5 ms·

Sorry to break this news to you: you are not Apple's target market. I agree about your points, but ask your average consumer when the last time they used a Cat

Sorry to break this news to you: you are not Apple's target market. I agree about your points, but ask your average consumer when the last time they used a Cat5 Ethernet connection was and you'll probably get a blank stare. Likewise, function keys. Anyone that's not a developer is likely to not even care about them.

kaffeemitsahne 10y ago
Doesn't everyone use F5 daily when browsing?
- fbender 10y ago
  Cmd+R on Mac
- natdempk 10y ago
  Cmd + R or Ctrl + R do the same thing in Chrome without having to reach up to the F keys, so probably not.
- freehunter 10y ago
  F5 does nothing in Safari.
- MichaelGG 10y ago
  Firefox + VimFx provides r/R for refresh.
- msbarnett 10y ago
  cmd-R. I don't think I've ever refreshed via F5
- marssaxman 10y ago
  What does F5 do?
  - yoz-y 10y ago
    "Copy File" in Norton Commander clones.
  - Roboprog 10y ago
    "Reload"/"Refresh" on Windows. As others noted, Command-R on OSX.
soneil 10y ago
This should pretty much be a solved-problem. They have a non-pro line where small, sexy and fashionable are the order of the day (lets assume the 'new macbook' will absorb the Air line), and a Pro line that's verging on desktop-replacement. One thing I always loved was that apple's lineup was so clear-cut that I never had to put a moment of thought into which model I needed. If they go this direction, what's the differentiator between the Pro and non-Pro lines? non-pro doesn't get a 15" option and Pro doesn't get a 12" option? That's it? I think the 'new macbook' is going to absorb the Air line and become "the perfect starbucks machine" in a couple of iterations (everything that currently holds it back, is everything that held the 1stgen Air back). They have the 'average consumer' machine right there. Don't try to make the Pro the 'average consumer' machine too.
- monocasa 10y ago
  Or, better for marketing, a 'Pro' SKU which is actually targeted towards their bread and butter 'I don't know what an ethernet port is, but want "the best"', which removes anything and everything in the name of weight, power, and industrial design. _And_ an innocuous 'Developer Essentials' or something SKU that actually unashamedly focuses on being a work horse.
  - soneil 10y ago
    I'm curious, what would you put in a developer SKU? To my mind it'd just be the option to put a quad-core i7 in the consumer model, but perhaps we have different priorities?
    - monocasa 10y ago
      Keep the Ethernet port, and USB-A ports (I'm sure those are next on the chopping block). If you're not trying to shave every gram and millimeter off, you can have a bigger battery. Function keys, and a 10 key would be nice too.
      - merb 10y ago
        Actually Ethernet Port is not needed. I have a MacBook Pro 11,3 and it hasn't one. I can live with that. At my company it's stick into a Thunderbolt Docking Station with Ethernet. And at Home I probably don't need it.
mixmastamyk 10y ago
Don't macs still have screen and volume keys mapped to the function keys? Would be a shame to lose those.
loopbit 10y ago
If we are not the target market, then who is? I mean, yes, I agree, the average consumer is not going to use ethernet nor function keys. The average consumer is going to use the laptop to browse, write documents, watch videos and, maybe, do some basic media editing. And that precisely is who the macbook line is for: slim, portable, affordable (in apple terms) and, let's be honest here, more than powerful enough to do anything you might want to do with it. The pro line, as I understand it, was always oriented to professionals; people that maybe needed more from their computers. That usually means much more horsepower: More powerful chipsets, definitely more memory, in many cases a better/dedicated graphics card, better and larger drives... And yes, sometimes, function keys. Usually, it also means having the ability to connect external stuff: a standard media output for meetings and presentations, a network connection (even today, plenty of companies don't have wifi, or if they have, it's a guest one), external storage, graphic tablets and plenty of other stuff. Sometimes you need all this at the same time. Personally, I've found the sd card reader useful a few of times but I could do without it, the hdmi port has always been very useful, I'd like more than two usb ports, but they are usually enough and the only times I've used the lightning ports has been to use adapters for other stuff (like an ethernet cable).
jcl 10y ago
He must be in some part of their target market, considering that Apple has offered the MacBook Pro 13-inch form factor essentially unchanged for the last 10 years. (...with non-retina display, superdrive, ethernet jack, kensington lock slot, etc.)

kaffeemitsahne 10y ago

Doesn't everyone use F5 daily when browsing?

fbender 10y ago
Cmd+R on Mac
natdempk 10y ago
Cmd + R or Ctrl + R do the same thing in Chrome without having to reach up to the F keys, so probably not.
freehunter 10y ago
F5 does nothing in Safari.
MichaelGG 10y ago
Firefox + VimFx provides r/R for refresh.
msbarnett 10y ago
cmd-R. I don't think I've ever refreshed via F5
marssaxman 10y ago
What does F5 do?
- yoz-y 10y ago
  "Copy File" in Norton Commander clones.
- Roboprog 10y ago
  "Reload"/"Refresh" on Windows. As others noted, Command-R on OSX.

soneil 10y ago

This should pretty much be a solved-problem. They have a non-pro line where small, sexy and fashionable are the order of the day (lets assume the 'new macbook' will absorb the Air line), and a Pro line that's verging on desktop-replacement. One thing I always loved was that apple's lineup was so clear-cut that I never had to put a moment of thought into which model I needed. If they go this direction, what's the differentiator between the Pro and non-Pro lines? non-pro doesn't get a 15" option and Pro doesn't get a 12" option? That's it? I think the 'new macbook' is going to absorb the Air line and become "the perfect starbucks machine" in a couple of iterations (everything that currently holds it back, is everything that held the 1stgen Air back). They have the 'average consumer' machine right there. Don't try to make the Pro the 'average consumer' machine too.

monocasa 10y ago
Or, better for marketing, a 'Pro' SKU which is actually targeted towards their bread and butter 'I don't know what an ethernet port is, but want "the best"', which removes anything and everything in the name of weight, power, and industrial design. _And_ an innocuous 'Developer Essentials' or something SKU that actually unashamedly focuses on being a work horse.
- soneil 10y ago
  I'm curious, what would you put in a developer SKU? To my mind it'd just be the option to put a quad-core i7 in the consumer model, but perhaps we have different priorities?
  - monocasa 10y ago
    Keep the Ethernet port, and USB-A ports (I'm sure those are next on the chopping block). If you're not trying to shave every gram and millimeter off, you can have a bigger battery. Function keys, and a 10 key would be nice too.
    - merb 10y ago
      Actually Ethernet Port is not needed. I have a MacBook Pro 11,3 and it hasn't one. I can live with that. At my company it's stick into a Thunderbolt Docking Station with Ethernet. And at Home I probably don't need it.

mixmastamyk 10y ago

Don't macs still have screen and volume keys mapped to the function keys? Would be a shame to lose those.

loopbit 10y ago

If we are not the target market, then who is? I mean, yes, I agree, the average consumer is not going to use ethernet nor function keys. The average consumer is going to use the laptop to browse, write documents, watch videos and, maybe, do some basic media editing. And that precisely is who the macbook line is for: slim, portable, affordable (in apple terms) and, let's be honest here, more than powerful enough to do anything you might want to do with it. The pro line, as I understand it, was always oriented to professionals; people that maybe needed more from their computers. That usually means much more horsepower: More powerful chipsets, definitely more memory, in many cases a better/dedicated graphics card, better and larger drives... And yes, sometimes, function keys. Usually, it also means having the ability to connect external stuff: a standard media output for meetings and presentations, a network connection (even today, plenty of companies don't have wifi, or if they have, it's a guest one), external storage, graphic tablets and plenty of other stuff. Sometimes you need all this at the same time. Personally, I've found the sd card reader useful a few of times but I could do without it, the hdmi port has always been very useful, I'd like more than two usb ports, but they are usually enough and the only times I've used the lightning ports has been to use adapters for other stuff (like an ethernet cable).

jcl 10y ago

He must be in some part of their target market, considering that Apple has offered the MacBook Pro 13-inch form factor essentially unchanged for the last 10 years. (...with non-retina display, superdrive, ethernet jack, kensington lock slot, etc.)