5 ms·

Something something Steve Jobs "truck" analogy. We're in a world where the masses don't need/want a PC (which is unfortunate, since that will arguably mean chi

Something something Steve Jobs "truck" analogy. We're in a world where the masses don't need/want a PC (which is unfortunate, since that will arguably mean children will have less access to fully-functional computers in formative years when they may develop an interest in programming, but I digress). Apple, a company that claimed to grasp that concept just a few years ago, is completely failing on it right now. So, they make their money on phones and tablets, the devices for the "I don't need a real computer" people. Logically, that means the laptops should be targeted at the people who actually do need/want powerful and flexible computing devices...or they should drop them entirely if they don't wish to service that demographic any longer. Instead, we have this bizarre situation where Apple is delivering underpowered and overpriced machines. They're expensive and overkill for people who want luxury Facebook/word processing machines, and they're expensive and underpowered for people who want to do real computing. It's very inconsistent and out of touch. One thing that not enough people are bringing up: who in their right mind sells a "Pro" machine with 256GB of storage? In essence, every machine ships with half the storage they did five years ago. Yes, they're using NAND now, but the cost-per-gigabyte for raw NAND isn't that expensive. For a $2000 laptop, it should bloody well come with at least 512GB of internal storage, with a reasonably priced 1TB upgrade. I can forgive the 16GB limit on the RAM, but storage? On a machine that was marketed for video/photo/software professionals? You lose all of your mobility when you have to tote around an external drive to carry your footage/photos/VMs/builds/whatever.

aianus 10y ago
> They're expensive and overkill for people who want luxury Facebook/word processing machines They cost less than $2k. Amortized over 4+ years, they're extremely affordable for the middle class. People spend more on coffee.
- astrodust 10y ago
  The resale value on four year old coffee is also really low. Meanwhile a four year old MacBook Air sells for at least a few hundred.
astrodust 10y ago
> Instead, we have this bizarre situation where Apple is delivering underpowered and overpriced machines. Underpowered for you. Overpriced for you. Maybe they're not being made for you. Now perhaps this is Apple's mistake, but the fact is they're chasing after a market that's not you. It's people who don't care that the notebook is $2K, that the CPU isn't the best it could possibly be. They're buying more than just specs and a low price tag. > They're ...overkill for people... So are they underpowered or overpowered? Make up your mind, man! Is a Ferrari a better car than a Civic because it can go faster? Is a Ford F-150 terrible because it doesn't have low-profile tires and a rear engine? Apple is just one vendor of many, we have options as consumers, and some people like their products. A $2K notebook is not expensive, every vendor makes one at that price point and most have astonishingly terrible trackpads. A $3K notebook carries a premium, but it's a luxury product. It's not intended to be cheap. Apple's mistake might be not differentiating their product line properly, for actually splitting out the actual "Pro" as in professional from "Pro" as in "Pro-sumer". Having to make one model that will sell in the millions of units does impose a lot of constraints. Dell makes a bazillion different models of laptop, they can afford to take chances, but they also churn them over quickly. Apple doesn't roll that way, not today anyway. They prefer to focus on keeping the product line lean, and really get behind a few good models. Maybe this is going to hurt them in the long run. We'll see.
- redwall_hp 10y ago
  >So are they underpowered or overpowered? Make up your mind, man! Not sure if you have bad reading comprehension or if you're just omitting text to support your argument. They're underpowered for me. They're underpowered for people who need a "real" computer. For the people they're aiming the new portable at, they're completely overkill and completely overpriced. They're the new MacBook Air, essentially.
  - xiaoma 10y ago
    For me, they're both underpowered and overpowered. I don't need or even want a touchbar or the flattest keys ever to be placed in a laptop. The high resolution displays are nice, though they've probably shot past the point I'd care enough more about to spend more on. On the other hand, I want more RAM and a nicer GPU than they offer. A larger hard drive would be nice, too. Consequently, macs have become overpriced, overpowered and underpowered for me.
gurkendoktor 10y ago
> We're in a world where the masses don't need/want a PC Oh, I think many people still use a PC every day - at work. Office jobs are not going to disappear in the next decade. I wish Apple would try harder to capture this super boring market: With a better Mac Mini, by formalising its policy of supporting each OS for three years, with a focus on stability over gimmicks, etc.
- JustSomeNobody 10y ago
  You must not read HN much. AI is going to replace everyone in the next decade and we'll all be on UBI.

aianus 10y ago

> They're expensive and overkill for people who want luxury Facebook/word processing machines They cost less than $2k. Amortized over 4+ years, they're extremely affordable for the middle class. People spend more on coffee.

astrodust 10y ago
The resale value on four year old coffee is also really low. Meanwhile a four year old MacBook Air sells for at least a few hundred.

astrodust 10y ago

> Instead, we have this bizarre situation where Apple is delivering underpowered and overpriced machines. Underpowered for you. Overpriced for you. Maybe they're not being made for you. Now perhaps this is Apple's mistake, but the fact is they're chasing after a market that's not you. It's people who don't care that the notebook is $2K, that the CPU isn't the best it could possibly be. They're buying more than just specs and a low price tag. > They're ...overkill for people... So are they underpowered or overpowered? Make up your mind, man! Is a Ferrari a better car than a Civic because it can go faster? Is a Ford F-150 terrible because it doesn't have low-profile tires and a rear engine? Apple is just one vendor of many, we have options as consumers, and some people like their products. A $2K notebook is not expensive, every vendor makes one at that price point and most have astonishingly terrible trackpads. A $3K notebook carries a premium, but it's a luxury product. It's not intended to be cheap. Apple's mistake might be not differentiating their product line properly, for actually splitting out the actual "Pro" as in professional from "Pro" as in "Pro-sumer". Having to make one model that will sell in the millions of units does impose a lot of constraints. Dell makes a bazillion different models of laptop, they can afford to take chances, but they also churn them over quickly. Apple doesn't roll that way, not today anyway. They prefer to focus on keeping the product line lean, and really get behind a few good models. Maybe this is going to hurt them in the long run. We'll see.

redwall_hp 10y ago
>So are they underpowered or overpowered? Make up your mind, man! Not sure if you have bad reading comprehension or if you're just omitting text to support your argument. They're underpowered for me. They're underpowered for people who need a "real" computer. For the people they're aiming the new portable at, they're completely overkill and completely overpriced. They're the new MacBook Air, essentially.
- xiaoma 10y ago
  For me, they're both underpowered and overpowered. I don't need or even want a touchbar or the flattest keys ever to be placed in a laptop. The high resolution displays are nice, though they've probably shot past the point I'd care enough more about to spend more on. On the other hand, I want more RAM and a nicer GPU than they offer. A larger hard drive would be nice, too. Consequently, macs have become overpriced, overpowered and underpowered for me.

gurkendoktor 10y ago

> We're in a world where the masses don't need/want a PC Oh, I think many people still use a PC every day - at work. Office jobs are not going to disappear in the next decade. I wish Apple would try harder to capture this super boring market: With a better Mac Mini, by formalising its policy of supporting each OS for three years, with a focus on stability over gimmicks, etc.

JustSomeNobody 10y ago
You must not read HN much. AI is going to replace everyone in the next decade and we'll all be on UBI.