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Retina MacBook Pro full of Air-style proprietary parts

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Re: Retina MacBook Pro full of Air-style proprietary parts

#31

Post by davidedicillo »

jmillikin wrote: post #17

Ten years ago, a computer's useful lifetime was measured in months. Hardware specs were advancing so quickly that a two-year-old computer might not be capable of running newly-released software. RAM, disk, and even CPU upgrades were necessary to keep up to date. Except for gamers, this is no longer true. Computers without user-replaceable parts are a natural outcome of the fact that users no longer need to replace pa…

I completely agree. Also, if you ask to "normal" people, they will tell you that one of the reason they love Apple's computers is that if there's any problem, they can just go to the genius bar and solve it. Joe the manager or Susie the mom doesn't care if they can't replace the HD themselves, they want to know that if something happen they don't have to ship their computer somewhere to get it fixed.

Re: Retina MacBook Pro full of Air-style proprietary parts

#32

Post by acdha »

daed wrote: post #27
jmillikin wrote: post #17

Ten years ago, a computer's useful lifetime was measured in months. Hardware specs were advancing so quickly that a two-year-old computer might not be capable of running newly-released software. RAM, disk, and even CPU upgrades were necessary to keep up to date. Except for gamers, this is no longer true. Computers without user-replaceable parts are a natural outcome of the fact that users no longer need to replace pa…

What does suck about this from the consumer standpoint though is now when ordering if you want to upgrade a component from the base model you pay Apple prices to do so. For example Apple has historically overcharged for RAM and hard drive upgrades, so many users would order the base and then install upgrades on their own to save a bunch of money. Now you pay what Apple says you pay.

We might have done this but statistically few people did. As reliability and capacity have gone up while Apple's hardware markup has gone down, it's harder to justify the (power|size|weight|reliability) hit from making those parts field serviceable.

Re: Retina MacBook Pro full of Air-style proprietary parts

#33

Post by X-Istence »

yellowbkpk wrote: post #10
mdonahoe wrote: post #2

I can't get too worked up by user serviceablility, or lack thereof. "My SSD died the other day. I tried to open it up and replace one of the flash chips, but they deliberately made it impossible for me to service. I had to buy an entire new drive!"

Isn't it obvious that your example is different than "My $3000 MacBook Pro's SSD died the other day. I tried to open it up and replace the SSD, but they deliberately made it impossible for me to service. I had to buy an entire new computer!" Sure, you can pull out a microscope and complain about how you can't fix your SMD components, but the vast majority of consumer (Apple, even!) laptops have previously been very e…

The SSD is a separate part that can be removed. In the future (within a year, before then Applecare will take care of defects) I am expecting manufacturers to have third-party SSD's available that will work in the new MacBook Pro's.

Re: Retina MacBook Pro full of Air-style proprietary parts

#34

Post by hexagonal »

kemiller wrote: post #19
hexagonal wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your answer to "Apple doesn't make a decent desktop computer" is "hack OS X's DRM to install it on unlocked hardware"?

There is no DRM on OS X. The only issue with Hackintoshes is drivers and hardware support.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/182218/apple_wins_court_vict...

  A federal judge has dealt a crushing blow to Mac clone 
  maker Psystar by ruling that the Florida company violated 
  Apple's copyright as well as the Digital Millennium 
  Copyright Act (DMCA) when it installed Apple's operating 
  system on Intel-based computers.

Re: Retina MacBook Pro full of Air-style proprietary parts

#35

Post by eli »

kemiller wrote: post #19
hexagonal wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your answer to "Apple doesn't make a decent desktop computer" is "hack OS X's DRM to install it on unlocked hardware"?

There is no DRM on OS X. The only issue with Hackintoshes is drivers and hardware support.

Nonsense. Of course there is DRM, it's just been thoroughly defeated by the Hackintosh community. You can't install OS X on non-Apple hardware without a hacked install disc or a hacked boot disk.

Regardless, you are missing the point. I surely wouldn't install an unsupported and unlicensed OS on any of the PCs in my business.

Re: Retina MacBook Pro full of Air-style proprietary parts

#36

Post by phn »

jmillikin wrote: post #17

Ten years ago, a computer's useful lifetime was measured in months. Hardware specs were advancing so quickly that a two-year-old computer might not be capable of running newly-released software. RAM, disk, and even CPU upgrades were necessary to keep up to date. Except for gamers, this is no longer true. Computers without user-replaceable parts are a natural outcome of the fact that users no longer need to replace pa…

Can't this be seen the other way around?

If a computer can last long, it is very useful to repair it / replace broker parts. If technology advances in such a way that new software needs a new computer, then it makes sense to buy a new computer instead of repairing the old one.

Unless by serviceability you mean being able to upgrade your computer.

Either way, I can see the benefits of trading that ability for a powerful but light/small machine.

Re: Retina MacBook Pro full of Air-style proprietary parts

#37

Post by harpastum »

gamache wrote: post #26
jmillikin wrote: post #17

Ten years ago, a computer's useful lifetime was measured in months. Hardware specs were advancing so quickly that a two-year-old computer might not be capable of running newly-released software. RAM, disk, and even CPU upgrades were necessary to keep up to date. Except for gamers, this is no longer true. Computers without user-replaceable parts are a natural outcome of the fact that users no longer need to replace pa…

Funny, I got ten years out of a Mac SE/30, four years out of a PowerBook G4 (Lombard), and five years out of a white iBook G4. I also used a Mac IIcx for almost a year, ten years after its release. My unibody MacBook 13" was on track too, until I beered it. I do not agree.

I guess the question then is how many parts did you have to replace for each of those computers? Did repairs/upgradeability factor into the long lifetimes?

Re: Retina MacBook Pro full of Air-style proprietary parts

#38

Post by cobralibre »

In terms of aesthetics, form, weight, efficiency, and so on, there are obviously huge benefits to building computers that are not upgradeable or user-serviceable.

It's important to remember, though, that serviceability/upgradeability is not just a matter of satisfying the urge to tinker. Serviceability makes it much more likely that old hardware can be reused and repurposed for years beyond its putative obsolescence date. I'd hate to think that a computer only has a few years of useful life before it's garbage.

Re: Retina MacBook Pro full of Air-style proprietary parts

#39

Post by MSM »

jmillikin wrote: post #17

Ten years ago, a computer's useful lifetime was measured in months. Hardware specs were advancing so quickly that a two-year-old computer might not be capable of running newly-released software. RAM, disk, and even CPU upgrades were necessary to keep up to date. Except for gamers, this is no longer true. Computers without user-replaceable parts are a natural outcome of the fact that users no longer need to replace pa…

I look at it this way: I buy a new car, and for whatever reason, I really want nice rims on it. If I want the rims package, I also have to buy the package with traction control and sat nav, and it's going to cost me $3,500.

It doesn't make any sense- I don't want those other things. I only want rims.

Now with computers- say I work with big data, so I really only need a computer with a boatload of RAM and a pretty meh processor. If this model takes off (which I seriously doubt it will) all the sudden, to get my 64GB of ram I need an 8 core processor and a top of the line graphics card? It doesn't make any sense.

Package deals inevitably force people to buy things they have no desire for, and I'm not even taking into consideration how they are intentionally making this near impossible to repair or replace pieces manually.

It's just really dumb, and I have a hard time believing anyone actually thinks any part of this is a decent idea.

Re: Retina MacBook Pro full of Air-style proprietary parts

#40

Post by Retric »

jonknee wrote: post #11
jwallaceparker wrote: post #4

This is going to be a trend with Apple. They have a good thing going with the iPhone and iPad devices which are both non-upgradeable: consumers are compelled to buy a new device every couple of years or so. It's pretty clear they're getting rid of the Mac Pro, which is highly configurable (with memory, storage and graphics cards) and thus has a much longer life span. So is Apple aiming for a future where you have to…

> They have a good thing going with the iPhone and iPad devices which are both non-upgradeable: consumers are compelled to buy a new device every couple of years or so. This is no different than any other phone, it has nothing to do with the upgradability (which arguably is better for Apple than other phones since Android's OS upgrade path is slow at best and absent on a lot of devices). Phones get upgraded every cou…

The perceived rate of change in phones has been decreasing for a while. After you have a multi megapixel camera, can show HD video, and do Doom 3 or better 3d graphics the hardware bumps are less noticeable.

Honestly, broken hardware and decreased battery life drives a lot of phone upgrades among my friends and coworkers.

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