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MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

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Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#471
post #445
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didn't do that because it is not what most people want. Apple has to make changes that will sell more laptops to the masses to maximize shareholder value. The niche developer/macrumors posters will never be happy regardless of what Apple does. Better to focus on the 90% of customers who buy products and make up 10% of the complaints then to focus on the 10% of customers who make up 90% of the complaints.

> They didn't do that because it is not what most people want. > Better to focus on the 90% of customers who buy products So either you're wrong, or Apple's PR team is really bad positioning their product. From the Press Release itself in the first few paragraphs: ideal for manipulating large data sets, performing complex simulations, creating multi-track audio projects or doing advanced image processing or film edit…

Yes and no. Yes in the sense that those niche developer/macrumors posters are part of the described target audience, but no in the sense that they are a small fraction of the described target audience.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#474
post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have to recover the money spent on TouchBar R&D. We won’t see a proper MacBook Pro until 2020.

It seems to me the touchbar was just a clever way to get their own processor into their laptops for some large scale real-world testing before they ditch intel and build the entire thing themselves. 2020 is a good guess I'd say.

Even without the Touchbar, using the T1 for securing the TouchID sensor (amongst the other duties it fulfills) would've been justification enough. So no, that's no excuse for the Touchbar.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#475
post #441

The touch bar is an ergonomic nightmare. Apple's soul truly died back in 2011 with the loss of Steve Jobs. Their computers are now appropriate funeral attire. Lifeless, fragile and gaunt. The operating system, a pale reflection of the past, reminds me of disney movies and EA games these days -- forumlaic, unimaginative, designed to take your money. iTunes sucks the soul right out of you. It's Apple's laboratory and y…

> The touch bar is an ergonomic nightmare. > > Apple's soul truly died back in 2011 with the loss of Steve Jobs. Hilariously, the TB was in the works way before Job's disappearance (according to a tweet by Bret Victor I can't find right now).

Now that is irony.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#476
post #445
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didn't do that because it is not what most people want. Apple has to make changes that will sell more laptops to the masses to maximize shareholder value. The niche developer/macrumors posters will never be happy regardless of what Apple does. Better to focus on the 90% of customers who buy products and make up 10% of the complaints then to focus on the 10% of customers who make up 90% of the complaints.

> They didn't do that because it is not what most people want. > Better to focus on the 90% of customers who buy products So either you're wrong, or Apple's PR team is really bad positioning their product. From the Press Release itself in the first few paragraphs: ideal for manipulating large data sets, performing complex simulations, creating multi-track audio projects or doing advanced image processing or film edit…

I believe this is a case of a disparity between who they say their products are for (power users), and who they are actually for (people who want to think of themselves as power users).

This would be similar to, for example, many sportswear brands who say they are for professional athletes, but whose primary consumer base is... not.

In both cases, they may still attract the audience they claim to target, but in practice, that niche market makes up only a small fraction of their total sales.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#477
For all the talk about the keyboard and Touch Bar, isn't this the first MBP to offer 32gb of ram and an i9 processor? I can live with the keyboard, I don't care about the touch bar, but the ram and processor are the main reasons I've been holding out buying a new one.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#478
post #364

Does anyone know if Apple has any policy in place for those customers who recently purchased a Macbook Pro without these new upgraded specs? Can they be turned in for these newer models with an upgrade fee of some kind?

You can return it within 14 days, no questions asked.

Is anyone aware of any upgrade options for a machine that's older but still quite new (end of Jan this year) - highest MBP spec at the time?

I did see one Apple trade-in programme, but it seems oriented towards much older models with a max trade-in value to match.

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#479

> The new keyboard has the same dimensions and look as its two predecessors, but the keys feel just a little bit different. They're quieter, for one thing. They have a softer, less click-y feel that is a little closer to the pre-2016 models' chiclet keys. We found the new keyboard to be a little nicer to type on, but it's not a radical difference. It's unlikely to convert the detractors, but it's a welcome iteration…

Where is this quote from? Was the original link to something other than the Apple release? The linked Apple release just says: > an improved third-generation keyboard for quieter typing

That got me, too. It's from the Ars piece on today's news: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/07/apples-new-2018-macb...

Re: MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

#480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The touchbar is awesome--you can immediately blow away all the worthless function keys and have a minimalist setup. I keep the escape key and the volume/brightness sliders, that's it. Keeps the entire setup feeling clean. People actually use the touchbar for context-dependent tasks?

Eliminating the entire keyboard for a touchscreen would also be "clean". Clean != good. These are tools, not pieces of art.

I don't understand your argument from that point of view... with the same argument, I could tell you that adding 15 new keys to the middle of the keyboard would be good, because those keys may have esoteric function for a small number of users, and if you complain about their addition, I'd just remind you that this is a tool, not a piece of art.

Look at how many people here recommend rebinding caps lock to "esc" and control to caps lock and all other sorts of editing to the keys... should you remind them that rebinding keys is unnatural and the tool should be used the same way it's always been?

I guess it stems from the fact that I've never understood the argument that the touch bar took away the "esc" key... but on every touch bar MBP I see at the Apple Store, the esc key is still there, still right where it was, and still has the same functionality. The only difference is now if you don't use the esc key, you have the ability to remove it and put a more useful key there instead. But somehow this is a bad thing. I don't understand it.

If it's a tool, like you claim, it should be useful for getting work done. But instead you seem to actually want it to be made according to your exact design and visual preferences, which to me sounds more like you're actually looking for a piece of art.

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