machine, the 16" just implements some minor tweaks to better accommodate Intel's lack of engineering progress. But its still the same laptop the first MacBook Pro was 14 years ago... take fastest CPUs on the market, a mid-range 50W GPU, pair it with a full-day battery, and make it as thin and compact as you can.
