Popular Mac Developer Slams Apple for 'Sad State of Macintosh Hardware' • Hacker News Board

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

#21

Post by post_break » Tue, Jun 19, 2018, 2:17 PM UTC

H1Supreme wrote: post #9

For years and years, I've advocated that Apple should just release the OS like Windows. It runs fine on a lot of PC hardware you can buy off the shelf (I've built a few PC's that do just this). And, with the Nvidia drivers that were released a year or two ago, most graphics cards people want to run are available. I realize that there's a lot involved with suddenly trying to support an array of hardware. But, maybe re…

I'd pay $500 to license MacOS to run perfectly on my XPS13. Instead I have to do it myself with hacks and stuff.

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

#22

Post by wklauss » Tue, Jun 19, 2018, 2:17 PM UTC

titzer wrote: post #5

I switched back to a Linux workstation, after being "all mac laptop" since 2003 (!). My current Macbook Pro is from 2010 and my professional Macbook pro from 2015. The newest Macbooks with their stupid keyboards and USB-C only are total garbage, IMO. Sad.

I ended up buying a new 2017 15 inch MacBook Pro and it's really been not that bad. Yes, you have to use a USB-A to USB-C dongle here and there but at least for my daily use, it's not been terribly inconvenient. The machine is light and thin and I enjoy it immensely, although I'm a little scared about the keyboard (so far no problems). Touchbar?... meh. Neither like not dislike.

I don't know. I understand the new MacBooks are not perfect for everybody but for me it has been more than OK, and I love the huge trackpad. I feel like a lot of the criticism seems excessive or are complaints that could very well be applied to the sad state of the PC industry as a whole.

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

#23

Post by grzm » Tue, Jun 19, 2018, 2:17 PM UTC

Discussion of the actual article this piece addresses from 4 days ago (over 300 comments): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17312588

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

#24

Post by mschuster91 » Tue, Jun 19, 2018, 2:17 PM UTC

jonknee wrote: post #2

Hear, hear! I type this on a "Late 2013" MacBook Pro that I would have upgraded years ago if the replacements were desirable and they can't even keep those up to date.

The Mid 2015 MBP is decent, it still has an SD card slot, USB3, MagSafe and two TB ports, as well as a real keyboard.

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

#25

Post by oppositelock » Tue, Jun 19, 2018, 2:17 PM UTC

H1Supreme wrote: post #9

For years and years, I've advocated that Apple should just release the OS like Windows. It runs fine on a lot of PC hardware you can buy off the shelf (I've built a few PC's that do just this). And, with the Nvidia drivers that were released a year or two ago, most graphics cards people want to run are available. I realize that there's a lot involved with suddenly trying to support an array of hardware. But, maybe re…

Apple did to that long ago with MacOS 7. It didn't work so well, since they undercut sales of their own hardware. Jobs killed the licensing when he returned to the company.

Today, OS X is good enough that is still gets people to buy their outdated hardware. They'd be crazy to license it and give up that lockin. It's not a good situation, but we're not going to see OS X licensed to other manufacturers anytime soon.

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

#26

Post by atonse » Tue, Jun 19, 2018, 2:17 PM UTC

H1Supreme wrote: post #9

For years and years, I've advocated that Apple should just release the OS like Windows. It runs fine on a lot of PC hardware you can buy off the shelf (I've built a few PC's that do just this). And, with the Nvidia drivers that were released a year or two ago, most graphics cards people want to run are available. I realize that there's a lot involved with suddenly trying to support an array of hardware. But, maybe re…

I don't agree with this. I think Apple is right in that the real value comes from top to bottom integration.

For example, when they can ensure that there's a certain set of bluetooth and wireless chipsets, they can test against those, and have features tied to them. But that becomes increasingly difficult as you diversify hardware.

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

#27

Post by jwalton » Tue, Jun 19, 2018, 2:18 PM UTC

jonknee wrote: post #2

Hear, hear! I type this on a "Late 2013" MacBook Pro that I would have upgraded years ago if the replacements were desirable and they can't even keep those up to date.

I'm on a mid-2012 with a failing battery, some keys don't work unless - shall we say - you push them with conviction, and just a few weeks ago it had a bit of a tumble and the LCD panel is now cracked. I'm debating whether I should buy a 2015 15", or wait for October to see if anything shows up in the next refresh. -_-

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

#28

Post by jkcl » Tue, Jun 19, 2018, 2:18 PM UTC

masklinn wrote: post #7

bogle wrote: post #4

The keyboards. The failure rate makes them a risky purchase. You could be just out of warranty and locked out of your machine. This is happening and driving people away. I personally am really going to miss that perfect trackpad as it's not going to be another MacBook Pro for me until this is fixed.

Touch bar as well, the theoretical upsides were few and didn't really pan out. It would have been an interesting and possibly useful addition to function keys (especially at a $300 markup) but it's just awful as replacement.

I concur. Buying my MacBook with touch bar add-on was a decision I regret every day. And every day I miss the old function keys.

In addition, Apple replaced my keyboard (all of sudden, the 'b' key ceased working) and managed to damage the Touch ID part of the bar, replacing which led to replacing the entire logic board. The keyboard has been so bad that I'm expecting it to go again soon, and next time, it won't be in warranty.

Apple, please sort it out. You're still ahead of the pack if you can (a) fix the quality/bugs, and (b) stop making bad and very experimental design decisions.

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

#29

Post by outside1234 » Tue, Jun 19, 2018, 2:18 PM UTC

H1Supreme wrote: post #9

For years and years, I've advocated that Apple should just release the OS like Windows. It runs fine on a lot of PC hardware you can buy off the shelf (I've built a few PC's that do just this). And, with the Nvidia drivers that were released a year or two ago, most graphics cards people want to run are available. I realize that there's a lot involved with suddenly trying to support an array of hardware. But, maybe re…

This is a lot harder problem than it sounds. MacOS on a random piece of hardware would be out of the box a lot like the shitshow that desktop Linux is on a random piece of hardware. 90% of things would work and 10% wouldn't.

This is a matrix test problem of massive proportions and it would be hard for Apple to fund this, especially now that they have anchored the price of MacOS to $0.

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

#30

Post by zdw » Tue, Jun 19, 2018, 2:19 PM UTC

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 what they'd replace, so from that standpoint, upgrading the hardware was kind of pointless for an extremely minor performance benefit.

The keyboards situation is horrible. Failure prone and loud without much point.

Apple is making a lot of money in the iOS ecosystem. Success hides problems, and it seems like "if it's not broken, don't fix it" was used as an excuse to let the Mac languish.

As someone who did nearly all of Apple's IT-related certs in the mid 00's then watched them slowly decontent and destroy all of their OS X Server and related software almost immediately as iOS was on the rise, I don't see good things coming on the horizon.

If you're on a Mac, try to start using primarily OSS software and. Don't get stuck on a platform that might get abandoned tied to a workflow on software that isn't portable.

The silly thing is that Apple could (and should) invest in the Mac as it was pretty great, and could be great again. I'm not holding my breath.