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Popular Mac Developer Slams Apple for 'Sad State of Macintosh Hardware'

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121–130 of 145 posts

Re: Popular Mac Developer Slams Apple for 'Sad State of Macintosh Hardware'

#121
post #30

I think this is a combination of issues: USB-C's ecosystem was confusing and good products never materialized, or if they did nobody could find them in the sea of junk. The lack of hardware updates, which seems to have started with the 5-10% performance bumps Intel piddled out in the absence of competition from AMD from 2011-2017. Most of the CPU's and GPU's that could have been used frankly weren't much better than…

And the problem is that Mojave start to cut some macs, like mine, and as iOS developer I can't ignore Apple.

Now, I'm in the position of get a worse (in SSD space + other things) machine for more money or get hackintosh

Re: Popular Mac Developer Slams Apple for 'Sad State of Macintosh Hardware'

#122
post #121
post #30

I think this is a combination of issues: USB-C's ecosystem was confusing and good products never materialized, or if they did nobody could find them in the sea of junk. The lack of hardware updates, which seems to have started with the 5-10% performance bumps Intel piddled out in the absence of competition from AMD from 2011-2017. Most of the CPU's and GPU's that could have been used frankly weren't much better than…

And the problem is that Mojave start to cut some macs, like mine, and as iOS developer I can't ignore Apple. Now, I'm in the position of get a worse (in SSD space + other things) machine for more money or get hackintosh

You might find this somewhat comforting - Mojave beta is already running on Hackintosh.

I hope the final product does as well.

[0] https://www.reddit.com/r/hackintosh/comments/8olkq1/macos_10...

Re: Popular Mac Developer Slams Apple for 'Sad State of Macintosh Hardware'

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> I sadly gave up on the Mac. My next personal device is a Dell XPS. Switching is a mixed bag. I notice (at least on HN) that there are two types of people on Mac. People who are highly sensitized to details and those who are not. If you're sensitized to stuff like touch pads, coil whine, etc., you may not find pleasure in switching to a PC, because PC makers don't spend a lot of time on those details. If, however,…

> If, however, you're not sensitized to small details, switching to PC is a pretty painless process. There's another category to consider: Those who use mostly open source apps and those who prefer a better user experience. Switching is easy if you're the former. Not so much if you're the latter. The Mac app ecosystem is hands down the best there is. Mac apps are not just easy to use, but pleasant. Windows apps are u…

>> The Mac app ecosystem is hands down the best there is.

That is an individualized thing, as different people use different stuff.

There is a lot of great stuff on the Mac. iLife, iWork, Coda, Pixelmator, Transmit and other apps are great on the Mac, but those aren't apps that are necessarily used by everybody.

For the most part, I don't feel like I'm missing out after switching to Windows. I use Affinity products, Sublime Text, DxO Photolab, and they're pretty much the same as on the Mac.

Go to any platform (including MacOS and iOS), and easily 90% of the apps are ugly and difficult to use. The top 10% tend to not have that issue.

Re: Popular Mac Developer Slams Apple for 'Sad State of Macintosh Hardware'

#124

Mid-2012 MBP with SSD, retina, and 16gb here. I've got an HDMI port, SD card reader, two USB ports, two thunderbolt ports, magsafe power, and a proper, reliable keyboard. I despair at the current crop of mac hardware. If this machine dies on me before some decent mac hardware arrives, I'm not sure what i'll do - but it definitely won't involve buying a new macbook with the touchbar, stupid keyboards, and no ports.

The Thinkpad T-series is much cheaper than Mac with better specs and support. Put a Linux distro on it and it's a great computer for programming. I paid $1,900 for my current laptop (T-460) with 24 GB of RAM, 11+ hours of battery life, matte screen (low glare), and a 4-year, next-day, at-home repair plan where they will drive to my home to fix any problems the next day, including accidents. That price included tax an…

exactly. switched to a Lenovo Carbon X1 when my 2009 MBP died on me.

Re: Popular Mac Developer Slams Apple for 'Sad State of Macintosh Hardware'

#125
post #63
post #17

The most dangerous thing here is that the public is increasingly getting the message and idea that Apple's mac hardware is decomposing. They really need to make this a priority. I fear that the success of the iPhone is blinding them to the importance of the mac. And you can tell because they're kicking ass when it comes to iOS devices. They're so far ahead in certain areas, it's not even funny. This is reminding me o…

> They're so far ahead in certain areas, it's not even funny. Honestly asking, not trying to throw punches; what are they ahead with? From everything I've seen/read/heard it's all software, and the hardware itself has stagnated or is behind by a few months/years of other vendors.

Not sure where exactly they're "so far ahead".

Cameras? Google is on par if not better with the Pixel. Screens? Samsung.

The only area where I could conceivably say Apple is destroying the competition is the A11 chip.

As an overall package though, I'd say the other major players (Samsung, Google) are on par with Apple for phones.

Re: Popular Mac Developer Slams Apple for 'Sad State of Macintosh Hardware'

#126
post #63
post #17

The most dangerous thing here is that the public is increasingly getting the message and idea that Apple's mac hardware is decomposing. They really need to make this a priority. I fear that the success of the iPhone is blinding them to the importance of the mac. And you can tell because they're kicking ass when it comes to iOS devices. They're so far ahead in certain areas, it's not even funny. This is reminding me o…

> They're so far ahead in certain areas, it's not even funny. Honestly asking, not trying to throw punches; what are they ahead with? From everything I've seen/read/heard it's all software, and the hardware itself has stagnated or is behind by a few months/years of other vendors.

Processors. Their processors are at least a couple generations ahead of the state of the art samsung devices, at least with benchmarks.

Their hardware/software integration results in browser performance (safari) that is years ahead of chrome/android on ARM hardware.

The benchmarks are out there.

Again, the hardware/software integration allows them to reach performance metrics faster than the others. This goes for their image processors and also their general CPUs for browsing.

In fact, their iPads are now faster than some of their Intel laptops.

Re: Popular Mac Developer Slams Apple for 'Sad State of Macintosh Hardware'

#127
post #17

The most dangerous thing here is that the public is increasingly getting the message and idea that Apple's mac hardware is decomposing. They really need to make this a priority. I fear that the success of the iPhone is blinding them to the importance of the mac. And you can tell because they're kicking ass when it comes to iOS devices. They're so far ahead in certain areas, it's not even funny. This is reminding me o…

> The most dangerous thing here is that the public is increasingly getting the message and idea that Apple's mac hardware is decomposing. Not sure "the public" is very aware of any of the stuff going on (or more accurately, not going on) with Macs at Apple. I don't think the general public reads or hears any Apple news outside of what the main stream media reports. Most of the complaints about the touchbar, keyboard,…

I do think the keyboard issue is leaking into the mainstream actually, thanks to class action lawsuits, etc.

But you're right, most of what us nerds argue about, the public just isn't aware.

Re: Popular Mac Developer Slams Apple for 'Sad State of Macintosh Hardware'

#128
post #125
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They're so far ahead in certain areas, it's not even funny. Honestly asking, not trying to throw punches; what are they ahead with? From everything I've seen/read/heard it's all software, and the hardware itself has stagnated or is behind by a few months/years of other vendors.

Not sure where exactly they're "so far ahead". Cameras? Google is on par if not better with the Pixel. Screens? Samsung. The only area where I could conceivably say Apple is destroying the competition is the A11 chip. As an overall package though, I'd say the other major players (Samsung, Google) are on par with Apple for phones.

Yes I was actually mainly talking about their processors (and other silicon), and the additional performance gains you get from tight hardware/software integration.

Re: Popular Mac Developer Slams Apple for 'Sad State of Macintosh Hardware'

#129
post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And you can tell because they're kicking ass when it comes to iOS devices. They're so far ahead in certain areas, it's not even funny. I'm not convinced of that. I bought an iPhone for the first time a few months ago and returned it after a few days because iOS felt like a backwards step. I've no fanbois allegiance one way or the other, but Android felt a lot more polished, usable and intuitive. Even the hardware w…

As an iPhone user I agree. I often look at how feature packed while cheap Android devices are. The only thing that keeps me from switching is Google and that I don't have the time to bother with alternative ROMs anymore.

I'm probably in the extreme minority here, but I actually think iOS lately feels too complex. There are still features it's missing that I'd like, but I often long for the simpler days of earlier iOS versions. Too many different overlapping interfaces (e.g. lock screen vs. Notification Center), types of notifications, interaction models (tap vs. 3D Touch vs. hold), and overloaded basic apps (e.g., apps inside of Messages.app)—they all make me feel like iOS is just getting too complex, at least on my iPhone.

Re: Popular Mac Developer Slams Apple for 'Sad State of Macintosh Hardware'

#130
post #49

I don't get the hate about the MBP. I have the 13-inch 2017 model without the TB and I absolutely LOVE it. It's such a master piece, I simply love it and use it as my daily driver. I also don't have any problems with my keyboard, I only can tell good things about it. The 2 ports suck, but I never was in need of more, I only use the power adapter and the USB C to HDMI/DP cable that goes in my 4K screen and that's it.…

The only thing I hate about it is the super slow CPU, but that's only partly because of Apple.

If apple had upgraded the MBP internals for WWDC, it could have had the i7 8650U by now, instead of the i7 7660U. That's a quad core part compared to a dual core part, which runs up to 50% faster in multi-threaded workloads.

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