How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists • Hacker News Board

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#61

Post by _ph_ » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 4:14 PM UTC

weaksauce wrote: post #47

_ph_ wrote: post #24

More than a single event, it is the string of events which create the disappointment. While Apple is indeed bound by Intels schedule for CPU upgrades, this would not prevent Apple from regular other components in their devices. A computer like the Mini should get yearly updates - and there is no good reason to solder in the memory. While it kept the very same design, it went from a quad-core i7 to a dual-core, with f…

The lack of affordable storage in the retina and up laptops and even desktops has been a deal breaker for me. I am on a five year old mbp and am seriously considering a hackintosh to be a daily driver. That's a whole big can of worms though.

Yes, the lack of storage is really bad - the Mac Pro is the most ridiculous one, being limited to 1T of SSD in a pro machine. Fortunately for me, I was able to order the iMac with the basic HD and my Mac dealer (authorized) replaced it with a 2T Samsung SSD, though for a fee. Still, I got this for roughly the same price as the Apple 1T had cost. Otherwise I probably would not have invested into the iMac. (And what a nice machine it would be, if it had 2 bays of user accessible SSD drives...)

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#62

Post by Tistel » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 4:16 PM UTC

Does anyone have any more insight into what went wrong with the non rectangular (presumably higher volume) battery that they wanted? Just hard to manufacture the shape? The bad battery life on the new ones is a big challenge for their marketing group.

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#63

Post by blinkingled » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 4:17 PM UTC

beat wrote: post #16

My main computer is a five year old 17" MBP. I've upgraded it to the max and done repairs to maintain it. I need the computational power - I use it for programming, photo editing at scale, and recording/mixing music. It would cost me $3000 to replace it with a computer that is not significantly more powerful, has a smaller screen and less I/O functionality, and would be incompatible with my audio interface unless I d…

> Chromebook

It's amazing how much of a good quality machine with great battery life you get today for $299, especially compared to what you used to get with a netbook just a few years ago - my son was using my old laptop and installing things left and right on it including adware some times and I let him go crazy because I don't want him growing up just knowing about the web and the browser. I still let him use that as a tinkering machine after a bit of security 101 but I got him a Acer 14" Chromebook recently and I was seriously blown away how good it felt, how decent the screen was and just how long it lasts!

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#64

Post by mzw_mzw » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 4:17 PM UTC

It wasn't hard to do. Endless coy secrecy on platform refreshes, deciding what tech to use based on form factor and coolness instead of utility, and an operating system that got more bloated and unstable with each version were more than enough to drive me off.

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#65

Post by kruipen » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 4:17 PM UTC

electic wrote: post #37

beat wrote: post #16

My main computer is a five year old 17" MBP. I've upgraded it to the max and done repairs to maintain it. I need the computational power - I use it for programming, photo editing at scale, and recording/mixing music. It would cost me $3000 to replace it with a computer that is not significantly more powerful, has a smaller screen and less I/O functionality, and would be incompatible with my audio interface unless I d…

I did take a close look at the Surface Pro. Sorry, the build quality is nowhere near a MacBook Pro. Secondly, I found the touch screen very gimmicky. I tried using it for a week and found that my hand just hurt lifting it up repeatedly and also hated switching context from the keyboard to the screen. Not to mention, the screen was full of smudge marks after awhile. To be honest, I really found myself using the keyboa…

The touch screen on the Surface has one killer application: scrolling while reading. It's very natural to scroll content with a thumb on the edge of the screen.

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#66

Post by Veen » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 4:17 PM UTC

scrrr wrote: post #4

For me, there's still no alternative. And I also will not recommend anything but a Mac to friends and family. They just have the best personal computer on the market, period.

Yeah, I don't want to switch for the same reasons, but this will be the first time I've actively resented buying a Mac. I've always understood that I'd pay premium prices for premium quality, but with the new MacBook Pro, I feel like my allegiance to MacOS is being exploited. They're simply too expensive, especially if, like me, you like in the U.K. or Europe.

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#67

Post by billoday » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 4:18 PM UTC

scrrr wrote: post #4

For me, there's still no alternative. And I also will not recommend anything but a Mac to friends and family. They just have the best personal computer on the market, period.

Agreed - they still make the best computers, we just wish they were as good as last year's.

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#68

Post by mrkgnao » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 4:18 PM UTC

beat wrote: post #16

My main computer is a five year old 17" MBP. I've upgraded it to the max and done repairs to maintain it. I need the computational power - I use it for programming, photo editing at scale, and recording/mixing music. It would cost me $3000 to replace it with a computer that is not significantly more powerful, has a smaller screen and less I/O functionality, and would be incompatible with my audio interface unless I d…

> run Vagrant on one

I'm running Arch on a Chromebook (an Acer one).

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#69

Post by pjc50 » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 4:18 PM UTC

rch wrote: post #5

Has anyone taken the Novena laptop designs and tried to produce an updated version? Seems like fairly obvious Kickstarter material there. https://www.kosagi.com/w/index.php?title=Novena_Main_Page

It's only just shipped, hasn't it?

The main obstacle there is finding an "updated" suitably open main processor, that's why it uses an iMX6 in the first place.

It's also not really a suitable device for anyone who isn't an electronics engineer. The basic configuration doesn't even come with a case.

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#70

Post by dabit3 » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 4:19 PM UTC

scrrr wrote: post #4

For me, there's still no alternative. And I also will not recommend anything but a Mac to friends and family. They just have the best personal computer on the market, period.

I agree, and for me it all comes down to the OS. I've tried using other computers and operating systems, but as a software developer, my income and livelihood depend on me being able to produce code and do so efficiently. I'm more than willing to spend $2500 on a computer, one that I will one day be able to sell for ~$1000 if my past experiences hold true in the future, that works smoothly without hiccups and has a pristine top of the line OS that works seamlessly with all of the programs I run. I've tried Linux and like it, but some things just do not run the same as on my Mac. I've also tried Windows recently and the OS just feels gross, slow, and buggy after working with macOS and Linux.