4 ms·

The problem is not what is happening now. N years ago professionals started to buy macbooks. Because they are largely the people other people listen to when the

by antirez 10y ago

The problem is not what is happening now. N years ago professionals started to buy macbooks. Because they are largely the people other people listen to when there is to make a technological choice, and because the product was sounding, in a few years Apple got a very large percentage of non professional customers. Now they should be worried of the same thing: they left many professionals looking for alternatives, and a competitor can exploit these "trend setters" providing a good product, that later may get mainstream.

dntrkv 10y ago
That's a nice sounding theory but do you have any proof of that? From what I've seen, Apple has just had a consistently good product with great marketing.
- emp_zealoth 10y ago
  Apple had a long history of their hardware failing and failing and failing again, between anti-glare coatings coming off, GPUs failing en masse, hinges breaking on early alu ones, abysmal quality iphone buttons for a long time, the innards dying to riddiculous temperature they work at I mean, the new 13 inch entry level macbook keeps the CPU at 85-89C under full load - if you really think it will not make it fail then i have a unicorn to sell to you
std_throwaway 10y ago
It's still possible to release the thick "real MBP" with the old ports, big battery and up to 32/64 GB RAM.
- neolefty 10y ago
  Do you mean the retina model or the even older one? http://www.cultofmac.com/405009/why-is-apples-ancient-2012-macbook-pro-still-so-popular/ http://www.cultofmac.com/405009/why-is-apples-ancient-2012-m...
  - adamors 10y ago
    I still use that machine. Put in an SSD and extra RAM, runs flawlessly, albeit a little hot.
quizzas 10y ago
The response to this trend has always been the continued niche usage of Linux OS outside of server environments. Based on the quality of software applications, Professionals really have only two alternatives: Windows and Mac. I've always went with Windows because I don't engage as heavily in the creative process (music, video, design, etc.) that would benefit from a Mac. At worst for Apple, Professionals return to Windows laptops (Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft, etc.) - that's a loss of 5%, maybe?
- digi_owl 10y ago
  You did see the recently unveiled Surface Studio, yes? Between that and the Ubuntu in Windows thingy, MS is coming right for what used to be the Apple core audience. What will remain will be those that use a Mac for compiling their iOS apps...
- redbergy 10y ago
  I agree with your premise on Linux but I'll never understand the Mac = creative thing. I've seen many people mention the creative aspects as a reason to use a Mac, but it's outdated thinking IMO – most creative professionals are using the Adobe Suite which has been cross platform for years. As a dev I love having bash, a terminal, homebrew, wget, curl, etc available on my dev machine. At the same time I need world class application support for Office and the Adobe Suite that I wouldn't get on Linux. Mac is the happy medium between the power of linux with the polished GUI and application support of Windows. Unless I was an MS only dev who depended on Visual Studio I can't fathom why I would switch to Windows (although things may be changing with Windows 10 and their Linux integration).
asadjb 10y ago
While true, I'm not sure there is any competing laptop that offers the same kind of experience. Yes, as a developer I hate it. But if I'm considering something for my parents or friends who are technically illiterate, and I have the budget, I don't know what else I'd recommend. I recently bought a new Lenovo laptop for a friend. Wasn't top of the line, but a decent machine with Windows 10 preinstalled. He couldn't use the machine without having to wait about 30 minutes to set it up and wait for an update to take place. Contrast that with the Mac experience. I've bought two Macbooks in the last 5 years, and both times I was using it within 5 minutes of opening the lid for the first time. Even the battery wasn't charged for the Lenovo laptop I bought. Apple makes solid laptops, have a great first boot experience, and they have a limited product line, which makes choosing a new laptop extremely easy for people who just want something quick when their old machine dies. It took me a good deal of hunting to find something suitable within the PC line. There are too many choices. So yes, I agree if someone makes a solid product that can compete on these grounds, I'd go for it in a heartbeat, and suggest it to others. But I don't see that happening given the extremely diverse PC line and the business model they follow.
- isolli 10y ago
  How about a chromebook?

by antirez 10y ago

dntrkv 10y ago

That's a nice sounding theory but do you have any proof of that? From what I've seen, Apple has just had a consistently good product with great marketing.

emp_zealoth 10y ago
Apple had a long history of their hardware failing and failing and failing again, between anti-glare coatings coming off, GPUs failing en masse, hinges breaking on early alu ones, abysmal quality iphone buttons for a long time, the innards dying to riddiculous temperature they work at I mean, the new 13 inch entry level macbook keeps the CPU at 85-89C under full load - if you really think it will not make it fail then i have a unicorn to sell to you

std_throwaway 10y ago

It's still possible to release the thick "real MBP" with the old ports, big battery and up to 32/64 GB RAM.

neolefty 10y ago
Do you mean the retina model or the even older one? http://www.cultofmac.com/405009/why-is-apples-ancient-2012-macbook-pro-still-so-popular/ http://www.cultofmac.com/405009/why-is-apples-ancient-2012-m...
- adamors 10y ago
  I still use that machine. Put in an SSD and extra RAM, runs flawlessly, albeit a little hot.

quizzas 10y ago

The response to this trend has always been the continued niche usage of Linux OS outside of server environments. Based on the quality of software applications, Professionals really have only two alternatives: Windows and Mac. I've always went with Windows because I don't engage as heavily in the creative process (music, video, design, etc.) that would benefit from a Mac. At worst for Apple, Professionals return to Windows laptops (Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft, etc.) - that's a loss of 5%, maybe?

digi_owl 10y ago
You did see the recently unveiled Surface Studio, yes? Between that and the Ubuntu in Windows thingy, MS is coming right for what used to be the Apple core audience. What will remain will be those that use a Mac for compiling their iOS apps...
redbergy 10y ago
I agree with your premise on Linux but I'll never understand the Mac = creative thing. I've seen many people mention the creative aspects as a reason to use a Mac, but it's outdated thinking IMO – most creative professionals are using the Adobe Suite which has been cross platform for years. As a dev I love having bash, a terminal, homebrew, wget, curl, etc available on my dev machine. At the same time I need world class application support for Office and the Adobe Suite that I wouldn't get on Linux. Mac is the happy medium between the power of linux with the polished GUI and application support of Windows. Unless I was an MS only dev who depended on Visual Studio I can't fathom why I would switch to Windows (although things may be changing with Windows 10 and their Linux integration).

asadjb 10y ago

While true, I'm not sure there is any competing laptop that offers the same kind of experience. Yes, as a developer I hate it. But if I'm considering something for my parents or friends who are technically illiterate, and I have the budget, I don't know what else I'd recommend. I recently bought a new Lenovo laptop for a friend. Wasn't top of the line, but a decent machine with Windows 10 preinstalled. He couldn't use the machine without having to wait about 30 minutes to set it up and wait for an update to take place. Contrast that with the Mac experience. I've bought two Macbooks in the last 5 years, and both times I was using it within 5 minutes of opening the lid for the first time. Even the battery wasn't charged for the Lenovo laptop I bought. Apple makes solid laptops, have a great first boot experience, and they have a limited product line, which makes choosing a new laptop extremely easy for people who just want something quick when their old machine dies. It took me a good deal of hunting to find something suitable within the PC line. There are too many choices. So yes, I agree if someone makes a solid product that can compete on these grounds, I'd go for it in a heartbeat, and suggest it to others. But I don't see that happening given the extremely diverse PC line and the business model they follow.

isolli 10y ago
How about a chromebook?