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First I don't think that the people who want (need) more than 16 gb ram would be okay with 50% less battery, at least not the majority, but, if apple would do t

First I don't think that the people who want (need) more than 16 gb ram would be okay with 50% less battery, at least not the majority, but, if apple would do that, how should they put that device on the market? As a MacBook Pro+-, the one with 32 gb ram but only 50% battery life? Or just a note on the site that this device only gets up to 5 hrs of battery life? In my eyes, the number of people confused and/or pissed of by that would be far higher, than of those who need 32 gb and would be okay with 50% less battery life.

Retric 10y ago
For many people 16GB of ram is just to low to be useful. Forcing them to buy a different machine. 5hour battery life is quite a bit for someone that mostly leaves it plugged in. Worst case just use an external battery if you really cant't find an outlet. Really, it feels like a MacBook not a MacBook Pro. Non power users are going to be happy with 16GB of RAM and get a lot more from extra battery life. PS: And yea, I was one of those people ready to upgrade who kind of scratched their head and decided to skip this release. I was thinking of getting a new Mac Pro, but they did not upgrade that at all even though the current model is over 2 and a half years old.
- tinodotim 10y ago
  I'm not saying you guys who would go for a 32 gb / 5 hrs battery life version aren't out there and there are probably comparatively quite many on hn. You are, as much as it sucks, probably just not worth the hassle. I just don't see a way to market / communicate it without all that hassle. And something you should never forget. Those 5 hrs are 5 hrs when you buy the device. 1,5 - 2 years later you may end up with 3-3,5 hrs. If those 5 hrs were what you need, you'll already need your first battery replacement. > Non power users are going to be happy with 16GB of RAM That hurts btw. :( Let's agree on "non ram power users", because I would probably consider myself a power user but i'm quite fine with the 16 gb of my MBPr 13 from last year.
  - jpalomaki 10y ago
    It is also 5 hours of video playback or web surfing - not 5 hours of "professional" use.
- nightski 10y ago
  I didn't downvote you, I actually agree with you. Fortunately there are laptop makers serving our needs. Let the fanboys enjoy their toys.
  - nicky0 10y ago
    You can do better than that comment.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - nightski 10y ago
      The comment is exactly how I feel and I wouldn't change it regardless of a few downvotes. There are plenty of laptops out there far superior to the macbook pro.
- nicky0 10y ago
  What did you settle on instead?
Ezhik 10y ago
The real dream is a user-serviceable MacBook, positioned towards power users - a "PowerBook", if you will. If Apple doesn't want battery life sacrificed, they don't offer the option to put 32GB of RAM in. Then if the user makes the choice to put in more RAM (because the PowerBook lets you put in more RAM as it does not have it soldered), it's their responsibility that battery life suffered.
- smallnamespace 10y ago
  The sad fact is that user-serviceability has a large engineering and design cost. More or less every Apple hardware component has a weird non-standard shape to squeeze as much hardware into the smallest form factor possible. A user-serviceable MacBook would be larger, heavier, and have less battery life.
  - Ezhik 10y ago
    >larger, heavier, and have less battery life All things I'd be willing to deal with to have a powerful workstation - I'm not saying the current thing and light devices would have to go, after all. Obviously Apple wouldn't just drop everything to go and make me a Big Fat Laptop, but it doesn't mean I can't be unhappy about Apple's 2016 computers grid looking like [this](https://twitter.com/SilverEzhik/status/800191799566299136/photo/1 https://twitter.com/SilverEzhik/status/800191799566299136/ph...).
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- scholia 10y ago
  I used to get about 10 hours of battery life from my IBM ThinkPad 240X [1] running Windows 2000 way back in 1999. I did this by using the extended battery (which stuck out from the back), and by buying two of them. On long trips, I just swapped the batteries. [1} Ultra-portable model with no floppy drive and no CD-ROM, but a wonderful IBM keyboard.

Retric 10y ago

For many people 16GB of ram is just to low to be useful. Forcing them to buy a different machine. 5hour battery life is quite a bit for someone that mostly leaves it plugged in. Worst case just use an external battery if you really cant't find an outlet. Really, it feels like a MacBook not a MacBook Pro. Non power users are going to be happy with 16GB of RAM and get a lot more from extra battery life. PS: And yea, I was one of those people ready to upgrade who kind of scratched their head and decided to skip this release. I was thinking of getting a new Mac Pro, but they did not upgrade that at all even though the current model is over 2 and a half years old.

tinodotim 10y ago
I'm not saying you guys who would go for a 32 gb / 5 hrs battery life version aren't out there and there are probably comparatively quite many on hn. You are, as much as it sucks, probably just not worth the hassle. I just don't see a way to market / communicate it without all that hassle. And something you should never forget. Those 5 hrs are 5 hrs when you buy the device. 1,5 - 2 years later you may end up with 3-3,5 hrs. If those 5 hrs were what you need, you'll already need your first battery replacement. > Non power users are going to be happy with 16GB of RAM That hurts btw. :( Let's agree on "non ram power users", because I would probably consider myself a power user but i'm quite fine with the 16 gb of my MBPr 13 from last year.
- jpalomaki 10y ago
  It is also 5 hours of video playback or web surfing - not 5 hours of "professional" use.
nightski 10y ago
I didn't downvote you, I actually agree with you. Fortunately there are laptop makers serving our needs. Let the fanboys enjoy their toys.
- nicky0 10y ago
  You can do better than that comment.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - nightski 10y ago
    The comment is exactly how I feel and I wouldn't change it regardless of a few downvotes. There are plenty of laptops out there far superior to the macbook pro.
nicky0 10y ago
What did you settle on instead?

Ezhik 10y ago

The real dream is a user-serviceable MacBook, positioned towards power users - a "PowerBook", if you will. If Apple doesn't want battery life sacrificed, they don't offer the option to put 32GB of RAM in. Then if the user makes the choice to put in more RAM (because the PowerBook lets you put in more RAM as it does not have it soldered), it's their responsibility that battery life suffered.

smallnamespace 10y ago
The sad fact is that user-serviceability has a large engineering and design cost. More or less every Apple hardware component has a weird non-standard shape to squeeze as much hardware into the smallest form factor possible. A user-serviceable MacBook would be larger, heavier, and have less battery life.
- Ezhik 10y ago
  >larger, heavier, and have less battery life All things I'd be willing to deal with to have a powerful workstation - I'm not saying the current thing and light devices would have to go, after all. Obviously Apple wouldn't just drop everything to go and make me a Big Fat Laptop, but it doesn't mean I can't be unhappy about Apple's 2016 computers grid looking like [this](https://twitter.com/SilverEzhik/status/800191799566299136/photo/1 https://twitter.com/SilverEzhik/status/800191799566299136/ph...).
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
scholia 10y ago
I used to get about 10 hours of battery life from my IBM ThinkPad 240X [1] running Windows 2000 way back in 1999. I did this by using the extended battery (which stuck out from the back), and by buying two of them. On long trips, I just swapped the batteries. [1} Ultra-portable model with no floppy drive and no CD-ROM, but a wonderful IBM keyboard.