3 ms·

I think initially "pro" actually meant "for professional users," but it's clearly now just a marketing term. As a professional user, I want at least a mixture o

I think initially "pro" actually meant "for professional users," but it's clearly now just a marketing term. As a professional user, I want at least a mixture of port options (hdmi, usb) and a keyboard that supports touch-typing, not some gimmicky band I'm going to have to look at to see what it's showing. I've been using macs for ~20 years but my next laptop will not be from Apple.

frou_dh 10y ago
If we get serious, then it could be said that it's negligent for PCs claiming to be for Pro use not to use ECC memory. ECC and Xeons aren't fringe exotic technology. Intel obviously has some kind of hang-up with their market segmentation though.
- chrisper 10y ago
  The Thinkpads, which are pro, do support ECC and Xeons. Pretty sure, Dell has laptops like that, too.
  - strictnein 10y ago
    HP does as well with their ZBook line.
- xorblurb 10y ago
  The whole story about ECC ram in the computer industry is completely insane. RAM is basically the only place in most PC not protected by a form of ECC, except on expensive (or at least less produced) Xeon (or maybe some AMD, I don't know which ones). I don't know if caches on most ARM processors have ECC, but the situation might very well be the same on smartphone. Sad...
  - secabeen 10y ago
    Strangely, there are a bunch of low-end pentiums that support ECC.
    - jeeva 10y ago
      For the lightweight home/small office server-type things, aren't they?
    - xorblurb 10y ago
      Probably "industrial" low-end pentiums, for projects where reliability is needed but even a Xeon E3 would be overkill. The thing is that it is considered that ECC in RAM is not needed for consumer electronics, but that's utterly insane.
  - alfalfasprout 10y ago
    If I'm not mistaken, all Xeon E5 and E7 processors support registered ECC memory. Many (if not most) multi-socket Xeon motherboards won't even let you install non-ECC memory. Here's the thing... there's really not much of a point in ECC memory for most desktops and laptops. In servers, sure... in mission critical applications even a tiny memory error could have devastating consequences. But for someone browsing facebook? Nah.
    - frou_dh 10y ago
      What's the point of perpetuating a miserly "they don't need/deserve $BETTER_TECH" attitude? The general march of progress in computing has been about better technology iteratively trickling down to everybody. I don't "need" my phone to have a 64bit CPU, but I'll take it. Glad it does. No doubt a few years ago someone was saying... "64bit should be a PC thing. Phones? Nah." ...like it was some kind of law, rather than just the point-in-time market situation.
j2bax 10y ago
I think Apple now thinks of the Pro as someone who is a pro at using a OS X and their consumer software line... They edit family videos in iMovie, write jams in Garageband and edit their photos in Photos! These novel features are geared directly for them, not the real professionals.
- nicky0 10y ago
  Final Cut?
  - j2bax 10y ago
    Can't think of too many people that edit in Final Cut on their 13" or 15" laptop screen. The touchbar would be pretty annoying to use with your laptop docked and plugged into a production appropriate screen.

frou_dh 10y ago

If we get serious, then it could be said that it's negligent for PCs claiming to be for Pro use not to use ECC memory. ECC and Xeons aren't fringe exotic technology. Intel obviously has some kind of hang-up with their market segmentation though.

chrisper 10y ago
The Thinkpads, which are pro, do support ECC and Xeons. Pretty sure, Dell has laptops like that, too.
- strictnein 10y ago
  HP does as well with their ZBook line.
xorblurb 10y ago
The whole story about ECC ram in the computer industry is completely insane. RAM is basically the only place in most PC not protected by a form of ECC, except on expensive (or at least less produced) Xeon (or maybe some AMD, I don't know which ones). I don't know if caches on most ARM processors have ECC, but the situation might very well be the same on smartphone. Sad...
- secabeen 10y ago
  Strangely, there are a bunch of low-end pentiums that support ECC.
  - jeeva 10y ago
    For the lightweight home/small office server-type things, aren't they?
  - xorblurb 10y ago
    Probably "industrial" low-end pentiums, for projects where reliability is needed but even a Xeon E3 would be overkill. The thing is that it is considered that ECC in RAM is not needed for consumer electronics, but that's utterly insane.
- alfalfasprout 10y ago
  If I'm not mistaken, all Xeon E5 and E7 processors support registered ECC memory. Many (if not most) multi-socket Xeon motherboards won't even let you install non-ECC memory. Here's the thing... there's really not much of a point in ECC memory for most desktops and laptops. In servers, sure... in mission critical applications even a tiny memory error could have devastating consequences. But for someone browsing facebook? Nah.
  - frou_dh 10y ago
    What's the point of perpetuating a miserly "they don't need/deserve $BETTER_TECH" attitude? The general march of progress in computing has been about better technology iteratively trickling down to everybody. I don't "need" my phone to have a 64bit CPU, but I'll take it. Glad it does. No doubt a few years ago someone was saying... "64bit should be a PC thing. Phones? Nah." ...like it was some kind of law, rather than just the point-in-time market situation.

j2bax 10y ago

I think Apple now thinks of the Pro as someone who is a pro at using a OS X and their consumer software line... They edit family videos in iMovie, write jams in Garageband and edit their photos in Photos! These novel features are geared directly for them, not the real professionals.

nicky0 10y ago
Final Cut?
- j2bax 10y ago
  Can't think of too many people that edit in Final Cut on their 13" or 15" laptop screen. The touchbar would be pretty annoying to use with your laptop docked and plugged into a production appropriate screen.