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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

#71

Post by timc3 »

nirvana wrote: post #63
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…

Another factor of this is that Apple has a global servicing network in its Apple stores that is kinda astounding. With a sony laptop, you would have to mail it off to their national service center, wait a few weeks and get it mailed back to you for warranty repair.[1] The same repair can often be accomplished in an Apple store very quickly. For example. I bought a Macbook Pro in the USA. I was in the UK and had a pro…

Do you have Applecare? Or is this just service that you have gotten?

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

#72

Post by eli »

kemiller wrote: post #65
eli wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Adapting to an unsupported BIOS is not remotely "defeating DRM". Apple just doesn't support other firmware -- it doesn't include features deliberately meant to defeat unlicensed installs (like Windows) or any cloning (like iOS).

There's a specific check to see if it's running on an Apple system and the installer halts if it detects that it is not. It does not merely "lack support" for other systems, they are deliberately not supported. Apple (I think wisely) have not wasted their time on complicated license validation schemes, but that doesn't really change anything. As with Windows activation, it would eventually be defeated anyway.

Regardless, it's obviously unsupported, strongly discouraged by Apple, and at least one US court has found it to be illegal.

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

#73

Post by jarek »

kamjam wrote: post #62
jarek wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why you're being downvoted since this is the exact policy Apple is instituting in this case. Sorry about that.

Because it's a stupid view of the world. What if you bought a BMW and they said "sorry, if you want to replace those tyres or wiper blades then you need to bring it in to BMW, even though we don't actually make any of thee parts ourselves". (Yes, I understand these are serviceable parts, replace above with car battery if you like...)

I'm not sure how you meant to map this onto a situation of replacing the motherboard because a RAM chip died. You don't have to replace the whole engine if your car battery dies, even in a BMW, regardless of warranty status.

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

#74

Post by jonknee »

Retric wrote: post #40
jonknee wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

LTE and NFC are two biggies. The chipsets in general are getting better in terms of both performance and power usage. Ditto for displays.

If you want a new battery in your iPhone, it's $79 away from Apple and cheaper not from Apple. No need to upgrade.

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

#75

Post by kamjam »

gamache wrote: post #21
raja wrote: post #3

How many upgrades does average consumer make on their MacBook Pro? I'd argue it's ~0.

I know lots of folks who've added RAM and who've swapped out the spinning drive for an SSD. Maybe it's more of a "power user" thing, but here you are on Hacker News.

This. And all the other same replies below.

My manager just "upgraded" his old Mac by installing an SSD and gave it to his wife to use. Said it prolonged the life for another few years.

I just upgraded RAM and HDD -> SSD on a friends computer. He had no clue what I was doing, but his computer ran "better than new". All he does it surf the web, use Outlook for email, write Word/Excel docs. Extended life for another few years for him. He certainly doesn't need a new computer (which is was about to go buy). If users themselves can't or don't know how to upgrade, they may well know someone who can. Or some small local indie shop who has the skills.

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

#76

Post by kemiller »

kemiller wrote: post #65
eli wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Adapting to an unsupported BIOS is not remotely "defeating DRM". Apple just doesn't support other firmware -- it doesn't include features deliberately meant to defeat unlicensed installs (like Windows) or any cloning (like iOS).

I'm not arguing that it's legal, or that Apple is thrilled with it. But DRM implies something pretty specific and (in theory) harder to defeat than an "if" statement.

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

#77

Post by yesimahuman »

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…

Well, I tend to think the iPhone upgrade cycle is maliciously artificial. My iPhone 3G used to run very well on iOS 3, and utterly fails on iOS 4. I can't help but think that's intentional.

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

#78

Post by [deleted] »

kamjam wrote: post #56
hexagonal wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Erm, thought all the new Macs were Intel based now?

[deleted]

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

#79

Post by mgkimsal »

timc3 wrote: post #71
nirvana wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another factor of this is that Apple has a global servicing network in its Apple stores that is kinda astounding. With a sony laptop, you would have to mail it off to their national service center, wait a few weeks and get it mailed back to you for warranty repair.[1] The same repair can often be accomplished in an Apple store very quickly. For example. I bought a Macbook Pro in the USA. I was in the UK and had a pro…

Do you have Applecare? Or is this just service that you have gotten?

FWIW, I didn't have applecare, bought a used macbook from craigslist, then had the case crack in the UK. Apple store on Regent Street (IIRC) fixed it in about 3 hours - they had to hunt for a US-style keyboard part. No applecare, no major hassle. I will say initially they told me to drop it off and I'd have it back in 3-5 days. I said that was unacceptable, then they said 'leave it here and we'll call you'. Got a call 3 hours later.

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

#80

Post by eli »

kemiller wrote: post #76
kemiller wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adapting to an unsupported BIOS is not remotely "defeating DRM". Apple just doesn't support other firmware -- it doesn't include features deliberately meant to defeat unlicensed installs (like Windows) or any cloning (like iOS).

I'm not arguing that it's legal, or that Apple is thrilled with it. But DRM implies something pretty specific and (in theory) harder to defeat than an "if" statement.

I disagree.
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