Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac • Hacker News Board

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#491

Post by rietta » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 3:39 PM UTC

pwython wrote: post #443

deanCommie wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to think every one of my friends with a MBP was a fisher price-loving brainless slave to Steve Jobs. Then I actually had to use one for work. I'll never go back. It's the little things that are not so little: 1) The wake speed 2) The battery life 3) The overall comfort and feel of the keys and the trackpad compared to ANYTHING I've ever used before from Lenovo or Dell. I can live in Mac mode and build almost a…

> And if I need to do anything for Windows, I just use Boot Camp. In my head I imagine 90% of Mac users that use Boot Camp just need it to play PC games. :) Then again, I suppose there's still really specific obscure software out there that is Windows only (or Win/IIS devs that prefer Mac hardware). Which reminds me, I wonder if I'll ever see 3ds Max on MacOS.

My reason to have Bootcamp is literally to get Elgato Game capture, used to capture the presenter's screen real time, support in OBS so that I can livestream a Bsides conference once a year. I use an old Canopus firewire SD video to live transcode the camcorder in that setup.

I tried to do this in Parallels, but it just didn't work. Turns out live video composition and broadcasting needs the bare metal.

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#492

Post by Gracana » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 3:40 PM UTC

duck2 wrote: post #458

lobster_johnson wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also considering a switch, but Windows drives me up the wall whenever I touch it. macOS has been getting uglier and more awkward to use the last few years, but Windows is still the king of ugly. So I've been considering Linux as my first option. I fired up a few VMs and dipped my toes in various Linux desktop environments: Elementary, Fedora 25, and Ubuntu (Unity) so far. These are all GNOME 3 variants. And... oh…

I have surfed through distros, desktop environments and window managers for nearly a year. My equillibrium point is suckless.org's dwm[0] with all defaults except using Terminus as font and Super(windows) instead of Alt key. ~6 months, no irritation, no configuration change. Tiling window managers which have extensive configuration options are useful as tinkering material, but not actual working environments. If you…

Hah, I run the exact same config. I used to be a wmii user but moved to Windows for quite a while when work and school required software that only ran there. Now I'm back on the tiling window manager train with dwm, and I realize I had forgotten how much I like this setup.

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#493

Post by slantyyz » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 3:42 PM UTC

bane wrote: post #47

I kind of feel like, once you're talking publicly about things like if you are committed or not, you probably aren't and are trying to keep people from fleeing while you figure out what to do or while some long-term strategy kicks in.

The thing that gets my goat is that the last keynote was supposed to be all about the Mac.

The first 25 minutes were spent rambling about other Apple business, and then they only updated 1 of their many Mac product lines.

Is it any surprise that longtime Mac users are pissed?

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#494

Post by scholia » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 3:43 PM UTC

Jgrubb wrote: post #423

scholia wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple's mission has always been to make computing accessible to the masses (remember the slogan: "The computer for the rest of us"?), not to make it better for the elite few who already know how to use one. Except the masses buy Windows 10 laptops that cost $199 or whatever. The Mac has never been "accessible to the masses" because they won't pay Apple's prosumer prices...

I suppose it depends on which masses you're referring to, but when I look around at any public place in New Jersey where there are people on laptops, I always see a very healthy representation of Mac users. Of all ages.

Apple's PC market share is much higher in the USA than it is worldwide, and it's very low in Asia, apart from Japan.

Also, Apple's market share is much higher now than it was when the masses adopted PCs. That happened under Windows 95 (which nearly drove Apple out of business) and XP.

When Windows brought computing to the masses, Apple's global market share was closer to 2%.

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#495

Post by irq » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 3:45 PM UTC

notheguyouthink wrote: post #478

rasjani wrote: post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trackpads (buttons) on thinkpads are not well designed and I doubt anyones mental health who says otherwise.

Unfortunately the new Macbook Pro Ret is terribly designed, imo. The trackpad may be good quality, but it is massive. Seriously, my hands naturally rest on the pad while i type, which causes all sorts of weird behavior because my palms are mashing all over the "mouse". Furthermore, Apple reduces the "action" of the keys and trackpad press to near zero, what!? The new non-button-bottons of the Macbook Pro Retina are a…

I have never once experienced the palm rejection problems you're having while typing on the new MBP, nor have any of my friends that have one. And I've been using it nearly 12 hours a day for a month now.

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#496

Post by drzaiusapelord » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 3:45 PM UTC

mej10 wrote: post #408

wildmusings wrote: post #400

Personally, luxury laptop lines don't make sense for me at this point. There was a time when it was the only way to get decent hardware, but those days are long gone. Four years ago I spilled water on my 2009 17" MBP (RIP) and Apple wanted $1200 for the repair. Instead, I spent ~$1300, including three-year accident-protection insurance where they show up at your house THE NEXT DAY, on a Thinkpad T530 and I couldn't b…

Some people literally get joy out of using things that are well designed and don't feel cheap. When it is a device you are going to use constantly for work and other things then it becomes very easy to justify buying a "luxury" laptop. I used the same iMac for 5 years (only added an SSD) and have used the same MBP for 4 years and it still has a lot of life left.

I love how thinkpads feel. They only feel cheap if you think anything that isn't Apple feels cheap. No, they're not shiny, but they don't feel cheaply made. If anything the added sturdiness, to me, feels so much less cheap than super-delicate Apple products.

A bit like the difference between driving a 30 year old Porsche that needs constant maintenance and is delicate as can be. No one would call that car cheap, but I'd opt for the Tesla Model S and ignore the brand loyalists.

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#497

Post by lisper » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 3:45 PM UTC

kaitnieks wrote: post #294

lisper wrote: post #26

What I really want is for my state (SSD, RAM, maybe the CPU, but probably not the GPU) to be easily detachable from my human interface devices (keyboard, mouse, display). I want to be able to use a desktop in one place, then unplug a small unit which contains the aforementioned state (i.e. the equivalent of a sleeping laptop but with no keyboard or display), carry that someplace else, plug it in to a different set of…

Surface Pro comes close to this - it's very small and easy to carry around, and you could use the Surface docking stations for easier transitions I suppose. The only difference from your dream is that the display doesn't come off, but sometimes it can be an advantage. What I want is to have docking stations with extra computing power/GPU/RAM/HDD etc built in, so that I can keep the small Surface with its limited batt…

But then I would have to run Windows :-(

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#498

Post by slantyyz » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 3:47 PM UTC

lethargic_meat wrote: post #375

sliken wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's plenty of x86 laptops that handle 32GB ram. Of course would mean designing for the CPU and not the thickness of the laptop. Apple's such a slave to the thickness that they put a smaller battery on the high end 13" than they do in the base model.

32GB ram laptops don't utilize LPDDR3, as in Low Power DDR3, which is used to reduce power consumption. If you're happy carrying a "portable" jet turbine, be my guest.

>> 32GB ram laptops don't utilize LPDDR3, as in Low Power DDR3, which is used to reduce power consumption. If you're happy carrying a "portable" jet turbine, be my guest.

I think you're missing the point. People want the option for 32GB even if it increases power consumption. Given how most people don't need more than 16GB, you can probably assume that those pining for 32GB are at least willing to make that compromise.

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#499

Post by greedo » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 3:47 PM UTC

adamlett wrote: post #445

d3ckard wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I said that pro users made them rich, I didn't say that they had done it by buying stuff. Apple has been reaping rewards from the pro market for years. It's been those pro users who have been advocating the platform among friends and family. It's been those pro users who have been the perfect subject for those marketing campaigns showing how awesome new products are. It's been those pro users who write tech blogs and…

If you believe pro users have that kind of clout, you are delusional. The iPod most certainly didn't succeed because it was endorsed by pro users, nor did the iPhone. In fact the reaction from the pro market to those products when they were introduced, was one of dismissal ('No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame'). These products succeeded on their own merits by being fantastic products and -- to a lesser extend…

I hardly believe that CmdrTaco's reaction on Slashdot to the iPod is indicative in any way of how the "pro market" responded to the iPod or iPhone.

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#500

Post by mpswardle » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 3:47 PM UTC

tajen wrote: post #335

m12k wrote: post #316

It's actually kind of amazing to see the discourse shift against Apple and the new MacBook Pro to the point where it seems almost self-reinforcing. Like someone turned the reality distortion field on backwards or something. I've been wanting a mac laptop the size and weight of a MacBook Air 13" but with a retina display for years, and the ability to connect usb, power and external display with just a single cable is…

I'd say the lack of hardware function keys is an utter annoyance for 80% of existing Mac users, maybe 40% like you who can be convinced by the Touchbar provided as a replacement. Remains 40% annoyed users, minimum. Don't forget Macbooks are sold at a prime, so users are mostly people who use it professionnaly, >8 hrs a day, who expect something from it and are experts in using it (even the basic photographer ends up…

You can literally set the Touchbar to just show the function keys.

I keep mine dynamic, have been using the laptop for a month now, and can say there has not been one occasion when the escape key wasn't there when i wanted it.

And having TouchID sensor more than makes up for it.

Of all you criticism not one has been a problem to me except battery life which is quite bad on mine.