What one thing would you add to or change about your Mac?

[Spudlicious]

I just completed an Apple user survey, the last major question of which was: what one thing would you add to or change about your Mac?

My answer was: I would make the RAM expandable and the SSD and battery user replaceable.

How would others answer that question? Interestingly, in view of the speculation about the configuration of the next Macbook Pro, which I assume is set in stone by now, there were a number of questions about how I use the ports, including the headphone socket, on my machine.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

The only thing I would want would be an oled screen.

 

[dumastudetto]

I put: remove the headphone jack. I really don't think it's necessary anymore and doubling down on the iPhone strategy will accelerate the demise of old technology, and spur on more innovation in the neew.

 

[redshifted]

Matte screen option, better GPUs and bring back user replaceable parts -like batteries.
Sorry, that's three .

 

[Cougarcat]

Better graphics support. This includes Macs with upgradable graphics, better drivers, eGPU support in laptops. Sorry if that isn't one thing.

Upgradable SSD would be my number 2, but I'd also be satisfied by storage prices that didn't cost a kidney.

 

[tubeexperience]

Upgradeable RAM and SSD.

 

[Spudlicious]

I put: remove the headphone jack. I really don't think it's necessary anymore and doubling down on the iPhone strategy will accelerate the demise of old technology, and spur on more innovation in the neew.

I checked the box to say I often use the headphone jack, which I do.

 

[PieTunes]

For a desktop Mac make the hardware components/options more PC-like, as in upgradeable higher end consumer CPUs and GPUs, RAM, etc. To a certain degree, I'd like to see this on Mac notebooks as well especially being able to add more RAM or upgrade your hard drive.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Upgradable RAM would be first on my list.

If they could some how design it so the the keyboard doesn't touch the screen when closed.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

I just completed an Apple user survey, the last major question of which was: what one thing would you add to or change about your Mac?

My answer was: I would make the RAM expandable and the SSD and battery user replaceable.

You want THREE things? This is Apple, remember...

In all seriousness, I would ask for better graphics.

 

[Crazy Badger]

I've just completed mine and my answer was 'retina MBA'. Don't expect them to listen.

 

[Queen6]

Apple`s current management...

Q-6

 

[duervo]

I still use my mid2012 cMBP, but it has the glossy screen. If I were to change anything about it, I would have gotten the matte display instead. Seeing the rMBP's in store, that's the first thing I would change about the current ones too. Bring back a more matte-type display. Even though the retina displays aren't as reflective as the old glossy screens, they still do not compare to the matte finish.

 

[puckhead193]

specs of the top end 15" in a 13" form factor. I love the size of the 13 now that i'm using it more and more its so light and portable and somewhat powerful for what I need. No it will not replace my ' 13mac pro but the size is great for travel. that said i wish it had the specs of a 15" even if i would pay for BTO/apple tax

 

[xb2003]

The user replaceable parts would be nice, I miss the Ethernet port (TB to Gigabit works fine I just always forget to freaking bring it).

But honestly, if they would just add clamshell mode w/o keyboard and monitor attached, I'd be as happy as can be.

 

[ljjycss]

wireless power？

 

[d0nK]

1. Upgradeable SSD!
2. Better cooling to combat the leadless solder timebomb.

[doublepost=1474017516][/doublepost]

I put: remove the headphone jack. I really don't think it's necessary anymore and doubling down on the iPhone strategy will accelerate the demise of old technology, and spur on more innovation in the neew.

lol.
Tell that to every music tech in the world.
Also, the headphone jack contains the optical digital I/O that I use sometimes.

Hammers still hammer, fire still burns and headphone jacks are still more reliable and better than a lightning connector. We are not talking about out-dated tech at all.

In the early 2000's every phone had their own proprietary headphone connectors which were terribly unreliable with their puny little connector strips, just like the lightning port. Removing the headphone jack is a step backwards, not forwards!

 

[Spudlicious]

You want THREE things? This is Apple, remember...

In all seriousness, I would ask for better graphics.

True enough I was being greedy, but why not? It's not like they were going to take any notice.

 

[leman]

If we talk about technical changes only (no software etc.), then I'd rank my wishes in the following order:

1. A brighter display (readability outside) — this probably requires serious advances in display tech
2. Upgradeable SSD — this would require some new standards though, not going back to SATA or slower. Even the M.2. drives are usually much slower than what Apple offers.
3. Shave some more weight off the 15" model
4. Faster graphics (but its coming anyway)

All in all, I don't see any obvious improvements. Its a terrific computer as it is.

 

[mrex]

for 13" pro:
qc processor instead of dual core...
dgpu
matte screen!

 

[Fishrrman]

As others have posted, go back to user-replaceable RAM, and use an off-the-shelf SSD/flash drive that is replaceable if necessary.

Also, an easily-replaceable battery.

BUT DON'T remove the headphone jack!
Some of us HATE earbud-style phones.
I want a standard jack into which I can plug ANY set of headphones.

I -DON'T CARE- whether it's "slimmer" or not.

All of these requests fall on deaf ears, I realize...

 

[Spudlicious]

If we talk about technical changes only (no software etc.), then I'd rank my wishes in the following order:

1. A brighter display (readability outside) — this probably requires serious advances in display tech
2. Upgradeable SSD — this would require some new standards though, not going back to SATA or slower. Even the M.2. drives are usually much slower than what Apple offers.
3. Shave some more weight off the 15" model
4. Faster graphics (but its coming anyway)

All in all, I don't see any obvious improvements. Its a terrific computer as it is.

To an average user, and average is my middle name, isn't a SATA SSD quick enough? That's what I use in my Windows laptop, and by jiminy it's so convenient to swap out.
I agree with you it's a terrific computer, and that was reflected in my survey answers.

 

[vlug]

Decent Graphics / Hopefully leading to better games.

 

[davidg4781]

I want user replaceable RAM.

I haven't checked, but is the SSD in the current MBPs replaceable, in case of failure, but only with Apple stuff? Or is it fixed?

RAM on the other hand changes. My 2006 MB ran awesome with 1 GB of RAM, in 2006. In 2010 I needed 2, and that was maxed out. My mini came with 4 GB, I think? It was alright for a while, but after some OS X updates it was sluggish. It now has 16 GB and runs wonderfully.

And get rid of the headphone jack. I don't want to have to buy regular headphones because my Lightning EarPods won't have anything to plug in to. JK... but putting a couple Lightning ports on there would be nice.

 

[leman]

I haven't checked, but is the SSD in the current MBPs replaceable, in case of failure, but only with Apple stuff? Or is it fixed?

It is replaceable, but good luck getting the parts.

RAM on the other hand changes. My 2006 MB ran awesome with 1 GB of RAM, in 2006. In 2010 I needed 2, and that was maxed out. My mini came with 4 GB, I think? It was alright for a while, but after some OS X updates it was sluggish. It now has 16 GB and runs wonderfully.

That is not that much of a problem nowadays. E.g, the 15" model comes with 16GB RAM, which is the max supported by the CPU anyway. The 13" and 12" come with 8GB, which is sufficient for casual use* for the next few years and have the option of 16GB, which is again the max**. The things will change once we move to DDR4 or some other tech that can deliver higher RAM densities. Then, 32GB becomes a possibility.

*There are two main reasons why you need more RAM: 1. increased requirements of common algorithms and 2. higher-quality content. For 1., the current programming techniques involve a lot of indirection and therefore need tons of RAM. But we have hit high peak some time ago and the trend is now actually towards economy (e.g. Swift, Rust). As to 2., there was a massive boost in content size requirements with the advance of retina displays (quadrupled data size), but again, it has more or less platoed right now as the assets are already very high quality (we might see anther boost though as wider gamut becomes standard). In different terms, we have now reached a level of quality (both in software development and assets) where throwing more RAM at general tasks doesn't really help or is not nessesary. Of course, there is still an increase, but it slowed down. Also, earlier we had a very small standard RAM installations , so every incremental bit was a huge deal. But even now, few years after 16GB became a common thing to see, an average user won't see any performance increase with going from 8Gb to 16GB. I am not talking about specialised users who need a lot of RAM, but those probably won't be happy with a laptop to begin with. After all, to efficiently utilise a lot of RAM, you need the bandwidth as well as processing speed.

**There are high-dencity DDR3 modules, but they are very expensive and only supported by the newest Intel CPUs.