Apple halted M2 chip production in January amid 'plummeting' Mac sales • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple halted M2 chip production in January amid 'plummeting' Mac sales

#681

Post by giobox » Mon, Apr 03, 2023, 5:24 PM UTC

sovnade wrote: post #605

hajile wrote: post #571

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It kills me that I can only get ONE external monitor. It would otherwise be perfect.

There are adapters that let you use multiple and bypass that limit. Kensington has a few. This one is pricier but also doubles as a docking station/100w PD: https://www.kensington.com/p/products/device-docking-connect... They have some cheaper, more basic models too. edit: for the record I think this limit is stupid and the biggest flaw of the Air. You're right that other than that, it's a damn near perfect daily dri…

I couldn't agree more - I was shocked when I discovered the Air can't natively drive two displays, even with many docks. The only real solution are things like that kensington dock's display-over-USB hack which is not as reliable as a native monitor connection in my experience, and requires additional driver software on your OS :(

I just took it for-granted that every laptop in this price range on sale today will by and large be able to drive two external displays, but nope!

I ended up using a "double wide"/32:9 style monitor - the Samsung CRG9 - these 32:9 panels can be had in 5120 x 1440 resolution, which is exactly the size and res of two 27 inch 1440p panels side by side but in a single display. Works great on the Air, although its not a super cheap option.

> https://www.samsung.com/ca/monitors/gaming/super-ultra-wide-...

Re: Apple halted M2 chip production in January amid 'plummeting' Mac sales

#682

Post by arcticbull » Mon, Apr 03, 2023, 5:26 PM UTC

TrevorJ wrote: post #573

arcticbull wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

New macOS historically runs on devices between 5 and 10 years old. Longest in recent memory was El Cap which supported 8-10 year old devices. Shortest was Snow Leopard, which supported 3 year old devices. Ventura is lower, 4-5 years, but that happens periodically when aligned with major architectural changes. [edit] Honestly, their support cycle is pretty impressive. And just because they don't release a newer versio…

I've run into this a few times with Apple. It's not that the upgrade is explicitly not allowed by policy. It's just that things are broken in ways which prevent you upgrading/using the device properly. I don't know if it's just lack of care on Apple's part, incompetence, honest mistakes or a stealth method of forcing an upgrade. In any case, hardware that seemed slow and outdated with Apple's software ecosystem now r…

I suspect it's more that maintaining a 10+ year testing matrix across three architectures and like 15 product families is pretty un-manageable.

The cross product matrix is already staggering, but imagine testing 10 years of iPhones, 10 years of iPods, however many years of Watch, AirPods, chargers, etc against every Mac released for 10 years - in every configuration? Every time you ship an OS update? Wild.

Re: Apple halted M2 chip production in January amid 'plummeting' Mac sales

#683

Post by stametseater » Mon, Apr 03, 2023, 5:27 PM UTC

lowbloodsugar wrote: post #656

jwandborg wrote: post #618

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple has great support. Apple does not have support good enough for professionals, my colleagues are suffering with defective MacBooks until they can justify a full replacement, because Apple repairs cost a lot of time, while Lenovo sends a repairperson with tools and replacement parts to my office.

I was on business in UK, keyboard broke, and Dell showed up next day and the tech had a US keyboard in his van.

My Dell XPS shit itself, unbootable while blinking memory error diagnostic codes, a day before I had to make a flight. Dell scheduled service for me the next day when I was meant to be on my flight, so I called them to explain and they sent a tech to my home 3 hours later that afternoon.

On the other hand, an Apple store once took over 3 weeks to order a replacement battery for my macbook air. I never even received an explanation for this incredible incompetence. And when I finally got the battery, the apple store employee made sure to add insult to injury by criticizing my android phone...

It's night and day. My take is that Dell has something to prove while Apple rests on their laurels.

Re: Apple halted M2 chip production in January amid 'plummeting' Mac sales

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Post by rcarmo » Mon, Apr 03, 2023, 5:29 PM UTC

mdcrowcroft wrote: post #610

rcarmo wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. Corporate Mac sales are a drop in the bucket.

Do you have any stats to prove that? Not saying you're wrong, I'd just love to know what percent of sales are B2B.

I happen to be regularly in touch with distributors due to having written a Mac blog for the past 20 years. There might be figures out there, but I don't think they're easy to come by.

Re: Apple halted M2 chip production in January amid 'plummeting' Mac sales

#685

Post by cesarb » Mon, Apr 03, 2023, 5:29 PM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #629

runjake wrote: post #503

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am surprised I am getting downvoted Probably for this statement: > FWIW, macs are high quality and last a long time. and subsequently for this flamey statement: > You would think more folks on HN would be happy about long lasting products but the anti-apple bias is strong enough to override the concern of having a more sustainable product. FWIW, it seems like you got incredibly lucky. In recent years, I've been t…

> All of these devices basically sat on a desk in a ~68F office most of the time. That's the problem. You need to discharge the battery once in a while or it builds up gas and expands. I had a 2015 that was perfect until I stopped going anywhere in March 2020. So I basically didn't unplug it for a year, and then the battery got explodey. So now that I still work at home, I make sure to unplug my laptop once in a whil…

> So now that I still work at home, I make sure to unplug my laptop once in a while just to drain it down a bit.

That's still a defect; the laptop battery management should do that for you. As an example, the Dell laptops I'm used to automatically drain the battery to ~95% when plugged in all the time (it appears to be at 100% while on AC, but when you unplug it you can see the true charge).

Re: Apple halted M2 chip production in January amid 'plummeting' Mac sales

#686

Post by Krasnol » Mon, Apr 03, 2023, 5:30 PM UTC

joshstrange wrote: post #409

game_the0ry wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, macs are high quality and last a long time. My wife needed a laptop for class a year ago, so I gave her my old macbook pro 13 i bought in 2014. I also had a macbook air m1 for personal use, which I replaced recently with a macbook pro 14 m1, and planned to give my wife the air. She refuses the air bc she likes the old 13 so much, and she abuses the shit out of it. How often does a laptop go strong for 9 years?…

This has been my experience since I first went from windows to mac. People always talk about the "Apple Tax" and it's real but it's not as obscene as people make it out to be when you factor in longevity. I had friends in college who were replacing ~$400-500 machines almost yearly while my ~$1,200 machine (2009) lasted all 4 years and then some. I only upgraded since I was using it professionally and wanted some more…

> I had friends in college who were replacing ~$400-500 machines almost yearly

Come on...can we tone down the ridiculous statements here, please?

I don't know what your friends did to this hardware, but there isn't anything out there you HAVE to replace "almost yearly". Not even for that price.

Re: Apple halted M2 chip production in January amid 'plummeting' Mac sales

#687

Post by pdimitar » Mon, Apr 03, 2023, 5:31 PM UTC

eastbound wrote: post #603

dividedbyzero wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just startups and tech companies, lots of boring non-tech enterprises offer Macs too for technical roles because you lose out on good candidates if you can't offer Macs. This side of the pond (Europe) those are also way more likely to allow employees to upgrade after a few years.

You speak in general terms but you’re in a bubble. Here in my bubble, a tech valley in the South of France, developers have to be convinced to switch to Mac. “Sounds awesome but will I be able to get used to the new shortcuts?” is the general question. Where are you from? I’d rather hire from your pool than mine (and I pay 20-30% above market range).

Not your parent poster but I'm from Eastern Europe and I'm using Macs for 3 years now and can't be convinced to go back to Linux.

Mac is just much less troublesome. As I'm aging and (hopefully) becoming a senior dev, I'm getting more and more focused and want to immediately attack the problems I'm paid to solve, and not endlessly fighting and fine-tuning my machines.

I might be wanting to get back to work soon. Hit me up if you need a seasoned dev.

Re: Apple halted M2 chip production in January amid 'plummeting' Mac sales

#688

Post by alchemist1e9 » Mon, Apr 03, 2023, 5:32 PM UTC

lalhadudki wrote: post #582

alchemist1e9 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The dollar is insanely strong right now This is a bigger story that isn’t being told properly often. The recent BRICS currency move is about them panicking over increasing dollar global dominance. Checking recently I can’t find any major currency that is up against the dollar over last 10 years. US productivity is running away from the rest of the planet is another variable and with rapid on shoring of numerous ind…

Come on, at least the Mexican peso has appreciated considerably this last year. Swiss francs, BTC.

Thank you for pointing out the Mexican peso strength, they have definitely been able to turn it around. Isn’t that actually a bit due to their strong US ties?

Swissie and BTC make sense as safe havens for the sanctions and seizure risks of USD. I do expect those to continue to strengthen.

Re: Apple halted M2 chip production in January amid 'plummeting' Mac sales

#689

Post by jimnotgym » Mon, Apr 03, 2023, 5:32 PM UTC

Is it bad that I am happy about this. M2 Max and Pro broke our software, and caused me a headache. Petty I know, but it is how I feel

Re: Apple halted M2 chip production in January amid 'plummeting' Mac sales

#690

Post by empressplay » Mon, Apr 03, 2023, 5:36 PM UTC

game_the0ry wrote: post #370

drooopy wrote: post #32

In my case, I feel that Apple has priced itself out of the EU market with the latest Macs and iDevices. The new base M2 Air begins at €1500 after taxes which is genuinely an absurd amount of money to ask for a device that comes with 8 GB and 256 GB of non-replaceable ram and ssd respectively. The cheapest iPhone 14 starts at a bit over €1000. My plan is to keep my entry-level M1 Air for a few more years and then I'm…

FWIW, macs are high quality and last a long time. My wife needed a laptop for class a year ago, so I gave her my old macbook pro 13 i bought in 2014. I also had a macbook air m1 for personal use, which I replaced recently with a macbook pro 14 m1, and planned to give my wife the air. She refuses the air bc she likes the old 13 so much, and she abuses the shit out of it. How often does a laptop go strong for 9 years?…

I was an Apple service technician up to 2016, then I gave up on it because 'repairing' (basically logic board replacements) the new machines (that involved cutting and gluing and other silliness) became too onerous and, quite frankly, depressing.

Personally I have a mid-2012 13" MBP, 16GB, 1TB SSD, 2K external display and a third displayLink display running Ventura and it's still going strong. I have several more for giving coding lessons / as backups for me ;) I dream of the day Apple goes back to making something as serviceable as them, but I won't lose sleep waiting.