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I use one of my 13" Touch Bars in the bathroom.

It's a MacBook Poo.


R.


I think you should invent the MacBook Pro version of this

Some of the finest product reviews I have ever read are for this product...

Screen Shot 2017-03-10 at 10.57.11 PM.png
 
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I have a Early 2015 MacBook Pro 13" base model. It suits my needs and I would consider it a pro machine in the fact that it can run my Windows VM and handle all of my programming and design tools I need to run.

The 2016 MacBook Pro 13" model would be every bit as capable.

However these are my grievances with it and I believe everyone else.

  1. The RAM is soldered on.
  2. The SSD is soldered on.
  3. The 13" model has no quad core processors.
  4. The 2016 model dropped the mag safe power port.
  5. Change is hard enough at times but even harder to accept when so many other things (see above) are piled onto the deal that it becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back.
In time grievance number five will become less of an issue but the other four issues remain. Lets not forget the not to subtle change to the packaging style being more in line with iPads then classic MacBooks and it's clear the direction things are going.

Tim is killing Apple. My next laptop won't be an Apple. My next personal computer purchase outside of work probably won't be an Apple either at this rate.

I really hope that Apple is turned around but I'm not holding my breath.
 
I have a Early 2015 MacBook Pro 13" base model. It suits my needs and I would consider it a pro machine in the fact that it can run my Windows VM and handle all of my programming and design tools I need to run.

The 2016 MacBook Pro 13" model would be every bit as capable.

However these are my grievances with it and I believe everyone else.

  1. The RAM is soldered on.
  2. The SSD is soldered on.
  3. The 13" model has no quad core processors.
  4. The 2016 model dropped the mag safe power port.
  5. Change is hard enough at times but even harder to accept when so many other things (see above) are piled onto the deal that it becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back.
In time grievance number five will become less of an issue but the other four issues remain. Lets not forget the not to subtle change to the packaging style being more in line with iPads then classic MacBooks and it's clear the direction things are going.

Tim is killing Apple. My next laptop won't be an Apple. My next personal computer purchase outside of work probably won't be an Apple either at this rate.

I really hope that Apple is turned around but I'm not holding my breath.

The complaining about Tim Cook killing one of the most successful companies ever, which remains one of the most successful companies ever, shows more about those doing the complaining than about Cook or Apple. (I wish you luck in finding a quad core 13".)
 
I have a Early 2015 MacBook Pro 13" base model. It suits my needs and I would consider it a pro machine in the fact that it can run my Windows VM and handle all of my programming and design tools I need to run.

The 2016 MacBook Pro 13" model would be every bit as capable.

However these are my grievances with it and I believe everyone else.

  1. The RAM is soldered on.
  2. The SSD is soldered on.
  3. The 13" model has no quad core processors.
  4. The 2016 model dropped the mag safe power port.
  5. Change is hard enough at times but even harder to accept when so many other things (see above) are piled onto the deal that it becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back.
In time grievance number five will become less of an issue but the other four issues remain. Lets not forget the not to subtle change to the packaging style being more in line with iPads then classic MacBooks and it's clear the direction things are going.

Tim is killing Apple. My next laptop won't be an Apple. My next personal computer purchase outside of work probably won't be an Apple either at this rate.

I really hope that Apple is turned around but I'm not holding my breath.




1) If you're worried about the RAM, max it out at 16gb. Done deal.
2) Fastest SSD going and plenty of room. Professionals store on external drives anyway and with USB-C they're blazing fast on all ports.
3) Need 4 cores? Get the 15" like I did.
4) Mag Safe sucks. When it breaks you pay 80 bucks for the whole thing. And it can only be used on ONE side of the machine. USB-C gives you far more versatility options and no worries about charging.
5) Which straw broke the camel's back? Was it the better screen, faster SSD, precise improved keyboard, better speakers, larger trackpad, smaller size & weight?

My 13" and 15" Touchbar machines replaced last years 15" rMBP, which went straight to Craigslist. It was no contest. The new machines are superior.

You should start off by ignoring the rhetoric of a minority who are upset that Apple didn't consult with them before releasing new machines!


R.
 
I am self-employed and paid well for the work I do. In that work I use: iPhone, MacBook, MacBook Pro and some heavy servers. So from the perspective of "stuff" for professional use, all these would then be "Pro".

As a professional my focus is to get my job done, quickly and reliably.

From that perspective discussion about if RAM or SSD being soldered is for me silly. I do not care, if it improves reliability I am all for it.

I carry a small bag of cables and dongles when on the road, yes it contains a few more things now. But as a big plus I now have more flexibility when charging and the MBP has a more compact build.

The quad core is a valid point for certain types of use, for me Visual Studio in a Fusion VM, and was the reason for going 15" rather than 13" this time.

I think a characteristic of a professional is that he uses the right tool for the task and as you saw above I am using a wide range. I really appreciate Apple offering me options at different points on the scale of power and portability.
 
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This has been the case for several years now.
No not entirely it has been progressively getting worse. The 2016 model is the first model with a soldered SSD and removal of the MagSafe.

It's amazing how there are some people who still think it is ridiculous for anyone to complain about anything Apple does.

You guys think Tim isn't running Apple into the ground? Lets go over the score card.

Timmy's Blunders:

  1. Soldered on the RAM to MacBooks starting in 2012.
  2. Alienated a large segment by killing the Mac Pro Tower off in favor of what amounts to the G4 Cube 2.0 in 2013. Steve would have released the nMP as a marvel but never killed off the Tower.
  3. Hasn't updated the Mac Pro since 2013.
  4. Dropped the quad cores from the Mac Mini and soldered the RAM onto it in 2014.
  5. Hasn't released a new Mac Mini since 2014.
  6. The 27" iMac while very nice right now is 16.5 months old right now. Where is it's updated model?
  7. The only machine released in 2016 was the very unpopular 2016 MacBook Pro with soldered RAM and a soldered SSD in addition to the removal of the mag safe power port. Essentially DongleGate.
  8. Tim Thinks the iPad is replacing the Mac. He has lost touch with reality.
  9. Tim killed Apple monitors off.
  10. Tim is killing off Airports wireless routers and time capsules.
  11. Tim is degrading the quality of in store service by essentially having untrained techs training on our equipment, after watching a few videos on the web.
By all means show me how he is doing such a great job penny pinching, being greedy and in general being a horrible leader.
[doublepost=1489233360][/doublepost]
1) If you're worried about the RAM, max it out at 16gb. Done deal.
2) Fastest SSD going and plenty of room. Professionals store on external drives anyway and with USB-C they're blazing fast on all ports.
3) Need 4 cores? Get the 15" like I did.
4) Mag Safe sucks. When it breaks you pay 80 bucks for the whole thing. And it can only be used on ONE side of the machine. USB-C gives you far more versatility options and no worries about charging.
5) Which straw broke the camel's back? Was it the better screen, faster SSD, precise improved keyboard, better speakers, larger trackpad, smaller size & weight?

My 13" and 15" Touchbar machines replaced last years 15" rMBP, which went straight to Craigslist. It was no contest. The new machines are superior.

You should start off by ignoring the rhetoric of a minority who are upset that Apple didn't consult with them before releasing new machines!


R.

The apology is strong with you.

Mag Safe doesn't suck. The heat shrink and stress relief on their cabling sucks. If you don't know the difference then your post is understandable. The difference is mag safe keeps you from replacing your MacBook when someone trips on you cable and rips your power cord off. Now it simply yanks the MacBook right off the table and you get a much higher bill the $80. But by all means hate Mag Safe now because Timmy told you too.

To the people like this guy. WAKE UP.

Professionals don't use USB external drives. Professionals have internal drives to get their work done and then once it is done move it to networked drives for storage on a server. However at least for me I keep my template for the various interfaces on my machine and the template code along with the modules and everything needed to implement a system fast. It's true this is backed up on a network too but I don't work from a networked drive.

In addition when I'm in the field it is laughable to suggest I have to work with a external drive. It's laughable to in this day and age have a 128GB as the smallest drive and kill the SD Card slot. You guys may laugh at the SD Card slot but it was a inexpensive way for me to double my storage on my machine for files that add up but don't require the drive speed of the SSD.

At least with the 2015 and previous MacBook Pros the drives could be swapped out after the time of purchase even if it became more and more expensive to do so.

Buying more RAM and now storage at the time of purchase as an acceptable solution is utterly ridiculous. Do you realize how much Apple charges for their RAM and storage? By all means be fleeced but we will have to agree to disagree.
[doublepost=1489234263][/doublepost]
I am self-employed and paid well for the work I do. In that work I use: iPhone, MacBook, MacBook Pro and some heavy servers. So from the perspective of "stuff" for professional use, all these would then be "Pro".

As a professional my focus is to get my job done, quickly and reliably.

From that perspective discussion about if RAM or SSD being soldered is for me silly. I do not care, if it improves reliability I am all for it.

I carry a small bag of cables and dongles when on the road, yes it contains a few more things now. But as a big plus I now have more flexibility when charging and the MBP has a more compact build.

The quad core is a valid point for certain types of use, for me Visual Studio in a Fusion VM, and was the reason for going 15" rather than 13" this time.

I think a characteristic of a professional is that he uses the right tool for the task and as you saw above I am using a wide range. I really appreciate Apple offering me options at different points on the scale of power and portability.

How does it improve reliability? It makes it impossible to replace individual parts if something breaks. Instead you replace the entire machine or might as well when you see how much the logic board is going to cost.

I'm actually rather shocked that everyone is defending this device...
 
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The only machine released in 2016 was the very unpopular 2016 MacBook Pro
Not to pick nits, but It seems that the sales of the MBP as reported by Apple, have been stellar. Up until the release of the new model, sales were decreasing, afterwards, sales increased. They've been waxing eloquently over the sales of the MBP
 
^Yeah, I was about to ask the poster to provide some sources (other than the odd forum dweller's whine) for that claim, but thought about it and didn't care enough. I'm sure the retort will be along the lines of "I know some people who know some people who work at an Apple Store, and according to them there have been at least a million returns thus far."

Look at that, I seem to care again. I guess this, too, shall pass.

EDIT: Regarding the Pro-moniker, it really does seem to confuse a whole lot of folks. I really don't have a better suggestion as to the naming scheme, so that's what I'm rolling, and doing my super important professional business type of work with.
 
Fine everyone pile on top of me.... It's obvious that any dissent is dismissible. I'll leave you guys with these parting words to consider.

Call me a "whiner" if you want so you can belittle and label discontent. But I spend cold hard cash and should not be discounted as a customer.

Purchases in the last 7 years include:

(I don't remember the date) the first MacBook Unibody (the one right before the 13" MacBook Unibody became a Pro and got the SD card slot added on. The First 13" MacBook Unibody didn't have a SD card slot.
(I don't remember the date for this one either but I think it was 2009) First Core i5 15" MacBook Pro
2011 MacBook Pro 2011 Mid range
2012 Mac Mini Base Model
2012 Man Mini Mid Range Model
2014 iMac Retina Mid Range Model
Two 2015 MacBook Pro 13" base models
2015 iMac 5K top of the line
2013 Mac Pro 6C, 16GB, D700, 512GB SSD (~mid range)

I'm not saying no one here has not also been invested but I have a right to be upset despite what any of you say. I'm not coming from the avenue of a Windows fan poo pooing all over the Macs. I came here and had intended for a reasonable discussion. What I was greeted with is snarling fanboys.

Keep your Macs. I won't discuss Macs with any of you ever again. Enjoy the decline.
 
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Call me a "whiner" if you want so you can belittle and label discontent

We're all whiners here in someones eyes, just whining about different things. That was kind of the point. This place is in no way, shape or form reflecting the real world or the masses of customers and their devices in the wild.

But I spend cold hard cash and should not be discounted as a customer.

Quite true. You being a customer though means that you get to decide what you buy. It is then up to you to either roll with the punches or take your business elsewhere. Apple doesn't owe any one of us anything, and the way they're going seems to be working for them quite well. And incidentally, for a great many users as well.

Keep your Macs. I won't discuss Macs with any of you ever again. Enjoy the decline.

No need to be a martyr. Rather it would be more beneficial to back up the statements one makes or refrain from making them.
 
We're all whiners here in someones eyes, just whining about different things. That was kind of the point. This place is in no way, shape or form reflecting the real world or the masses of customers and their devices in the wild.



Quite true. You being a customer though means that you get to decide what you buy. It is then up to you to either roll with the punches or take your business elsewhere. Apple doesn't owe any one of us anything, and the way they're going seems to be working for them quite well. And incidentally, for a great many users as well.



No need to be a martyr. Rather it would be more beneficial to back up the statements one makes or refrain from making them.

Are you serious?

You haven't been reading the reports on this very website?

It's not like soldered RAM, soldered SSD drives, removal of the SD card slot, and the removal of the mag safe feature is news. All of which has been heavily discussed here.

I don't need documentation to show the Macs are lagging way behind (in updates). You need only look at this sites buyers guide.

We shall see how Apple fares in the future. iPhone sales are declining (link). iPad sales are declining (link link)

If Apple is abandoning customers like me chasing after the iOS users it would seem they chose poorly.
 
"Pro" has such varying definitions as it is. If this machine was the exact same but had an HDMI port and an SD Card slot, then suddenly it can be considered a "pro" machine?
The new MacBook Pro is basically a MacBook with more (of the same) ports and a better processor. "Pro" doesn't really mean anything on Apple products at this point.
 
Are you serious?

Most of the times, yes.

You haven't been reading the reports on this very website?

Generally, no. I prefer to use the devices, not read about them. A few posts in, I'm also starting to regret writing about them all over again.

We shall see how Apple fares in the future.

That we shall. There have been people who "knew for certain" that Apple was done for for so long now, it's not even funny. It really takes no discernible skill of foresight of any kind to keep repeating the same mantra over and over again. Some day they might be right, but I doubt it's happening any time soon.
 
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Most of the times, yes.



Generally, no. I prefer to use the devices, not read about them. A few posts in, I'm also starting to regret writing about them all over again.



That we shall. There have been people who "knew for certain" that Apple was done for for so long now, it's not even funny. It really takes no discernible skill of foresight of any kind to keep repeating the same mantra over and over again. Some day they might be right, but I doubt it's happening any time soon.

I know nothing for certain. My posts are a plea to Apple to please make me a Mac Pro tower. Please Make me a MacBook Pro with user replaceable parts so I don't have to replace the entire thing if the drive fails. I would rather have kept the 2015 thickness and got more battery life. I could have learned to live with the USB-C ports but there is just so much of the 2016 MacBook Pro that I don't like. I still don't understand why the mag safe was removed.

I don't want Apple to crash and burn. I fear they will.

Edit:
BTW I'm shocked that I'm not surprised to hear that a uninformed buyer is happy with their purchase right now.

Back in 2013 and 2014 everyone was raging on Apple for the MacBook Pro graphics card failures. At the time Apple fought tooth and nail not to cover the repair bills. Ultimately that meant a good number of the repairs they really should have made didn't have to be completed saving the company money. They fixed a few token machines in the end.

Now fast forward to now. The SSD is soldered on now. RAM was more or less a greedy move because it rarely fails anyways. The only thing about RAM is the constant need for more. SSD drives however do fail.

Soldered storage on iOS devices doesn't matter as much because their life span is measured in months. People still use Macs that are ten years old but in ten years how many 2016 MacBook Pros will still be around?

Look further then the here and now and it isn't hard to imagine the raging there will be when customers start getting the bill for a logic board with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD their fancy graphics chip and Core i7 processor because the SSD failed even though the rest of the components on the logic board where perfectly fine.

Will Apple give you a discount for turning in the old board so they can desolder those parts and rebuild new logic boards to gouge other customers to replace their failed boards for any one of the multiple points of failure on them? Heck no.
 
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BTW I'm shocked that I'm not surprised to hear that a uninformed buyer is happy with their purchase right now.

I really don't know if the "uninformed buyer" is supposed to be me (and at this point I really don't care), or just some general buyer you are referring to, but regarding your pleas to Apple, they would work better when directed at, you know, Apple.

The sun is shining, I'm going for a beer. You have a good one.
 
I know nothing for certain. My posts are a plea to Apple to please make me a Mac Pro tower. Please Make me a MacBook Pro with user replaceable parts so I don't have to replace the entire thing if the drive fails. I would rather have kept the 2015 thickness and got more battery life. I could have learned to live with the USB-C ports but there is just so much of the 2016 MacBook Pro that I don't like. I still don't understand why the mag safe was removed.

I don't want Apple to crash and burn. I fear they will.

Edit:
BTW I'm shocked that I'm not surprised to hear that a uninformed buyer is happy with their purchase right now.

Back in 2013 and 2014 everyone was raging on Apple for the MacBook Pro graphics card failures. At the time Apple fought tooth and nail not to cover the repair bills. Ultimately that meant a good number of the repairs they really should have made didn't have to be completed saving the company money. They fixed a few token machines in the end.

Now fast forward to now. The SSD is soldered on now. RAM was more or less a greedy move because it rarely fails anyways. The only thing about RAM is the constant need for more. SSD drives however do fail.

Soldered storage on iOS devices doesn't matter as much because their life span is measured in months. People still use Macs that are ten years old but in ten years how many 2016 MacBook Pros will still be around?

Look further then the here and now and it isn't hard to imagine the raging there will be when customers start getting the bill for a logic board with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD their fancy graphics chip and Core i7 processor because the SSD failed even though the rest of the components on the logic board where perfectly fine.

Will Apple give you a discount for turning in the old board so they can desolder those parts and rebuild new logic boards to gouge other customers to replace their failed boards for any one of the multiple points of failure on them? Heck no.

So much of what you say, which is said here continually by the way, is based on misinformation. That's what happens when emotion overtakes reason, which ironically is what you seem to think has happened to everyone but you.

Please explain what great advances in chip technology have made the Mac Pro no longer adequate.

There is already room for a larger battery in the new MBPs. The tiered battery they tested didn't pass, so they had to put smaller batteries in. It's not a plot against you. Despite the smaller battery, the 15" gets better battery life for light to medium use than the 2015.

The MagSafe port is now redundant. There are now four charging ports on the MBP.

Apple had a years-long repair program for the 2011+ MBPs with dGPU failures. It wasn't just for a token few.

There hasn't been a rash of SSD failures requiring logic board replacements. Apple has people who are good at math. They may well have determined that more damage was done by people doing their own upgrades than failures due to age.

Apple sales are fine. The stock price is fine.
 
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So much of what you say, which is said here continually by the way, is based on misinformation. That's what happens when emotion overtakes reason, which ironically is what you seem to think has happened to everyone but you.

Please explain what great advances in chip technology have made the Mac Pro no longer adequate.

There is already room for a larger battery in the new MBPs. The tiered battery they tested didn't pass, so they had to put smaller batteries in. It's not a plot against you. Despite the smaller battery, the 15" gets better battery life for light to medium use than the 2015.

The MagSafe port is now redundant. There are now four charing ports on the MBP.

Apple had a years-long repair program for the 2011+ MBPs with dGPU failures. it wasn't just for a token few.

There hasn't been a rash of SSD failures requiring logic board replacements. Apple has people who are good at math. They may well have determined that more damage was done by people doing their own upgrades than failures due to age.

Apple sales are fine. The stock price is fine.



You are 100% correct. The small group of winers cannot see the big picture. Nor do they get that Apple could care less. In business we call them rotted fruit. A smart company picks fresh and doesn't worry about a tiny demographic that cannot support the company. Can you imagine Apple making a THICKER laptop?

Yes, industry wide it's known that user-servicable is a deadly term. Folks messing up their machines trying to upgrade drives vastly outweighed the needs of a VERY small group doing upgrades. Apple DOES know how to do math, so you TRAIN your customers how to buy. Since the days of buying Adam and TRS-80 computers, user upgradeable parts has always been a problem.

I'm editing RAW files on these machines. If I was doing video I'd buy one with a larger SSD. Honestly, we've heard these complaints before on every change. My associates are cutting a 7 million and 13 million dollar feature on these machines, so please, we need to be spared the nonsense about working in the "field." What field is that that requires you to swap out your SSD? Buy the one you need NOW. That's what a pro does.

The MagSafe is the biggest laugh. Can't you teach yourself to plug in your machine is a safe spot??? And it's the cable rather than the connector? Uhhhh..and that helps me how?



R
 
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Speak for yourself mate. Many professions use external drives every day to share massive files. Yours may not but you hardly speak for all professionals.



He can ONLY speak for himself.

I don't know a soul without external drives, except maybe a few students.

This is all just pure nonsense from hobbyists pretending to be "professionals in the field."

Next week we're shooting a spot using Red System and two of the new touchbar machines. They'll work perfectly, just like they did two weeks ago. And of course we'll be backing up to external drives. They're tiny and inexpensive.

Give it all a rest. We rarely hear a REAL story of how a 2015 or 2016 MBP can't handle a task.


R.
 
I have a Early 2015 MacBook Pro 13" base model. It suits my needs and I would consider it a pro machine in the fact that it can run my Windows VM and handle all of my programming and design tools I need to run.

The 2016 MacBook Pro 13" model would be every bit as capable.

However these are my grievances with it and I believe everyone else.

  1. The RAM is soldered on.
  2. The SSD is soldered on.
  3. The 13" model has no quad core processors.
  4. The 2016 model dropped the mag safe power port.
  5. Change is hard enough at times but even harder to accept when so many other things (see above) are piled onto the deal that it becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back.
In time grievance number five will become less of an issue but the other four issues remain. Lets not forget the not to subtle change to the packaging style being more in line with iPads then classic MacBooks and it's clear the direction things are going.

Tim is killing Apple. My next laptop won't be an Apple. My next personal computer purchase outside of work probably won't be an Apple either at this rate.

I really hope that Apple is turned around but I'm not holding my breath.


I think the 13" is a fantastic computer and on your points :
1.dont care
2. dont care
3. never had quad core
4. doesnt really matter
5. but it is thinner, lighter, looks amazing, new KB, 4 x TB3 ports, TB [yep a gimmick] etc.

I was on the fence between PC and Mac but couldn't find any other laptop I would want more than a MBP so decided to stick with Apple. Personally I don't believe the Dells look half as good and that is a big deal to me, also the support I get from apple, is consistently great.

but you go for it - PC will be cheaper and fine if you are not into aesthetics and great support.
 
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Yeah...and let me tell you...here in Hollywood you better not pull out a PC laptop of any kind or they'll think you fell off a boat.

PC = Trailer trash

Of course we KNOW that's silly, but there's an element of shallow reality to it nonetheless. I'm NOT showing up to an important meeting badly dressed, wearing a Timex and sporting a Dell or Surface Book. That just screams that I'm a failure or cheaper than cheap.

That all aside, not not only to these Touch Bar machines work great, they're beautiful to look at too.


R.
 
He can ONLY speak for himself.

I don't know a soul without external drives, except maybe a few students.

This is all just pure nonsense from hobbyists pretending to be "professionals in the field."

Next week we're shooting a spot using Red System and two of the new touchbar machines. They'll work perfectly, just like they did two weeks ago. And of course we'll be backing up to external drives. They're tiny and inexpensive.

Give it all a rest. We rarely hear a REAL story of how a 2015 or 2016 MBP can't handle a task.


R.


I found some humor in that statement about USB Drives as well, because as a profession, I DO use them. But that is the problem you run into, whenever you make blanket statements. There is no blanket, big enough to cover everyone and professionals come in all sizes, sexes, nationalities and well, professions. I can't imagine that there is much that professionals DON'T do and not using USB drives doesn't seem likely. Annual shipments of USB drives is expected to reach 556.2 million by 2020 and NO professionals are using them? Hmmm


Even more, I questions why as a professional, you would order a laptop with a 128GB SSD, if you are in a profession where you must be mobile and not use USB drives or external hard drives. Speaking strictly for myself, if my job required me to keep any and all data strictly to the internal drive of my machine, I would max out the non-upgradable items, particularly the SSD and not buy a machine configured with 128GB.

I would say no professional would ever buy a laptop with a 128GB SSD, but that would be no more true than the USB statement was.
 
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